The Pirate & The Porcelain Doll (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 2

"I want to be a soldier," Waverly announced at breakfast the next morning. "And, wear a red tune and ride a black horse."

"To Banbury Cross," Willa added, looking up briefly from her plate of kippers to make light of her sister's curious career choice. "It's a red tunic. A soldier's coat is called a tunic. Although, I believe the actual colour is scarlet."

"Isn't it a white horse?" Wynonna questioned. "No, a cock horse is ridden to Banbury Cross. Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a white horse. That's how the rhyme goes. And, no you can't."

"Can," Waverly insisted, pushing the remains of a half-eaten poached egg round her plate with a fork. "I can ride, as good as you."

"How can you possibly be as good as me at riding? Or, anything. You're only six. I meant, you can't be a soldier. Isn't that right Willa?"

"I believe so, "Willa replied, not bothering to look up this time, determined to remove as many miniscule bones as she could from the fish before her. "The army is reserved for men."

"That girl wants to be a soldier," Waverly continued. "She told me. I want to be a nurse, but now I think I would like to be a soldier and wear a red coat and wave a sword in the air..."

"Girls do not become soldiers, only boys." Willa clarified. "That girl is too boyish for you to be listening to her."

Willa is wrong, she thought. My pirate will be a soldier. She is brave and knows how to fight with a sword. Waverly placed her knife and fork across the plate as she had been shown by adults, scooping up the white linen napkin from her knee, dropping it on the table to the left of her plate. "She can be a boy if she wants. And, a soldier." Waverly replied.

It was Wynonna's turn to educate her little sister. "Oh petal, that girl cannot be a boy. Because, she's a girl. She doesn't have what boys have."

"Yes, she does," Waverly persisted. "She has a sword. So there."

Willa sighed audibly. "You're too young to understand. Having a sword does not make you a boy. I'll explain when you are older."

Shouting and footsteps outside the breakfast room drew their attention to the presence of Nicole. Waverly's face lit up, desperate to be allowed to leave the room. As the eldest, Willa was tasked with being their stand-in mother on these occasions, a role she didn't much care for. "You may leave the table. Do not go anywhere near that uncouth girl. If I find out you have, I'll tell mama and you'll be sent to bed straight away."

Waverly hesitated, knowing Willa would tell on her if she did, knowing the first thing she would do on leaving the table would be to find her exciting new friend. "I won't. I'm going to play with Ellie."

It was the first lie Waverly ever told. The muscles in her body tensed, having uttered such a fib to her sister, waiting to see if she would be caught out, or if her tongue would grow too large for her mouth, as her mother said it would. Her sisters said nothing, presumably believing her intentions to play with a doll. Why would I play with a doll, she thought, when I have a real pirate to play with?

Wynonna waited until Waverly left the room. "What are the odds she's off to find that girl?"

"I would say the odds are fairly high," Willa replied. "Sword indeed."

"You're beginning to sound like mother. I think it's endearing. Mind you, she'll get a shock when she sees her first sword."

"Nona!" Willa exclaimed. "We do not talk about men's swords. Not in public and never at the dining table."