The Toll {Book 2}

5. Exploring and a Surprise- Nadia

We spent the next two days in our rooms, only venturing out when the meal time bell went off in the courtyard below. The family that shared our room seemed to have some sort of job, as the father and older children disappeared during the day, and the mother carted the young ones down to the squat building and didn't return until the evening. On the first day they were gone, we pulled the tin bathtub out from under one of the cots and filled it with water we boiled on the stove.

Together, we climbed into the hot water and I nearly cried as it wrapped around me like a blanket. Ferdinand sat with his back against one side of the tub, and I sat on the other side. Our feet met in the middle, our knees poking above the water. We were too tired to do anything but concentrate on scrubbing our skin, hoping maybe that once we were clean we might start to feel like human beings once again. Once we were done, I helped Ferdinand to the cot and we sat around in the towels the Committee had assigned us while I scrubbed our old clothes in the water and waited for them to dry. Ferdinand fell asleep, and I hoped it was the deep kind that might help him heal.

On the second morning, as we walked down to breakfast, a man bumped into us in the courtyard. He was obviously part of the Committee's staff, as he wore a brown suit and a golden watch in his vest pocket, but he spoke Rumonin and greeted us.

"I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but we just got in a new shipment of clothes from the Ladies' Aid. Nice, sturdy winter stuff," he said. "Looks like you two could use something a bit warmer than what you've got now, so I'd check with Millicent at the front desk."

We thanked him and he disappeared with a smile into one of the doors of the buildings. I looked down at my dress and saw why he'd spoken to us. Wrinkled and stiff, the fabric was now the color of dishwater, and holes in the skirt flashed glimpses of my knee or thigh. Ferdinand's clothes were even worse.

After breakfast we found Millicent, an older woman with a round face and wispy gray hair out in the front of the building. She had us sign some more forms, tell her our basic sizes, and then she brought out two boxes which she handed over to us.

"They're a complete winter set. Should see you through until it starts getting warmer." She tapped the top of the boxes, and then turned to help a man behind us.

We went straight to our rooms and unpacked the boxes to find a set of clothing carefully folded away between tissue and the smell of lavender. We each had two sets of very simple clothing, a dress for me and a shirt and pants for Ferdinand, that were made of gray wool. Then there were thick wool jackets, also in gray, and two matching hats. The greatest find was a pair of boots at the bottom. They'd obviously both been worn before, but they had thick heels and strong laces. I kicked off my disintegrating pair and pulled the new ones on over the new woolen stockings. It felt like cushioned heaven.

We dressed in the new clothes, even pulling on the jackets and hats, and laughed at how padded and plump we looked in all the layers.

"I feel as if I'm in a sauna," Ferdinand said.

"It will take some getting used to." I flapped a hand in front of my face as sweat wet the edges of my hair. "I think we've gotten too used to freezing that being warm feels like sitting in a fire."

"Do you want to put them to the test? Walk around a bit outside?"

"Ferdinand, the doctor said to rest. I doubt traipsing around Ètrevay is what he had in mind."

"I'm about to go crazy cooped up in this room," he said, shuffling forward and grabbing my hands. "A little walk won't hurt me." He leaned in close, a smile on his lips, his arms sliding around my waist. I fought my own smile.