Page 18 of Little Fury

He doesn't say anything to me, just keeps staring. “Well ok! Nice to meet you. You can have Mr. Waffle any time you want. Bye!'' I say and turn to head up the stairs to my room.

Beth collects herself, walks up to him and introduces herself. I hear her ask him if he is hungry or would rather go to his room to be alone. I don't hear any more as I close my door. It's not very late, but I'm tired, so I grab my jammies, head to the bathroom, and get ready for bed. I change and brush my teeth. I can hear voices downstairs, but I ignore them and go to my room. I crawl into bed and say good night to Miss Mushroom and Mr. Waffle.

The next morning, I find Beth at the kitchen island reading a book and having a cup of tea.“Morning, Ava”she says without even looking up.

“Morning, Beth!”She’s quiet for a few more seconds thenputs her bookmark in the book, sets the book down and claps her hands.

“Hungry?”I smile and nod. She’ll soon understand that I’m always hungry.“French toast and bacon?”she asks me. I nod again and go to the fridge to grab the bread and eggs.

“What else do we need?”

“Um, milk and bacon and butter, please,”she says as she grabs the skillet from the pantry.“Did you cook a lot at home?”she asks, then freezes and looks at me, looking like she thinks she said something wrong.

“Yeah, my mom liked to cook but didn't do it often because she was busy. But, whenever she made breakfast or dinner, if I was home, I helped. She said it was important to know how to cook.”

“Your mom was correct; knowing how to cook is important. Ava?”

“Yeah?”

“If you need to talk about anything. Or if you want to be mad about anything or need help, I'm here for you.”

I look at her, unsure of what to say, or what she needs to hear me say.“I miss them. I miss them a lot. I miss my dad swatting my moms behind when she would swear around me. I miss her giggling at him. I miss her singing. She sang a lot. I didn't like it, but now I miss it. She would have music on when she was cooking and sing to the songs even if she didn't know the words.”My eyes go glassy, and I blink to hold back the tears.

Beth watches me, not saying anything, and lets me sort through it in my head.

“I don't know what I'm supposed to do here, what I'm going to learn. What kinds of things Harry meant when he told me he would explain things as I get older? I know I like you. I like Harry, and I don't feel scared here. I’m alone, but I don't feel alone here.”I wipe a tear from my cheek and lookup at Beth, seeing her glossy eyes.“I felt alone in that hospital, till you came to get me,”I whisper.

“Well, then, Ava, we will consider your liking us and not feeling scared or alone a win. Just remember, you can talk to me about anything.”

I give her a big grin and nod my head. She nods back at me and we go back to making breakfast.

I grab the syrup and some strawberries from the fridge and take them to the island for us. Beth takes a bunch of bacon and wraps it in a paper towel and then tinfoil. She takes a big stack of French toast and puts it in a baking dish, covers it with the lid, and puts both in the oven to keep warm.

We fill our plates and then dig in.“You have a very good appetite,”Beth muses as she smiles at me.

“I do! My dad used to make fun of me, saying my stomach was a hungry beast that no amount of food could satisfy.”I laugh with a mouthful of bacon. Beth laughs with me. We are almost done eating when we hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I look over and see the boy, Marcus. He looks tired and angry.“Hello!”I say to him.

“Hi,” he mumbles back at me.

“Are you hungry, Marcus?”Beth asks.

He shrugs, so she gets the food out of the oven, makes him a plate, and sets it in front of him.

“Thank you,”Marcus says very quietly.

“You’re welcome,” Beth replies.

I finishand take my plate to the sink. I see Marcus staring at me. I smile at him; he doesn’t return it; instead, he drops his eyes to his plate and eats. He doesn’t eat much before he says he’s done, so Beth tells him to take his plate to the sink, and he does as she asks. I go to the door to put on my shoes.

“I’m going to go explore,”I yell over my shoulder at Beth and head out the door. I want to look at the horses and maybepet one. I hear the door open and close behind me. Marcus catches up to me and settles beside me without even saying a word.

This kid is weird.

“I’m going to see the horses,”I tell him and keep walking, deciding he can come if he wants, but I’m not changing my plans for him. He says nothing to me, but he comes with me, so I keep going.

Definitely weird, like say hello or ok, or grunt at me already.

We reach the horses just as someone is filling their water trough.“Hello,”I saycheerily, the guy looks at me with a weird smile

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