1) Here's the terrible surprise @EaglesSong 2) At least in America in the 1800s you had to get a teacher's certificate to teach. That's what Laura needed in Little House On The Prairie 3) Don't ask me how you get a pig from Spain to England. "Good morning, Lizzie," said Susan. "Morning, Susan," I smiled. "Breakfast is at seven usually." "Okay..." I said, though it wasn't that okay. So many people.... I'd never been around many people before. Just Father, or very rarely if I went into town, but they were all just buying or selling or walking past us, nobody was actually looking at me unless to ask if I needed any ribbons or bread. At seven, Isabelle, Susan and Jane showed me to the dining room. We sat down next to each other and began eating. Everyone seemed to not pay attention to me, which surprised me, for in stories Father told me, new characters were always stared at. Everyone just seemed to chat to the person next to them and not really look in my direction apart from to ask if I could pass them the milk. When school began, though, people had to look at me as Miss Cooke was asking me questions to see what I knew. "Elizabeth, please read the board," Miss Cooke instructed. "I... Can't," I said. "Don't you know how to at least read?" "No, Miss." "Katie, you're doing so well, would you mind teaching Elizabeth down in room 6? Thank you." But Katie couldn't really teach me anything. She was amazing at teaching, but it seemed that I was terrible at learning. Unexpectedly, Katie burst into tears. "Why are crying?" I asked. "You're doing amazing, it's me who's terrible at this." "I must be a terrible teacher! You're just being nice! How am I ever going to get a teacher's certificate if I can't even teach a twelve year old girl the alphabet?" That evening I felt terrible. I skipped tea, and I told Susan about Katie. "I'm so stupid!" "I was, too. I came here two years ago when my dad went on a trip to work. He'll be back soon, according to his letters. This girl, Lynda, taught me to think about what the letters looked like to remind me. For example, B is like two bread rolls, B for Bread." I drew the symbols to remind me about B for Bread, H for house (with two chimneys) and C for Cat (curled around). It was fun, and soon I was able to read and write, and I became almost top of the class - just under Katie. I became rather popular in the temporary home. None of the other girls and boys had actually been to the countryside and they were all interested in the stories I had to tell, especially the one about when *Great Aunt Spain (she had a name, a Spanish one, but Father used to call her Great Aunt Spain for some reason. Father was odd, but that was why I loved him!) and her pig, Collin (who the dog was named after) came to stay.* The thing is, despite being popular, I felt lonely without Father. I think sometimes the most popular people can feel the most lonely and the ones who are alone the least. Not always, but sometimes, I think people who are alone don't talk because they don't want to talk and people who are popular talk because they want to talk. In a few weeks, a letter arrived for Katie and her sister, Lily. It was from their father, who said that they could come home and I realized it had been over a month since father left.
