"What do you think," Annie paused as she pulled out the next card. "This one is, William?" She asked holding out a card that had the letter T on the face of the card. William squinted his eyes and leaned forward as if he had troubles seeing the card, his mouth slightly opened.

"Uhhh "

"I'll give you a hint, It makes a tuh sound, its the letter in the beginning of Thomas's name." Annie said as she gave her brother a small smile, he squinted harder and leaned closer, so his nose was almost touching the card. Annie giggled.

"Sticking your nose on the card isn't going to give you the answer William. Come on I know you know it. Tuh, tuh" She made the tuh sound again hoping that would help him.

"T!" William said rather loudly in his small voice, he giggled, he was quite proud of himself. Annie smiled widely, she loved to see that her brother enjoyed learning.

"Yes, good boy Will. We will have you writing sentences in no time, won't we? Have you practiced writing your name like I asked you to?" Annie asked her little brother, he leaned back and looked like he was trying to search for an answer in his head.

"Mmm, no" He admitted to Annie. Annie widened her eyes and pretended she was in shock, she gasped. William didn't take her very seriously and started to giggle.

"No?" Annie answered

"Well that's what I want you to work on today Mister, alright?" William nodded to her response.

"Alright." He replied in a soft quiet voice.

"Let's get this finished up... What about this one Will?" Annie said pulling out the next card that was in her hand. William once again did the same, squinted his eyes and leaned closer.

"U"

"Very good, and this one?" She then again pulled out the next card.

"Uhh...V!"

"Good."

Annie proceeded to show card after card to William, once they had finished William was dismissed. He ran quickly away from where he had been sitting in-front of Annie and ran off the porch to join Samuel and Nathan in the fields of corn to help them start planting the south field. Annie didn't move, she stayed seated and rocked slowly back and forward in the wooden rocking chair she was sitting on. She decided to close her eyes and just relax and try to enjoy the warm summer afternoon, it had been rather hot out for the past few days, and Annie wished she didn't have to wear so many layers of clothing. It was worse when she would have to go into Charles Town and visit her aunt Charlotte. When in the big city, she would have to dress more appropriately, she wasn't at home, she just simply could not wear only her under skirt, dress and stockings.

Annie opened her eyes when she heard the sound of boots walking across the large wooden porch, she turned her head to see who it had been, it was her father Benjamin. Annie greeted him with a smile, he did the same back. Her father then sat in-front of her.

"That rocking chair I insist on working on still, I tell you. This is the fifth one so far that has broke." Her father said annoyed, Annie laughed.

Whenever he wasn't working on the fields, he could be found in one of the barns working on a rocking Chair. Annie didn't know what the obsession was, but she wasn't about to tell her father to throw it all away and give up.

"Father, Why do you keep working on them?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. It's like a challenge now, you watch! Soon you'll be sitting on one of my own home made rocking chairs." He replied with the sound of determination in his voice, Annie just smiled.

"Oh , I believe you Father."

"What have you been up to today?" He asked her, Annie adjusted herself.

"Well I just finished up teaching William, he's doing better each day. I think I will start teaching him how to write next week some time." Annie responded. Benjamin gave her a nod.

"I've been thinking, you've been working so hard with William and your other siblings since, uh, since your Mother passed. You know I'm very thankful for that, and lately I've been feeling as if you've been more like a Mother then a young woman who is, a Daughter, a Sister." Annie interrupted her father before he could speak any further.

"Father, honestly it's alright. It's no trouble and someone has to be a Mother figure around here. I'm seventeen, soon enough I will be married and have children of my own." Annie lied, well sort of.

There were times when she just wanted to feel like a sister to her siblings, this morning when she had taken a ride and she had spent time with her brothers she felt like a sister. Not like a mother, she needed a break sometimes. But someone did have to be the mother figure for her siblings, and since she was the eldest, she felt like it was her duty to take care of her younger sisters and brothers.

"I know, but you need some time to yourself. So I wrote a letter to your Aunt Charlotte. I told her that I would send you to Charles Town, you will live with your Aunt for a while. You need another women's influence, and I think it would be good for you to get away from here for a while and spend time with your Aunt Charlotte. I-"

"Oh that would be wonderful Father!" Annie interrupted.

"I agree with you very much so, I think it would good for me to spend time with Aunt Charlotte. When do we make our departure Father?" Annie said impatiently with excitement in her voice, her father gave a laugh.

"Well, I'm pleased to hear you are excited. I thought maybe you would want to stay around here perhaps." He gave a smile.

"As I was saying earlier I've not yet received a letter back from your Aunt Charlotte yet. But I suspect a post rider will be here some time tomorrow, or perhaps later this week I'm hoping." Benjamin finished.

Annie was still very excited, she knew she would be anticipating the post riders arrival to their house, she loved visiting her aunt Charlotte. Now that she would be staying with her for a while, she couldn't wait to leave for Charles Town.

"And you mentioned earlier about being wed, and having children of your own. I am not sending you to Charles Town just so you can have a break from your duties here, I hope that you perhaps meet a man and well. I hope you will be courted. You are seventeen and I think it's time you found yourself a suitable man. Do you agree? I'm not sending you off to get married, It's just, well you're getting older Annie." Benjamin stated.

Annie had to agree, her mother had gotten married when she had been nineteen years old, and some of the old friends she had made in Charles Town when she was younger are courted or are engaged now. Annie wished for herself to be courted. She was ready to fall in love. She'd never been courted before in her life.

"Of course Father, I agree - Oh Father I can't wait! I should write to my friends, and tell them that I will be arriving to Charles Town shortly." Annie began as she stood up from her rocking chair, but her father stopped her when he said.

"Well wait now Annie we don't know how your Aunt Charlotte feels about this just yet, now why don't you help fix up some lunch with Abigail or see what your sisters are up to, alright?" Annie sighed, her father was right, who knows. Maybe her aunt Charlotte did not approve of her living with her for a-while, but she couldn't see her aunt not approving. She was sweet, and she loved her company. Her aunt Charlotte reminded her of her mother, they were very much alike. Annie sighed once more.

"Yes, Father." Annie then walked away from her father.

"I see you found your Mother's necklace, Annie." Benjamin said before Annie went to step inside the front door of the house.

She stopped and turned her head to look to him, she gave him a smile and lifted her hand to touch the star of the necklace.

"She would be so proud of you Annie, you've become a beautiful women. In every sense of the word." Her father said proudly, Annie's smile grew larger from her father's remark.

"Thank you Father. And Mother is proud of you for being the greatest Father, you can possibly be." Annie replied before she continued to enter the house.

Benjamin smiled to himself and got up from his seat and went on to work on that rocking chair he had still yet to accomplish.

Annie walked into the house, the house had been quite except Abigail could be heard preparing lunch in the kitchen. She wondered where her sisters had been, and what they were up to. Until a loud cry answered her question. Annie snapped her attention to the upstairs, Abigail quickly poked her head out of the kitchen.

"What's the matter?" Abigail asked in concern, she started to lift her skirts and quickly make her ways to where Annie had been standing, Annie stopped her before she could go any further.

"Abigail it's fine, I'll see what's the matter. You go on and continue lunch, you already have enough to do but thank you for your concern." Annie said as she picked up her skirts and started to climb the stairs, Abigail nodded and turned to walked down the stairs .

"Thank you Annie." Annie heard Abigail say before she reached the upstairs. Annie heard the cries getting louder, she could tell from the screechy sound from the cries that It had been her little sister susan. She ran to her room quickly.

"Susan!" Annie panicked as she entered her sisters room.

There she saw little Susan holding onto her head, and her sister Margaret standing in front of Susan looking rather guilty while trying to comfort her and encouraging her to stop crying before Annie could catch them. Annie gave a loud sigh. She walked in the room and quickly picked Susan up and held her in her arms, she stroked the back of her head, trying to calm her down. Annie then turned to Margaret .

"Margaret? I have the strangest suspicion that you know what is wrong. Now what happened?" Annie asked with suspicion and curiosity. Margaret then got defensive when she detected the suspicion from her sister.

"I didn't do anything, She just hit her head. That's all!" Margaret quickly replied.

"I didn't say you did anything wrong Margaret. Are you sure that's all that happened? You weren't playing around and Susan got hurt?" Annie knew that's exactly what happened, it had happened many times before. Margaret looked down towards her feet, she knew Annie caught her.

"We were playing and I pushed Susan, she stumbled back and hit her head on the wall. But I didn't mean it I swear I didn't Annie!"

"I know, I know! It's alright, accidents happen. But I think you owe Susan an apology, hmm?" Annie said as she put down her sister.

"Why don't you give her a little kiss on her forehead and a hug, for an apology?" Annie waited for Margaret to react. Susan stopped crying and she only sniffled.

Margaret took her little sister in her arms and gave her a kiss on the head and a big embrace. A slight giggle could be heard from Susan. Annie and Margaret gave a smile.

Their Embrace was ended when they heard the sound of two young boys yelling and shouting something from outside. Annie and her sisters quickly ran to the window to see what was the matter.

"What now?" Annie said, but a large smile formed her face and she lit up when she made out the words.

"Father post rider!" From her brothers.

Yes, it's almost like a dream come true! Annie though, without a second thought she ran out of her sisters room with her sisters following close behind, Annie reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Abigail close and turn away from the door. She had three letters in hand. Annie tried to hold herself back from grabbing the letters out of Abigail's hands.

"Abigail, who are the letters from?" Annie asked excitedly.

It was rare to have a post rider visit their house to drop off some letters, and opening a letter was like opening gifts on Christmas morning. Abigail then read the front of the envelopes.

"Well, one is for your Father." She looked at the other letter below the first one she had in her hand

"No, three are for your Father, one from your Aunt Charlotte and- " Annie interrupted her, Annie knew it had been rude to interrupt others when they were trying to speak but she couldn't contain herself.

"Oh, Abigail. May I see the letters?"

"Of course chil' here you are" Abigail said handing the letters to Annie, Annie held the letters in her hand, then turned to walk away from Abigail and her sisters.

"Thank you Abigail."

Abigail just gave a laugh and waved her hand before she turned to go back to setting the table for lunch.

"Come on you two, lunch is ready." Abigail said to Margaret and Susan, they both followed Abigail to the dining room.

Annie wanted to open the letter, she wanted to rip it open and read its contents. But she knew her father would be displeased if she had opened them without his permission, it was so tempting. Annie heard the sound of a door open up behind her, before she even had a chance to see who it was Thomas swooped in and grabbed the letters from her, resulting in her aunt Charlotte's letter being slightly torn. Annie heard the sound of the letter rip and she gasped.

"Thomas! Can you not contain yourself? Could you not have taken the letters from me politely instead of grabbing them like some animal? Father is going to be so cross with you now!" She said with fury in her voice.

"My apologies Mother."

"Thomas don't you say that!" Annie snapped, her brother always knew how to urk her just the right way.

"I wonder what this one for Father is." Thomas said ignoring Annie's remark.

"I don't know, but let's let him figure that out. You've already managed to nearly ruin one letter, you've caused enough damage don't you think?"

"You're annoying." Her brother teased her, Annie was about to snap at him again, but stopped what she was about to say when Gabriel walked through the door.

"Thomas wait for Father." Gabriel told Thomas as he took a bite out of a piece of bread he held in his hand, Annie smirked over at Thomas she had a look of satisfaction. Thomas just sneered at her.

"Lunch is ready, Father said to get in the dining room and help yourselves to some food. And bring those letters with you Thomas." And with that Gabriel left the room and made his way back to the dining room to sit down and have some lunch. Annie and Thomas both followed after Gabriel.