The Orphans of Main Street Home for Girls: Part #3

 

The next morning, after a sleepless night, Molly rose before everyone else to venture up into the attic. The attic looked exactly like her grandparents' attic - it was the last place Molly had been before her life had turned into a confusing mess.

Slowly, Molly climbed the attic stairs, being careful to only touch each stair with a light footstep so that nothing creaked or made a noise. None of the orphans were allowed out of their rooms until about 6:15, and it was only about 5:45. She would've gotten in trouble for sure.

Molly knelt at the fireplace and looked closely at the burnt up wood and ashes that surrounded the wood inside. She looked at all of the fireplace's details and the attic's details as well. This was her grandparents attic. There was no mistaking it! So if it was her grandparent's attic, then that meant that the house had to be her grandparents' house, only, her grandparents did not own it yet, because somehow the year was 1935.

Molly grabbed onto the fireplace and cried. "I want to go home," Molly sobbed. "This isn't my home, this isn't my life, and I am not from 1935!"

Molly was then grabbed from behind. "Ahh!" She screamed out.

"Oh my goodness, Molly! Shut up!" Charlotte pulled Molly off the ground and out of the sad little shape she had curled up in as she cried.

Molly began to wipe away her tears, and she sighed, "Charlotte, I thought you might have been Ms. Coolidge. Thankfully it is only you!"

"You're lucky I am not Ms. Coolidge, Molly. What were you doing up here crying - and this early in the morning too? I had to risk getting in trouble to come up here to see what in the world all of this wailing racket was!"

"Charlotte, I know I am going to sound positively crazy, but this attic is my grandparents attic - it doesn't just look like their attic, it is their attic. But somehow, I time traveled to 1935 and my grandparents just haven't bought this house yet. I must've time traveled in my grandparents attic."

 

"Molly, you sound so ridiculous! You had better stop all of your wild stories and antics or Ms. Coolidge will probably ship you off to an asylum or some sort of home like that. Now, I know that you miss your parents and your old life, but you are taking this much too far. There is no such thing as time travel, and I do not want to hear anymore about it!"

"But Charlotte-" Molly cried, but her sentence was cut off, because Charlotte tightened her grip on Molly's shoulder and flung her against the wall. Molly's back hit the wall with a deep thud and Charlotte cornered in on Molly.

She stared Molly in the eye, and for the first time, Molly was scared of Charlotte's beautiful, unique green eyes. The eyes danced with anger and warning. "I am sorry that I had to do that, Molly, but you must be quiet. I understand if you want to create stories to pass the time - but don't bother any of us with those stories and don't go venturing off and breaking the rules, because if one person does something, sometimes Ms. Coolidge punishes all of us. None of us take too kindly to those who get all of us in trouble."

"I thought we were friends," Molly replied, her voice shaking a little bit. Molly didn't like the way that Charlotte had said that none of the orphans took to kindly to those who got them all in trouble. Charlotte had added a little extra tone to the words - a tone full of horror and coldness. Molly hated to admit it, but Charlotte was very intimidating at times. "I thought friends could tell each other everything - even if it seemed a little ridiculous."

"We all try to be friends here Molly, but you are just so caught up in your own little world that you make it hard. We all want to be here for you, but you are taking it too far with all of your ideas about 'time travel' and this not really being your life. We want to be friends with you, but friends also help each other, and you aren't going to be very helpful if you get all of us in trouble."

   Molly just nodded. "I am sorry, Charlotte. I'll stop talking about all of it, and I won't go out of the bedrooms before wake-up-time ever again."

Charlotte just nodded and patted Molly lightly on the hand; her green eyes returning to normal with their usual spunky and inquisitive glow.

Down in the kitchen areas, Molly grabbed a small plate of breakfast, which consisted of one biscuit and a little grey ball of mush that Molly supposed could've been thought of as a variety of butter - a dusty, moldy variety.

She took a few bites of the nearly inedible biscuit and scraped the molded butter off to the side of the plate. As Molly left the kitchen to begin her daily chores, she bumped into Sam - the girl who stole her glasses!"

Sam blocked her way, so Molly could not exit the kitchen. "Excuse me, but I am trying to get by - I must begin my chores," Molly informed Sam coolly.

"I know, and I can tell that you are very upset with me for having stolen your glasses," Sam replied in a serious, yet not mean tone.

Molly frowned, "Yes, I am. Do you think I am wrong to be angry?"

"No, I don't," Sam shook her head, "That is why I came to talk to you."

"You came to talk to me?" Molly asked.

"Why else would I be blocking the doorway to the kitchen?" Samantha rolled her eyes. "I know you are probably going to buy your glasses back on Wednesday when I come by to auction off the goods. But, I want to make you another offer. You see, I really need glasses but Ms. Coolidge doesn't believe me. I tried your glasses on and they seem to be a perfect fit. I can even see better! I would like to keep them - I would give you something special, free of charge, in return of course."

 

"I really need my glasses, Samantha, but thank you for the offer," Molly couldn't believe that Samantha was suggesting that she give up her glasses. Samantha was a big bully and Molly would never dream of helping her! But Molly couldn't help her curiosity, so she asked, "But what you give me?"

Samantha looked her in the eye, "It is a very special map that I have kept for a whole year. I've never been brave enough to explore what it may lead to, but I do know that it promises a house where people would want to adopt an orphan child. The map was sent in the mail to Ms. Coolidge about a year ago. The letter with it begged Ms. Coolidge to follow the map and visit the family who sent the map and note, and stated that they were most interested in speaking with her about adoption. Ms. Coolidge thought it was ridiculous that they sent her an embroidered map and she didn't think they were important enough for her to drive out to meet, so she just tossed the map in the garbage - never thinking any of us orphans would be clever enough to grab ahold of it. I did, and I've always wanted to explore it, but I need your pair of glasses more than I need a map. I'm older - I'll be kicked out of the orphanage soon because I will become too old. You and the younger girls have so many years left. This could be the chance of a lifetime. Please consider the offer, Molly."

 

Molly could not be sure that she was telling the truth. After all, she had had the nerve to steal Molly's glasses right off her nose. What would stop a girl like her from lying? "How do I know you're not lying?"

Sam laughed. "I see how you could think that - but I promise I am not as bad as I seem. Would you believe that I was actually taking dance and etiquette lessons before I ended up here? Over these few years, I've just sort of gotten a rough way about me. But I promise that while I guess I would stoop so low as to steal, I do not lie, and maybe I'll stop stealing too. Would you consider it a fair trade, Molly?"

Molly contemplated the decision for a moment. Was it really a fair trade? No way. Molly was going to end up with some embroidered map that no one even truly knew much about, while Samantha was going to end up with a pair of glasses that Molly depended on for reading and other similar activities. But Molly was starting to become a risk taker. After all, she had time traveled into another year - a very different year compared to the one from which she had traveled. What would no glasses mean? Molly had already seen so much and lost so much. She nodded her head in decision, "You, Sam, have got yourself a deal!"

"Good, I really hoped so," Samantha smiled. "Now I brought the map with me just in case you agreed to the deal." Samantha brought forward a carefully embroidered map. It was very beautiful and each stitch was so precise that Molly right away knew that the person who had created it was a very good person.

That night, Molly and Maggie looked at the map. "What a beautiful piece of art," Maggie sighed in awe.

"I know," Molly agreed. "It is just like Ms. Coolidge to trash something as fine as this."

"I do wish you hadn't traded your glasses for a piece of artwork," Maggie shook her head.

"It isn't a piece of artwork," Molly told Maggie, "It is a map of an escape route. We can all follow it - what if a small group of us escaped? We could visit the home that this map shows and maybe the kind people there would adopt us."

"How do you know they are kind?" Charlotte, who had overheard the late night conversation, asked.

"Well, would a horrible person go through the trouble of making such a map to bring to an orphanage?" Molly questioned.

"Maybe," Charlotte shrugged, but she smiled. She was happy that Molly seemed to be adjusting to life at the orphanage. All day, Molly had kept quiet about her worries.

"I think we can escape," Molly told Maggie. "We would have to do it soon. We'd need to start collecting food and supplies right away."

"You really think we should do something as daring as that?" Maggie asked. "Is that a good idea, Molly?"

"Don't you want to leave this awful orphanage life behind? If the people don't take us in, we can live in the woods together. We can start our own little town of orphans! Ms. Coolidge would never find us!"

"I don't know..." Maggie trailed off, before biting her lip and nodding, "I suppose we could try. If we were discovered, the worst we would get would be a belting or something like that. It isn't like Ms. Coolidge can kill us - that would be illegal."

Molly wasn't sure that Ms. Coolidge really cared about what was illegal or legal, but Molly decided to keep quiet if it meant having a supporter for her plan. "We'll need to start taking a portion of our meals - a non-perishable portion - and hiding it in the horse grain bucket upstairs in the girls bedroom. When we have enough food collected and we decide who is going, we will be able to leave. We should also track the moon - it will be good to leave when the moon is fullest."

"Okay," Maggie agreed.

"You cannot breath a word of this plan to anybody, okay, Maggie?" Molly asked, holding out her pinky finger. "Do you pinky promise?"

"I pinky promise," Maggie giggled.

Molly was thankful that "pinky promises" were around in 1935.

The girls continued to collect food throughout the week. So far, Eleanor, Molly, Shola, Maggie, Charlotte, and Mosi were all set to escape. With 6 people saving a portion of their dinners each night, the food and supplies added up quickly. The full moon, by smart Maggie's calculations, was upcoming and fast approaching.

The night before the full moon was set to come - the night before their daring escape would play out, the girls sat down and looked around, not able to sleep.

"We've had some pretty good times here," Maggie looked around. "As much as we all claimed to hate living here, we managed to make do with the cards we were dealt. I am so glad to be going off on this adventure, but I will miss this place. It is kind of like another home. An awful one, maybe, but still a secure home all the same."

Molly smiled, "That night that we listened to the radio and danced was kind of fun, but I am definitely glad to be getting out of here. One week was more than enough!"

"I agree," Mosi replied. "I can't wait to see where the map takes us!"

 

Grace and Eleanor went to sleep, but Molly and Charlotte stayed up while Mosi slept across their laps. "I think you are really brave, Molly. I am so happy that you decided to trade your glasses for that map so that you could help not just you, but all of us. I am sorry about how angry I got a few days ago when you were talking about time travel. At least you are all settled in now and we are about to leave the orphanage anyway."
"Uh huh," Molly whispered softly. If only Charlotte really knew - Molly still believed she had time traveled, but she had come to terms with the idea that she was probably going to be stuck in 1935 forever, and she may as well have another adventure! What was there to lose?  

"I hope this plan turns out okay for all of us," Charlotte whispered. "To be very honest, I am rather scared, but I know that it will have to turn out okay."

Molly nodded in agreement and the girls turned their heads toward the bedroom window to watch the sun slowly rise, signaling morning - the morning of the day of their escape.

They had made it to that much anticipated day.

All day, the girls were very jittery, and they all seemed to dance about their chores in a happy, free way. Ms. Coolidge was too busy counting her money to notice.

That night, the girls all pretended to sleep, but at about midnight, they grabbed their little makeshift knapsacks and the bag of food and supplies and they slowly but surely climbed out of the window.

Once everyone had their feet on the ground, the girls stood in front of the orphanage that had become their home. Well, Molly never thought of it as a home, but Mosi had spent over half of her life there, and the other girls had spent a good portion of their lives there too.

"Goodbye," Maggie whispered, saying farewell to the building that had watched her grow through the years, to the orphans that she had spent a part of her life with, and to the chapter of her life titled "Orphanage" that was now, she hoped, in the past forever.

"Goodbye," the wind and the building seemed to whisper back as a candle flickered in a window.

The girls set off into the night...

 

Sorry it took so long to get to the next part, but I was busy and all that! XD Hopefully I can get to Part #4 in a more timely manner. :P