A Lion to Guard Us Read Free

said. “What ever made me do it? I’m the one to look after him and Meg, and I—”
    â€œYou do look after them,” said Ellie.
    â€œNo! I don’t mend their clothes. I never talk to them anymore—”
    Ellie said, “Don’t be putting blame on yourself. Life is hard for you now. When you lose someone it’s like—like having to find your way again.”
    Amanda grew quiet. It was true, what Ellie had said.
    That night, in bed with Jemmy and Meg, she left the candle burning. She said, “Who wants a story?”
    â€œYou said you didn’t know any,” said Jemmy.
    â€œI didn’t, but now I do.”
    â€œIs it about Father?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s more about two sisters and their brother.”
    â€œThat’s you and Meggie and I,” he said.
    â€œAnd one of the sisters was a crosspatch,” said Amanda.
    â€œThat’s you,” said Jemmy.
    â€œShe’d lost her way,” said Amanda.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œShe’d lost her way, but she found it again, so she wasn’t a crosspatch anymore.”
    â€œIs that all the story?” he asked.
    â€œNo. The brother and sisters lived in the city of London in the country of England. And one day— do you know what they did?”
    â€œWhat?” he said.
    â€œThey went away. They left the city of London and the country of England. They left it all behind them.”
    He sat up. “Where did they go?”
    â€œThey got on a big ship, and they sailed to America. They saw a town. That was Jamestown. They saw a man, and he came to meet them.”
    â€œFather!” said Jemmy.
    â€œFather,” said Meg.
    â€œWhen are we going?” asked Jemmy.
    â€œI don’t know yet,” said Amanda, “but we are going. We are! ”
    In the morning she asked Cook, “If it please you, may I go outside?”
    â€œNo,” said Cook. “Where?”
    â€œTo the next street over.”
    â€œWhat’s on the next street over?”
    â€œIt’s where the Virginia Company is.”
    â€œThe Virginia Company? What may that be?”
    â€œIt’s the company that sends out ships to America.”
    â€œAnd what’s that to you?”
    â€œJemmy and Meg and I—we’re going,” said Amanda.
    Cook gave a snort. “And I’m going to fly to the moon!”
    â€œIf it please you,” said Amanda, “the house is on Philpot Lane. That’s only a step away. I’ll be back in no time at all.”
    â€œNo, you won’t,” said Cook, “because you’re not going.”
    All morning Amanda worked. She swept and scrubbed. She mixed the bread and peeled the onions.
    Toward noon, Cook shouted in her ear, “You’ve let the water pail go empty again!”
    Amanda took up the pail and ran with it. Outside the back door she looked behind her. No one was watching.
    She set the pail behind a currant bush. She picked up her skirts and went flying down the alley.

V
The House on Philpot Lane
    Amanda went straight to the big brick house on Philpot Lane. No one answered her knock. She tried the door, and it opened. She went into a large room where men sat at tables. They were writing, and she could hear the scratch of pens on paper.
    She chose the man with the kindest face. “If it please you,” she said, “can you tell me about the ships that sail to Virginia?”
    He kept on writing. It looked as if he were setting down figures and adding them up.
    â€œI was here once with my mother,” she told him. “We wanted to go to Virginia because my father is there. A man said to come back later.”
    She thought he hadn’t heard. She made ready to say it all again. But he had stopped writing.
    â€œYour father’s name?” he asked.
    â€œJames Freebold.”
    He opened a book and ran his finger down the pages. “Yes, he’s here.”
    â€œWe want to go on the