I stand outside a house. After a moment of hesitation, I finally lift my hand to knock. "Coming." The voice is that of someone much older. Younger than me, but old in the human life span. "Yes?" The door opens.
An old woman looks at me. "I came for the two siblings, Tom and Lina Thumb." She nods. "I wish I could say they were here, but, when we woke up, they were gone." She starts to cry. I freeze up. What now?
Should I try comforting her? How? "You want a child?" She looks at me through her tears. "Of course I do. We have been childless all these years, now, we are too old. When we finally got children, they vanished in the night."
Her cries turn to sobs. I hold up a hand, not quite setting on her back. "Um, please, do not cry." She ignores me. Either that, or she is unable to hear me over the sound of her own crying. I sigh. "Alright, stop crying. I can help you to find a child to raise."
Her crying slows. "What?" I nod. Might get scolded later, but they need a home anyway. "There are a couple of wildling children I know who need a home. They are a tad mischievous at times, but all in all they are well behaved."
She stares at me. "Wildling children?" I nod. "Twins. Boys." One of the reasons people do not want to care for them. If no one else was willing, I was going to step up and raise them myself. "We can really raise them? You will not come to take them away?" I smile. "No, you can raise them for the rest of your life. Unless, of course, they prove too much for you. If that happens, you can call out my name."
Slowly, she smiles. "Oh, Oh Thomas!" She turns. "We can raise children! Twins! Boys!" There is the sound of running and then an old man is here too. "Really?" I nod. "They are wildlings, mind you." He smiles. "Thank you! Thank you!" I nod. "Right."
I turn from them to call out a message. "Rosemary, please bring me the twins." I turn back. Wildling children, are actually what humans would consider orphans. They are children of the people of Fairie, whose parents pass on, or are unable to raise them. We also bring in orphans from the human worlds, to find them a new home.
Not often can we find a suitable home for them. That is why Peter, head of Neverland, was given the job of guiding them and allowing them to live there. Neverland was always used for that, but once Peter was born and able to take over, it became one less thing for me to worry about. He is good at his job.
If only my nephew Peter was as responsible as him. Though, after being given his own task, he has become less of a problem. If I knew that was all it would take to calm him down, I would have gone out to bring him soft and fluffy animals a lot sooner.
He did like to hold Minou when he was newly brought to Fairie. At that time, Peter was just a toddler himself.
"You wanted the wilding boys?" I turn to see Rosemary. In each arm, she has a toddler. "Mum!" I smile at them. "Boys, these two are willing to raise you. What do you say?" They look at the couple. "Thanks!" I nod and take them from Rosemary.
"Thank you." She nods. I see hesitation in her eyes. "Ah, you have not gotten to raise children of your own yet, correct?" She looks down and nods. I sigh. "The two I have come to collect, they will need a home in Fairie. Unlike the wildling boys, they need the environment of Fairie to grow." She looks at me.
"Can I really raise them?" I nod. The two I have come for, are the children of a Pixie and an Elf. Both parents died in this human world, then this couple came across them. "We can raise them?" I look at the couple again. "Yes. I believe I have said this more than once?" The wife nods, tears filling her eyes. Again.
I turn. "Alright, we should go. We need to find the two siblings. Boys, please try and be good for them. I will come for you in a few years." I grab Rosemary by the wrist and pull her away. If I have to deal with even more crying, I may just go crazy.
