Despite trying very hard and doing her best, Delphi was unable to go to the picnic. She was still mopping the floors when Alice came to give her a hug and say good-bye. She really wished she could use her magic to do the chores, but she couldn't risk anyone finding out about her powers; they would probably get scared and tell her to leave, and she had nowhere else to go. No place she can call home.
Delphi kept wondering about the mysterious guardian that Madam Mastigia had told her about—was it really a made-up story or was there really someone out there who would come for her one day? She didn't think so; no matter how badly she had wanted to believe that this was true, she had gotten tired of hopping and tired of dreaming. It hurt to hope; it hurt to dream, for she knew that reality would hit her hard in the face.
She massaged her palms that still stung and were red because of taking a beating. Delphi's eyes were filled with tears, which she tried to hold back in an attempt to be strong, but it was hard to accept that this was her life. The only reasonable hope she had now was her school acceptance letter, which will be her ticket out of here.
Delphi was thinking about this when a soft hand patted her on the head. She looked up to see that it was sister Anne.
"You have worked hard, dear. Now come take a break while the others are out."
"But I need to finish this before they come back or I will not get dinner." Delphi replied
"It's ok, dear, come with me. I will help you with the chores; besides, we need to treat your hands first; you won't be able to do any work like this." Sister Anne advised and took her to the kitchen.
"Thank you, sister," Delphi said, feeling grateful.
They went to the kitchen; the other nuns were busy taking care of the older orphans and the toddlers. The ground floor was deserted, which was a good thing since the other nuns didn't approve helping Delphi in any way.
Sister Anne applied some ointment to Delphi's hands and gave her a loaf of bread cheese and a boiled egg with milk. Delphi ate it hurriedly, scared that someone would come and take the food from her. Noticing this, sister Anne said, "Slow down. There is no need to eat so fast you are spouse to chew the food or you'll chock," sister Anne said lovingly.
"Sorry, I'm just worried," Delphi began to explain, but Anne finished the sentence for her.
"That other nuns might scold you. It's ok, they are all having a secret tea party in their dorm." Sister Anne informed Delphi in a hushed voice, looking a bit annoyed as if she disapproved of their behavior.
"Weren't you invited?" Delphi asked innocently.
"No, I wasn't, and even if they had, I would rather be here with you than up there." Sister Anne told her while stroking Delphi's hair like a loving mother.
"You know they don't like you because you stand up for me. If you don't, they will start being friends with you too. You don't have to be friendless or treated badly because of me." Delphi said it earnestly, not realizing how blunt she was. She only thought that sister Anne shouldn't suffer because of her; it made her feel guilty.
"Delphi Dear. Let me tell you something. If someone won't be your friend just because you aren't cruel like them, then those people aren't worth being friends with." Sister Anne told Delphi sternly, making sure she remembered this advice.
"And people like you and me don't need people like Madam Mastigia to be our friends; we have a more powerful friend that they will never have. Who is always by our side and will always protect us?" Sister Anne told her in a sweet, soothing voice that made her look like an angle.
"Who is that friend?" Delphi asked, perplexed, wondering who this friend was that was never here when she needed him.
"It's God, my dear. He loves you because you are kind, caring, and innocent, and one day he will punish these people for being so cruel. Just you wait." She assured Delphi with a sincere smile, hoping she would understand these words one day.
"Thank you, sister Anne, for being my friend." Delphi said, making sister Anne a little surprised.
Delphi was thinking that Sister Anne was surely an angel sent by God to protect her. She surely looked like one, and Delphi was grateful to her.
"Thank you too for being mine." She replied, kissing Delphi gently on the forehead.
"Oh, your all finished eating, right?" Sister Anne said, noticing Delphi's empty plate, then she continued in a serious voice, "Listen. I couldn't tell you earlier because others were present, but I talked to the mailman when I went out earlier today. Apparently, Madam Mastigia has been waking up early to get the mail directly to the mailman, and then she leaves it on the front gate. She has been doing this for the past few weeks. He thinks she is waiting for a letter from someone special, but I think she is doing this to steal your acceptance letter."
"Are you sure?" Delphi asked in disbelief. She knew that Madam Mastigia hated her, but she never thought that she would go this far.
"Yes," Sister Anne replied reassuringly.
"I need to get in her office and find the letter." Delphi said she was deciding what she must do. She wasn't going to let her crush her dreams.
"I will help you, but first we need to complete your chores so we can get the letters before she comes back or we will also get punished." Sister Anne told her, her expression was serious, and it was obvious she had made up her mind about this.
"Ok," Delphi replied, agreeing to the plan.
They worked as hard as they could. Sister Anne washed the dishes while Delphi mopped the floors. They were done soon, but now there was the bigger problem: how to get inside Madam Mastigia's office without anyone noticing.
Both Delphi and Anne knew that opening the lock was a piece of cake for Delphi, but it would take time to search the office and put her things back just like they were. If anyone notices that they are gone, they will search for them, and then Sister Anne will be in trouble.
There was only one way sister Anne will have to keep them all distracted by waking up the toddlers, and Delphi will sneak into the office.
It was midday now when they were finally finished with all their duties and were having lunch.
Delphi went into the nursery and woke up all the toddlers by causing small magical fireworks to explode in the room. The noise did not only wake up the children but kept them quite until Delphi was out of the nursery. She ran down the stairs towards the ground floors.
Just as she reached the first step, the babies began to cry. Delphi hurriedly unlocked the office door with magic and got in. As she closed it behind her, she could hear the nuns walking up towards the nursery.
Delphi breathed in relief; she had stationed Sister Anne in the hallway to keep watch while pretending to clean the floor.
Delphi looked around the familiar office. Nothing good had ever happened here. All the memories Delphi had here were of being scolded and beaten. She shrugged off that uneasy feeling of fear that made her cold. She hurriedly looked in the desk drawers, checking each for some hidden compartment, but there were none.
She checked the book shelf, the carpet, the loose floor boards—still nothing. Finally, she was about to leave in frustration when she accidentally knocked off a vase from the shelf, which with a loud crush shattered. Delphi looked towards the door, hoping against hope that nobody heard her, and when she heard nothing, she bent down to repair the vase with magic when she noticed something else.
Underneath the flowers and shattered glass was a thick bundle of letters. Delphi didn't need to check; she could easily see the Crest of Eton on one of them. She grasped the letters in one hand and fixed the vase.
In her joy, she ran towards the door and opened it without checking for passerbyes.
"Sister Anne I found-----" But she fell silent instantly. Right in front of her was the nun from before. She stared at Sister Anne and Delphi for a moment, wide-eyed, then suddenly lunged forward to catch Delphi. But Delphi was faster; she ran up the stairs and towards the attic, which was a mistake she realized because the nun had started screaming.
"Thief, Thief Delphi stole from Mastigia." Alerted almost every nun and older child ran to find Delphi, and those who did started shouting here whereabouts to everybody. Delphi had to kick and punch everyone that got in her way. Finally, she reached the attic door and got inside. Just as a nun was about to grab Delphi's leg, she closed the door with a loud thud, narrowly avoiding crushing the nun's fingers.
With all the strength she had, she magically levitated every useless and heavy object in the attic and piled it up in front of the door, thoroughly blocking it.
Outside she could hear other nuns screaming at each other to get the keys or arguing wether to break down the door. Delphi was stuck; she couldn't get out through the door. She should have run outside instead of running towards the attic when she had the chance, she bitterly thought, feeling angry at herself.
She looked around desperately for a plan to get outside, and looking out the stained glass window, she was struck by a mad, desperately reckless idea. She grasped her old bag and quickly filled it with necessary items like money, clothes, and the letters. Then she moved toward the window and opened it to get outside.
Delphi took one look below at the ground, and her stomachs twisted with fear. She was three stories above the ground. If she fell from here, there was no magic that could save her. Not unless she could fly, which she knew she couldn't.
She turned back to look at the door concealed behind a pile of rubbish. For a moment she considered fighting every nun and child on the other side of the door, but then a familiar, horrible sound entered the room.
"DELPHINI RIDDLE, you little brat, open the dam door." Madam Mastigia shouted maliciously.
That voice was enough for Delphi to make up her mind. She knew even if she could fight everyone, there was no way she could face that God awful woman that would beat her to death if she got her hands on Delphi.
Throwing all caution to the wild wind, Delphi got out the window and closed it. She was standing on the thick window sill with her back plastered to the wall like Spiderman, hiding from the Green Goblin.
"This is a bad idea. This is an awful idea." Delphi said out loud. She slowly and cautiously moved, balancing herself to reach the gutter pipes and climb down through them. She tried not looking down, but it was hard, so she kept repeating to herself, "Don't look down. Don't look down, don't look down." At last she reached it and praised herself. "Yes, I did it."
Now she had to be even more careful, and she slowly climbed down the pipe, making sure to place her foot on the right hook or she would fall to her death. She only hoped the hooks and pipes weren't as old as the orphanage and would be able to hold her weight.
Again, the same strategy: "don't look down, don't look down," and this time she didn't look down at all. But perhaps she should have because the pipe hooks got pulled out and Delphi fell with a loud scream, "Ahhhhhhh."
She landed on her butt. She had only fallen over from a few inches above the ground.
She got up and was just about to run out the main gate when the guard and the nun grabbed her from behind. They dragged her with effort as she was fighting and kicking them, trying her best to get away.
"No, please don't. I swear I didn't steal anything. I swear. Please let me go."
Please don't force me to stay here." She begged and cried; her eyes were filled with tears. She knew full well that if she was taken back into that orphanage, she would never be allowed to leave.