Chapter 4

Elaine was seven now, and even the sisters who saw her every day still found themselves staring a beat too long whenever she looked up at them. Her eyes were round and bright, almost too big for her small face, the kind that seemed to pull you in the moment they met yours and refused to let go until you looked away first. Her lips were a soft, cute red, always slightly pouted even when she wasn’t trying to pout at all, and this gave her that innocent look. Her cheeks were pink and so soft looking that, more than one visitor had reached out without thinking, just to touch them, before catching themselves and pulling back with an embarrassed laugh. Her hair fell long and blond down her back, always a little wild by evening no matter how neatly Sister Ann braided it that morning. And for a girl her age, she stood tall, taller than most of the other children, with a fitness to her that came from all those mornings spent moving through forms in the woods rather than sitting still like the rest of them.

She looked innocently up at the stranger before her. She never thought she’d come back to see them here, even after she’d deliberately stayed an hour later than usual in the woods. “Good afternoon, ma’am,” she greeted politely and made her way to her room to freshen up at Sister Ann’s signal. She was a mess anyway, from practicing martial arts alongside her herbal studies.

“That’s Elaine…. she loves going into the woods to study and happened to come back late today.” Mother Superior said to an absentminded Mrs. Barnes, who kept staring in the direction Elaine had gone.

“Mrs. Barnes, your scarf fell off.” Juliana, trying so hard to hit this jackpot, said with a charming smile as she returned the scarf.

“Oh, thank you, my dear child,” Mrs. Barnes smiled kindly and took it back. “Hubby, let’s go with Mother….”

“I’ve always prayed for a mom like you.” Juliana interrupted with watery eyes, determined to leave the orphanage today no matter what it took. Mrs. Barnes smiled at her and went into the office with her husband to talk about paperwork.

“I’m sure Juliana will be chosen today. Did you see how Mrs. Barnes smiled at her, how they talked?”

“No, I think Mrs. Barnes liked Elaine more, and would adopt her instead. After all, she’s more beautiful.”

Juliana quietly curled her fist by her side, not reacting to the whispers around her, though her hatred for Elaine climbed to another level entirely. All the children were eager to know who’d be chosen, and the tension only grew as thirty minutes passed with the adults still shut inside the office. After what felt like an eternity, Mrs. Barnes finally came out with her husband, and Mother Superior right behind them, wearing a wide smile.

“Children, gather round,” Mother Superior called, clapping her hands twice for attention. “I have some wonderful news.”

The hall went quiet at once, every child straining to hear.

“Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have decided,” Mother Superior said, “to adopt not one, but two of our girls today.”

A murmur ran through the room. Juliana’s head snapped up, eyes wide, already certain of what came next.

“Juliana,” Mother Superior said, and Juliana’s whole face lit up before she’d even finished, “and Elaine.”

The murmur turned into a wave of whispers. Juliana’s smile disappeared for half a second before she forced it back into place, refusing to let anyone see how much she hated sharing this moment with the one person she’d wished gone for years. Why does she have to steal her happiness?

Sister Ann was the one sent to tell Elaine, who was still in her room changing out of her dirtied clothes. She knocked once before letting herself in.

“Elaine.” Sister Ann sat on the edge of the bed, folding her hands in her lap like she wasn’t quite sure how to say it. “The Barnes family… they’ve chosen you. You and Juliana both. You’re going home with them today.”

Elaine froze mid-button, staring at her. Sister Ann had half expected tears, or maybe questions, but Elaine only nodded slowly, like she was letting the words settle somewhere deep before she let herself feel anything about them.

“Today?” Elaine asked quietly.

“Today,” Sister Ann said, and pulled her into a tight hug, the kind that said more than she probably meant it to.

By the time Elaine came out with her small bag packed, the rest of the children had already gathered by the front steps. She and Juliana walked out together, side by side though not a word passed between them. The faces of some children doing a poor job of hiding their envy. Some of the younger ones waved. Most just watched, quiet and still, the way you watch something you know you’ll never have. Mother Superior kissed both girls on the forehead at the gate and told them to be good and to write when they could and also to remember the woods and the chapel and everyone who’d raised them even for this short a while. Elaine looked back once as the car pulled away and caught Sister Ann still standing at the gate, one hand raised.

The drive out of the city took almost an hour, the buildings thinning out the further they went until the road opened onto wide green land Elaine had never known existed so close to R City. The Barnes mansion sat at the end of a long gravel driveway lined with tall, trimmed hedges, the kind of house that looked like it had been standing there for generations rather than built. Its stone walls,showing how long it’s been in existence, and the windows made the whole place glow faintly gold when the afternoon sun hit it. A fountain sat in the middle of the front courtyard, water trickling quietly over old carved stone, and somewhere beyond the house, Elaine could make out the edge of what looked like another stretch of woods.

Juliana let out a small gasp beside her, already imagining herself as the young lady of a place like this. Elaine said nothing, only stared up at the house with those wide, unreadable eyes of hers, already wondering if there’d be somewhere here quiet enough to keep studying and practicing in peace.