Chapter3 (part 2) |The Grey Orphanage| "Miss Olson." I stopped at the door. Lunch had just finished, and everyone was going outside to exercise. "Yes, Miss Jenkins?" The lady motioned for me to follow her and they walked to the living room. A patter of feet was heard going past the door, and a child was shushing. Miss Jenkins closed the door. "I need to let you know that the owner is coming today." "The owner?" I repeated, I wonder what he would say when he saw how things are run here. "Yes, he, or sometimes his son comes every month or so to see how things are doing. He owns several orphanages." Then he must approve of this. I was a little dissapointed. "Now Miss Olson," Miss Jenkin, her eyes fixed on me in the manner I would see for months to come, "So far we have made a very good impression on him. We have been noted as the best orphanage in the area, and I want to keep it that way. I always inform anyone who comes to work here of that. I have high expectations. Understood?" "Yes, ma'am." "Good, now join the children outside." she said, as she walked out. Best orphahge in the area! By what standards? I was thinking about this when Miss Brooke opened the front gate and we went for a walk in the country side to the left of the Grey Orphanage. Something struck me as different as we walked. I tried to figure out what it was as I breathed in fresh cold air, feeling leaves that crunched underneath my feet, and saw nodding flowers beside the path. I was startled out of my reverie by tripping on a stump, but fortuately didn't fall, and noboby seemed to notice. But suddenly I knew what was so different. Miss Jenkins must be a mile away from us, and everyone felt that. There was no tension. I started to hear children talking. There was something dreadful wrong about the stress these children were put under. They had to act like perfect ladies and gentlemen, or else they were punished. They couldn't act like children. It disturbed me. I wanted to see them play and be excited. I wanted to see their personalities expressed. "How are you liking it here so far, Miss Olson?" asked Miss Brooke, with the first faint smile I had seen on anyone's face. "Well, it is not what I expected," I replied, for I couldn't say I liked it, "and call me Jean." "Alright Jean, and you call me Helen. It is never what people expect when people come to work here, becuase it doesn't live up to reputation." she dropped her voice as she said this. "Miss Jenkin's told me it is the best orphanage in the area." I said softly. "It is in some ways, but..." she shook her head, "I shouldn't say anything. You will figure it out soon." I knew I had figured out at least one thing, that the orphange is a lot more comfortable without Miss Jenkin's presence.