Touching Rune

Chapter 2-3

“Rune, where are you going?” Timmy asked.

Rune turned and pulled her dressing gown closed. Timmy had come to the orphanage a couple of months before. He was a soft-spoken boy of eight whose eyes held too much sorrow. His father had died when he was just a babe and his mother of tuberculosis two months ago.

“You should be asleep,” Rune whispered sternly. “What are you doing up?”

Timmy looked down at his hands and didn’t reply at first. Rune sighed and knelt down in front of him. She gently tilted his trembling chin up so he could see she wasn’t mad.

“How about some warm milk and a small piece of cake?” she asked softly. “It always helps me when I have a sad dream.”

Timmy looked into her eyes with a serious expression. “Do you have sad dreams too?” he asked, raising his hand to touch her cheek as she nodded. “I dreamed about my mom. She was coughing again and couldn’t stop.”

“It is hard when someone we love dies,” Rune said sadly. “Just remember, as long as you keep them in your heart, they are never really gone.”

“Do you keep your family in your heart?” Timmy asked innocently.

Rune schooled her face not to show the pain she still felt at times. She often wondered if anything would ever heal the grief she kept locked away deep inside her. Being around the children and watching them grow helped.

“Yes, Timmy,” Rune replied as she stood up. “I keep them locked inside my heart so I never forget them. Come on. Let’s go see if Mother Magdalene saved us any of Sister Mary’s pound cake. You know she loves it.”

Timmy giggled and slipped his hand into Rune’s. They snuck down the stairs and through the corridor. Rune decided to cut through the garden. She loved going into the garden on a clear night.

Timmy giggled again when Rune teased him about being quiet as a mouse. She was about to remark that maybe they should be stealing some bread and cheese when a movement on the other side of the garden caught her attention. There was a flash and brilliant orange flames flared up, silhouetting a form that Rune was only too familiar with along with the scarred face of the man who had been watching her earlier.

“Timmy, wake the others,” Rune said, pushing the boy behind her. “Run! Tell them fire! Wake the others now!”

Timmy’s eyes were huge as he briefly looked over his shoulder at the two men. One stared back at them in surprise while the other glared at them in fury. He stumbled as he turned, his hand searching desperately for the handle to the door.

“Get him!” the man with the furious expression ordered. “Don’t let him alert the others.”

“Run, Timmy,” Rune ordered as she moved to stand in front of the door. “Save them, Timmy. It is up to you now.”