The Bitter Truth

Chapter 7 ~ Getting settled

 Ronny led Arliss back inside the dormitory, his heart pounding with nervous energy. As they entered the kitchen, Arliss suddenly froze behind him, his gaze fixed intensely on Saija. Something inside him stirred.

The kitchen filled with the sound of the door creaking open and the knife steadily chopping. Ronny, preoccupied with getting the door, didn't immediately realize Arliss's sudden stillness.

When he finally turned to check on him, he was met with a look of utter shock on his friend's face, a mystery he couldn't unravel.

"Ya okay?" Ronny asked, his voice tinged with concern, trying to snap Arliss out of his strange state.

Arliss blinked a few times, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere, remaining unresponsive.

"Arliss?" Ronny prodded.

"Huh?" Arliss finally managed, his voice distant and distracted. He gulped awkwardly and slowly went back to trailing inside.

Ronny looked to Klaus, asking, "She behave for ya?"

"Quiet as a mouse, that wee one," Klaus nodded, standing over the pot, steam obscuring his face.

Ronny let out a weary sigh and made his way over to where Saija was meticulously still slicing vegetables with surprising skill. It was evident that this wasn't her first time doing this task. He even observed her being particularly cautious, ensuring she trimmed as little as possible to preserve as much of the carrot as she could.

"Saija," he said softly, gaining her attention, well, as little of it as he could. "This here's Arliss. He been lookin' after me since our Pa went missin', and now he gonna help look after ya. I need ya to treat him with respect, ya hear?"

Saija nodded, flashing her eyes to Arliss, looking him up and down, and then straight back to the carrots.

Arliss cleared his throat and offered his hand, speaking in a raspy voice, "How ya do youngin'?"

She placed the knife down and only grasped two of his fingers, giving a relatively quick shake and curt head bob, then resumed her task.

Ronny shook his head and rolled his eyes, "For some reason, I can't get her to talk but nothin'."

"She's probably scared, sonny..." Arliss answered softly without taking his eyes off of her.

"Ya right..." Ronny agreed, starting to pace back and forth; his mind was suddenly overwhelmed as reality struck him. "Man, how imma feed her? Where she gonna sleep?! How am I posed to keep an eye on her and work?"

Klaus waddled over from the cooking pot, a bag of loaves in his arms. He set the bag down near Saija and scooped up the carrots she had cut.

"She could help Marcus with scoopin'; that ain't too hard work, and you'll be close by. And then me with da cookin' earning her meals," he suggested, making his way back to dump the carrots in the stew.

Arliss finally broke his gaze off Saija and seemed to agree with that idea as he cast Ronny a nod.

"Still gotta sleep somewhere," Ronny exclaimed, throwing his hands frustratedly in the air and then smacking them down on his thighs.

The three men pondered while Klaus ladled a portion of stew into a bowl, tore off a piece of bread, and handed it to Saija. She eagerly accepted it, hunching over the bowl protectively as she devoured every bite.

"How imma pay for that?" Ronny asked, slouching his shoulders.

"She cut carrots. It's okay this time," Klaus answered with a wink and headed to open the interior window shutter. On the other side, the group of hungry miners were awaiting their meal.