When they reached the top of the stairs, Ursula led the way to the right accordingly. Amelia halted for a moment and looked in the other direction. The hallway looked much the same in either direction – it was shaped like the letter L, with the short side lining the great hall downstairs and the long side continuing in a straight line to that end of the building. Judging from the small signs hung on the doors, the ones on the short side were bathrooms and storage closets. It then followed that the living quarters would be along the long corridors.

 “Come along now,” Ursula called out as she’d already entered the corridor before noticing that Amelia was lagging behind. She followed with her eyes downcast, hugging her backpack even more tightly. What would it be like here – what would the others be like? She’d been told that some were like her, kids who had lost their parents. Others were there for other reasons, but they didn’t explain what those other reasons might’ve been.

 Here, each room had a small sign hanging on the door as well. They seemed to be alphabetical – she saw the letters from A to E.

 “This is where you’ll be staying.” Ursula had stopped in front of door D and opened it. “For now, you’ll have it all to yourself. We usually have two children in each room, but right now, with you here, we have an uneven number of girls. Do you think you’ll be okay?”

 The room was perhaps four meters wide and six deep, bigger than she would have thought. On the left was a bunk bed, on the right a closet and a shelf, and at the far end was a wide table with two chairs tucked under it. All the furniture was wooden, as were the floor and ceiling. White, although slightly yellowed, wallpapers lined the upper two-thirds of the walls. Other than feeling rather empty it wasn’t an unpleasant room by any means, but Amelia still felt uncomfortable. Not wanting to cause trouble she just nodded anyway.

 “Very good. You are free to use half of the closet and the shelves, in case we get another occupant. You can arrange your things as you like but keep it tidy. We like to keep things presentable here at all times.” Ursula placed the suitcases next to the closet. “Alright then, leave your things here and let’s get you something to eat.” Amelia nodded and walked to the bed. She placed the backpack on the lower bed, hesitantly letting go of it.

 Amelia’s supper turned out to be a bowl of stew, with an Ecclefechan tart for dessert. However, had she been asked she wouldn’t have been able to say anything about their taste afterwards, as despite having felt hungry she was just essentially going through the motions without paying any real attention. When she was done, she thanked Ursula and headed back to her room on her own.

 Once there, she took her backpack again and sat on the edge of the bed while holding it. She stayed that way for quite a while. Once, a while ago when she’d been similarly sitting passively in a hotel room staring into nothing, she’d overheard adults talking to each other across the room – hushed, but still audible, despite them apparently thinking otherwise. She’d heard them adults talk about “shock” – what was that? Like what you got from rubbing on wool and then touching someone? But they seemed to be talking about her, and no such thing had happened to her recently.

 She’d not seen any of them, but she heard the occasional noise from the neighbouring rooms on either side. A little later, an unfamiliar voice carried in from the hallway.

 “All right, children, time for bed!” Amelia stirred. She should go to bed too, so as not to get in trouble. She opened her backpack and pulled out one of the things she’d gotten to take with her from her old home – her favourite pyjamas. They were blue and had white stylized birds printed on them. They’d been a gift from her parents last Christmas, and they were starting to be a little short for her already. Regardless, she changed into them, and folded away her day clothes, putting them away in the closet. She then realised that she’d not brushed her teeth. But she was so very tired, so perhaps Miss Ursula wouldn’t be angry even if she learned of it – after all she’d not come to check on her again so maybe she wouldn’t find out. Amelia then folded away the bed cover as well, climbed under the blanket and in no time at all fell asleep.

 And in her sleep, the tears that would not come while she was awake started flowing, and her small body was racked by the sobs.