Anna laughs when Pearl introduces Elijah as her father in 1668—Pearl's told her countless times that the man who fathered her was nothing more than a loser she was glad to get rid of and Pearl seems only too happy to be with this man now.

"No he's not," she argues impetuously.

"For the time being, he is, Annabelle," her mother commands in a no nonsense tone.

Anna crosses her arms over her chest and sighs in irritation. She's been around well over a hundred years, what does she need a father for anyway?

-x-

By the fall of 1669, Anna decides having a father isn't so bad.

He gives her space, answers her questions, talks to her like a grown-up whose been alive for longer than the fifteen years it appears she has been. He parents her sometimes, which is something Pearl's long stopped doing. Most amusing for her, however, is the way he seems to scare off any of the boys they run into on their travels.

Sometimes she yells at him for this and he'll be halfway through shouting, "I'm your father!" when he seems to realize that he really isn't and storms away, fists clenched tightly at his side.

-x-

He leaves in the spring of 1700.

It is a gloomy and rainy afternoon, and Anna's braving the rain to pick flowers in the back garden when she sees him walk out the front door with a bag packed.

She drops the purple flowers in her hands and runs frantically to the house.

"Why is Dad leaving?" she asks hesitantly.

Her mother, with tears in her eyes, doesn't answer—never does—and Anna hasn't liked spring since.