by Stephanie Music

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 17, 2009

Jolene Baxter looked out the plane window in disgust. Rain. She hated rainy weather almost as much as she hated this trip. Her flight had been delayed for hours, putting her in London at an ungodly hour. She hadn't wanted to fly out of La Guardia at all, especially considering Thanksgiving was only a week away. Yet, here she was; on the way to the St. Helene School for Orphans. She arranged adoptions for international children, placing them in qualified homes all over the states. Apparently, there was no such thing as a holiday in the life of a caseworker.

She didn't mean to seem bitter. She loved her job, but she had been looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. The whole family was gathering at mom's; the first time they had all been together in nearly a decade. Jolene sighed. Time off. She should've known better.

Jolene stood on the curb outside the airport, soaked to the bone. She managed to hail a taxi after a few minutes and was soon on her way to St. Helene's. She arrived at a quarter to two, waking the headmistress who was completely unpleasant in all ways. Not only did her frizzy gray hair and stern demeanor give one pause, but her eyes also stopped you dead in your tracks. They were the kind of eyes that pierced to the soul, as if they had never known even one moment of happiness. Jolene shivered.

The headmistress barked out a gruff, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm Jolene Baxter, the caseworker from New Beginnings Agency in New York City. I'm here for Nicole Harvey. I'll be staying the week, preparing paperwork for her adoption."

"Dear Lord, I don't need your entire life story at two in the morning! Your name would have sufficed. I was expecting you, though not so late," she grumbled. "Come in and I'll show you to your room." They headed down the dreariest, coldest hallway she had ever had the misfortune to be in. She couldn't imagine a gloomier place to live. Her room, it turned out, was just as dismal as the hallway had been. It was drafty and really more of a closet than an actual bedroom. Jolene turned around to thank the headmistress for the accommodations, but found she had disappeared into the grayness of the orphanage as quickly as she had appeared at the door. It took forever for Jolene to get comfortable enough to fall sleep. It seemed she had just shut her eyes, when the persistent ringing of a bell pulled her from her slumber.

It was the signal for meals. The bell went off three times a day, as annoying each time as the first.

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