Outside the Fence

Chapter 3

            The children are fast asleep in their beds as me and Noah sit at the table chatting quietly. “Are they your children?” I whisper softly. He chuckles. “They aren’t mine but I love them like they are my own. I found them lost in the forest. Not all together though. Grayson was a lost little toddler when I found him in that labyrinth of a forest. Surprisingly he didn’t cower from me. Poor thing couldn’t even talk. Then I found Vic practically skin in bones in some bushes. Once I got him here he practically ate me out of my home.” He looks over at Vic and smiles. “What about Mandy?” When I ask he looks at me a bit sad. “I found her in the woods as well. She had been attacked by some… thing in the woods. As you probably would have guessed, the woods are filled with dangerous creatures. She was…” He clears his throat. “bleeding so much when I found her. Something had slashed at her side, leaving a large wound. I brought her back here and stitched her up. The scar is still a little pink but she is doing just fine.” I look at the sleeping girl. She breathes easy as she dreams. “I couldn’t even tell.” Noah shrugs and gets up from his seat. “Don’t ask her about it. When she thinks about that night she isn’t the same for days.” He wonders toward the couch sleepily. “I’m going to bed. There are some blankets in that cabinet and heres and extra pillow.” He tosses the pillow at me. I drop it down on the floor and grab some blankets. I snuggle up on the floor under the blankets. “Goodnight Noah.” Noah opens his eyes and mumbles a goodnight.

            I wake to the sound of an argument. I peak through my eyelids and see that Mandy is yelling at Vic about something. The abrasiveness of the scolding makes me awaken fully. “Is everything ok?” I yawn. Mandy stops and looks over at me. “Good morning Fay!” She runs over to me excitedly. “Noah went outside to do laundry. He told me to tell you that there is oatmeal on the table.” I get up and go over to the table. The oatmeal looks good so I pick it up and eat a spoonful. “Mandy, is there anything I could sweeten this oatmeal with?” Mandy runs to a cabinet and brings me a small bowl. “This will make it sweeter.” I put a bit of the sugar in my oatmeal and taste it again. “Mmmm much better.” I say with a mouth full of oatmeal.

            I walk outside and see Noah hanging up billowing sheets and shirts on a line. “Good morning, Noah.” He looks up at me from the sheets and smiles. “Morning, Fay. How’d you sleep?” I pick up a sheet and help him hang it on the line. “Well I woke up to Mandy yelling at Vic about something.” Noah chuckles and hangs the last sheet. “Well let’s go see what the problem is.”

            Noah steps through the door and announces loudly. “Ok what’s the problem today?” Mandy runs up and crosses her arms. “Vic said that Fay wasn’t going to stay here with us and I told him he was wrong. He called me stupid!” Vic gasps loudly in denial. “I didn’t call her stupid!” The tension between Mandy and Vic is so high its practically tangible. Noah kneels down to eye level with Mandy. “Mandy did you lie about Vic calling you stupid?” Mandy twists her hands nervously. “Well he did say that Fay was going to leave us.” Noah looks up at me. “Now that’s up to Fay whether she stays or goes. Being mad at Vic will not change that. So was the argument really worth it?” Mandy shakes her head. “I guess not.” She turns to Vic and says sorry and then takes off. Noah stands back up next to me. “That is how you fix a problem.” He says with a smile.