"What is your name?" She asked out of pure curiosity, “My name is Betsy, but I didn’t hear your name when you were talking to my sisters.”

There was a moment of silence before he answered her.

"Reggy."

"Reggy?" Betsy asked, doubting his answer with a puzzled look on her face. 

"Yeah!"

The boy's name wasn't Reggy. It was Kaleb Quaker, and he was in trouble. The type where you'd find all your belongings missing. The name is as well-known or even more well-known than the Gasyer Family. Everyone knew who he was. When he had lost his Mother, he began stealing and destroying a year later, which was one reason why no one lent the poor boy a hand in his hard time. He had his kind of reputation as the "Mourning Bandit" inside the village with two of his friends. 

This is why he lied about his real name. It wouldn't be wise to tell the person letting you live with them that you're a thief. Betsy asked another question to break the silence.

"Do you have a Mom? Dad? Sisters? Brothers?" Betsy continued to pry into the lonely boy’s life.

 "How is that any of your business?!" Kaleb began to get defensive at this point because it was a personal question to him. He didn’t have any of those, which only angered him even more. It sounded like she was bragging to him about having a family unlike his. Kaleb shouted, annoyed at her meaningless bragging.

"Oh, sorry." Betsy apologized, feeling sorry that she had hit a nerve.  

Even though he was staying at her house, he wasn't willing to be friends with a weird girl. Betsy, at this point, was also done talking. As the silence grew, so did the angry tension between them as well. It was almost dinner time, and there was still food in the fridge, but all the water supplies were gone. It was now the Mother's duty to make sure the rations lasted throughout the whole storm. She looked for the water supply everywhere but couldn't find it. Room by room, she looked and had no luck, eventually reaching Betsy's room. Jana Gasyer, Betsy's mom, knocks on her door and lets herself in. 

"Hey, sweetie, I was just looking for your father. Have you seen him? He's the one with the food and water supplies, and now I can't find him." Jana asked while holding onto the door in front of her. 

Betsy sat up slowly, looking directly at her mother, then shaking her head no with a warm smile. There was a moment of silence before Jana answered her question. 

"I guess not... Why do I always hope you will say something... anything? Maybe you can call it false hope, but I will never stop believing that one day you will have a voice and talk to me one day. It would truly be a miracle… dinner will be ready soon, just wait a little longer." She said, every word she said was covered in honey, sweet and bright, filled with hope that her daughter would have a voice one day.

Betsy nods her head to assure her she will be up for dinner. Jana smiles at her and closes the door softly. 

Kaleb, confused about the conversation, asks Betsy a question, “What was that?" Kaleb asks out loud. 

Just then, someone else opens the door and lets themselves in. Betsy didn’t say anything back as the person who barged in walked towards the window to close it up with a plank. Jaques had hurried footsteps when stepping in, but stopped right in front of drenched footsteps leading to Betsy. He ignored it and stepped in front of the window to seal it up. He covered up the gap in silence, not even glancing over at Betsy, and left as if he had never been there.

Kaleb waited a few minutes after Jaques left and picked up a book when his eyes finally adjusted in the dark. He wanted to ask plenty of questions, but the way he left things off meant it wasn’t the right time.

“Do you want to leave the room?”

Betsy interrupted his thoughts. Confused, Kaleb said yes, Betsy got off her bed and grabbed the ends of it. She started to drag the heavy bed as far as she could to get to the basement door. She then started to drag her feet onto the creaky floor, trying to find the door. She couldn't locate it at this point, so she told Kaleb to bang on it. He did as he was told. The door was still under the bed.

 She once again moved the bed and felt the door’s lock on her feet. “Now you can open it,” Betsy said, giving Kaleb the okay to open the door. With a loud clunk, the cellar door flew open. Kaleb got out of the cellar with one big jump and with his strong and small arms in one move.

Betsy then stretched out her hand as if to shake his hand, but Kaleb wasn't quite within arm's reach. So he asked, “What do you need?"

“You can open and lock every door with that key. Don't lose it. You have to use the bathroom now. Don't get caught, or they will immediately kick you into the storm. You have to go straight until you find the kitchen. Whatever you hear, see, or smell, do not panic. There will be two doors, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the left is the bathroom. The one on the right has a snake skull. You have to make sure the door on the right is closed. When you go inside the bathroom, DO NOT turn on the lights or you'll alert someone that you're in there. Once you're done, you have to quickly open the door on the right. Turn on the lights and lock the door to the bathroom, but make sure you're outside to make a run for it and hide. You'll have to sneak your way back in here. ” Betsy explained the exact way he had to use the bathroom. She urged him to be careful and follow the directions to the point while giving him the key.