Elsie
Sitting back, I frowned to myself as I watched the scared little girl snivel and peer at the strangers surrounding her. She looked filthy, her blue jeans grey and worn, and the two small holes in her dirty t-shirt made me sigh in frustration. Her long brown hair was matted, almost forming their own dreadlocks, and I was almost certain the poor child had headlice.
“How old is she?” I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the newbie and not on the man sat beside me watching the proceedings with as much heartache as me.
“Thirteen.”
I stalled at that and frowned harder, before finally turning my attention to Frank. “She’s a bit old for you, isn’t she?”
He smiled, and once again I was transported back to that cold December night all those years ago. But then the warmth in his eyes turned to sadness. “Her mother sold her to me.”
“Shit!” I blew out a breath, shaking my head in bafflement. I had come to learn so much about the world, and the more I learned, the further my heart broke that little bit more.
The girl’s wide-eyed stare slowly came to me. Tilting her head slightly, she frowned to herself and then tipped her head the opposite way. She was figuring me out, working out where her best chance lay.
Taking a long last drag on my cigarette, I stubbed it out and stood up. “She’ll be a good one. Very astute,” I murmured to Frank.
“I know. She’s yours, Elsie.”
The crowd around her parted as I slowly approached, the mass of young inquisitive minds studying the new apprentice.
“Stand up,” I spoke firmly, my gaze upon her as hard as my voice. There was no room for compassion. Not yet, anyway.
She gulped, and her bottom lip trembled. However, she climbed to her feet, the quake in her legs making her stumble once or twice.
We were watched by everyone. The other apprentices were already weighing up their chances with her. Come to that; the proficient also wore stunned expressions. But the main thoughts in their heads were shocked jealousy that I would be her mentor.
“What’s your name, child?”
Her step faltered as she tried to keep up with my long strides, but there was no time for dawdling. I smiled inwardly when she pushed herself and finally fell into step beside me. “Sally.”
Her wide-eyed stare was on her surroundings, soaking up her new home. It was good that she was curious, it would make her a better pupil, one eager to learn. A hunger for knowledge made for a quicker transgression.
She followed me into the infirmary, her nerves as loud as the heels of my boots on the cold hard floor.
“Elsie,” Mary greeted me with a smile before turning her gaze to Sally. “Well hi there.” Mary was too soft for this place, but we each loved her for how her kindness had eased the fears we all faced when we were first brought to Three Blades.
Sally smiled nervously but didn’t speak. Although she did flinch when Mary sighed and reached out slowly, taking one of her long, matted strands between her fingers.
“Hmm,” Mary mused, the sadness in her eyes nothing new to me. “I’ll bring her to you when she’s all sorted.”
“Thank you.”
Surprisingly, Sally’s hand shot out and grabbed mine as I made to leave. Already she trusted me. In a way that was a good thing, but if she feared me, it would make all this a damn sight easier. There was something about this one that tugged at something inside me. The usual detachment I liked to maintain until they were trained enough to leave my side was a little harder to locate.
“Please, don’t… don’t leave me.”
My gut twisted and for a moment I found it harder to breathe. However, that shit wouldn’t do, and I shook my head. “Mary will take care of you. She’s only going to clean you up. Get a grip of yourself.”
Her large blue eyes brimmed with tears and I bit back the need to scoop her into my arms and give her some of the love she so desperately needed.
Except, I couldn’t.
Not yet, anyway.
***
“Bit of a rough one?”
I opened my eyes, Ebony’s soft drawl behind me pulling me from my exhaustion. “Sorry, didn’t realise I’d nodded off.”
She smiled at me, her ever-twinkling hazel eyes full of the love she always made sure I knew she held for me. Sitting beside me on the sofa, she took my hand. “What’s the difference with this one?”
Chuckling, I scowled playfully at my best friend. “You know, as many times as you deny it, I am positive you’re a witch, Eb.”
She laughed with me, giving me a light-hearted nudge. “Shh. You know Frank will toss me to the side and never again allow me the delights this place brings.”
I laughed harder, her humour always brightening me up.
“Seriously, Elsie, what gives with the girl?”
It was no good trying to hide anything from Ebony, she saw straight through me. Sometimes I wondered if she could actually see the shadow of my soul lurking somewhere behind all the shit that lived in me. But it was her incredible instinct that had saved my life on more than one occasion.
“I don’t know. She kind of reminds me of someone.”
“You?”
I shot her a glance, my eyes narrow before I relented and nodded. “Maybe. Time will tell, I suppose.”
“You know there’s already talk.” She smirked at me before shifting from beside me to make coffee.
“There’s always talk, Ebony. Why is that different?”
“Because they’re saying you’ll not handle this one.”
I snickered, shaking my head. “And what do you think?”
She clicked her tongue, handing me a steaming cup of black nectar. “I believe that Frank’s challenging you. I think he sees what everyone else does, that the new girl is a younger version of yourself, and that maybe you’ll be too soft with her.”
“You know I won’t,” I argued, even if a little of what she said rang true to me. “It’s just sometimes…”
Ebony remained quiet, giving me patience while I tried to work this shit out for myself.
“I dunno, Eb. Do you ever think that what we’re doing is wrong?”
She twisted her lips, musing over my question. “Wrong? No. How it is executed, then yeah, maybe.”
I nodded, completely agreeing with her. “I know Three Blades is our family now, but the things we all lost to become part of that family…” Unable to finish the sentence, I shook my head,
Ebony, sensing the unrest inside me, squeezed my hand and finished her coffee. “Sometimes, you overthink everything, Els. Let it be. Fate has a funny way of showing us the way. Occasionally it will hurt, it will hurt like a bitch, but to stroke pleasure, we must suffer the agony, babe.”
“Tell that to Sally right now,” I countered with a grim smile, picturing just how the young girl would be fighting with Mary. “I bet, right now, she’ll dispute every word.”
“She’ll definitely challenge what you have in store for her.” She opened the door but paused before stepping through. “And I for one can’t wait to watch you knock her down, over and over again. Frank gave you Sally for a reason, Elsie, because, in my opinion, he wants you to fail. Prove the bastard wrong!”
She winked at me when a slow smile spread across my face.
“Oh, I have every intention of doing just that.” I winked back.
She laughed. “Poor Sally.”