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“David! Look what I found!”
David Young, busy washing his hands at the sink, snaps his gaze towards the door in response to hearing his sister’s voice. “Shhh! Alice, what are you doing here in the boys’ toilet?“
Alice pushes the door closed with her foot. “I’d been looking all over for you, and then I finally reckoned-“
“Why are your hands so dirty? Hurry, wash them at this sink. I’ve finished,” he says, grabbing a nearby towel.
Alice grins and thrusts both her arms forward, dirt-covered fists closed and inches away from her brother’s chest. “Choose which hand. Wait ‘til you see what I found in the garden in front of the hospital!”
David swiftly makes a list in his mind of what it could be, and he doesn’t much like any of the immediate possibilities he comes up with. Considering it’s Alice, it could be anything: a worm, cricket, frog, or even a mouse…
“Choose, David!”
“Shhh! Just show me, and then leave! You're not supposed to be in the boys' ward!”
“Choose!”
As always, his twin sister is going to win this one. David plops the towel to the sink with a sigh and then points at Alice’s left fist. Her fingers slowly unfurl like a flower opening. David gasps at what he sees in the palm of her hand. He takes a quick glance at the toilet door; it wouldn’t do for someone to walk in now.
“Give it to me for a minute, and you wash your hands. Hurry up!!”
While Alice obeys him, David darts his gaze back and forth between the object in his hand and the toilet door. After what seems an eternity, Alice finishes and towels her hands dry.
“We’re gonna go someplace else,” David says, closing his hand around the object. With his other hand he creaks the door open a few inches, pokes his head out, and looks up and down the hallway. All looks clear. “Come on, outside,” he whispers. He sneaks out, and Alice follows close behind him. David leads the way out to the grounds and chooses the far side of a large shade tree behind the hospital as his destination. They should be safe here, undetected, and with sufficient privacy. He faces Alice and opens his hand, then picks up the object between his thumb and forefinger of the other. “Where’d you find this? You didn’t steal it, did you?”
“Of course not! I already told you that I found it in the garden in front of the hospital. And it wasn’t in plain sight, either. It was buried in the dirt a bit, and under a bush. I happened to see a small golden shine, and then I saw the sparkle of the diamonds. Aren’t they pretty?”
“These can’t be diamonds,” David says. “Not here at the Foundlings. This must be cut glass. If someone had lost a diamond ring here, surely they would have returned to look for it. This isn’t solid gold, either. It’s tarnished and worn. And can you see where it’s chipped here, with metal underneath? It’s gold plate.”
“I still think it’s a pretty ring,” Alice says. “I reckon somebody must have lost it years ago.”
David smiles. “And now it’s yours, years later.” He places the ring in Alice’s hand. “Just be sure to keep it safe. Hide it from the others, and especially from the nurses. And when you leave here in a few weeks, then you-”
“No,” she says. “I want you to have it.”
“But you found it.”
Alice laughs. “It’s obviously a man’s ring, David! I have no use for it. Take it, please?”
And once again, Alice wins. She has a point in its being a man’s ring, and for that reason alone, David acquiesces with a nod and takes it back from his sister. “Thank you. It is pretty,” he admits, “and since it’s a gift from you, it’s more precious than if it were solid gold and diamonds.”
Alice playfully slaps her brother’s upper arm. “You’re going to charm some young lady off her feet someday, talking like that.”
“But not for a good while,” David says. “I’m off in two weeks to be a ship’s boy on HMS Terror. You know, the Franklin Expedition?”
“Much more exciting than my becoming a housemaid," Alice says with a soft, wistful tone, "But,” she adds, brightening up, “unlike you, at least I know exactly what I’ll be walking into. I’ve been indentured with the same family for months, and now they’ll be taking me in as their regular housemaid. I'll even have my own quarters! Mr. and Mrs. Peebles are a lovely couple, and I do love the children so. I love their funny little dog, too.”
“Can you believe it?” David asks. “After all the years we’ve spent here together, now we’re going out on our own separate adventures. I’m gonna miss seeing you every day.”
“Wear the ring while you’re at sea? To remember me?”
“Not just at sea, but always,” David says. “I’ll wear it ‘til the day I die.”
Alice throws her arms around her twin brother in a tight hug. “I love you, David. I’ll miss you.”
David perks up and withdraws from the hug. “Did you hear that? Six o’clock, the bell for supper!” David thrusts the ring into his trouser pocket. “Race you!” And he’s already dashing towards the building.
”Not fair!” Alice shouts after him. “You didn’t give me a head start this time!”
But that’s exactly how David planned it. He laughs as he hears her pounding footsteps on the grass behind him. Now he’ll slow down ever so slightly, she’ll catch up, and then she’ll surpass him to be the first at supper.
He’ll be happy to let her win.