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Knock knock. Someone knocked on the old wooden door of the school. Friedrich wearily rubbed his eyelids and rose from his seat. His short black hair was disheveled, as he had been checking students' essays until well past midnight. In his mind, he had already cursed his decision to stay and work into the night. Though nothing exciting awaited him at home, he, like anyone else, was in a hurry to return to his comfortable refuge.
At last, Friedrich opened the door. The first thing he saw before him was rain, which had filled the dark sky with clouds. His gaze paused for a second on the dark horizon when he felt someone tugging at his trouser leg. He immediately looked down and saw before him a little girl, who could have been around eight years old. Wet white hair lay on her shoulders, and her blue eyes were fixed on Friedrich.
"What are you doing here?" Friedrich wanted to ask her the question, but then he noticed a light shiver running through the girl's body. He took her by the hand and, with a gentle motion, guided her inside the school behind him. A weary sigh escaped his lips. He definitely hadn't counted on such a turn of events.
"I'm Emily... Can I stay here?"
A young voice spoke near his ear. Friedrich saw that the girl had pressed herself closer to his leg and wrapped her arms around it. Throwing his coat over her thin body, Friedrich led her to one of the classrooms.
Soon they found themselves in a warm room where a fireplace was burning. Although the headmaster usually didn't allow anyone to enter here, Friedrich now decided that the girl needed to be warmed up.
Emily obediently sat down on a simple wooden chair next to the source of fire and placed her hands on her knees. She made a slight movement, and her legs began to swing animatedly, dangling from the chair. She spoke again.
"Thank you, mister... Who are you? And what is this place...?"
Before she could finish her question, she let out a sneeze. Her hands pressed the coat to her body, trying to warm up after the cold drops. Friedrich raised his hand and touched the thin hem of her dress. As expected, it was soaked through. Friedrich immediately rose to his full height and looked around the room. Although there were cabinets in it, they mostly contained only documents. Friedrich glanced at the water that had begun slowly dripping onto the floor from Emily's dress. An instinctive question immediately arose in the teacher's mind — "And who's going to wipe this up afterwards?" — but the answer was obvious, so he decided to head into the corridor for a cloth.
After standing in the hallway for a few minutes, Friedrich's exhausted gaze lowered once again to the girl, who was glancing at the room's interior with shy interest. He wanted to say something, but before leaving, he only threw her a brief — "Don't go anywhere" — and then closed the door behind him.
Friedrich stood for several minutes in silence. He still wore only the school vest and trousers, which had been an inseparable part of his appearance ever since he had joined this school as a teacher. They were given to all instructors to promote a diligent image. Despite the intention, many teachers, after a certain period of time, stopped wearing the special clothing and returned to their usual wardrobes. Only Friedrich had taken a liking to the new uniform. He felt it lent him a solidity not reflected in his young face in comparison to his more experienced colleagues.
Walking through the familiar corridors, Friedrich stumbled minute by minute upon new questions about this person who had forced him to stay at work. He wasn't annoyed, but a sense of light interest stirred within him. The girl looked poor, but their school was located quite far from the poor districts. Besides, she was extraordinarily lucky, as the school doors should have already been closed by this time.
After a while, Friedrich knocked on the door and then re-entered the headmaster's office. The little guest was watching the burning flame of the fireplace, and the reflections of the fire played on her pale skin. Kneeling down, Friedrich began wiping up the puddle she had left. Along the way, he decided to seek answers to the questions troubling him.
"Would you mind talking?"
"Yes... Thank you again... I'm warm..."
"Good. Where did you come from? And why were you alone outside at this hour? Where are your parents?"
Emily was silent for a second, pondering the questions. It seemed she herself didn't know the answers. After a short time, the girl spoke. Her face was still turned toward the fireplace.
"I'm from the orphanage... It's far, far from here. I felt unwell... I came here... Mm... My name is Emily..."
There was only one orphanage in their small town, but few took an interest in its affairs. Friedrich considered such an attitude slightly inappropriate for a place where children were housed, but like any resident of this town, he had more pressing matters than meddling with the workers of that place.
"Alright... Emily? Why did you leave there? And how did you end up here?"
Friedrich couldn't help but ask the little one, since the orphanage was practically on the other side of town. The walk would have taken at least an hour, and for a child, it would have been even harder!
"I was hungry! We were fed only in the morning! The others were crying, but... I was strong! I endured! And then I felt very unwell..."
Emily moved and turned her head toward Friedrich. Her light eyes expressed a childlike pride, but from her thin body, it was clear that beneath that bold gaze lay weakness.
Friedrich pondered what he needed to do. To be honest, the thought of sending her back surfaced in his mind more than once. But other circumstances pushed it back to the bottom of his reflections. Why was this girl starving? Was she telling the truth? Was that place really so neglectful of the children?
His head began to throb slowly under the onslaught of all these questions. He shook his hair and cleared his mind of the reflections that tried to leave their mark on him.
"I need to help this child, and then think about what to do with her..."
Friedrich walked to the cabinet and opened it. He immediately noticed a teapot, its metal surface gleaming on the top shelf. He took the vessel by the handle and brought it to the sink at the edge of the room. Filling it with hot water, he sensed a pleasant aroma from the leaves remaining inside. Friedrich took out two cups for Emily. After filling them nearly to the brim, he waved his hand.
"Come here. I think I still have a few gingerbread cookies left somewhere. Aha..."
Friedrich placed a couple of nearly colorless pieces of pastry on the table, but satisfaction flickered across his face. He had found at least something edible.
"For me... Is this really for me?"
Friedrich nodded at Emily's question, then pulled her seat closer to the table. Her frail little hands reached for the cup and carefully took hold of it, bringing it to her lips. Friedrich instinctively placed his hand beneath her cup to save it from a sudden fall. Emily took a couple of sips, then grabbed a gingerbread cookie and bit off a small piece. It seemed she was still getting used to such unexpected kindness.
"Eat. I'm not hungry... You need to eat. You said you came here because you were hungry, right? And how did you get out of the orphanage, if I may ask?"
Emily lowered her gaze and quietly murmured something, then spoke a little louder.
"The nannies didn't lock the gate when they went to bed... I climbed out through the window. It was cold, but I walked... No one opened the door for me. Everywhere was dark..."
Friedrich sighed. A picture of a poor girl wandering through the city in search of shelter under the pouring rain had already formed in his head. He involuntarily glanced out at the street, but then looked at Emily with slight surprise.
"And why here? This place is far... There were other houses." He asked, as his gaze glided over the dark streets of his hometown.
"I saw... fireflies. I think... They flew ahead... I followed them..."
Friedrich suppressed the urge to let out a chuckle. It sounded silly. Insects couldn't have led her this far, and besides...
Was it even the season for fireflies?
---
"Mmm...? Ah?! WHAT?!"
Emily jumped up from the bed. Her gaze quickly fell on the clock hanging on the wall. It was already ten in the morning. For the first few minutes, she simply stared silently at the hands, which mercilessly showed that she was late.
When the second hand twitched, it was as if a realization clicked in her head.
"Oh no! Papa's going to scold me again!" Her hands darted to her messy white hair. Rushing to her wardrobe, Emily began tossing her clothes onto the floor. At last, she took hold of her inexpensive school uniform. It was slightly worn and wrinkled, but Friedrich tried to find decent attire for his adoptive daughter. Whose fault was it that Emily preferred crashing into the school walls rather than walking normally?
The clatter of her shoes rang out in the quiet corridor. From the classrooms behind closed doors, the soft voices of students could be heard. Emily grabbed the handle and, flinging the door open, leaned forward slightly from the rush.
"I'm sorry!!" Her ringing voice silenced the class. Although her eyes were lowered to the floor from a mix of shame and guilt, she could feel Miss Gilbert's cold gaze.
"Emilia, you do know that for your tardiness you will be forced to stay after lessons? Can you remind me what number occurrence this is this week?"
Counting on her fingers, Emily answered, still standing by the door with a downcast expression: "The third..."
"Exactly. Well then, take your seat. If you continue this disgraceful behavior, I will have to have a serious talk with Mister Radich."
Hearing her father's surname, Emily seemed to grow even sadder. She walked through the classroom and sat down at her desk. She noticed a crumpled scrap of paper lying in front of her.
Unfolding it, she read: "Morning, sleepyhead. I'm sure the teacher is just worried you won't pass the exam. If you want, we can unwind together after lessons." Turning her head, she saw the comforting smile of her friend in the other row.
Emily nodded and made sure Kate saw it. They exchanged quick glances, then turned toward the blackboard. Arranging her supplies, Emily took a steel pen in her hand and traced a few lines of text on the sheet. Unfortunately for Miss Gilbert, Emily's attention dried up as quickly as the ink on the tip of her pen. Within a minute, small lines appeared on the corner of her notebook, and then clumsy drawings followed.
No one would say that Emily hated studying. She loved her teachers, for all her life she'd had to share her youth with their presence. Before she managed to secure a spot in this institution, she had interacted plenty with its inhabitants. Her favorite thing was the cafeteria, which was no surprise. It seemed to be the first time in Emily's life that she saw so much food meant just for her. Perhaps that was part of the reason Emily loved school so much, but no one would know that unless they asked her themselves.
Since we're on the topic of food, it's worth noting that, having skipped breakfast, Emily was extremely displeased. She sat through the entire lesson in this mood, until they were finally allowed to retreat into the corridor.
Finally making it out into the corridor, Emily let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. "Ugh, I really should keep some kind of bird in my room... I've heard that in villages, roosters wake people in the morning..."
"Haha, you know, I don't think there's a bird that could wake you up on time..."
Kate ruffled Emily's hair, making her tilt her head and smile.
"Yeah, probably. Do you think Papa will be angry? I mean, I know he won't scold me too badly, but still. I feel like he should be used to it by now! Really, truly! I don't think I can do anything when my bed turns into such a soft little cloud in the mornings!"
At last, Emily managed to lift her spirits enough to laugh a little. She brushed Kate's hand off the top of her head, then raised her eyes to her dear friend.
It seems necessary now to say a couple of words about who Kate was to Emily and to the rest of the school.
It seemed that for a beauty like Kate, there could be no obstacles in school. She possessed everything one could love in a girl her age, though her parents, to the surprise of other children, stood out neither for noble lineage nor for a brilliant mind. Yet, as it turned out, Kate did not share the joy of her good fortune.
"All these boys have gotten so annoying... Why do they think I'm interested in their stupid little poems? Honestly, it's so embarrassing listening to them..."
So it happened that everyone who confessed to our young charmer ended up on a long blacklist, which kept filling up with names.
One day, while strolling through the school's small courtyard, Kate began studying the people sitting on the benches. Of course, she saw many familiar faces from her class. If she could just find at least someone she'd enjoy talking to, then—
Feeling something bump into her back, she saw a little girl rubbing her bruised forehead and looking at her guiltily. Before she could say a word, Kate heard Emily begin rapidly uttering apologies. Something in that frightened sincerity touched Kate, so she offered her a hand. From that day on, Kate's attention was occupied by this walking accident, who by a stroke of luck had ended up in the same school as her.
"I was so happy every time Kate came up to me during breaks. Maybe it's silly, but sometimes I worry that Kate does it out of pity..." Emily sometimes shared her school days with Friedrich whenever he was in the mood to listen to her restless stories.
As the two friends walked down the corridor, Emily's eyes caught a little black spot nimbly darting between the students. Slipping between yet another pair of legs, it headed straight for Emily.
"Chizi! You escaped again, huh?" With a joyful exclamation, Emily lifted the cat into her arms as he poked his wet little face into hers. Meanwhile, Kate, tilting her head reproachfully, prepared to deliver yet another lecture to the boy heading toward them with a light smile on his face.
Ito scratched his head slightly, running his fingers through his black hair. "Ah, so that's where the little rascal is. Why do I always find him near you two? Sometimes I think he loves Emily more than me..."
"You know, that's well-deserved if you can't even manage to hold onto him yourself. I'm sure Emily would happily take Chizi home. Are you sure you don't want to just give him away?" Kate began slowly stroking the cat's fur as he basked in Emily's embrace.
"You know Papa won't let me have a cat. He says I couldn't handle that kind of responsibility... Why does he always think that? I'm not a child anymore!"
"Yeah... I don't know..." Ito crossed his arms over his chest and glanced to the side. "Ow, what was that for?!"
Kate lightly shoved his shoulder with reproach. "You're no better yourself! Maybe you should spend more time with Chizi instead of sitting in the library?"
Emily, meanwhile, lowered Chizi to the floor. "Ah, what's next? We don't have lessons with Papa today, right?"
"Yeah. Mister Radich can spare us from endlessly copying text today. Ugh... If I were a teacher, I'd never make my students do that!"
Emily smirked slightly, and then they headed together to the next lesson.