What Melts Ice

Will walked up to the orphanage with his bag of few belongings slung over his shoulder. The building looked close to abandoned. It was very run down. Some of the outside boards were rotten and it looked like a place that would be cold and damp on the inside. The dark, overcast day only gave the place a more sad and pathetic look. A weather worn sign surrounded by overgrown grass on the front lawn had the faded words “Pinewood Orphanage” scrawled across it. After hearing his sentence, Will had wondered why three ladies taking care of young orphans would allow a convict to help them through community service. But now he realized that it’s because they are desperate.

He slowly approached the front door and knocked three times. While he waited he removed the cap from his head and prepared his polite smile for whichever lady opened the door. But he did not expect a girl of about twelve to answer it.

“Who are you?” she asked bluntly.

Will quickly recovered. He replied, “I am the new caretaker that will be staying here for a few months.” He paused and looked over the girl’s head into the room behind her. Seeing no sign of any other human being he turned to her and asked, “Is one of your nurses around by chance? I would like to let them know that I have arrived.”

“They are feeding the babies right now,” the girl said. “And I should not let a stranger into the house.”

Will smiled and nodded. The girl was smart. But he was growing slightly impatient with her from the winter bitterness that chilled him to the bones.

“I understand. But I am cold. And I do not want you to have to interrupt the kind ladies. May I simply stand inside?”

The girl had look on her face that clearly showed that she felt conflicted. She wanted to help this stranger, but she had been taught better to avoid them, especially men no doubt. But it wasn’t long until a voice from inside saved her from making a decision.

“Ellie, come back inside this instance! Bring some of the young children by the fire and read to them.”

The girl obeyed and disappeared into the dark house. A taller, older woman took her place in the doorway. “May I help you, sir?” she asked sternly. An expression of distaste showed on her face, which was slightly creased and wrinkled. She had signs of grey in her dark hair. She seemed to be older, maybe in her forties. But from the work she was doing with children, she was probably a lot younger than her looks showed.

Will pasted his polite smile on again. “I am the new caretaker,” he repeated to her.

She looked him up and down, and the distaste on her face grew. “Ah, the convict,” she spat. “Follow me. I will show you to your room. It is far from the children’s rooms as well as our own.”

“I wonder why,” Will said under his breath as he stepped into the house. The door shut behind him.

In the distance, the pitter patter of little steps running through the house could be heard as well as the laughter of children and crying of babies. The inside of the building looked just as bad as the outside. Dust covered everything in sight. Cob webs hung in corners and everything seemed so untouched. It definitely did not seem like the place the raise children, even orphans. Will understood why this place needed a caretaker. On the outside it was falling apart and looked abandoned. On the inside it was dirty and unused. He wondered to himself why they hadn’t sought one out themselves.

Will followed the woman up a once grand staircase. At the top of the staircase the hallway parted to either the left or the right. They went to the left. The place hardly had any lighting except for a few candles here and there. It seemed that they relied on the sun coming from the windows in the ceiling and in all the rooms, but since today was dark and rainy they didn’t have much light to work with.

The third room on the right side of the hallway was Will’s room. The nurse opened the door to a room with a large bed against a wall, a large window that had dusty curtains drawn over it, a desk and chair by the window, a bureau with a mirror against the wall opposite from the bed, and a small couch next to the bureau.

“This is a very nice room,” Will said to the nurse. “I’m surprised no one else is using it. Even one of you ladies.”

“There are other rooms similar to this. It is pretty uniform throughout the house. I’m sure you’re not used to something as nice as this after your jail experience.”

Will could tell he would have a hard time here with this nurse. She seemed to try to make a quip about his jail time every chance she could. Will hoped the other ladies were not as hardnosed and bitchy.

“Also,” she added, “This side of the hall is completely empty except for you. So you can do as you please down here. Just before you leave make sure everything is in order as you found it. If we suspect any mischief though it is going right to the judge. No children will be coming down here, they never do anyway. No inviting the children and no visiting them or us at night. If you have a question, ask us during the day. Your job is to take care of this place. Put it back into reasonable shape. Make it look like someone lives here again.”

“Will I get to meet the children though?” Will asked.

“For only a moment. I will introduce you to them so they know who you are. But they will never go near you, especially while you work. And you will never go near them. Is that understood?”

Will was being labeled already as a bad man. But he wasn’t. He had no intention of hurting the children or the nurses, but he saw that reasoning with her wasn’t going to happen.

“Loud and clear, ma’am,” Will said.

“Wonderful,” replied the nurse, although her facial expression did not exactly scream “wonderful”. “Now put your stuff down so we can introduce you to the children. Then you can get to work.”

Downstairs, Will was led to a large hall with wooden tables and benches. This was obviously where the children ate. They were sitting around finishing up their lunches and chatting. One nurse was walking around making sure the children behaved themselves. Another was sitting in a chair feeding the babies. The one walking around seemed younger than the hardnosed bitch with Will, but just as strict. Will couldn’t see the other woman from where he was standing.

“Attention! Attention, everyone!” the nurse beside Will yelled over the many of tiny other voices. Everyone turned and looked at them standing in the doorway. Will’s eyes fell on the nurse feeding the babies. She was young, and had a kind and soft face on her. She was the most beautiful woman Will had ever seen. She had silky brown hair and the prettiest blue eyes. Will was immediately distracted and couldn’t stop staring. Only did the old nurse’s booming voice wake him from his trance.

“We have a new caretaker,” she said delightfully with a small smile on her face. “He will be living with us for a few months and will be working on the house to put it into tip-top shape again.” She clasped her hands together in mock excitement—a show obviously for the children’s sake—but then her voice grew stern. “You all are to stay away from him inside the house and out. He is a very busy man and his work will be dangerous for young children. And we don’t wish to bother a man nice enough to rebuild our home now do we.”

The children shook their head in practiced unison. “No, ma’am,” they all said at once.

The nurse smiled. “Good.” She turned to Will and the smile vanished. “You have a lot to do Mister—“

“Frader,” Will finished. “I’m Will Frader.”

“Charmed,” said the nurse, although she was anything but so. “Anyway, I suggest you get started. Everything you need to get started is in the tool shed out back. If there are any materials you need just write a list and hand it to me which I will send to the judge and he will supply you. Now get going.”

Will nodded. He turned and waved to the children, his eyes falling once more upon the beautiful woman feeding the babies, then walked out.