❀ 01

[toyboat]

Who: Jenny Scott and y o u
What: New arrivals~
When: This evening!
Where: In the lobby
Rating: G for "little girl"

[In the lobby tonight, there is a small girl who looks like she belongs in a castle this grand. Her blue dress matches the decoration style better than most residents' clothing, her long skirts and stay intricate and befitting a higher class daughter.

This girl, however, looks extremely confused, cautiously wandering through the grand entrance and seeming for all the world like she has no idea what's going on.

Because she doesn't.

Last she recalls, she was on a ship, heading home, and this place is like nowhere on The Jackdaw at all, not that she's seen.

She takes a cursory pass around the lobby, then takes a seat on a sofa and clutches her doll to her chest.]

It'll be all right, Dolly. Father is with us now, this must just be part of the adventure.

Comments

[givetheslip]

[Maria had little use for her own dolls as a child, and as a woman grown she thinks she has little use for children, either, at least hypothetical children of her own. But she's not careless enough to take no notice of the young girl as she passes through the lobby in her way back inside, and when their eyes happen to meet she can't bring herself to ignore the child.]

That's a...lovely doll. [She guesses.]

[toyboat]

Thank you. She travelled across the ocean with me, you know.

[givetheslip]

Did she. All the way across the ocean to this castle?

Did anyone else travel here with you two?

[toyboat]

Hm, well, maybe to here. Really, we sailed to meet my father in the New World. We were all three sailing back to England.

[givetheslip]

How lovely. And your father—is he here as well?

[toyboat]

I think he must be. We were on the adventure together, so he couldn't have gone anywhere else.

[givetheslip]

Hopefully not.

[That's a relief if the girl is right. If she's not...]

Where in England were you headed? I'm from there as well, you know.

[toyboat]

We're from Bristol, but Father says we're heading to London. Where are you from?

[givetheslip]

I was born in Nottinghamshire. I spent a few years in Leicestershire as well, but I haven't been there in quite a few years.

[toyboat]

I don't think I've heard of those. Where do you live now?

[givetheslip]

Well I...I suppose I live here. And before that, I was traveling. Having an adventure of my own.

[toyboat]

Was it a grand adventure? Did you see pirates and bandits and all sorts of wild things? Adventures are wonderful!

[givetheslip]

No pirates, but I daresay I've seen a few bandits. Knights and soldiers, too. I was one, for a while.

[toyboat]

[Jenny gasps, obviously enthralled. She holds tight to her doll, resting on her knees at she looks up at the woman.]

You were a soldier?

[givetheslip]

[Maria laughs, relaxing a bit.]

Yes, I was. Is that so strange?

[toyboat]

I don't think I've ever heard of a lady soldier before!

[givetheslip]

Well, I suppose you wouldn't have. When I first joined up, I pretended to be a boy.

[toyboat]

But wasn't it hard, to pretend and wear their clothes and keep the secret?

[givetheslip]

Sometimes it was. But it turns out a lot of grown men never notice the truth that's right under their noses.

[She leans a little closer, conspiratorially.]

They're a bit silly that way.

[toyboat]

Oh, I know! Mother used to say that, before I was born, Father couldn't even open his eyes to see what was obvious, and that was why he never knew of me until now.

[givetheslip]

[Her small smile threatens to slip away at that.]

Yes...even fathers can miss the obvious. That doesn't mean they can't learn to see.

[Some, anyway.]

[toyboat]

It's all right, he's here now. And Rose, our servant, she said he could hardly stand the wait before he got to meet me. So I think everything is fine.

[givetheslip]

I think you're right. And I think you're very lucky to have a father who cares for you so strongly.

[toyboat]

I am very glad for him, even if we've only just met. But I wish he would hurry along, so we could go home.

[givetheslip]

[She hesitates. This sort of thing definitely isn't her place.]

Well, you should be patient. Sometimes journeys home take a long time.