"Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old."

Anne Frank

III

THE BOY WHO ADMIRED A GIRL

He deeply admired her. He'd always had.

Even to this day he could perfectly remember the time he'd first seen her, when his parents went with him to meet their new employer, the Earl of Orange, dweller of the Saint Gloriana Manor, in the outskirts of the Welsh town of Neath. That was when David first locked his eyes onto hers. While their respective parents discussed work the two children glared angrily at each other, unaware that in fact they were both too shy to start a conversation.

Although young, David also had to work on the fields around Saint Gloriana, trying to make some extra pence to help his parents in that period of extreme inflation and unemployment. The events that transpired in the other side of the Atlantic and brought famine, misery, and extremist ideologies to the world were something he couldn't really comprehended. But he suffered its effects nonetheless, as he bruised his hands and feet plowing the fields or collecting the tea leaves that still represented so much of the House of Orange's business and culture.

It had been a surprise for David and his family to find out that since the first Earl, back in the Age of Sail, had made a fortune importing tea from all over the world, the family, and even the servants, had developed the tradition of naming the girls accordingly to types of tea. That young lady that had caught the boy's attention was called Darjeeling, and many times had David noticed her piercing blue eyes looking down at him from the balconies of the manor, her golden hair waving at the wind.

He didn't like it one bit. David never liked to be looked upon, and the implied haughtiness of the whole noble family who employed him, his parents, and good part of the people living in the surroundings, was something he had great difficulty dealing with.

Later that year David got in his first fight with his best friend, Alvin. The boys had been working all day and had a disagreement. David couldn't remember why anymore, but it became pretty vicious, and it took one of the house servants to separate them.

By then they had already gathered a hefty crowd with their ruckus. Two of the girls who were watching the fray moved in to tend to the two boys' wounds. David actually knew the girl who went to help him. The cute redhead was the daughter of one of the servants and was called Pekoe. Although at the time he was too furious to acknowledge it, the fact that he she went directly for him, and started cleaning the blood in the corner of his mouth with a wet towel, left a warm impression in his heart, which would only grow with time.

Meanwhile the older daughter of the Earl of Orange also joined the crowd and looked at the sad spectacle with surprise and discontentment. Her glance quickly locked onto David.

"What is this?" Darjeeling spoke in a soft voice, but her disappointment was patent, "I did expect more from you."

Now, the boy couldn't actually understand what her point was exactly, but he didn't liked how smug the expression sounded to his ears. He shook Pekoe away and opened his arms, oblivious to the pain in his face.

"And what's that supposed to mean? You're just a kid like us!"

His words actually managed to hurt her. The beautiful blonde girl stood there for a moment, glaring at him, while he returned the look.

"Come with me." She said, immediately turning back and starting to walk out of the barn. All the kids stood there confused for a moment, before David got up and followed the girl, leaving all the others dumbfounded with what had just happened.

The boy was quick in catching up to her. Darjeeling didn't even try to look at him, instead navigating her way into the manor, chin raised and hands behind her back.

"What is this all about?" David queried.

"You'll see. Just guarantee you don't splatter blood all over the carpet, will you?"

David took a hand to his face, checking if he wasn't dripping blood, and finding there were no leaks of notice. In silence he followed the girl to the first floor, up the main staircase, surrounded by paintings and items from distant lands, relics from the old merchant tradition of the House of Orange.

Finally the girl led the boy to a rather small cabinet, accessed by a lavishly furnished corridor. Surprisingly enough, the cabinet itself presented a rather Spartan furniture, although of top quality: a secretary, several bookshelves, a carpet, three chairs, and some jugs with flowers near the window in the farthest wall. Darjeeling sat in one of the chairs, which was turned at David. The boy was now standing in the middle of the room, his look ever so inquisitive.

"Do you happen know the story of the scorpion and the toad?" She asked without preambles.

Again, David felt infuriated with what he assumed to be arrogance. Even so he decided to resign himself to the situation.

"I fear I do not."

"Oh, what a shame." She joined her hands in front of her face, seeming like if she was praying. Her eyes, though, were solely focused on the boy in front of her. "So, one day, a scorpion wanted to cross a stream, but he knew he couldn't swim. He went up and down the shoreline to find a solution to his predicament, be he couldn't find a single thing, not a piece of wood, not a water lily, nothing. Then he found the toad, who was taking a sunbath in the shore."

Darjeeling made a pause at that point, for a moment closing her eyes, a slight grin appearing on her face as David observed her, completely baffled by her words. Then the girl opened her eyes, this time focusing in infinity.

"The scorpion asked the toad if he could ferry him to the other side of the stream because he needed it so much but couldn't swim himself. After some deliberation the toad said that although he was inclined to help, he was afraid that the scorpion would sting him in the back during the crossing. 'If you sting me', he said, 'we will both die'. The scorpion promised he would never do such a thing, because it was so important for him to go to the other side. The toad then decided to help him, and told the scorpion to jump to his back."

"And so the toad swam across the stream. But, when they were halfway through, the scorpion suddenly stung the toad in the back. 'Why did you do that?', the toad asked, 'Now we both will die.' Conformed, the scorpion replied, 'I'm so sorry, my friend, but it's my nature.' And they drowned."

Having finally finished her story, Darjeeling returned her attention to the boy there with her. By this point the young David had already cocked his head, unable to form any meaningful thought about what she'd just said. He stood there like that for a couple seconds, his mouth wide open as he tried to find the words to express himself.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

The girl shrugged. "My mother told me that all people have their own single nature, and that many struggle to become what their heart really tells them to. You see, life is such a precious thing. It can go away in an instant." Darjeeling raised an index finger. "And I think you can do something better than simply working in the lands and beating up your friends."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

David gave a step forward, Darjeeling remaining as impassive as he'd expected.

"Then let me tell you this: I might be just a poor kid now, but I will make something else with my life, see? Be part of something important."

"I know."

Silence fell as mantle over the room. But it wasn't uncomfortable, quite the contrary. David enjoyed the opportunity to be alone with his thoughts for an instant. He was young, and still couldn't comprehend many things about the world, but facing that girl, who certainly had the same issues as he did, regardless of her collection of books and evident intelligence, made him think far into the future, into a time where he would be double his current age and beyond.

"You should educate yourself," Darjeeling said, finally breaking the silence, her voice little more than a whisper as she fought with her own understanding of the ideas taught her by her mother, "so you could use the qualities you have and fulfill those dreams of yours. After all, one should learn how to live his life to the fullest."

"Lady…" Again, David found himself unable to find any proper reply. And even more when she looked away, her expression almost sheepish for a change.

"Furthermore… It kind of gets lonely when I'm here reading all by myself. Would you," she looked at him once again, "would you come by to read with me? When you have the time, that is?"

David's jaw had dropped far too many times by this point for him to care to count. It did made recovery swifter, though.

"Huh… It wouldn't hurt, I guess."

She got up and got closer to him, her face now beaming.

"Brilliant!" Darjeeling extended a hand. "Friends?"

Yes, David was young, and yes, he was unaware of many of the realities of the world. But Darjeeling was right about him in one regard. He was smart, really smart. In spite of the girl's almost constant smirk and her confident posture, she did feel alone. His mind went through some hints he'd seen during the year, the way her sister seemed more disconnected from reality than her, the sad look of her mother and how her conversations with Darjeeling seemed to extend that sadness to the girl, the distancing of her father, always working in the family's business and political connections.

She needed a friend, that's why she tried to approach the servant's kids, and why she wanted to talk to him once she realized they had some similarities, only needing a good excuse to do so. And what could he lose with it? Having the company of a pretty girl, and be the friend she so desperately needed? And even educating himself in the process, maybe finding what he could do to fulfill his own ego?

No, there was nothing to lose there. So he shook her hand, a large smirk spreading across his face.

"Friends!"

Those were happy memories, from another time, distant in the misty past. As he approached the command tent in that April 15, 1945, Captain David Blake allowed them to fade away, back to the special place in his heart where they rested most of the time, until he needed them to remember that he was more than just a soldier.

For now, he had to return to the present, to the job at hand. In the base around him the American troops were already moving back and forth, stirred by whatever happened earlier than morning. The day hadn't yet started and something was already up. Unconsciously, David allowed a slight grin to twist his lips while he entered the command tent.

His mind was already working in guessing what the Jerry could be up to.