The Girl in the Garden

Chapter 6

Ben could hear Sparrow shuffling around in their common room shortly before the sun came up. If that was how early he normally got out of bed, no wonder he got so cranky when his sleep was disturbed. Ben stayed in bed as Sparrow started whistling a gentle, repetitive tune. When Ben heard the door open, and Sparrow's whistling disappear, he finally got up to get dressed.

As the sun began to creep in Ben's window, he pulled on a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. He planned to stop in the gloomy kitchen to have some breakfast on his way to investigate the mysterious light from the night before. By the time he made it downstairs, it appeared as though Sparrow had already eaten, and Ben found himself alone with Lolly the lumpy cook.

"Good morning, good morning!" She bustled about in the shadowy room, and Ben heard the clinking of dishes and silverware. He glanced around her and noticed the long wooden table was laden with far too much food. There were stacks of pancakes and troughs of scrambled eggs, a pot full of oatmeal, and platters covered in fresh-cut fruit. "Sparrow said I overdid it, which I probably did, but it's just so nice to have little bellies to fill again.

"You said something like that yesterday," Ben said as he took a seat at the table, feeling dwarfed by the mountains of food in front of him. "Were there lots of kids here before?"

Lolly smiled and pressed her hands against her chest. "I shouldn't reminisce too much about my good old days. I don't want to bore you. Here, have some bacon, maybe some sausage?" She piled a plate high with food and placed it gently in front of him.

Ben picked up his fork and moved the food around his plate. He didn't feel that hungry, but he didn't want to upset the cook. He took a forkful of eggs into his mouth, and as soon as he tasted them, he realized he was much hungrier than he had been willing to admit. He bent over his plate as he began greedily eating up as much as he could. He couldn't figure out why but Lolly's food tasted so much better than anything he'd ever eaten before. It gave him the happy feeling a person gets from a warm hug.

Lolly smiled and laughed and said, "It's good that you actually eat! Two growing boys and that little Sparrow eats just like his namesake. A little bird flitting through my kitchen and barely stopping for a nibble. You, on the other hand, you know how to eat!"

Ben looked up from his plate and saw that she was standing proudly over him, watching his every movement. "I, uh... skipped supper last night."

"I know you did. It worried me, too! I can't abide hungry children, you know. Not in my nature. You should all be fat and happy if you ask me."

"Well, keep feeding me like this, and I'll be at least one of those things soon enough."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to be happy, too." Lolly left the tableside and began to busy herself with cleaning. She piled some dirty pans into the large basin sink, and as she started scrubbing them, Ben watched the strange way her body moved. It was almost like her bones were too soft, and her limbs moved like Jell-O.

"Lolly?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes, m'dear?"

"That other building out in the yard, the one that's all burned up?"

"Oh, the conservatory?" She shook her head but didn't look away from her work. "Stay out of there, you hear me? A boy could hurt himself rummaging around those ruins."

"What happened to it?"

"Sounds like you summed it up pretty well. It got all burned up, didn't it?"

"But how?"

Lolly finally did turn around, velvety soap bubbles dripping from her thick fingers. "Why don't you finish up your breakfast and go find Sparrow? He's been here a couple of days now, all by himself. I'm sure he'd appreciate having a playmate."