Thank You, Theodora

Chapter 2

C H A P T E R  2

    As the light drizzling turned into a heavy downpour, Tom knew he had to find shelter. He looked through the torrents of rain streaming from the clouds, unable to find a suitable place to rest. Finally, after walking a near half-mile more, his eyes picked out a tarp spread over some crates in an alley. He made his way over to it and noticed that there were four tarps, sewn together and draped over the boxes to make it like a tent. He lifted a flap and stepped inside, plopping onto the cold hard ground. Two pairs of eyes stared at him. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t think no one would be out here, what with the rain an’ such. I’ll leave ya be then.” Tom made to duck back outside, but a hand wrapped around his arm. “It’s alright. Stay here, it’s much warmer than bein’ out there.” A boy, looking to be a year or two older than Tom, with whitish blonde hair and gray eyes like a storm cloud, stopped him. “Oh, um, are ye sure? Wouldn’t want to intrude.” “Oh yeah, I don’t mind. By the way, I’m Adam. And this here’s my sister, Rosalie.” Adam motioned to the pair of eyes. A girl emerged from the back corner of the makeshift tent. Her coloring was like Adam’s, but her skin looked paler and her face was thin and drawn. She nodded but said nothing. “She doesn’t talk much,” said Adam. “And she be sick, too.” “Say, what’s wrong with her?” inquired Tom. Adam shrugged. “She just lies on her blanket an’ cries.” Tom knew a thing or two about medicine and treating people, as his mum had been a nurse-sort thing over in Ireland before he came to the states. He told Adam and asked to try to help. “By all means,” said Adam. “Couldn’t make her any worse off.” Tom felt her forehead and realized she was burning up. He asked Adam for blankets. Adam pointed to a pile of them sitting on a crate.