Page 18 of Where Darkness Falls

My family?

Do I have a family?

My breath hitches as a knot forms deep in my chest. “I-I don’t remember,” I reply.

Rolph squats down beside me and smiles warmly.

“Do you know your name, darling?” he asks.

Name?

My name?

M… Mmmmmaeee?

No… but I feel like it’s close to that.

Mmmae… va?

Maeva?!

Yes, that must be it.

“I-I think my name is Maeva,” I reply shyly.

“Maeva,” Amelia says, delighted. “What a lovely name.” Though she is smiling, the corner of her eyes are pinched, as if concerned. She looks to Rolph, havingsome sort of private conversation that only they can understand. Rolph nods once, and they return their gazes back to me.

“Maeva, I know you don’t know us, but we would love it if you would come join us at our home. We have a daughter that appears to be close to your age, and three other children that would love to keep you company. Would you be okay coming home with us?”Amelia asks.

For some reason, I know that I can trust them.

Perhaps it’s their kindness or compassion. Either way, it’s better than the alternative of freezing to death, waiting for a family—claiming to be mine—to come rescue me.

Right now, I would rather take my chances in a warm home.

“Yes, I would like that very much,” I reply.

They each hold out a hand for me to take, which I do with little hesitation.

Rolph removes his thick cloak, draping it along my shoulders.

“Do not worry, Maeva,” he says kindly. “You can stay with us as long as you like.”

My family never came for me, and I never left the Cales after that day. For three years, I hoped that my family would show up. They never did. After the fourth year, Amelia and Rolph officially adopted me with the blessing of the village elder.

“We are truly sisters now,” Cara exclaimed, jumping with joy.

We were instant friends when I entered their lives. Over time, I grew to love their family as if they were my own. Yet, there’s still that small aching in my chest where my heart yearns to knowwhy.

Whydid my family never come?

Whyabandon me in a village I do not know?

Whydidn’t they want me anymore?

The only reminders that I possess, that tell me I had a family before the Cales, are my pendant necklace that I never remove, and the name I told Amelia and Rolph. A name someone who loved me must have given me?—

“Maeva?” Amelia asks, jolting me from my thoughts.

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