By Any Other Name

Chapter 5

The children didn't give me much of a chance to settle in. I suspected that Minnie had ordered them not to disturb me before breakfast, but even so it didn't take long for the interrogation to begin.

After awaking and dressing for the day, I hesitantly made my way through the house, toward the wonderful wafting smells of eggs and bacon. As I entered the kitchen, nine pairs of eyes fastened onto me and I felt my face warm from the sudden attention.

"Morning!" Minnie was the first to speak from in front of the stove. The children stared in silence. A few of them shoveled a forkful of food into their mouths.

"Good morning." I smiled.

"Have a seat," she said, scooping a helping of eggs onto a nearby plate. "I hope you slept well."

I nodded as I made my way over to one of the empty chairs at the long table. "I did. Thank you." I actually couldn't remember the last time I'd slept so soundly. Probably because it was the first time in almost a year that I felt completely safe and truly hopeful about my future.

Most of the children continued to watch me, doing little more than push food around their plates as Minnie finished up at the stove. Oliver offered a wide smile before taking a bite of his bacon.

"Children," Minnie said, coming to set a plate in front of me before taking her own place at the table. "This is Miss Annie. She'll be staying with us for a while. She's going to take over your schooling."

The children exchanged pleased but unsurprised glances. Apparently, Oliver had mentioned that bit of news to them already. As if by mutual assent, their eyes all settled on the girl with soft dark curls and wide brown eyes, seated to my left. She looked to be older than the others, about thriteen or fourteen. I got the feeling that she was the leader.

"Did you really sail here all the way from England?" she asked me.

"Yes, I did." I smiled before glancing down at the food that was making my mouth water.

"What's it like?" asked the petite blonde girl on the other side of the table.

"Well..."

"I wish I could do that!" said the boy near Minnie.

"Maybe you will one day."

He gave me a small smile and looked at the table with a shake of his head.

"How long did it take?" The older girl spoke again.

"A very long time." I'd honestly lost track of how long the trip from coast to coast had been. At the time I was just so happy to be leaving, I didn't care about much else. My estimation would probably be much shorter than the actual number of days since I felt more and more elated with each mile I put between myself and Charles. But I'd been thinking of more than just my time on the sea when I answered the girl.

"What's it like all the way over there in England?" Oliver piped up. "Does everyone sound like you?"

"Mostly." I smiled.

"What's the sky look like over there," asked one of the younger ones before I could think of formulating an answer to Oliver's first question. "What about the stars? Do they look the same as here?"

I nodded with a chuckle. "Exactly the same."

"What about animals?" another child asked. "Do they have lions? What about giraffes?"

"Well, I've never seen-"

"What about horses? They have those?"

"Is there a king and queen?"