Chapter 4

It was already two days and Morgana had barely managed to escape the Montenegro mansion a day before.

Her clothes were tattered from the cuts of where she hid the other night, and dirty from the gasoline of the car she hid under.

Her shoes were torn and she had removed them, preferring to walk barefooted across the new street she had walked herself into.

She cold feel pangs of hunger gnawling at her belly.

As she roamed the streets, feeling dejected and forsaken,her eyes caught sight of a small roadside stall selling freshly baked bread.

Morgana watched the woman arrange her freshly baked bread on display.

Salivating, she walked up to the lady.

"Excuse me ma'am," Morgana began timidly, " do you have any bread crumbs to spare? I'm very hungry please" she begged.

The bread seller glanced at her with disdain. A roadside beggar, she thought. Why wouldn't she buy the crumb of bread she desired from the proceeds she made from her begging, she thought.

" We don't give handouts here. If you want a loaf of bread or a crumb of it, you'd have to pay for one like everyone else " she replied curtly, turning her attention back to arranging the bread on display.

Disheartened, Morgana turned away.

"Can I have some water please?" She asked the next shop keeper she saw inside the shop after the bread sellers own.

He looked at her unkept appearance and sighed. " Water isn't free girl, if you want water ,you'd need to pay for it. "He replied, pointing to a sign on the wall that displayed the various sizes of water and their prices.

Morgana's shoulders slumped in disappointment. People were no longer kind to strangers, unlike how her parents were when they were still alive. She thought.

She glanced back at the bread stall and noticed the seller being momentarily distracted as she attended to a customer.

Without a second thought, She seized the opportunity and grabbed a loaf of bread from the stall hoping to run away with it but she was caught by the stall owner, who promised to call the market vigilante to beat her for stealing.

Even though she was caught, Morgana still held onto the loaf of bread tightly and began biting into it.

Atleast she'd have strength to take the beating that would come for her later, she thought...

Just as the bread seller was about to call for help, an unknown figure approached from the back. It was an older woman, clad in the Catholic nun attire with Chaplets hung around her waist.

"There's no need for such harshness sister, the child was just hungry. I will pay for the bread she has taken and a little extra for the troubles" she said placing some coins I've the counter for the stall owner.

"Thank you very much ma'am" Morgana muttered, barely audible.

She turned and meant to walk away but stopped because,.........

"What is your name?" The nun asked her.

"Morgana" She replied.

",Come with me Morgana, I am a nun at the nearby orphanage. We can get you something to eat everyday there and water to drink."

Morgana smiled, offering to accept the hand which the nun had extended to her.

With the load of bread she had remained little in her other hand, they walked down the road until they arrived a church building.

The nun led her inside the gates and she saw the vast land there was In the church.

She observed that it has three separate buildings demarcated by fences.

They passed the church and went over to the second building.

It was the orphanage.

The nun told her that it had been for years, and that was why it looked old to the eyes.

She smiled at her. She did not bother about those things. She was focused on surviving now. She was the only sole survivor.

They went inside. They walked through the corridors and Morgana felt a sense of relief seeing children her age, above and beneath dance and play around, some were learning.

The atmosphere was filled with a mixture of occasional laughter and occasional cries.

"This will be your new home now Morgana. You won't have to beg anyone for food anymore" the nun told her, kindly gesturing her into a room with rows of neatly arranged beds in a bedbunk.

The caretakers welcomed her smiling, bathing her and providing her with a dress.

They had brought food for her in the room, as instructed by the nun, since they feared the other children asking for theirs too when it was not time for their meal.

Morgana gobbled down the food with tears weighing in her eyes. When asked what had happened, she did not reply any of them.

Deep within her, she feared that I'd she has told anyone what happened the nights before, the Montenegro Mansion might find out and the nun and the other caretakers would be killed too.

She beared the weight by herself.

She ate the food, while the caretakers watched her in awe. A very hungry kid she must be they thought.

After eating, they took her to the corridor to introduce her to the other children.

"Children, meet your new sister Morgana. Morgana will be staying with us from now on. What do you all have to say to her?"

" Welcome sister Morgana" they echoed in unison. Jumping up and smiling at her.

Morgana waved, without smiling.

A young boy alongside his friend ran forward. They waved at her.

"Hey, I am Nathaniel and I will be your friend. What is your name?"

Morgana did not reply him but instead walked over to a secluded area in the corridor to sit down.

The nun asked the caretakers to let her be. She must had been grappling with tonight's which made her not to speak to anyone.

Nathaniel's friend began to laugh him. He had been ignored by a little girl, he said.

Nathaniel paid no heed but instead, went back to where Morgana was sitting alone, looking into the oblivion.

"Why don't you want to talk to anyone? Are you missing your parents?" He's asked her.

Tears began to wail up in Morgana's eyes as she looked up at him.

He sat down beside her and began patting her shoulder.

" Look Morgana, we are your new family. The nun she is a very kind woman. I? I will be your older brother, I am just 14, he went"

" I am 8" she answered him.

He looked at her and smiled.

"See... He said, counting with his fingers. " I am older than you by six years, I will be your older brother. I will also share whatever my father brings for me with only you because you are now my sister, my best friend" he said

Morgana looked at him surprised. His father was alive and he was in an orphanage? Her eyes questioned.

"My father he is alive, but my mother left us months ago. That is why my father brought me to the orphanage, so that I can have other friends" he answered her curious eyes.

" That's good for you, my both parents are dead" she said.

" I'm so sorry to hear that Morgana, when we grow up, I will not just be your elder brother and best friend, I will also be your father too" be said patting her on the head.

She smiled at him.

" I will also become a lawyer too. Do you know Morgana? A lawyer helps people get justice. He makes the bad guys get locked up in jail"

Morgana looked at him and sighed.

" How about you Morgana, what do you want to become when you grow up? " He queried.

" I want to become the richest billionaire" Morgana went, staring at no one.

Nathaniel was taken aback by her dreams. Others dreamed of becoming nurses or pilots or bus drivers or priests, but she was dreaming of becoming a billionaire even though she was in an orphanage.

" Why do you want to become the richest billionaire Morgana? Why don't you want to be a nurse or a doctor or an actress? You have a pretty face"

" You said you wanted to become a lawyer. Lawyers cannot put bad guys in jail unless they have a billionaire backing them up. That is why I want to be a billionaire. I will become a billionaire and make my lawyers put bad guys in jail, even if they are billionaires too"

Nathaniel swallowed his spit. He was speechless and did not know what to say again. Morgana was different he thought. She would be different. She won't be like the other average girls in the orphanage. She had encountered a different fate.

The bell began to ring, it was time for them to eat.

Holding her hand, Nathaniel led her to the dining.

A passage that has a very long table centered on it.

She watched as the children took their seats, praying as they anticipated their meal.