It wasnt that the girl irritated her, nobut there was something unsettling about her.
She was unkempt, her hair hastily tied into messy braids, her school uniform wrinkled, the collar and cuffs crookedly stitched. The girl looked neglected, her expression closed-off.
Rosalind Margaret wrinkled her nose. Why had she even thought of that scruffy child? She set aside the éclair shed been enjoying. Where was George? Hed promised to come earlytoday was the anniversary of her late husband, Arthur Williams passing.
A knock at the door startled her.
“Whos there? George, is that you? Did you forget your keys?”
“Miss Margaret, you left your keys on the chair.”
“What? What keys?”
Rosalind opened the door and froze. It was *her*that same girl. What on earth?
“Sedley? What keys? How do you know where I live? Have you been following me?”
The girl shook her head. Her worn-out beanie was pulled low, her thin coat stained at the pocket, her knee socks sagging, her shoes nearly falling apart. Only now did Rosalind notice her striking blue eyes, framed by thick black lashes.
Shed only recently joined the school, teaching English literature after retiring from the college. A year of idleness had been unbearable. But this girlAlice Sedleywas odd. She didnt mix with the other children.
“Miss Margaret, you left your keys on the chair. I called after you, but you didnt hear.”
“Oh! Thank you… goodness, I must be getting old.” She tried to laugh it off.
“Youre not old,” Alice said gravely. “You just hurried.”
“Thank you… Alice.”
“Youre welcome. Goodbye, Miss Margaret.”
“Goodbye.”
Rosalind shut the door pensively, then jerked it open again. Footsteps echoed softly down the stairs.
“Alice.” Rosalind looked down; the girl looked up. “How did you know where I lived?”
“I live next door. I see you walking to work. Sometimes I walk behind youtheres that dog by the bend. I stay close so he wont growl at me. He snarls if Im aloneI smell like the cats I feed near the basement. Im not scared, though. I call him Rex. Hes a stray.”
She hesitated. “The address… I asked the ladies on the bench where you lived. Told them you worked at our school. We take the same bus…”
*What a strange child,* Rosalind thought. *Is she watching me?*
“Would you like some tea?” The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Alice nodded eagerlyill-mannered, really. She shouldve refused.
Rosalind poured the tea.
“Are you… hungry?”
Alice shook her head, but Rosalind saw the truth in her hollow cheeks. *Why am I bothering with her?*
“You know what? Lets eat together. I hate dining alone, and George is late.”
She bustled about, pulling food from the fridge. Alice ate neatly but ravenously.
“Thank you,” Alice murmured, eyeing the leftover roast. “I should go. Your cooking is lovely.”
*Shes so hungry shes praising my mediocre food.*
Rosalind packed the leftovers into a container, added biscuits, and pressed it into Alices hands.
“No need for thanksbut she took it anyway.”
After the girl left, Rosalind scolded herself. *This is unprofessional. Tomorrow, shell hug me in front of everyoneor thank me for the food.*
George stumbled in the next morning, sheepish.
“What was yesterday?” she demanded.
“Thursday, Mum. Todays Friday”
“Dont play the fool, George.”
“Oof, full names. Im a grown man, thirty years old”
“It was your fathers memorial. He didnt deserve this neglect.”
“Mum… he wouldnt care if we mourned yesterday or today. Lets do it properly tonight. I need sleepday off.”
“Didnt sleep? What *were* you doing all night?”
“You really want to know?”
Grumpy, Rosalind went to work. She waitedfor Alice to acknowledge her, to *hint* at yesterday. But the girl passed by with nothing more than a quiet, “Good morning, Miss Margaret.”
*The nerve!*
All day, Rosalind tried to corner her. Was Alice avoiding her? She dawdled on her way home, hoping to spot hernothing.
Three days later, a scream pierced the air.
Rosalind hurried toward the sound. A massive stray had pinned Alice down, snarling, tearing at her sleeve.
“Get *away*!” Rosalind shooed the dog off. “Alice, are you hurt?”
The girls eyes were wide with terror. Rosalinds chest tightened.
“Hehe wanted to hurt the kitten!” Alice sobbed.
“Hush, its alright now.”
Alice sniffled. “I cant take him home. Theyll throw him out again.”
“Who?”
*Them.*
At school, Rosalind asked about Alice. Most shrugged. Only the elderly maths teacher, Miss Winthrop, knew anything.
“Troubled home. Mothers gonestepfather drinks. Grandmothers no better.”
“How was she even enrolled?”
Miss Winthrop shook her head.
Rosalind followed Alice home. The girl paused at the bench outside her building, pulling out a textbook. *Doing homework in the cold?*
That evening, she argued with George again. Hed divorced Natalie two years agono children. “She was *boring*,” hed said. Now he was out with someone “interesting.”
Rosalind stepped outside for air.
“Alice! Wheres that wretched girl?” A slurred voice cut through the dark.
A disheveled woman staggered near the building. Rosalind approached.
“Excuse meare you Alice Sedleys family?”
“Piss off.”
“Im her teacher. Where is she?”
“Asleep inside.” The woman turned away.
Rosalind called into the shadows, “Alice? Come out, dear. Its alright.”
The girl emerged.
“Come home with me.”
“Shell punish me.”
“She wont dare.”
“Theyll send me to care if she loses custody.”
“Who is she?”
“My gran.”
“Wheres your mother?”
“Gone. Four years now.”
“Did she… drink too?”
“No. We were happy. But she got sick. Then they took meGran and her husband. They get money for me.”
Rosalinds jaw tightened. “Come with me. Well sort this.”
At home, George gaped at Alice. “Whos this?”
“Alice.”
The girl stared back.
George muttered, “She staying the night?”
“I dont know.”
In the morning, Rosalind let Alice sleep in, then fed her breakfast.
“Lets go.”
“Where? To care?”
“To the shops.”
George emerged, bleary-eyed. “Whered you find her?”
“My student.”
“Oh.”
Rosalind bought Alice new clothesa proper coat, shoes, everything. The girl glowed.
“What a lovely granddaughter!” the shopkeeper remarked. “She looks just like you.”
Rosalinds heart swelled.
“Were tossing these,” she said, gesturing to Alices rags.
“No!” Alice clutched them. “Theyll sell the new ones for drinkthen beat me.”
Rosalind exhaled. “What do we do?”
Alice hesitated. “Can we… bake a cake?”
“You want to teach *me*?”
“Mum and I used to. Before she got sick.”
They spent the afternoon laughing, mixing batter. George returned early, souring the mood.
“I should go,” Alice whispered.
“Ill walk you.”
George blocked her path. “Who *are* you?”
Alice shrank back.
“George, stop it!” Rosalind snapped.
“Did she send you?”
Alice shook her head.
“Her mothers dead,” Rosalind said softly. “Four years.”
George paled. “Mum… this is Alice. *My* Alice.”
The truth unraveled.
“Diana Sedleyremember her? Two years younger than me. Lived nearby. We… well, it was young love. I didnt know about Alice. I was with Natalie by then.”
“You *abandoned* her?”
“I didnt believe Diana! But Id never reject my child.”
Alice whispered, “I knew you. I saw your photo when I brought the keys.”
George pulled her close. “Im not losing you again.”
Rosalind clutched Alices hand at the custody hearing. Tests confirmed itshe was their blood.
“Dad, can I live with Gran?” Alice asked later.
“What if she says no?”
“She wont. Shes lonely.”
“And Im not?”
“You have Ellen.”
Rosalind walked hand-in-hand with her granddaughter, uncaring of whispers. Shed found her joy.
George grew close to Alice. His relationship with Ellen endedamicably.
“Was it because of me?” Alice fretted.
“Never,” George vowed. “Id choose you over anyone.”
At parents evening, George met Alices teacher. Now, Alice walked to school with both mother and grandmother.
“Isnt it weird?” her friends asked.
“Nah,” Alice grinned. “Its brilliant.”
Sometimes, Alice still visited her other grandmothercleaning, cooking, scolding her to quit drinking. The woman wept, kissing her hands.
“My girl,” shed sob. “My sweet girl.”
And sometimes, she even kept her promises.
