The Defender of Time

Twenty-Three

"LEA! WAKE UP!"

The girl jumped at the sound of her voice, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling above her bed. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them tiredly. The remnants of a dream lingered somewhere in her head, but she shook it away. "What is it?" She asked. "It's early."

She opened her eyes to see a little boy standing in the doorway. His hair fell in ringlets around his face, and he looked stressed. "I can't find Henrietta anywhere. I even put her food out and shook the bowl so it made the noise!"

Lea sighed. "She's probably in the garden, Artie. She likes the roses." When Artie walked away, Lea climbed down the ladder of her bunk bed, skipping the last two rungs and jumping onto the ground. She took her glasses from her nightstand and pulled her closet door open; for a moment, Lea lingered on a pair of overalls she'd gotten for her birthday last year, before settling on the small pinafore that hung next to them. With a sweater and a pair of tights, she was ready for the day, and she made her way downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, Mister Maitland," she said routinely. She settled herself in a chair at the table, where a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice was waiting for her.

Mister Maitland, who was in the kitchen, chuckled as he slung a messenger bag over his shoulder. "We've been over this, Lea. You can call me dad. Just because the papers aren't finished yet doesn't mean I'm not your father."

"Oh," said Lea, blushing into her cereal. "I'm sorry, it just--"

He laughed. "I know it must be weird. But that's alright." Mister Maitland-- her dad-- planted a kiss on Artie's head, who had given up on the hunt for Henrietta and opted instead to devote his full attention to his breakfast, and then Lea's. "Where's Angie?"

"Here." Angie made her way down the steps and slid into place across from Lea, skillfully avoiding her father's goodbye gesture.

Mister Maitland sighed. "Alright, kiddos. Clara's somewhere. I'll see you later." He gave one more wave and left through the front door, leaving the three in stagnant silence.

Lea picked at her cereal, looking shyly from Angie to Artie. "Did you find Henrietta?" The name tasted funny in her mouth, but she ignored it.

Artie shrugged his shoulders. "No. I don't think she ran away, though. She's probably on your bottom bunk, did you check?"

"Oh," said Lea. "I didn't. Smart thinking."

The silence that followed the small conversation was as heavy as it had been for the past few weeks. It was like ever since the Maitlands had decided to officially adopt Lea (which she felt horrible about, knowing she'd have to leave them for the Doctor when he turned up), Angie had resented her more than ever. And Artie followed along. He didn't know better. And Lea couldn't blame him.

When Clara came down the stairs, Lea kept her head down, before she was being directly spoken to. "Lea! Hello! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Clara." Lea's head snapped up at her own words, and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

Clara furrowed her eyebrows. "Everything alright?"

Why had she done that? She'd just said good morning. She hadn't said anything bad, so why did it feel so... wrong?

"Nothing!" She chirped. "I--I mean, yes. Everything's alright. I'm fine." What was that? She was nervous, probably. Big day. Big, big day.

Clara waited a tick before restarting the conversation, taking a cucumber from the refrigerator and laying it on a cutting board, perhaps only to busy her hands. "You three ready for school today?"