Enid looked out of the window of Eyre’s SUV, the convent had a face of orange bricks. The building was not of this decade. She placed it about sixty years old. The architecture was from the nineteen-sixties.

“Are you going to go inside? Scared you might burn up?”

“Be serious Eyre.”

“What is the holdup mom? I have places to be.”

“Fine, fine, push your mother out of the car like you’re dropping her off at the old age home. Just roll me out here. Don’t forget to throw my wheelchair at me.”

Enid opened the door and grabbed her bag. Eyre laughed.

“I’ll pick you later.”

“Don’t worry about it Eyre, I’ll make my own way home, it will give me a chance to eat.”

Enid looked behind Eyre and made the slightest motion with her chin.

“See you later, dear.”

“Bye mom, I’ll take the bus home.”

Enid closed the door and turned to see a pair of nuns going out the front door and beginning to spread salt on the walk and stairs. She approached the entrance and gave a small nod to the nuns and went inside. The entry hallway was tiled with a rack for coats and had matts for boots. Enid pulled her boots off and hung her coat up. She pulled her runners out of her bag and sat down on a bench to put them on. The décor was about what she expected. Very outdated, though it looked like it had been replaced at the turn of the century. It wasn’t the ugly seventies oranges and greens she had expected. The colors were very subdued dark blues, some cream colors. Crucifixes were everywhere, not in a tacky way, but there was no mistaking this for anything but a Catholic building. There was an elevator directly ahead of her and dark oak wooden stairs going up on either side to a second floor. To her left and right she saw other rooms. One looked like it was a library of sorts, the other seemed to be almost a salon. She could hear the low murmur of voices. Eventually she saw a stream of nuns coming from under the left stairway. She had timed her visit for the end of evening prayers as requested by Mariana.

“Can I help you with something young lady?”

Enid looked up again from her shoelaces and saw an elderly lady. Her grey hair and well-worn laugh lines told Enid she was probably in her late sixties to early seventies. She looked quite stern, not as though she was angry, it just seemed to be the way her face settled.

“I’m here to see Maria, we are working on a school project.”

The older woman smiled.

“I’m Sister Betty. I’m Mother Superior here. You must be Enid. Maria is just helping clean up the chapel after our evening prayers. You can either wait here, or if you’d rather the library is over here.”

She walked to the door Enid had already identified as the library and reached in and turned on a light switch. Enid nodded and stood up picked up her bag and made her way to the library.

“Please make yourself comfortable Enid, you’re in safe space here.”

Enid hadn’t realized it, but her shoulders were tensed up. She took an unnecessary deep breath. It was long past sundown. Benefits of northern living. She was in no way alive at the moment. She put her bag down and sat down in one of the wooden chairs.

“Thank you, mother superior.”

“Is this your first visit to a convent?”

“No, I’ve been to several.”

“Oh, which one?”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t be familiar with most of them. But before I came here, I was at the one at Saint Sarah’s Cathedral in Narfordshire, Narford I mean.”

“That is a beautiful cathedral. Is it alright if I asked why you were visiting? Are you discerning a religious life for yourself?”

“No, I just, well I had a caregiver she was very close to me when I was very young. She asked me to meet her there before I came to live here. She knew the cathedral was a special place for me, so she wanted to visit and talk. While I was there, I spent the night at the cloister. My mother didn’t trust me in a hotel on my own. She’s a bit overprotective. She would probably love if I chose to live a chaste life.”

“You seem fairly well travelled.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“It is easy in Europe. Get on a bus or train and you’re in another country before you know it.”

“Yes, it is isn’t it, did you get to visit Rome?”

“Yes, I did, I even lived there for a while.”

“And the Vatican?”

“I visited there once. I’m not one for crowds.”

“You are blessed with a very diverse background Enid.”

Mariana had entered in time to hear that Enid had visited the Vatican and Rome and her hand was on her silver crucifix stroking it.

“I will let you get to work.”

Enid gave Mariana a small wave and opened the book she’d brought with her. The Mother Superior left as quietly as she had entered leaving the girls alone. Mariana sat and pulled out her laptop. Enid looked at it, she could use one but identifying them was another thing. Her friends at school had made fun of Mariana for the age of her computer. Saying it’s so twenty-tens. They’d also made fun of Mariana’s flip phone. Even Enid knew that was a relic. Enid had wanted to beat some sense into the girls. As well-mannered as she had become, old habits die hard. She’d spent almost all of her life using violence to solve most problems. Instead, she had made some offhand comment about Mariana not having anything that was hers because of the gas explosion and that they should be less snotty about it. They’d laughed it off and then went on to make fun of Mariana because she was an orphan living at a convent. Enid had to fight really had not to beat them senseless that day. Mariana tried to turn on her computer. It wouldn’t start. She sighed and plugged in the power cable. While the pair waited for it to start Enid looked Mariana up and down.

“So, that computer, it’s kind of old, isn’t it?”

Mariana nodded.

“It was donated to the convent a few years ago. They were nice enough to give it to me for school. And my phone, was donated as well. I think it is older than us.”

Enid laughed.

Not by a long shot.

“Do you want a better one?”

“Oh, no, this one is fine. It just needs to be plugged in.”

“Yes, but it takes forever for it to start.”

“It is not much but it meets the school requirements, so it is enough.”

“You’re too good a person, you know that?”

“No, I am a terrible person.”

“You are not. I see you when those girls at school make fun of you, you just sit there and take it. Watching it happens makes me angry and it isn’t even me they are mocking.”

“Their behavior is just kids being kids, if I did more to fit in, I would have less trouble.”

“No! Their behavior is on them and its abhorrent.”

“And you still spend time with them.”

“I was hoping that my own behavior would set an example. Besides being in their crowd lets me keep an eye on their antics and stop them before they cross the line.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve stopped them from doing really stupid stuff more than once. People would have gotten hurt. When I pointed out it was against the law they rapidly backed out. There will always be bullies. At least if I am hanging around with them, I can temper their antics.”

“They tried to do things to me?”

“Yes, they did, but I stopped them.”

“I appreciate your help, but I am able to take care of myself now.”

“What do you mean ‘now’?”

“Well, my nanny is still in a coma it is why I am still here. She is my legal guardian. The convent has taken me in with the permission of children’s services.”

Oh my god. She thinks she’s only fifteen.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but it doesn’t mean others shouldn’t look out for you when they can, you would do the same for anyone because you’re that good a person.”

“Yes.”

“Then why is it wrong for someone to do the same for you?”

“You are right. Of course, you are right, because you truly are a good person. I hope someday I can be as close to Jesus as you are. You seem to understand living in the grace of God like no one else I know.”

Stab me in the heart with a rusty spoon why don’t you.

“Ya, no that’s not me. I’m the bad guy here. If you know half the things, I’ve done in my life you would probably have nothing to do with me.”

“No, I cannot believe that. And even if I did, no one is beyond forgiveness.”

“The worst thing I have ever done was let my sister down when she needed me.”

“You were a child, how could you let her down? If you loved her then you never let her down. You were just too young to help.”

Amazingly, now that I think of it she’s right. If I knew what I know now that would have gone very differently.

“It doesn’t stop me from feeling like I did.”

“Guilt is a burden you need to put down or you cannot walk very fast. And then how will you get on with your life?”

“That sounds strangely familiar where is it from?”

“I am not sure, it just came to me.”

I remember now, your father used to say it.

“I know that feeling. You read so many books and you remember random bits and pieces from them, but which book did it come from, right?”

“Yes, I do read quite a lot.”

“I do not sleep very well, so I spend a lot of my time reading. I find screens bother my eyes so I tend to go with paper books.”

“I do as well.”

“We have a lot in common don’t we?”

Mariana smiled and logged into her computer which had finally booted.

“Please let me get you a better computer. My mother is very wealthy, obscenely wealthy. A laptop would be like less than a day’s interest for her.”

“I could not ask that of her. Maybe you could get one for someone who does not have one yet.”

“Oh my god Maria, just let me do this for you.”

“Please do not use his name in vain.”

“Sorry. Please let me just get you a computer and a phone. My mom will prepay the plan. She won’t even have second thoughts.”

“I do not need such things.”

“I will get them anyway.”

“I can tell you will not take no for an answer.”

“It’s like you can read my mind, spooky.”

“You are very persistent.”

“Like a bulldog.”

“We should get to work, Enid.”

We used to waste so much time during lessons avoiding work.

“Sure.”