The older girl peered out the window, hearing the clunking of hooves and a call for the horses to stop. The sisters flung the door open wide- more tiny children peering out. The plague that had covered the land was starting to wane, finally, but it had left so many like her, without family or home. They were, as the headmaster liked to remind them, a burden to their king and country, and, indeed, God himself. Well, they couldn't be too much of a burden, stuffed together and barely fed as they were, but in any case, only about half of them survived anyway. Even Mina had almost been lost last year to a fever, and Robin had to trade the little stash of trinkets they had laid away in preparation for their grand escape, for some broth and a warmer blanket. She didn't regret it, to be sure. As Mina had observed, she’d obtained most of the treasures anyhow. And Robin cherished the one friend she had. But still, it had set them back on their master plan quite a bit.