Mary's Path

It was a cold Wednesday afternoon and Mary was as usual spending her time at the orphanage. She was watching two boys and three girls playing in the snow on the inner yard. The boys where throwing snowballs at each other whilst the others were trying to build a snowman.

The rest of the children were inside, the most of them had been outside since Mary came just after lunch and had given up the outside play. The nuns had asked Mary to keep an eye on the last five children. Despite it being spring, it didn’t look it wit all the snow and the cold weather.

Mary watched as Owen gathered up snow into a snowball and aimed at Emelia.

“Owen, pleas don’t do that” Mary said in a kind voice. The boy looked at her, then looked at Emelia, shrugging his shoulders5, shrugging his shoulders he let the snowball fly in James’ direction instead.

“Thank you, Owen,” Mary said smiling at him, receiving a shy smile back.

At first Mary had been worried that the children wouldn’t listen to her, she wasn’t authoritative like the nuns. But most of the children seemed to respond to her kind nature.

As the sun was starting to sink low in the sky so Mary called the children to come in. She needed to start heading back to the castle.

Emma ran up to her and gave Mary a hug, Mary hugged her back.

“Thank you for coming today Mary” the 10-year-old girl said.

“It was my pleasure Emma, I always have fun when I come to visit. Thank you for letting me play with you” Mary responded and smiled as she ushered the children inside.

“I got the little rascals, you can head home Mary. Thank you for coming, we will se you next Wednesday?” sister Loise said as the came inside.

“Thank you, yes I’ll be here as usual”

“Go with god my child”

After waving to the children, Mary set out to head home. As usual when she had spent time with the children, she felt happy and satisfied. She had gotten to know some of the children very well and some of them had opened up to her about their past.

It was never easy to listen to their stories that were steeped in loss. They mirrored her own in so many ways. The more time Mary spent with them, the more she got a feeling that they were healing her as much as she was healing them. It would take a long time, she had just started. But she wasn’t in any hurry.

She arrived at the castle gate just as the guards started to prepare to close it.

“You’re cutting it close today Mary” one of the guards called to her.

“Sorry. The children wanted to continue playing in the snow. I lost track of the time” she answered as she hurried into the courtyard.

“No problem, we would have let you in” he answered with a smile.

“Thank you” she smiled back before hurrying to her room.

The next day went along as usual. Mary hade become so skilled with cocking that she was now the second chef’s assistant. It meant that she had a lot more responsibilities and sometimes she would even help out with dishes that were to be served at the main table, to the royal family.

Mary had continued to put most of her frustration and energy into her work and it had ben noticed. She was often commended for her dedication and hard work. Mary on the other hand felt a little guilty when she was praised for it. For her it was a way of escaping so she didn’t feel she should be rewarded for it.

Today she was preparing lamb racks for dinner. She trimmed the bones to perfection before tying the racks to form crowns. Dousing the meat in a herb and honey mix, she left it to soak before they were to be roasted.

As she was moving on the next task, Mrs. Meata appeared in the kitchen and immediately had everyone’s attention.

“Can everyone stop what they are doing and pay attention” she asked as if they hadn’t already done it. “From tomorrow all staff in the kitchen are forbidden to go outside the castle grounds and have any contact with persons that are not residing within the castle. This to keep our beloved royal family and the esteemed court safe.”

The silence in the kitchen became heavy as the news sank in.

“For those who live outside the castle there are two options. One is that you resign, the other is that you stay here. We have made room for anyone that needs a bed to sleep in.” she continued and there were some murmurs among the staff.

Mary paled at the implications for her. Her two last havens had just been taken away. No more church with Erik and Ida, and no more volunteering at the orphanage. But she knew better then to object. Instead, she hung her head trying to steel herself.

“Any questions?” Mrs. Beata asked. There were some from people living outside the castle, about if they could go home to spend one last night with their families. They would be allowed to do that, and Mary was happy for them.

She would have to make other arrangements she thought and despite her fear of the women she raised her voice.

“Eh, Mrs. Beata ma’am” Mary’s voice sounded frail.

“Speak up girl”

“If we are in the courtyard and someone is outside the castle grounds, on the street, would it be okay to speak to them as long as we stay inside the castle ground?” Mary asked. Mrs. Beata looked at her with disgust clearly visible in her face.

“I think that would be acceptable, as long as you weren’t making a fool out of yourself by shouting or doing anything else loud.” Mrs. Beata answered.

“Thank you for answering ma’am” Mary said and curtsied.