The Forgotten Wife

Babysitter

When Levi said he had a job for Lorna she had thought it would be something dangerous, but it turned out that he wanted her to look after this young girl who had just turned up on their doorstep for him while he went out for a few hours. She found out that the girl's name was Isabel Magnolia, she had turned seventeen a few weeks ago and she was also born in The Underground City like Lorna. 

Isabel was cheerful and quite sweet in her own way, the way she nursed that little injured bird she had found was lovely. Lorna found an old tea box the bird could sleep in and she gave it some bread crumbs, the bird seemed happy enough in the box. After an hour Lorna decided to warm up the vegetable stew, she set the table and placed a plate of freshly homemade bread rolls in the middle of the table. Isabel and Furlan sat down at the table while she served up the stew. Isabel was first to grab a bread roll from the plate, she then took a big bite out of it and spooned about three mouth fulls of stew into her while she was still chewing her bread. The poor girl was either starving or she just had a big appetite, Lorna just hoped she would save some food for the rest of them. She sat with them at the table and spoke to them both about the book she had been reading. Isabel was interested in what she had to say, Isabel told Lorna that she didn't have time to look at books because she couldn't read that well. But she wanted to go up to the surface too, she wanted to see the sky and breath in the fresh air instead of the dirty air down here. 

" It would be great to see all the colours of the summer flowers." Isabel said before she spooned more of the stew into her mouth. "Have any of you two been up there before?"

" No, I would like to visit the surface though." Lorna replied.

" How about those Titans they speak of?" Isabel asked. " Do you think they're really?"

" Maybe, who knows." Lorna replied. 

After dinner Isabel had a bath in front of the fireplace, Lorna helped Isabel to wash her hair and scrubbed her back for her. Isabel was covered in bruises, the poor girl must have been through hell dpwn here. Lorna gave Isabel a spare nightgown that she could borrow. She told Isabel she could share her bedroom until they found her somewhere to sleep, Isabel told Lorna she was fine with that before hurried to Lorna's bedroom. She didn't even have to show her which room belonged to her, she told Lorna she could tell a woman's bedroom because it was tidy and it didn't smell of sweaty men. 

" Do you need anything?" Lorna asked.

" Not right now, but thanks for helping me out." Isabel replied.

" You should be thanking Levi, but you're welcome." Lorna smiled. 

Lorna told isabel that she would be back in an hour or two while she placed a lit candle on the dresser, she had to tidy the kitchen before she went to bed. Isabel said goodnight to her while she yawned, Lorna left her bedroom and partly closed the door behind her, the little gap in the doorway would allow Isabel to call for her if needed. She made her way back downstairs, she began to clear the table while Furlan swept the floor around the table. There were bread crumbs and vegetable stew everywhere, Isabel was a messy eater. It wasn't long until the kitchen was tidy, she made a fresh pot of tea and Furlan decided to finish his bottle of wine he had been drinking with his dinner. 

They sat together on the bench and chatted quietly with each other about Isabel, they didn't really know much about her. Furlan explained to Lorna what had happened when she was hiding in the pantry, she couldn't believe Isabel risked her life by trying to take the bird to the surface. Isabel clearly had guts, Lorna knew she would fit nicely into their little group. The conversation turned to Levi after awhile, he had been out for hours now. Lorna questioned Furlan and asked him if he knew where Levi had gone, but he refused to tell her. She watched him as he took a swig of wine from his bottle, she crossed her arms and stared at him until his full attention was back on her.