The Orphanage...

Inside the orphanage the smell of cooked stew permeated the air. The combination of talking, laughter, clinking plates and silverware, along with wooden chairs sliding in and out from the drab tables on the unfinished hardwood floor, generated quite a cacophony of sound. Now, a cough was heard...then someone else sneezed. Aunt Tildy hardly paid the noises much attention any more. She stood by the large and battered kitchen sink with her blue scarf and blue food-stained apron on. She didn't have the setting up of the dishes to be cleaned quite done yet, but she could do this automatically and worry about those two kids at the same time. She scratched her chin, which she always did when worrying and took a look out the small kitchen window. The sun had set and the sky was rapidly darkening. A few stars were beginning to appear behind the darkening clouds. She debated as to whether she should set Agister out on horseback to try and find or summon one of the Haven guards to find Fenix and Jewellyn; Agister Cadge though still young, was tough and very competent with the horses.

Somewhere, the sound of a breaking dish was heard. Someone shouted, "Ha, ha, no dessert for you tonight!" This startled her out of her reverie a little, and she turned left to reach for the broom and dustpan hanging from the rusty hooks on the adjacent greystone wall. She fetched the broom with her left hand and immediately thrust it out to her left, and it was quickly grabbed by someone. She did the same with the dustpan which was also quickly snatched from her grasp without anyone saying a word. It wasn't necessary to speak at all as the children well knew what to do and when to do it.

She glanced towards the dining hall a little to see who dropped the dish or dishes and saw one of the girls running back into the dining hall, armed with the broom and dustpan. Her long plaid skirt flowed out behind her and her ponytail swayed back and forth as she ran along. That was Inos, the promising young girl who always seemed to know exactly where she was going, even if she was unfamiliar with the territory she ventured to. She never did lose her way, even if she was all alone and far into the deep dark woods nearby. Aunt Tildy knew some of the boys were confounded by this ability of hers and she smiled a little at the thought. She sometimes wondered though if Inos somehow had 'help' of some unusual kind, or perhaps it was one of those special skills she heard rumors about now and then.

Aunt Tildy almost never had to issue out orders anymore. The eighteen children of the orphanage feared her and respected her, and yet they knew they could always come to her in times of trouble. There was the time when that little boy Erwin first came in. He had arrived with nothing to his name. The clothes he did have on were in tatters. He looked very scared, to say the least. She had met him outside at first, like she always did. She figured he was only about eight years old. His dark black hair was obviously not cared for and perhaps was infected with lice. She had put on some leather gloves and looked through his hair carefully, and nope, he was lucky, there appeared to no signs of infection. Still, as soon as possible the boy was going to get a good bath. She had already dealt with lice before, and she recalled with disgust how long it took to get rid of the little devils...they certainly couldn't have been created by any of Valdemar's Gods. There was supposed to be a purpose for every living thing. But what would it be for lice? Lice, and such things as ticks and mosquitoes had to have come from Vkandis Sunlord, from Karse she figured.. Surprising her a little, an answer did come to her which made her grumble and quickly dismiss the idea. She had thought briefly that mayhap trying to get rid of lice was a test of character. Never again she vowed. The sheer amount of laundry and bathing which had to be done was not worth any price.

Aunt Tildy noticed that haunted look in his lovely brown eyes, and an almost vacant expression on his face caused by a total absence of love and care for the boy's welfare. In fact the little boy was found wandering aimlessly on the outskirts of Beldorn. The Guards from the Heraldry had come upon him and later determined that not only had his parents abandoned him but they had abandoned their household as well. She felt anger build up in her. No matter how bad things get you never abandon your children, she fumed silently. She tried not to let that feeling show to the boy. Her eyes moistened though. She bent down to talk to him but he shyed away. She stood up and tried to hug the little boy and held him close to her, trying somehow to convey a little sense of love...that someone cared. She walked near the front porch, took the boy inside, and sat down on a bench. It wasn't long before her shoulders shook, and she couldn't help it, she began sobbing, almost uncontrollably. The emotions aroused by the thoughts of this little boy being abandoned to be left on his own was very heartbreaking and disturbing. Then, her sobbing ebbed somewhat and she held the boy away from her a little, tears streaming down her face. The boy most likely had never seen or experienced that which just occurred. He gazed back at her with just a hint of a change in how he looked at her. Then, he reached for Aunt Tildy as if wanting to be held close again, and she did so gladly. They had remained like this for a while, then the boy finally fell asleep in her arms. Aunt Tildy didn't move and let the boy sleep there until he woke up...

It was a miracle really how she managed to meet the childrens' needs, especially considering the fact that she only had two other assistants from town who helped her feed them, helped her keep them clothed and clean, and of course they helped her keep the place itself clean and well maintained. The children always had their chores to do as well, which they almost always did without question or lapse of duty. If they did slack on their chores, Aunt Tildy quickly stepped in and reminded them of how if even one person neglected to perform their assigned tasks, that everyone else would suffer in some way. She sometimes told little anecdotes, or rather, moral fables. But, it was also the way she told her little stories that mattered as much. She was very good at it. With the proper use of gesturing, the raising and lowering of her voice at the proper moments along with the timing of the pauses for dramatic effect; all this combined to giver her orations conviction.

-The Story-

Thinking of those two missing, who had not informed her when they would return, she recalled a story she had told the children about herself one day a couple years back and this caused her to smile at the reminiscence because it was a rather funny story. This tale was told by the Bard Ulwynn Fyyscher again not too long ago to the current generation of kids. Now and then he would come to the orphanage and entertain the kids with heroic ballads or amusing stories. Ulwynn was a large and round jovial man who not only sported red hair, but sideburns and a beard as well. He was one of the most recognized Bards of all with his fancy yellow silk leine and dark brown woolen breeches. He also had a mandolin strapped to his back and wore a bard's cap which he often tipped to greet passers-by, especially the women. Ulwynn was present at the first telling and enjoyed it so much it later became one of the staples of his storytelling...the tale as he told it after that caused quite a stir amongst the kids:

'As you all know Aunt Tildy is a stern but gracious woman and this happens to be an occasion where she presented both sides of her personality. Your Auntie was down in the kitchen and the children were eating lunch in the dining hall. As it happened, a couple of the children were derelict in their duties, failing to sweep the floor and failing to take out the garbage. Aunt Tildy, when informed of this by one of the snitches that all places seemed to have at least one of (here a couple of the children exchanged glances), at first became angry but then some of the kids noticed kind of a strange gleam in her eye, as if she was gearing up for something.'

Auntie walked into the dining room exaggerating her stride and stomping on the floor as she went, causing her gray curls to bounce vigorously beneath her blue scarf...all of a sudden, she clapped her hands loudly and shouted, "Okay, listen up children! You know how I feel when someone fails to do their duty here. I am not happy at all!" Here your Aunt Tildy paused, scanning the room with her penetrating eyes, causing the children to feel a little uneasy when they met her gaze.

She cackled a bit, then went on, "Now, there were three children here who aren't here now. And do you know why? I'll tell ya why," she boomed. "One of them failed to show up for breakfast, one of them did not clean up his room, and one of them caused quite a ruckus during breakfast, thinking he was very funny. I wasn't amused !" Your Auntie paused again to let the anticipation build, then said, "I meted out their punishment and they were banished to their rooms for one full day. I put them in solitary confinement!" Here, she quickly thrust one of her fingers up in the air. "With one exception!" she exclaimed. "They were allowed to come out when it was time to clean up the privies." She cackled long and loudly, displaying her lack of teeth; and then comically she screwed up her face and pinched her nose, making gagging sounds., and cackled again, rather hoarsely it seemed.'

At this point in the story you could see Aunt Tildy in the audience of children, shaking her head and trying not to giggle too loudly.

'Then she began to cough, making a sound much like a battlehorn each time she coughed. She doubled over, coughing and gagging and her face started turning red. We all watched and were getting very concerned to say the least. Auntie then stopped coughing and was beginning to turn an alarming shade of blue...She then shook her head vigorously causing her cheeks to flop back and forth, making a most unusual sound. Some bright fellow later remarked that it sounded like the 'pounding and slapping of bread dough.' Then, with her hands on her knees she took in a long, deep breath which whistled and wheezed quite loudly. A cyclonic intake of air it was indeed. We took some comfort in that she could take in some air at least. Still we all watched, terrified, and some of the children watched wide-eyed as she raised her arms and her head, then she released quite a volume of air and then slowly, resumed breathing normally.

"Well," she said, still gasping, "I think I need to go lay down for awhile, the rest of the story'll have to come later." We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. The meeting was over and everyone prepared to get ready for bed...'

'At any rate, the next morning, your Aunt Tildy allowed the boys to come down for breakfast. Into the dining hall they went. It wasn't long at all before a door was heard to slam. She was almost done cooking the gruel when one of the girls burst in from the dining hall shouting, "Those three derelicts just ran away outdoors!"

'With the proper incentive or motivation, your Auntie could blaze a trail. She burst out through the door to chase after the miscreants. Now you all may not know this, but your Auntie enjoys this kind of thing. So keep that in mind next time you break the rules and contemplate running away.'

Ulwynn winked at Auntie and she smiled back.

'She chased them as they aimed to run into the nearby forest. She raised her fist into the air, shook it, then exclaimed, "I'ma gonna catch up to you boys yet!" The boys entered the forest, with Aunt Tildy entering shortly thereafter. The chase continued. She was getting close to them when she tripped over a small boulder, causing her to make a swandive to the ground. She landed hard, winced, then she reached up to her nose and discovered it was bleeding. In fact there was quite an amount of blood all around her head. The boys look back and were very alarmed at what they saw. They began to walk towards Auntie, maybe hoping to help her. At this point from the adjoining trail, the Guards from Haven were seen by the boys. On horseback, they thundered down the trail, after the boys, so it appeared. They became bug-eyed, turned around and ran, their skinny little hinders a pumping away. One of the Guards went over and attended to Auntie. The other Guards eventually caught them of course. They returned with the boys as prisoners much to Aunties' delight. Auntie was brought back to Haven to get some much needed attention from the Healers there. They really didn't mind helping out the lowborn when it was necessary. The boys of course, were brought to the Detention Center on the outskirts of Haven,' here Ulwynn paused for effect, then resumed, 'where they remain to this very day.'

The story appeared to affect the children nicely as they began discussing amongst themselves while nodding and shaking their heads. That the boys were still at the detention center was stretching the truth of course, but both Ulwynn and Auntie always agreed that a little 'white lie' now and then didn't hurt as long as it had a positive effect on the children's behavior and attitudes.

Bard Ulwynn, now having finished his tale and satisfied it had the proper effect, waved at Auntie with a knowing smile. As he turned to go out the door, all the children shouted their good-byes. Then he was gone, someday to come back again.

Aunt Tildy finished the setting up of the dishes as the children were finishing their tidying up as well. She was becoming increasingly worried... She knew they were quite capable, and knew how to find their way home but still...there were the rumours going around now about a malicious band of rogue bandits from the south (nothing like the thieves hired by the Heraldry, they at least had morals and a sense of duty) that were terrorizing the surrounding borderlands. They even at times had strayed further inland. These bandits, it was said, were totally ruthless and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, including indiscriminate murder. She was told that they weren't Karsites though. It also was said they were evilly clever and lucky, and they knew the land very well, thusly being capable of finding the best hiding places. It all started very recently, and The Guards from Haven were investigating but so far nothing had been discovered. Looking out the window again now, she realized that about one candlemark had passed now since suppertime. Still...nothing. If only they would have informed her she wouldn't have fretted so much.

One of the girls had come, along with Mary, a plain yet good looking woman who was one of the assistants from town, to get the dishes cleaned. Aunt Tildy wiped her brow which was sweating not so much from the warmth as it was from her increasing anxiety. She thought about summoning Agister for the second time, cursing herself for not doing so earlier. Surely, about a candlemark and a half or more had passed by now, she thought.

She turned around, deciding to inspect the dining hall when there was a knock upon the front hallway door. She felt as if a bolt of lightning had shot through her and the noise made her heart jump a little. Everyone became very quiet. One of the elder boys went to open the door...and in walked Jewellyn and Fenix! Aunt Tildy stared and gaped at them as if they were ghosts. Jewellyn glanced down at her feet and Fenix could only manage to grin sheepishly. That grin disappeared quickly though because she came storming over and shouted, "Don't you two ever do that to me again, you hear"

"B-but Auntie we didn't"

"I don't care what you thought," she thundered, "who knows what could have happened to you! And here I sit and wonder, imagining all kinds of terrible things happening to you" In the crowd of children were a few of the boys who had dared and teased Fenix. Of course, they were enjoying this show. They could have informed Auntie that they were lagging behind them and perhaps would be home a little later. Tears were streaming down her face now. "Not knowing what I imagined going on with you two was almost more than I could bear!" Couldn't you have told some of your friends to let me know?" Auntie had always said that children didn't really know the true meaning of fear until they had children of their own.

Fenix and Jewellyn were cowed and speechless. "Now I want you two to get to bed and I will think of some proper punishment! And I want you two to write down what you can do for me that shows you truly love me. Now go!" She waved her hand to shoo them off and they went to their beds. Jewellyns' was downstairs and Fenix' bed was upstairs. Auntie told all the children to prepare for bed, and that the evening meeting would be canceled. She was too exhausted. The children were delighted at this news, of course. As the cleaning, washing up, and getting ready for bed was being finished, she went to the front lobby to lay down and rest awhile.