P.T. Barnum's Oddities

Chapter 14: Anne and W.D.

Anne jumped awake, her heart pounding and her body shaking. She looked around, taking in her surroundings.
"Definitely not the orphanage." She checked that thought off of the list.
A painstaking feeling shot through her body, making her panic and recall the events that had taken place last night. She took a glance at her right leg, which was propped up on a pillow and wrapped in a bandage.
The bed she slept in was comfortable, but the room that it was in was not in the best state. The paint was chipped, a picture hung tilting to one side, and there were holes in the floors, which she guessed belonged to a family of mice.
The young girl barely had time to question herself where she was when an old woman pushing an even older woman in a wheelchair entered the room.
"Ah, glad to see you awake." The younger one of the pair said.
She dipped a cloth into a dish of warm water and began to dab Anne's forehead with it, making Anne flinch.
She took in the old woman's features, noticing the both of them wore the same skin color as her.
"Your brother has told us that you took quite a fall last night."
"Where is he? Where is W.D.?" Anne began to panic again. She sat up in her bed and tried to get up but the woman pushed her gently down so that she was lying again.
"Shhhh... you shouldn't walk on that hurt leg of your's, now should you? I'll go fetch your brother for you." The woman ringed the cloth out before setting it back on the nightstand. Anne watched carefully as she slowly shuffled out of the room, leaving just her and the woman in the wheelchair.
"Annie!" W.D. came rushing in, gently sitting on her bed and giving her a tight squeeze.
Anne barely had time to respond before another pile of kids came rushing in. They were not like the kids back at the orphanage.
They ranged of all shapes and sizes, some almost adults while others so young they couldn't walk. They weren't the same color as the kids at the orphanage too. All of them wore the same brown shade that the two siblings wore, giving Anne a strange comfort she'd never felt before.
"Hi." What she guessed was the eldest one, a boy, came stepping out of the bunch and held out his hand. "My name is Edward. But you can call me Eddie. These are my sisters Margaret, Bettie, Nellie, and the baby is Maude. And these here are my brothers Robert, Frank, Walter, and Fred. And this is our Grandmaw." He introduced the woman in the wheelchair, who raised her hand in a weak wave and tried to smile but failed as she had no teeth. "And this wonderful lady here is Bertha. But we call her Mama. We've all come from places like you. Been mistreated, forgotten and banished. We are the misfits. We've decided to take you and your brother out of your troubles and stay with us here for a while. How does that sound?"
Anne nodded her head graciously. She felt as if she shouldn't have taken their request so quickly, but something felt like she was already a part of the family.
Eddie nodded his head as well.
"I ain't never seen a black boy in a dress." Fred, a skinny teenage boy dressed in overalls, said.
"She ain't a boy, you goon!" Walter said, slapping him on the shoulder.
Anne could tell Fred wasn't the brightest of the bunch, and she giggled at his lack of smarts.
"We'll let you and your brother get some rest, honey." Bertha rested a hand upon her shoulder and gave her a weak smile.
She wheeled out Grandmaw and the rest of the children followed close behind.
Something told Anne and W.D. that this was going to be a good fresh start.