The Courage That It Takes To Live

Chapter 2/ The boy, the orphanage, and the Barn

When I realized Angie was still in the middle of the street I ran to save her but as I was about to jump into the road another boy about my age jumped into the road to save Angie. He quickly pulled her to the other side of the road. He then crossed the street to where I was standing,

"Is this one yours" He questioned me?

"Yes thank you, how can I repay you for your heroic act" I asked?

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again and stay safe, living on the streets can be dangerous. Why are you out here by yourselves anyways" he queried

" Our mother kicked us out of the house and told me that I am to work as a maid at Ms. Pearls orphanage" I said

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that" he expressed through a sadden voice

"Do you live around here" I asked

"yeah, I live right over there" he said as he pointed to and old barn in a Small corner. Oh and I'm Jack by the way" he said

"Nice to meet you, well we best get going oh and thank you again for saving Angie" I said,

"Your welcome." As we were walking away I looked back at him again and realized I was blushing, he had beautiful blue eyes, black hair, and white skin.

We arrived at the orphanage, I walked up the steps to the door and knocked. After a few moments a maid came to the door and opened it "Yes?" The maid said

"How do you do, I'm Mary Willers daughter. I was wondering if I could speak to the head mistress, Ms. Pearl?"

"Yes of course, why don't you come inside while I go fetch her"

"Alright thank you" I said. My siblings and I went inside I made sure none of us were tracking dirt inside. We all sat down on one of the benches and waited quietly for the maid to return with Ms. Pearl. A few minutes passed and then Ms. Pearl came walking down the stairs. I stood up but signaled my siblings to stay seated

"How do you do" Ms. Pearl asked

"Good and you?" I responded

"I'm fine thank you, what can I help you with today?"

"My mother kicked me out of the house and told me I was to work here as a servant" I explained

"Ah yes, your mother must be Ms.. Willers, I do have a position open but sadly I won't be able to provide you with food or a place to sleep unfortunately, we just have to many mouths to feed already" said Ms. Pearl

"I understand I'll figure it out, may I start work tomorrow?" I asked

"Yes you may! I love an employee who is eager to start!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"Much obliged." I said.

Then me and my siblings left the building and went back on the streets. I was so worried, what was I to do? I had no money, no food, no house. Then an idea popped into my head, I wonder if the boy who saved Angie earlier would allow us to stay with him. I really didn't want to invite myself in but what else was I to do. After all both Ben and I would be working and getting money and I'm sure he had a job too. I finally made up my mind to do it, I started looking around to find him. I saw him in the distance about to head off to work. I ran over to him and told my siblings to follow.

"Hi again" I said

"Hi, can I help you?" He asked with a mischievous smile

"Ben take your siblings over there for a minute please" I instructed

"I was wondering if my siblings and I could possibly live with you in your barn, I understand if you say no but just think about it, I would be working and so would my brother Ben so we would be providing money" I explained desperately. He paused for a moment and I could tell he was thinking hard about his decision.

"I guess I am quite lonely living by myself and all, and you're right with three of us working we might just be able to provide money for food and other stuff, yes I'd be more than happy to have you and your siblings live with me." He said with a smile

"Thank you, thank you, thank you" I said cheerfully.

"No problem, well I best get going to work now, you guys can get yourselves settled in the barn I'll be back by night time" he said

" We will and thank you once again for letting us stay with you, much obliged" I said.

He nodded his head and went off to work. I walked back over to my siblings and explained how Jack is letting us stay with him. "You mean the boy who saved me" Angie said "Yup, so let's not be to much of a burden for him, c'mon let's get ourselves settled in the barn. We walked over to the barn and opened the door. Inside the barn it didn't look much like a barn at all it looked like a warm and cozy little house with a loft. We walked in and took off our coats "Now since the nice boy is letting us stay here let's do him a favor by fixing it up for him, Angie and Eliza you'll help me with the kitchen and then Ben you and John go out of town and into the forest to hunt for supper." "Yes ma'am" they all said at once! Everyone started working right away, the boys found bows and arrows and headed out to hunt. "Angie why don't you sweep and then Eliza you can mop, and I'll do the dishes. They nodded there heads and got to work, as we were working we started singing Yankee Doodle

Father and I
Went down to camp
Along with captain good 'in
And there we saw saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pud'in
Yankee Doodle keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy

It was a song in which we all knew very well because mother would always sing it to us while doing chores. I still wasn't over the fact that she kicked us out, I sighed and shook my head to forget about the sad memory.

An hour passed and we were all done cleaning. We swept, mopped, did the dishes, made the beds, and washed the windows. The boys came back with a deer, I was very proud of them. They skinned the deer for me and I made a stew with it along with some bread I had found in the cupboard. Tim set the table and I put out a bowl of stew for everyone. Then the door opened and Jack came inside, his eyes wide with surprise.

"You made dinner?" He asked

"Of course, why don't you wash up real quick and then sit down and eat" I said. He washed his hands and sat down with everyone.

"Shall we pray before we eat?" He asked

"yes of course" I said. Everyone bowed there heads and he said grace

"Dear Lord thank you for bringing this beautiful family into my life and giving us the food you have provided us with, I pray that we all stay safe and no one gets sick, and I pray that the ones who are less fortunate than us are safe, amen" he said

"Amen" everyone said.

After dinner I washed all the dishes and everyone got ready for bed. I tucked in all the little ones and gave them a kiss goodnight. We only made 4 beds so Eliza and Angie shared one, Ben and John, and then Tim slept by himself but that was because he still needed to sleep in a little kid bed. I soon came to realize that the only spot that I could sleep was right next to Jack. There was nothing wrong with that but I took somewhat of a liking to him so it would be a bit weird but it would be better than sleeping on the floor. I layed down aside him and right as I was about to fall asleep I felt him move closer but I did nothing about it, smiled and without hurry fell asleep.