The Seven

Chapter 2

9 stalls down and on her left, Larkin's eyes were caught by the small violin's belly gleaming in the sweltering sunlight, and with beads of sweat erupting from her forehead, she tried her best to look 18 as she casually walked up to the stall. The small paper with three numbers on it next to the instrument made her jump.

The stall was not run by an adult- obviously the parent had left the child in charge for mere moments while they attended to something else. But pure luck had just found Larkin.

Typically, when purchasing anything, one had to swipe their ID card and the cost was taken out of their salary at work. But Larkin did not yet have an ID card, and obviously the child didn't know how much things were worth around here.

Reaching into her pocket, Larkin had rattled around a couple of coins before finding the biggest one she had. Looking at the child warmly, she placed the single coin on the table of the stall. The child's eyes gleamed at the shining coin, seemingly impressed by the sheer size of it. It was, however, the coin worth the least in Môraine. But the child didn't need to know.

Her cerulean eyes glittered at the sight of the coin, and hopefully looked up at Larkin between a cluster of long baby lashes. Short blonde curls cascaded just past her shoulders, and a rusty brown apron covered her dusty white pinafore. Tiny hands picked up the coin as she rolled it around between her stubby fingers, watching it sparkle in the sunshine. Larkin almost felt guilty for a moment as the child placed the coin back on the counter with a grin.

Her heart was beating fast. If the child's parents came back, Larkin would be busted. No violin, and likely a huge punishment and possibly loss of her job. But she pressed on. Sliding the coin back towards the child, she said sweetly, "May I have the violin?" The child looked confused for a moment, before turning around and pointing to a brass trumpet. Larkin tried to squeeze out a kind laugh, but it sounded more like a squeak for she was so anxious. "No, no. This one." Larkin pointed. The child nodded at the violin and tried to grab it, but it was of no use. Even jumping, the child was far too short to reach anywhere near the instrument.

"I can do it," Larkin offered quickly, and the child smiled as Larkin leaned over. Running her hands over the violin, she realized how long she had spent at the stall. Her heart skipped a beat as she snatched it up off of the wall, placed it into a black case, and took the first bow she saw. Snapping the case shut, Larkin almost felt a bit guilty as she pushed the coin toward the child. Turning on her heel, she watched the child smile again, satisfied with her seemingly good bargain, and quickly walked out of the market with a pounding heart.

• • •

Her violin played a drawn-out F as Larkin pulled herself out of the flashback, finishing the song with ease. Her body went slack as she breathed out. A low clap came from her doorframe as she looked up to see her father leaning against it casually. No one had questioned her as to how she got the violin, but her family knew that she loved playing it and that was all they needed to know.

"You never cease to amaze me," her father smiled as he walked up to her. Larkin placed the violin back in its casing and shut it before standing up to meet her father as they pulled each other into a hug.

"Hi Dad," Larkin said to him, her voice muffled as her face fell into his jacket. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, Lark." Her father said. He turned around, looking out of the doorframe as if he could see something. "Your mom's home too, she's in the kitchen cooking dinner. I need to go work on the windows in Ember's room, one of the frames popped out.But I'll see you again when we eat, okay?" He said to Larkin. Even though she was 18, he still felt like he needed to explain everything to her and sometimes spoke to her as if she were 8 rather than 18.