Part 1




It is better to be born lucky than rich.
-Unknown



Good luck comes in slender currents, misfortune in rolling tides.
-Irish saying



“Secrets are made to be found out with time.”
-Charles Sanford




Chapter 1
Mouse


"A safe but sometimes chilling way of recalling the past is to force open a crammed drawer. If you are searching for anything in particular you don't find it but something falls out at the back that is often more interesting."

~James M. Barrie


The day started like any other. Mouse dove under her bed to retrieve her boots and what she found was a raveled mess of knots and ties. She groaned and set to work trying to undo them.

"Matthew, wake up!" Mouse ordered across the room to the other bed.

He did no such thing. He barely stirred and pulled the covers over his head. This made Mouse pout and groan and with out thinking she threw one of her boots at where his head would be under the blanket. It made a loud thump and Matthew slowly sat up rubbing the back of his head.

"Ahhh, Mouse, why did you have to do that, huh?"

"Do you wanna be late again?" she hid a grin. "Come on! Its gonna be sunrise soon!”

She grabbed her cap from the bedpost, punched her friend lightly on the arm and was out the dorms and downstairs as quietly as she could in her heavy boots. The stack of the daily paper was already on the doorstep tied with twine waiting to be delivered. Mouse undid the twine and began rolling up each individual paper and tying a rubber band tight and snug on the roll. She was half way through her stack when Matthew had finally joined her.

"Took you long enough."

"I'm so tired." he yawned. "Why so early."

Mouse snapped a rubber band on the roll and hit Matthew in the head with it. "People want their papers early!"

"Why?" He just shook his head. There was no answer that would change his mind.
"I'm never going to read the paper when I'm older, it’s too early to get up and read it."

Mouse said nothing and they rolled up the papers, slipped them into their mailbags, and unchained their bikes and pedaled down Farro Street as the sun was just peaking over the horizon.

"We didn't do too bad today." said Matthew.

"Don't say that now, you're gonna jinx us."

So they rode on opposite sides of the street, throwing the paper as close as they could to the front steps. After the first hour of having dogs chasing them, or the elderly scowling them for their poor aim, Mouse and Matthew had run out of papers and had to go back and get more. The other two piles were there waiting for them and after a good ten minutes of fumbling and getting their hands slightly stained with ink, they were off again in the other direction for the other part of their route.

By this point, the whole town had stirred and the smell of breakfast wafted onto the somewhat empty streets. Mouse heard her stomach growl and caused her to think about the meal awaiting her after their run. She was really going to have to start eating something before she left the house.

She tossed a tightly rolled up paper to the Pakleys porch, nearly missing the birdbath and bounced off the hedge. It was the best toss so far and she congratulated herself. Her good feeling diminished when she turned to look at Matthew who had thrown a perfect toss that kit the front door and landing on the Henrys welcome mat.

"Show off." sulked Mouse.

"Practice.” he laughed. "I've been doing this longer than you have anyway."

Mouse continued to pout and tossed another paper that landed in the grass nowhere near the front porch steps.

"What do you think, they are gonna have for breakfast today?" Mouse tried to find a brighter side. "I heard Mikey say that we get flapjacks pretty soon, hopefully today."

This time Matthew sulked. "I don't think you should believe Mikey, he's always lying."

"Why shouldn't I believe him," asked Mouse. "Why would he lie about that?"

Because things never have changed. Their home is run by a church for children who do not have families; an orphanage most like to say. However, the boys that come to live in the silent large dorms do not have hope of finding a family. They do not have substantial funding for anything that was not an extreme necessity like socks, a good pair of shoes, a coat, hat, and gloves for the winter season. As for food it was oatmeal for breakfast, soup for lunch, and either meatloaf or chicken potpie and on good days rice with fresh chicken breasts.

Pancakes are a luxury- A luxury that the boys that lived in the Voldwyn dorms could not have. Nevertheless, why would Matthew want to ruin his friend’s hopes? A warning would suffice.

"Just don't keep your hopes up to high, ok Mouse."

"Ok." she sighed and pedaled harder to get up a hill.
Just a quarter past seven, they were done with their route and were pedaling back to Voldwyn. Matthew took this opportunity to ask what he has wanted to ask for a while.

"Mouse, can I ask you something?"

"Mhmm."

"Well… you know how Voldwyn is an all boys dorm, right?”

"Yeah?" Mouse answered, not really paying attention to him.

"Yeah, well I was wondering how long you plan on staying here."

Mouse gripped her breaks hard that her back tire lifted off the ground. She gripped them so tight her knuckles ached. Matthew waited, appalled, staring into Mouse's grey cap. After a couple seconds, she did not say anything and he opened his mouth to say something.

"Are you going to snitch on me if I don't leave?" Mouse asked quietly, not facing him.

"What? No of course not Mouse-"

"Okay then."
Without another word, she kicked against the ground, her bike wobbled a bit, and then she was off leaving Matthew behind.

No, he would not tell anyone. Mouse was like a little sister to him since she first came to live at the Voldwyn dorms. He helped in making her what she was now, vowing to keep her secret, and he would never betray her trust like that. However, if she is planning to not leave the dorms, when she finally reaches his age, how is she going to keep a secret as big as hers away from a building full of boys?
~

Mouse played with her oatmeal. She had only taken a bite from the small piece of bread and the rest she gave to Matthew.

"Can you try eating some of it Mouse?" he asked her.
Mouse leaned back from the table stared her bowl for a while longer, stood up from the bench and left the dining hall. Matthew sighed watching her leave and turned back to his food.

"Hey Matt, can I ask you somethin.' " Justin, a boy Mouse's age, asked.

"Hmm?" his mouth full with oatmeal.

"What's up with Mouse?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come off it," Robert said from across the table. "Tell us the truth. Mouse is hiding something isn't he."

"I don't understand what you're asking."

"Mouse, Matt." Justin thought he'd get the hint. "She acts... so-"

"So what?"

The other boys sitting around them were silent now, there heads facing down at their food but some eyes were peaking at the corner, watching and waiting.

"Do you all have to be so nosy about a little kid’s life?"

"Everyone here knows everything about each other." said Robert. "Mouse- what kind of name is that- comes along and its hushed. I have a feeling... No, not just a feeling. I know you know more about him that you let on. Why can't you tell us?"

Matthew stared at Robert and looked at Justin then looked around at the other people. Their whole table was silent now, waiting.

"You all are so nosy." he finally said. "I'm not saying anything."

"Why not?" Robert slammed his hands on the table and stood up, leaning over his bowl of oatmeal and in Matthews face.

"It's not my story to tell. If Mouse doesn't want to tell you what he's been through, then you have no right to know."

Matthew stood up, a good head taller than Robert, grabbed Mouse's bowl and left the hall just as Mouse had done.

The boys from the table watched him leave then their eyes fell on Robert. Seeing that nothing more was going to happen; one by one they turned all there attention to their meager breakfast. Robert bit his tongue and sat down, gruffly.

Matthew went off looking for Mouse. He didn't find her in their room, on the bench where she reads her books, or on the roof feeding the mail pigeons. He knew she was somewhere thinking and probably hungry.

"Mouse!' he called out into the empty court yard. He didn't get a reply but he heard a rustling in the branches of a tree not to far from him; he saw leaves flittering to the ground.

"Mouse." He walked over to the tree and looked up at the thick truffle of leaves. "Hey."
Her feet appeared and the next second she jumped and was one the ground. "You found me."

“Well it wasn’t easy.” he grinned and held out the bowl of oatmeal. “Here I thought you might want some of this.”

Mouse took the bowl in her hands and ate a spoonful, but just a spoonful. It was still warm and tasted like cardboard. “Thank you.”

“How about we put the bowl back, change, and head into town.” offered Matthew. “We can get some of those bottle caps, if you’d like.”

This brought a small smile to Mouse’s lips and she made her way back towards the building. Both she and Matthew went back to the dining hall and as mouse washed her own bowl and spoon in the large sink, he went to retrieve his dirty dishes from the table while avoiding eye contact with the rest of boys there. He only glanced at Robert for a mere second before turning his back and going to the large sink and washing his own bowl.

“Mouse is so weird,” spoke up one boy. “The other day I was walking into the showers and he was the only one in there but once he heard me come in he freaked out. He could have been doing something bad he didn’t want me knowing about. But we are all guys here; don’t know he’s so steamed up.”

“There was that one time we caught him writing in that book remember?” Spoke up another companion. “He was drawing hearts and something that looked like horses with the horn on it head… unicorns. Do you think he’s…?”

“Other than those things, he doesn’t seem that off.” said Justin. “He plays with us, and he likes what we like… He’s just…”

“Odd.”

All the boys at the table looked over at Robert.

“What do you think is wrong with him, Rob?”

Robert kept his opinion to himself and ate the last spoonful of his oatmeal. His eyebrows rose and his mouth changed from a frown to a devious smirk. This made the other boys smile too.

“Whatcha thinking about Robert?”

“A prank.” is all he said and his eyes cast over the two at the large silver sinks where Mouse was telling Matthew about the new bottle caps that she wanted.

“There are the ones that have animals on them now,” she told him. “There are seals, turtles, monkeys- I really want the red panda.”


Matthew gave her a nod when appropriate and smiled when she looked at him. However, his mind was still raveled up in Robert demanded to know. He was the type of kid that got what he wanted by just asking and if it didn’t turn out that way he could be once conniving fox. He is going to be extra guarded around Mouse from now on.

“Matthew?”

“Hmm?”

“Aren’t you done? You’ve been washing that bowl for a while.” She giggled feeling good that she had beat him at washing the bowl.

“Oh yeah, right.” He gave it once last swipe on the inside and polished his spoon.

“I think by now they will have giraffes.” Mouse excitement was uncontainable. “I think you should start collecting them too. They are really cute.”

They put the bowls on the drying wrack and proceeded to the door. For a moment, Matthew forgot all about the fox until he met eyes with him on the way out the door. He couldn’t read Robert’s expression but he felt an unsettling peace at the pit of his stomach; as if he had swallowed an ice cube whole and it was sending shivers throughout his whole being. He rolled his shoulders trying to get rid of his and turned his back on Robert, pushing the feeling and bad thoughts to the back of his mind.


After a quick change out of their delivery uniform and waiting on Mouse to finish brushing her hair, they were off into town.

Mona-vale was bustling with valor and liveliness. The town was at its peak in the industrial era. Mona-vale and its surrounding towns were the heart of the steel industry; producing eighty percent of the country’s materials for ships, trains, the new automobile, and now planes. This brought cockiness and a raise of self-esteem in the town- and every member in town showed it on their bright faces. The apartment buildings and small parlors and shops were colorful and trampled by passerby’s everyday; you couldn’t walk by the shops and not feel a tingling in your fingertips of wanting to spend your money on something sweet or unnecessary.

Mouse sees Mona-Vale nearly everyday and whiffs the sweet concoction of pastries, pies, candies, and bubblegum. She stares at the cleanly dressed rich folk and wrinkles her nose. She spots the grimy of the lot and a pleasantly smiles thinking that the more grime you have on your shirt shows how much an honest living you’re making. Her eyes widen and the spark is something Matthew is always glad to see. What a lovely idea to take her into town. She will be smiling for the rest of the day.

She was starting to feel the tingle in her fingertips, and not to soon too, for the little shop called Peppermints where toys, trinkets, and collectables were sold, was just up the street. Mouse pressed her hands and her face against the window of the shop, staring at miniature steam engines, cars, trucks, and airplanes. There were wooden puppets, tin-man, paper and cloth dolls. Even spinning tops, kites, and fake pistols. Mouse eyed everything with amusement, but still looking for the one thing she really wanted. Bottle caps.

Bottle caps are not the name of the collectable. The caps come from a brand of homemade pop that Fay Peppermint makes that comes in an assortment of flavors. ; grape, orange, or plain pop with a pinch of mint, vanilla, or cherry. However, the flavor of pop wasn’t the best part. The caps changed with every season. In the past, they were characters from books, comics, or television shows. They were also fairies, mermaids, pirates, and knights. Now they were starting to presents animals and Mouse was very hopeful to find a red panda… and begin her collection for the new series.

“If you want those bottle caps we have to go in you know.” said Matthew.

Mouse looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear, took his hand, and they both went ventured in the shop together.