Hellen

After Charles and I finished arguing about Shakespeare quotes, I hopped down from my hammock branches and headed back to the Turner mansion.

Once I got back, I ran upstairs and stole an outfit from Charles’ wardrobe. I then rushed into my room and changed into the new clothes. I peeked at the looking glass in my wardrobe to see if my outfit was a decent fit. Finally, I grabbed a pair of boots and slid them onto my feet. Perfect. I thought. Now I’m out of that dress. It’s awful to climb in that thing. How did I possibly manage it? 

I looked outside at the clock in the garden. I was late for tea. I gasped and sprinted down the stairs to the sitting room.  

Across the hall from the sitting room, I heard voices chatting away.

“Hellen, what are you wearing?!” Sarah said with astonishment the instant that I reached the doorway.  

“Er—it’s just a new look that I’m trying out. I thought that now we’re going to be running around Connecticut non-stop, I’d wear something a bit more comfortable to move around in.” 

Sarah gave me a concerned face. I just ignored it and sat down in an armchair across from Philip, who was also giving me a strange, concerned face. 

I was just pouring my tea when Charles ran into the sitting room, panting like a dog. 

“Sorry I’m late. Someone left me stranded in a tree, and I had to call out like a child until someone had the guts to come and find me.” He gave me a hard stare, which I shot right back at him. 

“As I was saying before we were interrupted by the twins’ elaborate entrances,” said Sarah. “We’ve got to plan out the wedding for Charlotte and Edmund. They’ll have to marry soon—” 

Charles spat his tea five feet. He then froze, grabbed a napkin from the coffee table, and mumbled “Sorry,” before kneeling and wiping up the tea.

Sarah looked at the mess with disgust and continued, “If the engaged aren’t betrothed soon, then people will forget that the two are engaged and men will be flirting with Charlotte like Charles does.” She said Charles’s name like he was disgracing her by being present in the sitting room.

I looked up at the clock mounted on the wall. Teatime would end briefly. I finished what was in my cup and lunged to get a biscuit. Sarah blocked my arm. “Manners, young lady. It is not proper to be greedy during evening tea.”

“But—" I looked longingly at the biscuit. “but I shan’t have anything after that biscuit. I’m starving, you see. You were thirteen once, Sarah, even if it was six years ago; you know hunger well enough to know that I need to eat.”

“Supper isn’t for another half hour, Hellen; you will survive that amount of time, starved or not; you will go upstairs and change into a more elegant choice of clothing, and starting tomorrow morning, you will begin to get used to donning a corset underneath your dresses.” 

I started to protest, but my sister shushed me. I pouted and stormed out of the sitting room. I made my way to the front door. The moment I was there and had opened it, I started sprinting in the direction of the bakery.