Lineage of Zeal, Book One: Rosemary

Chapter Eight: Innocence of Youth

His eyes. He must have seen a lot.

It was all the little girl with red hair and eyes could think when Miss Amelia introduced this boy to the rest of the orphans living in her miserable hovel. She studied the boy as Miss Amelia led him by the hand to each child and asked them to share their names with him. When it was the girl's turn, she continued staring into the eyes of this new addition to their ramshackle family, until Miss Amelia cleared her throat.

"Oh, uh, hi," said the girl.

"Hello," the boy responded, smiling.

"It's Demitri, right?"

"Yep, Demitri Andreyevich. What's your name?"

"Rosemary. Just Rosemary."

"Just Rosemary, huh. How old are you, Just Rosemary?" Demitri said with a bit of a chuckle.

"No, I mean, it's only Rosemary," said Rosemary, flustered. For the first time since Demitri arrived, she looked away from his pale blue eyes to her own feet, which soon carried her away to the back of the hovel.

Miss Amelia patted Demitri on the head. "Don't worry about her. She tends to keep to herself. I'm surprised she talked to you as long as she did. You'd think she was mute if you were never around to hear the things she says when other kids pick on her just a little too much."

Demitri looked up at his new caretaker. "Why would anyone pick on her?"

Miss Amelia frowned. "Haven't you got eyes in your head? Look at her. She's red. Hair and eyes red like that just aren't natural. The kids here get used to it, but outside, well, she doesn't go outside much anymore."

"Oh. That's sad," Demitri said simply.

"'That's sad'? Is that all you have to say?"

"She needs a friend," he said, nodding.

Miss Amelia sighed. "Sure she does. But she doesn't let anyone get close. Now I'll have to ask you to make yourself at home while I find something for us to eat today."

"Okay." Even as he spoke, Demitri was no longer paying attention to Miss Amelia. His focus was on the little girl in the corner running her fingers through her long red hair in a vain attempt to detangle it all.

"Just don't," Miss Amelia said, but she cut herself short when she noticed the boy's attention was focused elsewhere. "Well, I suppose you'll figure it out for yourself, won't you."

Miss Amelia left, and the boy left soon after, casting one last look at the forlorn girl in the corner before taking to the dirt roads and outlying fields of the small farming village of Ilford.

Rosemary saw little of that boy Demitri in the days following his arrival. In the mornings, he would set out, not to be seen until after supper. Where he went, none of the children knew, and Miss Amelia cared little. If asked, she'd say it was one less mouth to feed, which meant more for everyone else. Rosemary also noticed that even though he was rarely around for food, he grew no thinner. Wherever he went, he ate. Even so, he grew no fatter either, so he wasn't eating any better than the rest of the children.

When Demitri came back from wherever he went, he always looked worn and dejected, like there was something he lost and could not find no matter how many leagues he walked. His actions intrigued Rosemary, but she refused to ask him about it. As long as she kept to herself, nobody said anything. And if nobody said anything, nobody got hurt.

But keeping to herself was only so effective in a single shabby room full with a half dozen children and an aging woman. The time would come when she would have to interact with him, and only then would she ask him what he was always up to.