Capture My Heart

Chapter Six

I am cheering because I did not take an entire month to upload a new chapter this time! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far! The plot is finally starting up and developing and I'm so excited to see where it goes :)
Enjoy
XX Divine Romance
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"Look what I made, Princess Suzanna!"

Suzanna turned around to see a small, young girl - no older than seven - grinning up at her. The child was holding up a tiny doll's dress with great pride. Suzanna dropped down onto her knees so she could be eye-level with the girl.

"Why Evie, it is absolutely beautiful. How precious," Suzanna replied. The girl, Evie, widened her grin until all her teeth were on full display. The simple praise from the Princess had undoubtedly just made her day. Evie lived in the town home with all the other homeless, but she was one of the most joyful children around. Suzanna loved to spend time with her when she could find time to visit.

"I made it all by myself," Evie said proudly. Suzanna smiled again. Not only would Evie now have a new dress for her doll, but she was learning valuable seamstress skills that Suzanna hoped would one day help her to find a job.

"Your doll shall look stunning," Suzanna praised.

"I have to show Rose!" Evie cried with a little giggle, immediately running off to find the other special visitor. Suzanna stood back up and scanned the room she was in, hoping to see something to do.

In a dark corner she could see a small boy huddled up, his expression miserable and demeanour downcast. Suzanna walked over to him and slowly lowered herself to the ground, smiling at him gently. The boy looked up at her with wide eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest, his hands tightly clutching something.

"Hello," Suzanna murmured to him. The boy looked back up at her with a downcast expression and did not bother to speak. "What's your name?" she tried again.

"Thomas," he answered.

"What have you got there, Thomas?" Suzanna asked with a smile. She had intended the question to be friendly, but the boy looked at his hands once and his chin started quivering. "Oh - oh no, don't cry," Suzanna begged, moving to pat him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to upset you."

"It's my toy," Thomas said, raising his arm to wipe away the few tears that had fallen. He opened his hands to show a small wooden, painted cart in two pieces. Suzanna was familiar with the common toy; children could push them around and always had a marvellous time.

"What happened?" Suzanna questioned softly.

"Morgan took my toy to play with it but he broke it. It's the only toy I own," Thomas explained miserably, wiping away another few tears.

Suzanna understood immediately. To people who owned so few things, the meagre belongings they had were unequivocally precious and special. To lose his only toy would be a tragedy for Thomas.

"Perhaps we can fix it," Suzanna suggested, holding out her hand. Thomas gingerly laid the broken toy cart in her hand. Suzanna frowned and lifted up the object to examine where it had broken. Crestfallen, she realised the toy could not be fixed - it had snapped in half. She glanced once at the hopeful boy and knew she could not disappoint him any further. It would crush him to know his toy was unfixable.

Suzanna slowly lowered the toy in her hands and smiled as an idea popped into her head.

"Thomas..." she began. "What would you think if I bought you a brand new toy?"

Thomas' face lit up. "A new toy? For me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Absolutely. The markets are open today; I could go right now."