Chapter 5- information overload
By the time they'd got to the dining room the majority of children had seated themselves along the long table. Matt Wheeler was seated down one end with Bill , Simon and Sister Agnes near him, Trixie, Honey and the others sat by Lee, Kelly and Hope. Sister Agnes led them in a prayer then invited them to eat from an array of food . The Bob Whites let the children take their fill before helping themselves to any of the food. Trixie was impressed that even Mart held back and waited though he was obviously hungry because she could hear his stomach grumbling. Matt looked over at the 12 children, "is this all you have at the moment sister", he asked. "Yes indeed Mr Wheeler and most of these will be going to permanent homes soon, for Christmas day there will only be Kelly, Lee and Hope ". However next year there will be a new batch, there always is", she reflected sadly. "Are they all orphans" ,Matt Wheeler asked softly ensuring the children could not hear him. "In some cases we do not know who their parents are", Sister Agnes told him," in others they have parents unable for varying reasons to care for them and then there are those who we know are orphans", she concluded.
Matt soberly absorbed that. Trixie wanted to ask about the benefactor so waited for Mr Wheeler to finish then jumped right in, "Sister Agnes is there any clue about who supplied you with all that money. My father works in a bank so I know you need identification to open an account, "she stated. Sister Agnes nodded, "yes that is true Beatrix", she answered," but in this case it does not help us. The benefactor used a lawyer to deposit the money for him, and before you ask, did not reveal a name to that lawyer."But we do know the benefactor is a man", she concluded. "We have also gone through all our own financial records but cannot find anything revealing the man's name."
"How long have you had the money Sister", Trixie asked. "It is about 15 years now Beatrix," she told Trixie noticing the way the teen cringed every time her full name was used.
"There must be a clue somewhere", Trixie muttered. Sister Agnes smiled, "we haven't gone through our log books or diaries", she stated. "Why not", Matt asked. "Just because of the amount of information, it'd probably take months to read every entry and even then a lot of the information was just normal and mundane", the sister replied. "What about your memories from that time, did you hear any rumours about a possible identity of the benefactor", Brian asked. "All we got was a phone call telling us 15 million dollars had been deposited into our account. Nobody was told anything more. It was at that time an answer to prayer because things were difficult", the sister concluded. "Well we may try going through those log books and diaries anyway, you never know", Trixie stated firmly.
"Of course Bea…dear", Sister Agnes amended her address. She rose from the table ,"right clean up everyone". With good natured grumbling the children set about tidying away the remnants of dinner, "can we help", Jim asked. Sister Agnes shook her head, "it is their job", she smiled at Jim, "plus I'm hoping that you will help provide us some entertainment tonight", she looked hopefully at them, "we don't have a television here so usually play games or sing after dinner."
"I'm sure we can manage something", Jim told her. He beckoned the others forward and they got into a huddle to discuss what they could do to entertain the orphans.
Simon went outside followed by a curious Bill. He found his brother in law jumping up and down on the icy ground, "what on earth are you doing", he asked. Simon bent down to brush off surface snow, "there's ice down here and I'm just testing whether it's strong enough for skating, that about the only entertainment I can offer." I suppose I could sing with the Bob Whites", Bill mused. Simon shook his head, "we don't want to torture the children", he muttered. "What did you say:, Bill put his hands on his hips and looked rather sternly at Simon. "Well I think Jupiter heard you singing Rudolf the red nosed reindeer and that's why he refused to come into the stables", Simon retorted. Bill looked peeved for a minute then laughed , "I suppose you could be right", he admitted. "Of course I'm right, that's a big brothers job", Simon teased with a smile. A warm feeling travelled through Bill, "a big brother", he queried, "I do consider you like a little brother, Simon sighed, 'after all if things had been different you would have been". Now Bill felt a stab of pain as he reflected upon what Timothy's Mangans campaign of violence against the Saunders had cost him. '"I guess I can put up with a bit of teasing", he decided as he shook off the feeling of gloom.
They returned inside where a young nun called Sister Mary was playing a guitar. The Bob whites began to sing 'jingle bells''with the majority of the orphans all huddled together with their eyes bright with joy. "Those three seem to be by themselves,Simon pointed to Kelly, Hope and Lee, "lets go and sit with them. He and Bill went and sat beside the three orphans. Within moments little Hope and crawled over onto Simon's lap. He made no protest just reaching down to touch her soft curling red gold hair. She was almost like a little Patty and the comparison made his heart yearn for his dead wife. He was glad that the Bob Whites sweet singing seemed to bring tears to others eyes as at least no body would comment on the moisture that rolled from his own.
Soon the Bob whites throats ached from singing and Sister Mary put down the guitar. 'I think it's your turn now", Sister Agnes told Simon. Making sure all the children were bundled up warmly Simon led the way outside. He put on his skates did a simple warm up then launched into the routine that had won him a gold medal.
Bill admitted to himself that he never would understand staking but he knew that Simon was extremely good at the sport. He heard a sharp intake of breath as the orphan known as Lee gasped as Simon leapt up off the ice and spun in a circle in the air.
When Simon finally skated to a stop all of the orphans applauded for several minutes. Sister Agnes moved forward and soundly hugged Simon, "you are still spectacular", she told him.
Pulling back after the hug the sister clapped her hands together firmly, "bed time now", she announced. The response was several moments of grumbling but the orphans all slowly obeyed.
Once they had all gone to the dormitories Trixie asked Sister Agnes, "could we have some of those log books to look over."
The nun told them all to follow her leading the way to a small room containing several rows of filing cabinets. On a desk were large piles of folders and books. 'How much of that do we need to look at", Jim asked. "That is all the information just from the one year when the donation was made, if you want to look at other files I'll have to get them out of storage".
Trixie gasped as she looked at the huge piles. The task before her suddenly seemed to be moving from difficult to near impossible.
"Tomorrow I'll go and talk to Mr Dalton and see what I can do", Matt Wheeler offered. After being involved in the nights entertainment he was beginning to see something special about the home, it had a family atmosphere of warmth and love.
"Thank you", Sister Agnes acknowledged. "Well I still want to find this benefactor", Trixie told her, "but we might just need to find another way."
Feeling disheartened the Bob whites made their way to their dormitories.
Bill and Simon also walked back slowly, "It was a great evening but seeing all those records made it end on a sour note", Bill moaned. "I know what you mean, Sister Agnes had worked hard for many years to keep this place open, to have it close now is unthinkable", Simon responded. "we just have to find a way", perhaps some idea will come to me in the night", Bill reflected.
Hours later when Bill was asleep and snoring loudly Simon decided that the only thing that came to him was noise. Deciding to go for a walk he bundled himself in thick clothing and went out into the darkness. He stood puzzled as he saw a dim light coming from the games room. Gingerly making his way toward the building Simon softly opened the door.
He stood looking at what the pale light revealed, one of the orphans was dancing, a long winter weight gown flared out as she moved. Simon stood silently watching and reflecting that the girl had talent. When he shifted weight on his legs and a floor board loudly creaked the girl stopped and turned toward him. Simon let out a gasp as he realized who it was, Lee the orphan they'd all assumed was a boy. "That was lovely", Simon told her as the girl looked startled and afraid. "Sister Joan says dancing is useless and won't get me anywhere", Lee told him sadly as she watched him warily. "But I still like to come here and dance". "You know many people told me the same thing about skating, but most had to eat their words when I won a gold medal. I 've been coaching people to dance on ice for several years and know when someone has talent. You do", he smiled at the girl.
Lee answering smile lit up her face and her body visibly relaxed. "Why do you pretend to be a boy", Simon asked curiously. The girl sat down on the floor, "I guess because boys seem to get adopted easier", she told him. 'I've been here about 4 years now and most of the children who came at the same time as me got parents, the only reason I can think that they didn't choose me was I'm a girl. So I cut my hair and wore baggy clothing but it hasn't changed anything", she remarked sadly. Simon felt for the young girl, " I know people who'd be willing to audition you if you decided on a career in dancing", he told her hoping to cheer her up. "You are so nice", she told him, "but dancing won't pay the bills I'll have when I move out of here and support myself". I'll never get adopted now, so that's the future I have to face", she said it with a reality that stabbed Simon straight through the heart. He'd had supportive parents who had spent a lot of money on his skating, without that financial support he knew he might have had to choose a different career path. "I'd find you a sponsor", he offered without really thinking through his words. Lee's eyes widened and she was quiet for several minutes, "I'd still have to find a profession that'd support my dancing. ", she concluded sadly.
Slowly walking over to him, she surprised him by giving him a brief hug. "Nobody has ever been this nice to me before" ,she told him, 'thank you". She had been given a moment of believing her dream was possible before cold reality snapped it away. "I think I'll go to bed now", she concluded softly
"Good night Lee", Simon . The girl walked a few steps away then turned to look back at him, "my full name is Alena", she told him. Simon watched her go wishing her could think of someway to make dream become a reality. It was hard listening to such a young woman believe that she could not do something she loved. He walked back through falling snowflakes and found himself singing, "to dream the impossible dream".
