His Graceful Queen

The dorm room

Hannah let out a big relieved sigh, and went up stairs. She knew everyone was waiting for her. When she got up to the dorm room the big troops, waited in the entrance and as soon as they saw her they gathered around her to see if she was okay. Tom saw the red mark on her chin and he got furious, so did Toby. But they knew that if they did anything to stop him, the little ones would be in danger. “he should rot in hell” Toby said filled with anger. Hannah looked at Toby, with his coalblack hair and his brown eyes and tried to calm him down “its okay, it was just one slap, and all of you are safe”. Toby looked at her, “you know, you could just run away from here, you don’t have to stay here, we all know what happens when you turn 18, I could also kill him?” Hannah smiled to him, she knew he was getting stronger and wanted to save her from the headmaster, he always wanted to protect everyone. She said calmly and lovingly, “Toby, you shouldn’t say things like that, you need to do something with your life. He isn’t worth losing your life over, if you kill him you will be on death row. And you know, I will never leave you behind. The day I leave you behind is the day I am no longer breathing”. Toby looked at her, she could see he was still fuming, but he gave in and responded with an awkward hug, and the rest of the big troop followed him and they ended up in a grouphug. Hannah whispered into Toby’s ear “I will figure our something, I promise”.

They all let go of each other and went to take care of the little ones. The dorm room was a big room, with room for 32 kids. The room was filled with 16 old bunk beds and all the mattresses that once had been white were now grey and worn out, and the blankets were thin layers of fabric. A lot of the smaller kids had to sleep together to stay warm. The room was very dim, they didn’t have electric lights, since the headmaster wouldn’t pay for such nonsense in a room they were supposed to sleep in, so Hannah had gotten a lot of small candle bits at a dumpster behind a restaurant. They often had to change the bits because the went out. But the light was warm, and they could see, that was the important part. Near the end furthest away from the entrance the small ones slept, Louise and Sam slept next to them, then the bigger ones with the rest of the big troop amongst them. The beds used for sleeping was only 11 of them. Hannah had the one closest to the door, she had to get up early to do chores, if any of the little ones were ill they would join her in her bed so she could take care of them, and it was closer to the bathroom if they had to get cleaned up. Not to mention she could listen to the door if someone was coming. The rest of the unused beds she had placed in the opposite corner and turned into some tables.

After the group hug, Hannah went to read a bedtime story for the smallest, it was one of the books she had borrowed at the library. Thank god Louise had been able to clean it up so Hannah wouldn’t get fined. She gathered them around her and with a light in her left hand and a book in her right she began reading. They all loved the voice of Hannah, it was so gentle and calm. After the story, she listened to them as she hugged, kissed and tugged them in their beds. When she tugged them, she would tell them “the world needs you, your smile will brighten the day of a lonely one, your voice will help a lost one and you are worth everything. If you don’t get treated right don’t give up. We all have our purpose in this world and so do you. Always be kind and gentle, and never give up”. Then she would kiss their forehead, blow the candles. She didn’t know where this saying came from, she just said it every day to all the kids, and had done it as long as she could remember.