"Welcome, everyone!"
The group stopped their chatter and looked ahead as a warm, clear voice echoed down the long hallway, drawing their collective attention.
Walking toward them from the far end of the corridor was the head of the orphanage, a woman in her late forty's with kind, heavily crinkled eyes and a soft, faded patterned shawl draped over her shoulders.
"This must be Mrs. Gable," Zade's chief murmured, stepping forward the pack to shake her hand.
She nodded warmly, her expression tired but genuinely welcoming. "Yes. Please, come this way, everyone."
They followed her guidance, turning down a secondary hallway that opened up into a spacious, high-ceilinged room.
It was furnished with long, heavy wooden tables and rows of slightly mismatched plastic chairs, unmistakably the children's dining hall. The windows were high up, letting in shafts of dusty light.
