𝔒𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔘𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔄 𝔇𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪 | ♛

Part Four

The sun beats down on me and makes me sweat in my starched, full-skirt dress. It's red and white polka-dotted, knee length, with the skirt bolstered by layers of petticoats.

Everyone is on the streets, despite the sweltering heat. Women with similar garb to my own bustle around with baskets, while men in suits follow their wives or stop to talk and flirt with the ladies. Lots of the pavement is taken up by a row of motorcycles, and as I watch a group of young men roll up on their bikes, laughing at a joke one of them just told. I blush and look away as one of them glances at me.

Tall townhouses line the sides of the roads, each balcony featuring a long tub of bright red flowers. 1950s style cars in muted greens and blues trundle down the road, and as I veer towards them someone catches my arm.

"We won't cross here, Evangeline, dear," mother says sternly. "It's not safe."

"Okay," I smile.

We cross further down the road and turn onto the front path of a large, dark grey building. It looms ominously over us, blocking out the 10AM sun and casting a dark shadow over the front garden.

The garden itself is pleasant enough, though; rose bushes grow at the edges and climb over an archway, and a statue pours water from an urn into a pond. The tree sports a swing and the ground has been trampled bare of grass around it.

Mother raps the knocker three times and we wait patiently to be let in.

Finally, the door opens, and a frazzled looking woman with a flowery apron and a toddler on her hip stands in the doorway.

"Gertie!" Mother says happily.

"Petra! Thank god you're here," the woman says in relief. "Come in, come in!"

We walk in and Gertie smiles at me distractedly. "And you must be Eva! I've heard so much about you. The children are upstairs, you can go up if you want."

I glance up through the rickety banister to see several sets of eyes, belonging to several children, stare at me.

"Uh, I think-" I start, but I am interrupted by mother.

"Go on, make some friends," she says kindly. She leans in and gives me a wink. "You need them," she whispers.

"Mother!" I gasp, and we laugh.

"Go have fun," Gertie encourages. "You can all go outside, but make sure you're back by sundown!"

"We won't be any later," a voice behind me confirms.

A buzz goes through me and I glance back to see a blond boy leaning against the door frame. I whip back around and give my mother a wide, pleading look, but she nods obliviously and walks away, into the kitchen.

I turn to face him.

The first thing I notice is his smile. The corners of his mouth curl upwards as he looks at me, his hazel eyes sparkling; a smile to make a Monday feel like a Friday; a smile to turn a schoolful of girls' insides to jelly.

My heart flutters.

"Hi," he says abruptly.

"Uh - hi," I reply awkwardly,

I suddenly remember his name. Caleb. We've been friends for quite a while now. Good friends.

"You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards," I comment impishly.

"As usual," he grins, running a hand over his bed-head, serving only to further muss up his sandy blond locks.

I ruffle his hair as I dance past him. He lunges at me playfully and I squeal, narrowly dodging him and darting up the stairs. Caleb follows, hot on my heels, as I stumble past the other children and run into the bathroom, shutting it behind me and leaning against it.

I love it when he doesn't catch me. For those few precious seconds, I pretend that he's pursuing me emotionally rather than physically, and it's not just me who is the lovestruck puppy that can't seem to dampen her flirting with him.

"Not fair!" Caleb yells from outside. "That's cheating, Eva!"

"No, it's not," I pant, grinning.

"I'll give you three seconds. One..."

I grin, bracing my legs. "Not happening!"

"Two..."

"Na, na, na na-na!"

"Three!"

I topple forwards as he forces the door open, and when he sees me on the floor in a disgruntled heap he laughs and holds out his hand to help me up.

"Oh, shut up," I grumble.

"I didn't say anything?"

"You're thinking too loud."

He lets out a bark of laughter. "Sor-ry!"

"Eva!" someone says excitedly.

I turn around and am knocked backwards by a small girl.

"Hi Bonny," I greet and hug her back. I try to pry her off of me after a few seconds but she holds on tighter.

"Alright squirt, let her go now," Caleb says affectionately.

Bonny lets go of me and gazes up at me with big brown eyes. "Can you come outside with us?"

I look down at my dress, knowing that it will be ruined. "Well..."

"Pleeeaaase?"

I give Caleb an imploring look, but he simply shrugs.

"Okay," I agree.

We sneak out of the orphanage one by one and the little ones skip and tumble out of the back garden ahead of us into a field of lavender. Peals of laughter erupt when we all clear the threshold of the next field and some of the younger children start up a game of tag. Caleb and I follow them with mischievous smiles and with a nod of my head we take off after them, growling and barking, causing them to squeal.

I get a stitch and trail behind, watching Caleb chase the kids. His honey blonde hair shines golden in the sunlight, almost like a halo. I've always had a thing for blonds, and maybe he's at the heart of it - he has a good heart. He does say the wrong thing, sometimes - he's only human, after all - but his realisation afterwards makes me fall for him all the harder, and I feel like I'm digging myself a hole that even a mountain climber couldn't crawl their way out of. It's an inescapable ache that seems to accompany the mere thought of him, all-encompassing, so torturously sweet that it's addicting.

"Caleb?" One of the older kids, Nathan, calls, wrenching me from my thoughts. "There's a hole in the ground over here..."

I exchange a wary glance with Caleb - my heart fluttering at the simple gesture - and jog over to where they are gathering.

"Where? Show us," I say.

Sure enough, there is a sizeable hole in the ground. About a metre across, the bottom is pitch black and obviously very deep.

"We'd better move," says Caleb worriedly. "It's probably not safe."

Suddenly the floor drops from beneath Nathan's feet and he plummets straight downwards with a cry of surprise.

"Nathan!" I cry, and lunge towards the edge.

Caleb grabs the back of my t-shirt and pulls me back. "No! It's too unstable. Everyone walk calmly and slowly away-"

I hear a crack and Caleb shouts in surprise. I whip around to see another hole where he stood.

"Caleb!" I scream, knowing it is too late. "Damnit- Get back!" I order the others, who are shaking where they stand. But even as I speak, little Becca drops like a stone, her shriek of fright shrill in the still summer air.

"Eva, Eva, Eva!" Bonny cries, breaking rank and running straight for me, tears in her wild eyes.

"No Bonny! Stay back! Don't- no!"

I scream loudly, jumping forwards to catch her collar as she falls. Then I'm tumbling down a dark tunnel, slamming into rock and bouncing off of dirt, and finally I land in a crumpled heap at the bottom.