The girl follows
William to his house and inside without argument, though William expects one
from his mother and father the moment they enter. Instead there is a long
moment in which they stare at the barefoot girl with only a jacket sanding in
the doorway, pale as daylight with shadow-dark eyes.
It is William’s
mother first that inquires about her name, to William, for which he has no
answer, and after a moment she redirects the question to the girl, who repeats
the answer she gave William.
William’s mother
fetches some old clothes that one belonged to his elder sister, who has moved
to the city to attend university and has otherwise no need for them.
They resist
asking questions for the duration of supper but when William has cleared the
table and the kettle is boiling for tea his parents begin questioning her about
her parents and her accommodations in the city. When she politely informs them
that she has non, William’s mother insists that she stay with them, much to
William’s surprise. He knows his mother would never turn away someone in need
of help, but he did not expect such immediate acceptance of the strange
parentless, nameless girl.
His father
approaches the situation with considerably more trepidation. “Should we not
alert the authorities? She could have parents elsewhere, someone looking for
her.” Even as he says it, William has difficulty imagining a family waiting for
her, some sort of kin whose household lacks a young girl. There is a quality
about her that bespeaks not loneliness, but independence.
The girl is
quiet throughout while William’s father expresses his concerns, but when
pressed she insists she has no family, no name, no connections, and no place to
stay. William stares in shock when his father concedes, and if hardly aware
that his mother has whisked the girl away to his sister’s old room upstairs,
peppering her with questions about her health and the state of her hair.
William’s father
answers his son’s quizzical expression by declaring “it does not do to ignore
those in need.”
After all, it is
only until she can find a more permanent place of residence.
Days pass. They
do not find the nameless girl another home. Though indeed, very few enquiries
are made on that behalf.
Art by Anonymous
Text by Lucie MacAulay
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