Path to Recovery III

After checking up on Mike, Carolyn went back to Lety and Mei.

"Thanks for waiting."

"It's fine. Have you figured out what to do about Mei?"

Mei reacted to her name being called, but she only stared at Carolyn with both hope and fear in her eyes.

"Well, I don't plan on letting her go if that's not what she wants, but the Priest is more conservative, you could say."

Lety nodded in understanding, while Mei and Derrick didn't seem to get it.

"Before I go any further, Mei. Do you want to live with your father?"

Carolyn hated the idea of releasing Mei into the hands of an unfit parent, but she partially agreed with Benedict about there needing to be consent to separation. At the end of the day, that man was still her father, so if Mei was truly willing to leave with him, there was little Carolyn could do.

Mei appeared surprised to hear that question, but it didn't take long for her to answer. All her life she had listened to the adults around her to survive. Even coming to the church was something she did because a weak old man told her she could get food here, but she couldn't survive the same way inside the church. There was an adult, but he didn't give precise orders; he only set the ground rules and left them to fend for themselves. Mei had struggled to get used to this life, and so did many of the children who recently started staying at the church, but the first day she managed to get a piece of bread by begging, Mei was overjoyed. It was somewhat different from tasting the fruits of one's labour; however, it was the first success born out of her voluntarily taking action.

"If there's a way, I want to stay here."

"Good. I don't think your father's given up on taking you back, so stay in the church for now. Lety, could you take care of her for me, please? You can ask Bryan and Lena for help while you're out."

"I hope this isn't just you being a goody two-shoes."

"Don't worry. This should benefit you too."

"Okay. Brother, help her get stuff together, please."

"...Sure."

Since this happened frequently, Derrick realised that Lety's request also included keeping Mei away while Lety discussed with Carolyn. Before leaving with Derrick, Mei bowed her head to Carolyn.

"Um, thank you."

"I haven't done anything yet. You can thank me later."

"Okay."

A warm smile remained on Carolyn's face as she saw the two off, but Lety couldn't share her feelings.

"So, how is helping her going to benefit me?"

"I'm not completely certain, but I think she has potential to be a good intelligence officer."

"Her? How?"

"I've noticed that the children here tend to scrutinise the expression of the person you're talking to, especially against adults. I'm guessing it's a natural trait that came from not knowing who to trust, but you have a tendency to be overly suspicious."

"Are you sure you're not just too trusting?"

"A fair point, but even so, your suspicion ends up being too obvious. But her, in a bit of a cruel twist, she's good at hiding her true feelings. Even though she fears me so much, she didn't let it show. It must be a result of living with that accursed father of hers."

"She's afraid of you? I didn't notice anything. How did you realise that?"

"It was her eyes. Even when she gave her thanks, she refused to make eye contact with me. She reacted similarly when the Priest was at the door, so I think she's just scared of adults in general."

"Hmm, well, she wouldn't be the only one. A lot of the kids here have similar stories. But won't that fear get in the way of her collecting information?"

"For now, yes. But I think she could make it a strength someday. Though there's certainly some personal feelings involved, as your assistant I believe that Mei will be an asset to the organisation. Could you give her a chance?"

Since Carolyn had several offences of being too generous, Lety closely examined her expression while digesting Carolyn's words. A talented intelligence officer would certainly be useful, but even supposing Mei could hide her feelings well, Lety didn't see as much potential in her as Carolyn said. Nonetheless, her words had tickled Lety's curiosity.

"I'll look after her until the weekend, but I'll test her myself to see if she's good enough to join. If she fails the test, then that's it. I know you want to help everyone here, but I don't have any interest in supporting someone who can't help us."

"That's fine. Thanks, Lety!"

"Oi."

Lety raised some superficial resistance and kept a frown as Carolyn hugged her. She didn't know why, but this soft, warm embrace reminded her of a sensation that should be long forgotten.

"Hey! Hurry up and let go of her!"

Lety felt a bit reluctant as Derrick tried to pull Carolyn away; however, there was no way she could ever admit it. Carolyn didn't put up a fight and soon released Lety, but there was still more to talk about, so she sent Derrick to keep Mei company. Although Derrick initially refused, once Lety made the same request, his resistance quickly went away.

"Okay, but I'll still be watching, so don't be getting all touchy again."

Once Derrick moved away, Carolyn gave Lety the gift she bought.

"Here. I eyeballed the sizes, so check if they fit during the next training session."

"Clothes? Judging by the number, are these for the organisation members?"

"That's right. I got plain shirts and pants for the intelligence officers and Derrick to train in, a dress for you to wear at meetings and aprons for the custodians. I know you said not to waste money on clothes because they'll just get dirty, but I thought it would be better for the organisation if we got used to changing clothes for disguises or meeting clients."

"Hmm, I guess appearances are important, but why a dress?"

"Didn't you say you were interested in going to Amber Teahouse? Then, it's better to start getting used to dresses early."

Carolyn actually just thought it would look cute on her, but she knew there was no way Lety would accept that reason.

"I see. I'll hand out the aprons and training outfits, but as for the dress, I'll need to think about it."

"Okay. I'll get another training outfit for Mei, but I'll leave it to your judgement whether to give it to her."

"Mmm."

"Now, as for that idea we thought of, I talked to Andy about it yesterday."

"What did he say?"

"He agreed, but he added a condition. He wants to be responsible for the purchases. He claims he can get the food for cheaper and hide it better that way."

Lety kept a pensive expression as she chewed on Andy's proposal. Her experience in the slums made her assume that he wanted to steal the money or at least embezzle it, but Andy didn't seem like the type to steal the small amount of money that would be used to buy food. Additionally, she intended to let the custodians watch over a portion of the organisation's funds, so she had to test their trustworthiness eventually. Although she planned on having a spy among the custodians, that would be in the future when the organisation was larger.

"What do you think?"

"It sounds risky, but I don't think he's lying."

"But he might be hiding something?"

"True. At the end of the day, it's a matter of trust."

"...I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

"Okay."

Lety didn't have Carolyn's uncanny intuition for detecting someone's emotions through their eyes, but she was reasonably good at sniffing out greed and malice, so Carolyn trusted her judgement. After discussing Andy's proposal, they talked about the intelligence officers' training and then invited Derrick and Mei back. Carolyn informed Mei that she should listen to Lety while Carolyn was gone. Carolyn wondered if she would be reluctant, but fortunately, she agreed without a fuss. There was no telling what her father had planned, but Carolyn believed this would help keep her safe.

The next day, Lety told Carolyn that she agreed to Andy's proposal and he would have the results ready for the following day. She also reported that the rest of the clothes fit fine, but she still hadn't tried the dress on yet. Since Mei would be in danger outside the church, she had to stay inside the entire day, but Lety ensured that she got lunch and dinner. She also tested Mei by having her report everything that happened inside the church for the day and admitted that Mei had good memory and hearing, but it wasn't enough to prove her potential.

Some of the other new children were envious of Mei's treatment and were prepared with sob stories when Carolyn came. Most of the stories were true, so they were effective in baiting Carolyn's sympathy, but she only made an exception for Mei because it was an urgent situation. For everyone else, she could only promise to do her best so that all of the children would one day live in better conditions. The new children were disappointed and didn't put much stock in what she was saying, but the children who stayed at the church before them weren't surprised since some of them had tried to use the same trick on her and got a similar response.