Ermalene Talon and the Hall of Ancestors - Book One

Confunded

Confunded

The first thing Ermalene noticed upon walking into the door was that the little orphanage was certainly no better maintained within than it had been without. The wood floors beneath their feet were pockmarked with scuffs and divots that came from decades of wear and tear. The stairs wound up into the next floor, and the sounds of unruly children echoed throughout the halls, yelling and fighting and running through the indoors. Andy pulled Ermalene back, in fact, only just in time, as two messy-haired boys rushed by, kicking a soccer ball back and forth between them as they passed. "Almost got run over," he commented, staring after them as they rounded the corner into a small living room, where the telly was on, volume louder than his mum ever would've allowed.

Ermalene's eyes were frightful. "Hello?" she called, "Any - um - adults in here?"

"Zoo keepers, more like," Andy commented as the soccer boys ran by again and he again pulled Ermalene back only just in time.

"Hello?" Ermalene called louder.

Suddenly a woman, laden with two kids, one on each hip, plus one hanging off her leg, came 'round the corner looking very bothered. "'OW MANY TIMES DO I 'AVE TO SAY NO RUNNING IN THE BLOODY HOUSE? TAKE THE FUTBOL OUT BACK, THE LOT OF YOU!" she hollered, nearly being run down by the soccer boys, too. They scrambled through the hallway and a moment later a door slammed and the volume level was considerably lower. "Bloody Mary," she muttered, putting down one of the two year olds, who instantly clamped to her other leg. She looked at Ermalene and Andy as though she'd only just noticed them. "'Ello, loves," she said, using her newly freed hand to brush the fringe from her forehead, "Sorry about that, the lads need a wee more space to get out the energy and I've been left on me own today for caretaking 'til six. If the racket 'asn't scared you off from adoptin' them, I'm mor'n happy to give you literature on the process."

Andy shook his head, "We're not -- we're just -- we're only seventeen." He waved his hand at Ermalene.

"Starting younger'n younger with the families these days," the woman sighed, "Gotta be older to adopt though, loves. I reckon you'd do better'n wait awhile, do some growing up of your own."

"It's not like that at all," Ermalene said. "I used to live here, when I was a kid, and I was curious if you retain records of prior... um... I guess you'd call them tenants?"

"Oh it's records you want 'aye? We keep those in the database," she said, "I'll need a photo ID and then I can print'm right out for you." The woman shuffled, nodding for Andy and Erma to follow along, and led the way back the way she'd come, through a dining room and past a yellow accented kitchen into a small back office room with thick carpet on the floor and a desk piled high with about a million papers. The two children on her legs continued to cling on, their bums sliding across the floor with each step that the woman took. As she settled herself behind the desk, which was affixed with a plaque that announced her name was Marjorie Flynn, she settled the child she'd still been holding onto the carpet and opened the lid on a laptop computer, her fingers loudly striking keys.

The little girl she'd been holding rounded the desk and looked up at Andy as he sat down in one of two chairs that faced the desk. The little girl rested her chin on his knee, "You have fire hair," she pointed.

"Yes," Andy agreed, "Yes, I do."

"It looks like a fox," she announced.

Andy nodded. "Right you are."

"Are you part fox?" the little girl asked.

Ermalene giggled under her hand, which she covered her mouth with, watching as Andy engaged in silly conversation with the little girl. "Not at all," Andy replied, "Are you?"