The Perfect Gift

Chapter 7

The next few days were slow, but not entirely empty. Three days after, Rachel had come back in again, and Mary was sure to not spill any milk like the last time. Mary had started working pretty much full time at the mercantile with her father, and she really enjoyed spending time with him and learning new skills, especially as she wasn't attending the local school because her family didn't have enough money to afford the supplies, and chores needed to be done at home. Mary worked very hard, however John slacked off a lot. Most of the time, he was with Miles, tricking the elderly in the streets, whenever Miles was out of school. Sometimes Miles snuck out of school, but Mary's father didn't want to tell the Mayor what was happening because he was afraid that the Mayor would think he was lying and would hurt him or his family. Mary always wondered why John was friends with Miles, but she could never get an answer out of him, no matter how hard she tried.

As she just finished helping a customer, John came bursting through the door and without saying a word, ran upstairs, covering his face with his hands. Mary looked outside the mercantile window, checking for any nearby customers, but saw none, so she took off her apron and ran upstairs after John. Mary found John in their room lying on his bed, hands still covering his face.

"John, what's the matter? You never cry!" Mary questioned.

"I'm NOT crying," said John. "I NEVER cry! Go away, Mary! You always stick your nose in other people's business."

"Then why are you covering your face?" said Mary, with some attitude.

"I want to?" said John, as though he would get away with it.

"Yeah, sure. Let's see."

Mary went closer to John and leaned over him. She then tore his hands from his face easily. Mary was much stronger than John because of all the lifting of boxes for the mercantile. She was very hard working, unlike John. John was unable to resist her pull, and very quickly his hands were off his face.

Mary gasped. Mary had just been introduced to a new shade of blackish-purple. On John's right eye, there was a massive bruise.

"WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!" Mary yelled, even though she knew John could hear her just fine.

"Nobody."

"Fine. If you don't want to talk about it and you don't want help, fine by me, but just wait until Pa sees it. I've got to run a mercantile, so excuse me."

Mary left with a proper posture but once she reached the top of the stairs, hurriedly ran down and reached the bottom, just as a customer came in. It wasn't the usual customer, but instead a small boy. He appeared to be browsing, so Mary turned around to put her apron back on. Clearly she hadn't been fast enough, because when she turned around, the small boy was running fast out the door.

He didn't, did he? Mary wondered.

"Pa, come quick!" Mary yelled.

Mary's father came out from his office that he was working in.

"What is it, Mary? What's wrong?" he asked.

"A young boy stole something! If you hurry, you may be able to catch him! Go, Pa, go!" Mary screamed.

Mary's father took off, through the door, and into the alley, chasing after the boy,

Mary waited in panic, breathing heavily. She sat down at their table and started to cry.

This is all my fault... I should've never turned my back to the boy, or any customer, yet alone left the mercantile unsupervised! What was I thinking? John wouldn't even tell me what was wrong with him anyways!

Mary was left worrying and crying alone for a few minutes before her father returned.