Dancing With A God

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

5th of July 2020

As the three friends walked back toward the orphanage, Rose stopped suddenly, pulling with her Quinn's arm she was holding and leaning on.

"I forgot !" She claimed with a faint horror on her face. "Quinn, Miss Marsh is waiting for you !" She said, pushing away the girl with a frown on her face.

Quinn walked rather quickly to the main office, not as much fearing the anger of the woman. Amanda was well known for dealing problems with gentleness and softeners. Not many could tell that they have seen her get angry, especially towards a child.

But Quinn slowed down when she saw a crying Sebastien, crouched on his knees in a corner, his face hidden behind his arms. Gasping, she rushed to him and took the boy in her arms, stroking his head and pushing away his black bangs from his eyes.

"Shh." She murmured in his ears, trying to dry his tears. " Hush my darling boy. Calm down and tell what's happening in your sweet little head."

"I - " He tried to explain in between his rolling tears and his nose running. "I slept about mummy !" He finally managed to say, pulling away his soaked face from his arms and hiding it in the neck of the girl.

Quinn held him even tighter, trying to take away the sadness from his heart.

"Honey . . ." She tried to say but was cut by the boy in her arms.

"I saw the water and it took her and she was smiling and -" The boy scoffed and cough and sobbed, unable to finish his sentence as he drowned in his own tears.

And Quinn understood how much pain was hidden in his heart. How desperate he was to find a new mommy. To forget the way the first one died. Quinn saw all that in the cries of the boys as she related to it.

"Seby . . ." She said softly, taking his soaked face in her cupped shape hands. "Your mommy doesn't like to see you so sad, remember ?"

And like magic, the boy looked up in her eyes, his tears stopping. Quinn smiled faintly, kissing him lightly on the forehead before resting her chin on his black locks and her hands sliding to his fragile waist. Knowing that the child wouldn't want to leave her after waking up from a night terror, she took him with a grunt in her arms, rising up and, with a peck on his freckled noise, they went on.

***

"Miss." Greeted Quinn with a respectful nod, coming inside the room with Sebastien in her arms.

"Oh my dear !" Said Amanda, surprise to see her surrogate daughter followed by her surrogate son, taking off her reading glasses and putting back on her tidy desk a paper. "You are late."

"Forgive me." She uttered, bowing her head from shame before looking up again.

"Sit." Instructed the woman, pointing with a hand the empty chair. "And you might want to let go of Sebastien." She smiled fondly glad to see that her two children were so close.

Quinn did that, putting the young boy on her lap. She kissed him on his head, making the child giggle, before asking with a frown : "What did you want to tell me Miss ?"

The smile was replaced with a gloomy look and Amanda drawled slowly : "It hasn't been long you were allowed to exit the infirmary. How is your spine feeling ?"

"Better." Respond the girl, confused.

"Good. But I didn't not ask you to come to inquire myself of your health. As you have seen, Hayley isn't in the orphanage yet."

"I've seen that. But I know as well how I fell from the window." Started with a frown Quinn holding tighter the boy as she felt tears of betrayal ready to fall from her eyes.

"Blue men took her !" Gleamed Sebastien, struggling to get out of the strong grip the girl had on him. "And they put black circles on her wrist !"

Amanda smiled faintly at the excitement of the child, saddened to realise how innocent he was despite being an orphan. She sighed before taking on : "Hayley pushed you, you seemingly died but, in a miracle, you came back to life. The hospital said it would be fine if you came back to the orphanage so the others could take care of you while you were recovered. But Hayley was taken away to the court to be judged for her crime."

Quinn gasped at the story, not believing that her childhood friend had done that.

"Why ?" She scoffed, her tears pickling her eyes.

Miss Marsh sighted and Sebastien, quiet on the laps of his surrogate mother, saw the wrinkles on her face. He saw how old she was and how much she was giving away for them all, in the orphanage.

"Hayley had a difficult life before coming here. Her background is dark and difficult, even though I don't know what truly happened. But I can still tell you that she had been sold by her parents at a young age." The woman stopped a moment, letting her pupil understand her words before she continued : "People I talked too, after she was sent to another place, told that she felt bitter of what had happened and that she felt jealousy over you, Quinn."

"Over me ?" She was genuinely startled. She never trusted that she had something to be jealous over.

"Oh my dear sweetheart." Said softly Miss March, resting two warm hands on the cheek of the girl. "You have way more than you could ever imagine. You are stunning indeed with those auburn hair of yours and those black beauties that are your eyes. And you have seen more than the others will see, I am sure of that."

Quinn couldn't speak. She was left mouthless after what was said and her arms held instinctively the little boy who this time didn't try to struggle away. The girl had always believed that Rose was the beauty of the orphanage. She couldn't think that she had something to feel proud about herself. She felt too old to be young and too young to be old.

"Mummy is pretty !" Suddenly intervened Sebastien with a grin and Quinn smiled fondly as she stroked his hair softly.

"I am sure of that darling." Said Miss March, pulling away her hands to her lap. "Your mother was surely beautiful if you got that face of yours from her."

"No ! Mummy is pretty ! " He insisted and both girls understood what he meant.

"Is Quinn your mummy ?" Cautiously asked Miss March and when he nodded quite vigorously, she was amazed that such a strong bond existed between two orphans who were linked by nothing.

"Mummy is mummy !" He said, turning around and wrapping his arms around the surprised young girl of nineteen. A moment later, she rested her chin on his head and said softly : "And you are my darling son."

And both were sent out of the office by Amanda, their hands in their hands and when the door closed behind them, the woman stopped smiling and a grim glare haunted her look.

There is more behind that relationship,

And Wellbone isn't telling everything.