Elga's Guests

The addition of Esmeralda was not a noteworthy endeavor for Bergin’s Inn. Elga was known for pulling in wanderers off the street. Some were sketchier than others, but Elga prided herself on her judgment of character. This did not mean that she did not take in stragglers who set off her warning signals; every “poor, lost soul” was welcome. 

Murgin was used to this and accepted it, if for no other reason than to have a fairly steady stream of temporary workers. She would tell him about them, and he would get ready to give them a job the next morning. It was a good system. Murgin did not share Elga's enthusiasm for housing and helping anyone who showed any semblance of a problem. He was much more the type to let them be and deal with their own problems. Plus, other people were tiring. He doesn’t hate others, they’re just such a bother sometimes. But he accepted it, his acceptance helped along by what he got out of it. He was grateful enough that he had a wife to do all of the business parts of the inn without him. He hated all of that. The more people they had to work for them, the less time he had to spend on what he didn’t want to do. Elga, for some reason, never wanted to actually hire people, so her projects were a great way to please everyone. Sadly, he still had to act as if he ran the business. Elga was concerned they would lose business if it got out that she did almost all of it. Murgin still didn’t know where she got all of her energy from. He was fine spending the day fixing chairs and spending time with his sons. Elga was always doing five different things in a day. Between the kids, the business and the strangers she brought in, it seemed like it would be too much. But she was happy, so Murgin didn’t question it. Somehow when there was someone new to help, she seemed to have more energy.

Elga would never talk poorly of her “lost souls,” in the hopes that they could be saved and become a good, honest citizen of Penance. Even if they did trust Elga’s vibes about people, her lack of any honest opinion about the strangers made the people of Penance wary of the Bergin’s Inn stragglers. They were perfectly happy to not talk to the people Elga dragged in. They felt no different when Esmeralda came into their lives. Her looks endeared her to certain citizens, but they were still cautious, taking more of a wait-and-see stance. The way Esmeralda treated the people of Penance however, was completely different than what they were used to. Normally, Elga’s new guests were perfectly satisfied with people minding their own business. Esmeralda tried to avoid the prying of others by being the first to talk.

Before any Penancians had the chance to approach her, she had come up with an entire backstory for herself. Each customer that she saw while she was working got a handshake and “Hi, I’m a cousin of the Bergins. I’m new here,” and then back to work. For the talkative, she had a response for every question they asked. She came to Penance from Fishery to spread her wings a bit. She wanted to explore a bit, as well as meet all the family she never knew, and glean some family history. She’d been working on uncovering her family history for awhile, and she was dying for some new data and stories to add to her work. She never found history all that interesting, but somehow when it was related to her, it was thrilling.

Elga considered talking to Esmeralda about her lying, but she couldn’t blame the girl. Elga felt she was making up the persona she wanted to be. Perhaps constantly saying who she wanted to be would prevent her from having to deal with who she is, and what she’s been through. Or maybe she was hoping that putting forth this new person would erase the truth behind it all. Either way, she didn’t want to push her into giving it up yet. As much as Esmeralda was trying to be on her own, she was still a young girl, likely one of the youngest people Elga had taken in. She had to have been barely out of school, or skipped out completely. She certainly looked like she was school age. Elga could not imagine what the poor girl was going through. She needed a comfortable, loving home to be in right now. 

She couldn’t imagine growing up with those siblings either. She was insanely curious what Esmeralda’s parents were like, whether they tried to do something and failed, whether they just didn’t notice, which way they influenced the children. What caused the two children to end up so bad, and why did Esmeralda seem so different? But now was not the time to ask. There may never be a time to ask. 

The influence Elga had on her children was often at the front of her mind, especially when taking somebody in. She wanted to teach them to be kind to everybody, but she was worried about the influence the lost people she tried to help might have on them. And this time, as with every time before it, she decided it was more important to teach her children to be kind and giving.

A job

Esmeralda woke up the next morning with the sudden realization that she would have to start looking for a job. It was a good run, but she couldn’t live much longer on the money she grabbed on the way out of Fishery. It was the only part of being upper class helpful for this journey. She peeked out of her room to see if anyone was around. She liked Mrs Bergin, but last night she came on a bit strong. Esmeralda didn't feel like talking right now. When she got to the bar, Mr Bergin was busily scrubbing down the floor with his kid (she assumed) on his hip, very much looking like he was trying not to look like he was waiting for her. 

“Mornin’.”

With all the people in here last night, it hadn’t occurred to Esmeralda just how large this place was. And the silence was... She could almost breathe it in. Sadly the smell had gotten worse, as the place was now covered in day old beer instead of fresh beer. “Good morning.”

“How’d you sleep?”

“Good, but I need to talk to you about something.”

“What about?”

“It looks like I’ll be staying here long term. Or at least, longer than I had anticipated.” (Did I actually expect to reunite with them right away? Not to mention the lack of plan afterwards. Why am I so dumb?) “Do you know where I could find a job to tide me over?”

“As a matter of fact, it would be very helpful to have somebody do more of the menial tasks around here. Gives us more time with the kids and all. What do you think of that in exchange for room and board? The work’s a bit boring but it’s easy. What do you think? And we’ll throw in a bit of cash every once in a while, so you can have a little spending money.”

Esmeralda felt more like they were taking her in as a stray dog than an employee. However, she was not below taking such an offer. “Sounds perfect. When should I start?”

“Now, if you’re up for it. You can start by scrubbing the floor.”

She cringed reflexively, “Weren’t you already doing that?”

“Now I can move onto fixing the chairs that were broken last night.” 

“You do that yourself?”

“As opposed to?”

“There’s got to be someone you can hire to do it. Penance doesn’t have a carpenter?”

Murgin laughed, “Maybe if this happened once. We don’t have the money to pay for other people to keep fixing our furniture. Besides, I’m pretty good at it.”

“Then I’ll get started here.” Esmeralda glanced at the rag she was given with concern. She wasn’t prepared to become the help. Trying to show no hesitation, she dunked the rag into the bucket and then went to work on the floor.

“Esmeralda? You might want to ring that out over the bucket first.”

“Right, right, sorry.”

Esmeralda stared at the rag, and then at the floor. As much as she hated the idea of the task, she wanted to do it right. And she would be excited! All she had to do was imagine her excitement, and it would happen. Concentrate. Get it done, be happy with it. She needed to remember to do this more often. She always felt better if she got herself energized about something. Also why, she believed, everything always felt better after a good night of sleep. You need energy to be happy!

“Esmeralda, do you need something?”

“No! No, I’m good!”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. I think so. Just to make sure, how do I, uh, dry the floor when I’m done?”

“You can just let it dry by itself.”

“Right, of course. I’ll be done in no time. What should I do afterwards?”

“Just do this, and then come see me.”

Okay, she could do that. “Of course, sir. Will do!”

Murgin had to admit, he could get used to being called sir. But he had never seen anyone so excited over cleaning the floor. “Esmeralda?”

“Yes?”

He wanted to mention her change in mood, but didn’t want to worry about possibly making her feel uncomfortable. Maybe she’ll do a better job this way. “Have you eaten yet?”

“No, sir.”

“Then your task is to eat when the food is ready.”

“And I’ll work on this in the meanwhile?”

“That’s the idea.”

“Ok, no problem, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“You are very welcome, young lady.” He smiled at her, and walked off. She was an odd one, but he liked her.