The Noble Ladies' Orphanage

Chapter 5

By the time Karolina left Maraček's Dairy, the mid-afternoon sun beat down on her scarved head. Eva and Josef had already gone home, but Karolina had stayed to make up for the milk Moucha had kicked over. And then some. Mr. Maraček had been impressed with how many cows she'd milked that day. He'd given her a pat on the back, but he didn't give her an extra coin or a bite to eat. He gave her only her regular wages, which her mother counted on. She knew her only hope for a good meal was to take the coin home and hope her mother had procured something filling for supper.

But as she passed the bakery, she breathed deeply. Each inhale brought warm smells of bread that made her stomach feel emptier and emptier. She walked into the bakery.

"Good day, Mrs. Sopiak," she said in her perkiest voice. "Do you need any work done? I'd be happy to run some errands for you or sweeping or anything else you need in exchange for a loaf of bread."

Mrs. Sopiak, kind-hearted beneath her permanent wrinkly scowl, sighed. "Oh, all right," she said. "But I only have a small loaf left. Do you still want it?"

"Yes," Karolina said.

After sweeping out the bakery, preparing the pans for the following morning, and delivering a basket of rolls to a cottage on the other side of the dairy, Karolina received her small loaf. It was crusty and cool, but it was all hers.

Before starting for home, Karolina stopped under a tree to rest and eat her bread. She leaned against the wide tree trunk and closed her eyes, savoring the taste and texture of the bread. After four satisfying bites a shadow blocked the sun above her.

She put an arm over her forehead to shield her eyes and looked up to see Marcus standing above her waving a piece of paper back and forth.

"Having a nice time?" he asked.

Karolina took another bite of bread and didn't answer him.

"Listen," he said, squatting down next to her, "I'm sorry about the milk getting spilled. Really." Karolina thought he did look a little bit sorry, but she wasn't ready to forgive him.

"You could have told Mr. Maraček it was your fault, you know," she said as she chewed.

"I know," Marcus said, "but I really need that job. You're right. I should have told him."

"I worked almost two hours extra today and didn't get paid for it," Karolina said.

"I know," Marcus said.

"What is that?" Karolina asked, pointing to the piece of paper he held in front of him.

"Oh, this?" Marcus said. "Your sister Eva said you might want it."

"What is it?" she asked again.

"Just something I found," Marcus said. She snatched it out of his hands, turned it right side up, and tried to read it.

"It's a letter!" Karolina said, sitting up straight. Marcus snatched it right back.

"Hey!" she said. She tried to grab it, but he stood up and held it over his head. It might as well have been on the moon; Karolina knew she could never reach it.

"I'll make a trade for it," Marcus said. "I'll let you keep it if you give me some of that bread."

Karolina looked at the half-eaten loaf of bread and then she looked at the letter, all crisp and intriguing up there against the blue sky.

"Very well. Fine," she said, breaking the loaf in half. She gave Marcus the smaller piece, and he gave her the letter. He started eating it immediately. Karolina had never considered that Marcus might be hungry, too.