The girl who would wear green

Chaper Five

Not long after this, a new boy joined the class. Right from the start, this boy was interested in Essie. He took every chance he could to try and talk to her, and he too began asking her questions about her family. Even if the questions were more about whether she or her family were ok, it worried Essie. He seemed nice and he even seemed gentle, but he always seemed to be wherever Essie was.
Even when she was playing with Amelia, the new boy was always there, hanging around and trying to talk to her.
He'd told everyone his name was Seb, but Essie knew that his name had to be Sebastian. Same name as her dad. Which was a rather weird coincidence, or was it?
Amelia was curious about his interest in Essie too.
"I think Seb has a crush on you, he's always following you". "I don't think so!" Essie was very definite about that.
He seemed to be more interested in her family and where they lived, and how they were, rather than in just her.
Even when he stood up for Essie when Hallie and her friends had been especially cruel one day, Essie was still not certain about Seb.
When Hallie started saying that Seb was Essie's boyfriend, she didn't know how to stop any of it, because Seb just laughed when he heard Hallie say it.
Essie had begun to spend a lot of her spare time in the library reading up on what history she could find, hoping to learn about Lord Leopold and her grandmother, and to escape the company of Seb.
Essie didn't know how to deal with boys, especially nosey ones.
She found every history book she could and read every detail, hoping to find some mention of her grandmother. She talked to the librarian Sue, and a lot of other people she saw in the library, asking them if they knew anything, especially from the time when Lord Leopold was Regent. Most of them shook their heads and seemed to be reluctant to talk about those times.
Sue would say Hi to Essie as she came in, and direct her to where she could find the information she was looking for. So far there had been no mention at all of her grandmother, and very little about Lord Leopold either, beyond the fact that he was Regent while the king was sick, and that he'd left because of illness.
Essie found one picture of a very ordinary looking man with brown hair and a beard and rather fierce eyes whose caption said it was Lord Leopold, and she studied the picture often.
Sometimes, Amelia came with her and sat and did her homework, or read a book while she waited for Essie. There was something wrong with Amelia, Essie thought, she's unhappy.
Essie thought she'd lost some weight, and she'd been late for school a couple of times too. Amelia would just say quietly that she was ok, and Essie eventually went back to her books, knowing she would get no more answers.
Soon the girls were saying hello or talking to most of the regulars who visited the Library.

There was Sharon and her two little girls, and Essie and Amelia chatted to them often, as well as to an elderly lady who seemed to enjoy reading reference books. There were others, some who were intent on their reading, a few students doing assignments, and one old man in a wheelchair who was rather frightening.
Sharon seemed sad too, and while she had her knitting on her lap, she often sat lost in thought. Her two little dark haired girls were a bit young for school yet, but were very much at home among the books and they played in the Children's section with some of the toys there. Sometimes Sharon read them stories, which they seemed to love.
Essie and Amelia started reading them stories as well, and before long Amelia was spending quite a lot of time playing with the little girls. She seemed to understand their need for someone to take an interest in them, and despite the fact that they were a lot younger, Amelia could often be seen sitting on the floor with the little ones, playing games of make believe, while Essie explored every history book she could find. The little girls both told Amelia that she was their very best friend.
The elderly lady had told the girls to call her Mrs Mel, and she and Essie had begun to talk to more and more. She was Essie's favourite person to talk to in the Library because she seemed quite interested in Essie's quest for knowledge. She often asked how much she was learning about the country and whether she found history more interesting as she learned more about it.
She told stories from long ago as well as the ones that interested Essie most, concerning King Alexander, his sickness, and Lord Leopold, although Mrs Mel didn't want to waste too much time on Lord Leopold.
"Lord Leopold was an evil and greedy man who took advantage of the young King and he is best forgotten now he has gone."
She did talk about how hard the King and the Council had worked after Lord Leopold had left, to make sure there was no more hunger, and to provide more land for housing for the poor.
Once Mrs Mel asked Essie why she always wore green and laughed when Essie explained that it made her feel better.
Mrs Mel was quite old, Essie thought. She had grey hair she kept tied in a tight bun, and her face had fine lines of age, but somehow she didn't seem to be old, just wise. She was interested in everything and always had a welcoming smile for the girls, and both Essie and Amelia felt comfortable talking to her. Even if Mrs Mel's funny round glasses with the gold shaded lenses made her eyes look sleepy sometimes, she still sat up and welcomed them when they came to talk. She sat most days in a comfortable chair with her feet tucked under the chair, and read her books, sometimes using a magnifying glass.
The grumpy old man in the wheelchair was quite different. He seemed to be there every day and Essie and Amelia were a bit scared of him. They passed as far away as they could from his wheelchair when they had to go to the back of the library, and if they looked in his direction, he seemed to be glaring at them as if they had done something wrong, making them look quickly away again.
He never spoke, just looked at them over the top of his glasses, always with a frown on his face, and didn't seem to do much at all, just watch everyone.
Essie thought that maybe he had every right to be grumpy as no one seemed to speak to him, but he still made her feel shivery. Even Sue spoke to him only if she had to.