Chatterbox: Inkwell

The beginning of a story I'm writing. The code that I use in the story is entirely my own. So it's not perfect. I have made a few other stories with  Lea (Cecilea) , but this is the first longer story. Please critique it .

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“Cecilea
quit sleeping and get down here!”  A
voice echoes through the pipe, winding its way up the long staircase. On and on
it goes, until it reaches its stop, blasting loudly and then slowly drifting off,
delivering its message. It had done its job well.  The girl who had been sleeping slowly reached
up her hand from her warm blankets, felt around in the dark, and pushed the
button she had been searching for. The curtains opened with a whoosh, letting a
blinding glare of light in. 

Why
is it always so bright in the morning?  I
pull my legs up and push them over the side of my bed. Ugh. Getting out of bed
is excruciatingly painful.  Thankfully my
sister Nika didn’t hear that.  She would
have glared at me, and told me “Don’t over exaggerate, it’s fallacious.”

Sometimes
I wonder if she speaks English.  As I
dress, I think of my day.  I can see it
all too clearly:  I’ll be forced to dress
my  youngest siblings, and then I’ll miss
my board and have to walk to the Educators building where I’ll be punished for
being late.  Meaning I will end up
washing windows, which takes at least three and a half hours to do all of them,
speaking from experience.  Then the head
will order me home for the rest of the day to “think about why being late is
not tolerated and is inexcusable.”  My
mom will freak out at me, and give me a lecture about being responsible.  All the while I’ll be chasing after my demon
sisters and brothers, trying to keep them out of trouble.  Mom will be heading out the door for work, after
she calls the sitters, to tell them they have the day off. 

Running a brush through my hair, I press the green button on
it that reads Instant Wash and Dry.  I
braid it down my back while running down the six flights of stairs to the
dining room.  My mouth falls open at the
sight.  All my 23 siblings are sitting
around the table.  Most of them are staring
gloomily at their food, with the exception of Roy and Silv.  I look questioningly at mom, who takes a
breath and explains that although summer isn’t for another two months, all of
us children will be split up and sent to stay with relatives.  I nod at my mother and tell her that’s
good while my attention is really on my youngest sisters, Yara and Kara, who are
fighting over a bunny shaped piece of toast.  

When
the news sinks in, I freeze and look up.  I ask her when we get to come home. She says
that we will be home for the start of school next year.  I stare, and my mouth almost falls open. Four
months?!  Then she says we will be going
because it will be good for my siblings to be away from their “parts.”  We are going to be split up and sent away for
four months for that?!   I don’t believe
it.

The
“parts” are my multiple siblings. Like how Ashe, Nika, and Cil are each other’s
parts.  Thinking about them gets me
thinking of the rest of my siblings. In order, they are: (Latashe) Ashe, who is
normally sweet tempered and terribly kind, but can’t act or sing to save
herself or the world, not to mention the universe, (Veronika) Nika who comes
next, who always tells me not to over exaggerate things (I do that quite often),
(Tracila) Cil the youngest of the triplets is rather shy around people, but
could dance her way across the Nile River in front of the Queen and everyone
else in the world. The quintuplets are 16 and in order are: (Marithia)
Ritha,  (Laurlial) Lial, (Evalinea)
Alina, (Amelya) Ame, (Celestia) Tia, all of whom go to a school for dance.  Ritha does hip hop, Lial does jazz and highland,
Alina and Ame do ballet and Ame just began clogging this year. Tia does the
most kinds, tap, Irish, ballroom, folk, and lyrical, and has started Latin and
Spanish. After them are the 15 year olds and the 14 year old identical twin
boys.

            (Royal) Roy
and (Silver) Silv are 15. (Fransel) Frans and (Branez) Nez are 14. The thing about
them is that because they have the same shade of dark brown hair and in their
case green eyes, (while the rest of us have bluely /violet eyes or coco brown,
-mine are violet-)  they are constantly
being asked if they are quadruplets instead of two sets of identical twins.
This also happens because mom had Roy and Silv on Jan.2, 2119, and Frans and Nez
were born two months early on, aug.27th 2119.  So for part of the year Roy, Silv, Frans and
Nez are the same age. Anyway because they were all born before September 1st
and the cut off for grades is August 31st all of them are in ninth
grade. They hate it. Oh and Roy and Silv, really do not like going to the Educators
building. They purposely try and are late, every day. Except the head has
learned of their tricks and ignores their tardiness every day. They must be
ecstatic about missing the last two months of school.  

After
them comes me, (Cecilea) Lea, 13 years old, grade 8. Brown hair, violet eyes
and I am not a multiple. In fact I am the only one in my family who isn’t a
multiple; even my parents have a twin or triplet. For this reason (and the fact
that I have bright violet eyes, not bluey/violety), people constantly ask me if
I’m related to my family. I always answer yes.  Though sometimes I wish that I could just say,
nope I’m the nanny.

            The
ten year old triplets (Identical of course) are, Conir he plays the trumpet,
quite well and loves drawing, (Jeruj-Jay-rue-jay) Jay is a great swimmer, but refuses
to go to the beach, because when he was three he sat on an ant hill and got
bitten so many times, he couldn’t sit for a week. Next is (Edwark) Edik he goes
to the same dance school as the quintuplets, but only every other day, alternating
from the educators building to the dance school. Edik dances ballet, tap and he
decided he had to take hip hop.

Mom
calls out “Lea” breaking my concentration.

I
jump up and reply “Yeah?”

“Take
the youngest ones upstairs and get them dressed, and pack their bags. We are
sending them off in pairs or trios. Oh and pack their bags so it’s either older
boy with older girl or older girl with younger one. With one set of two older
girls, and one younger.”

Groaning
I Complain “But I always have to dress the youngest ones and no one else has
too, and besides I still have time to catch the board.”

“Lea
you’ll not talk back, and what do you mean catch the board? You’re not going back
to the Educators building until September! Now hurry up you only have, she
looks at her watch, 2 hours and 45 minutes to get them and yourself ready to
leave.”

I
can feel my face betraying my emotions. Anger, shock and finally, resentment.
All three flash across my face, until I can control them, again. Gloomily I get
my siblings up, and head toward the stairs. I love my sisters and brothers but
I can’t stand that just because I am “different” from the rest of my siblings,
I always get the job of looking after the youngest ones. As I climb the 8 flight
of stairs I think about my youngest siblings:

The
sextuplets are made up of one set of identical girl quadruplets and a set of identical
twin boys. In order they are: (Aahlya) Lya who is the only 7 year old who doesn’t
like sweets that I know of. Then there is (Bashira) Shira who is really
outgoing and rarely upset and loves to gaze at her dancing ribbons, Locen is a
very mature child and gets along well with Zira, he always watches out for Faylik,
(Zareila) Ila is obsessed with brushing her dolls hair, she has 45 curly hair,
34 wavy hair, 12 unmanageable hair and 38 straight hair dolls, (Xazira) Zira is
a very smart little girl, she start reading at age 2 and could decipher complex
codes, which got her and easy spot in the educators building, Faylik who was
born blind and has trouble using his motor skills, will stay at home with our
parents. The youngest are the 5 year old identical twins (Elyara) Yara and
(Karalin) Kara. Both of them are adorable girls and have sweet natures, but
leave them alone and they can think of the most infuriating ideas, that cause
the worst messes. One time I was putting Faylik and Locen to sleep, and when I
came to say good night to them, they were not in their rooms. So I had to run
around the house searching for them. I eventually looked in the laundry room,
thinking that they wouldn’t possibly be in there, but there they were “trying
to help out” by folding clothes. They really can be dumb at times, but at least
the wanted to help. (Although I still had to re-fold the clothes)

   By the time we get up to their closet room,
I am already exhausted, from dragging them up the stairs. Packing their bags
and getting them ready to travel takes the better part of 2 hours. I left
Faylik downstairs with mom. Who immediately took him into the parlor to greet
our aunts and uncles. They are the people taking us in. They apparently think
that separating us is a good idea. Come to think of it I have no idea who I am going
with. I walk the kids down to the parlour, then dash upstairs to my room and
stuff my clothes, and all the other stuff I’ll need, into my birthday gift from
dad. It’s a rare and expensive brand bag called NEB (Never Ending Bag). It lets
you pack as much stuff as you want into it while not weighing more than 1
pound. It does this by distorting space and creating an empty hole that takes
up no see-able space. You chose how much space you distort so you don’t lose
your stuff.

   Three hours later my aunt Kerala pulls into
their large spacious driveway. The door opens and a bundle of children spill
out, as they run toward the car, I look at the door way, half expecting another
bunch of kids to come out. Instead I find myself staring at my cousin Saria, my
only cousin who like me doesn’t have a multiple in her family. Except that
she’s the oldest of her siblings. Though she’s nearly exactly my age, I find
her snotty and she makes it so obvious that she dislikes looking after her
siblings, that I can barely stand her. While I dislike it, at least I don’t
complain out loud. I normally only meet her at the major holidays or during
summer, thankfully. Inside while my aunt explains to Saria about the plan for
my siblings and myself, I take the time and look around their house. When you
first come in you might see it as a fairly large but normal house. On second
look you realize how big it is, our house is still bigger though with 14
floors, while theirs only has 9. Yet it truly is a huge house, with three stair
cases, one to the left, another to the right and one straight up the middle.
Not to mention the two hallways in between each staircase. 

“NO YOU
CAN’T BE SERIOUS.”

I tune
into my aunt and cousin's conversation. I wince at the tone of voices, and am
about to ask what’s going on when my aunt explains it to me indirectly.

“Saria
Cartiners you will share your room, don’t you dare be so cruel. If I hear
another word out of you that is unkind, I will punish you to babysit your
siblings for the entire summer! My aunt was speaking in a dangerously sweet
voice, but her eyes are speaking for her. I wonder what she would say if she
knew how similar her punishments are to her sisters. Because when I was 7 Cil,
who was 10, had to look after me and the younger ones for a day (at the time
mom was pregnant with the sextuplets so she was only looking after Conir, Jay, Edik
and myself). Mom insisted that she did, or else she would be looking after us
until summer ended, by herself. It was May.

Saria
looked as if she wanted to scream or start bawling, I couldn’t tell, but she
eventually replied

“Fine
but give me fifteen minutes”

Looking
triumphant my aunt nodded and watched Saria ran up the stair case on my right.
Turning to me she said, “Well now, why don’t I introduce you to my kids?”

            I
now know that first comes, Saria whom is 13 years old and a spoilt brat, and
then Eva, and Ava who are11. Dustin and Justin are next at age 10. Rubie, and
Catra, are 9, Angelica, Belinda, Zoei are 7, Taryan, and Sharon are 5. Vincent,
Freddy, Rover, Flonel and Chary are the third youngest at age 3. Then come Falcon
and Eagle, who’re barely 2. Finally the babies, Tina, Liana, May, Kay and Fay,
who are just about 8 months old. 23 kids and my aunt said she would love to
have more. I begin to wonder if maybe Saria might really have a good reason for
always complaining, I mean looking after 22 younger kids’ sounds dreadful. I
only have 11, but mom lost three two years ago and I am almost positive she’s
pregnant again.

            Half
an hour passed and I still hadn’t gotten to see where I would be sleeping for
four months. At last aunt Kerala stomped up the stairs, with me in tow. Happily
carrying my weight less bag.

“Knock
Knock,” There was no answer.

“Knock Knock Knock” Still nothing.

“Knock
Knock Knock Knock” Nothing.

My aunt shouts through the door,   

“If you
don’t open this door immediately, I will come in whether or not you want me
to.” 

 

Nothing,
for about ten seconds, then we hear a crash and, my aunt opens that door as
fast, maybe faster than lightning. Saria was standing by the door, breathless
and was able to gasp out, “I’m. Done”

Aunty
stared at her, and asked her what on earth was going on, Saria thought, took a
deep breath, and while grinning like a Cheshire cat, gasped out,

“Nothing
was happening on earth.”

Aunty
glares at her. Turns to me and orders me to unpack my stuff. Then she speaks to
Saria,

“I
want you downstairs now.”

“The
bed on the left is yours.” Saria whispers to me on her way out the door.

“Oh
ok” was all I can get out before she turns her back to me and stalks to the
stairs.

Whoa,
this room is really clean. She must have been cleaning freakishly fast is the
first thought that comes to mind as I stare at her room. But on closer
examination I realize that her room is untouched, there are no signs of things
being moved, and what had crashed? There are no signs of fallen objects. If it
was already neat before she disappeared into her room, then what had she been
doing, that caused her to be out of breath and take a million years to answer
her door? A shocking idea pops into my head, her words: “Nothing was happening
on earth” which I thought was simply meant to be cheeky, could they have meant…
No that was crazy. Just in case I’ll ask her what school she goes to, but what
if it is an Educators building… Then what do I do.

“Wow
you unpacked a lot,” Saria’s sarcastic voice rings through my thoughts.

“You
nearly gave me a heart attack,” I gasp.

“Right
well, um do you need any help?” she asked, her voice tells me that, aunty had
told her to ask.

To
irritate her I say,

“Sure,
that would be great! Can you dump my stuff onto my bed? Oh and where’s my
closet?”

She
points to an identical closet to the one beside her bed. Then takes my bag,
dumps it out. She nearly drops it in shock, when clothes don’t stop coming out.
She looks up and states that it’s a NEB. I agree. I’m surprised she knew about
them. That reminds me…

“So
Saria what school do you go to?” I ask nonchalantly

She
looks up sharply. Crap this was only confirming my suspicions. 

“Educators
building 5, you?” she replies carefully.

Great.
What to say? I eventually mumble out,

“Oh
isn’t that the school for, like the super smart? I go to the public school in
my area.” What? Why did I say that? I know perfectly well what the Educators
buildings are, I happen to go the Educators building 1.”

I
watch her face for any insight, to what she’s thinking. She too is studying my
face. A bits too obviously, no wonder she only is in the 5th
Educators building. Relief flickers in her eyes and then they are neutral
again. And then she replies,  

“Yeah
the Educators buildings are for the smart, we call them Edbuilds.”

Edbuilds?
That’s a good name for them, I’ll use it. Saria gets up suddenly, nods at me
and says “I have to go to the bathroom”

I
nod back and go hang clothes in my closet. As soon as she has gone I decide to
snoop in her room. After looking around the room and not seeing anything
interesting, my gaze lands upon her night table. The night table has a piece of
music lying face up on it. I get up and quickly jump my bed to look at it. It’s
odd. The music isn’t really in any particular order. I want to play it later so
I mentally say “Finger Cam On” type in its pass code-camfinger83643 (mentally), point
my finger at the music, focus the image in my mind and “say” snap.
I get an instant image of the music in my mind and file it away. I close my
finger cam. I hear footsteps in the hall, the door opens and Saria’s head pokes
in. I’m on my side of the room, when she looks in and says that’s it’s time for
dinner. That was just a bit to close, for comfort.

            Its
10 pm and I’m in bed, across the room Saria is “sleeping”, but her breathing
pattern is off. She wants me to think she’s sleeping. Well I can play this game
to, but I don’t need to fix my breathing when all it takes is focusing my mind
on one thing. And so I find myself looking at that music.

            What
kind of title is 13, 414, 211? I’ve never heard of E.D.B. While I try to figure
out names that have those initials, my mind drifts off, and I wonder what
school I’ll be going to. Stupid, stupid me why did I tell Saria that I went to
public school?! If I told her I went to the Edbuild I could… EDBUILD!   E.D.B, Educators building!

            If
it really is by them it’s going to be some kind of code. A code using music? I
rack my brain of lessons on codes. I can’t think of any. I open up the music
again, it has got to do something with the name of the “song”, that at least
I’m sure of.  What if the numbers meant a
bar measure and in that measure it was the beets that somehow corresponds with
letters? So it could be measure 13 and then measure 414… There are only 16
bars. Ok so that doesn’t work. What if it was the notes that correspond with
different letters? But the scales only go up to G… Yet it does seem like the
most likely way. It hits me that there are only 3 bars with accidentals and
there’s three numbers as the title. If I look at the first number, which is 13
and then look at the first measure with accidentals, it would be measure four.
What does that have to do with 13? 13 and 4 what on earth…1+3 = 4! Maybe I’m
onto something. The second number is 414; the second measure with accidentals
in it is 10. So that doesn’t work. Wait a second 14-4=10! Yes, it might just
work after all! I quickly do the last number: 2ll, and the last bar of music
that has accidentals, is measure 13. So 2+11= 13. With that figured out all I
have to do is find out the code for the corresponding notes and alphabet. I
feel myself thinking too hard over something that is simple. I take a moment
from thinking and when I go back to the image of music, I get a sudden idea
that might just work. What if the note on the A space, is for the letter a, and
it goes up to G. Then the accidentals mark a new set of letters, that start on
the space and go up to G, but represent a different set of letters. H-N, O-U
and V-Z, the Edbuilds admins might have added numbers so I’ll look for them as
well. With this in mind, I do my best to find a pattern.  In the end I figure that the Edbuilds admins have
made the code even harder to decipher, because the second accidentals start a
line lower than the rest of the codes key. 

 

 

 

My
result is, if decipher measure, 4, 10, and 13 I get this: Come at 12am. It
would explain why Saria is pretending to sleep. So if she gets up, should I
follow? Or should I lie in bed, and pretend not to notice? No the heads of her
Edbuild, would tell her who I was, and that can’t happen. I don’t want to be
caught lying. I make my plan: at 11:45pm I will pretend to have a nightmare and
then do everything I can to keep her here, till at 7 am, which is when we have
to be downstairs for breakfast. I look at the clock, 11:30; I can’t believe it
took me and hour and a half to decipher that code, so long!  My teachers would not have been pleased.

   Teachers
at the Edbuilds are crazy strict. If we don’t get a hundred percent on a test,
we get to do them over until we do. I can still remember taking the tests for
the Edbuilds, I thought nothing of it, the tests are normal everyone takes them
when there 5 or 6. It was when I got accepted into the 1st building,
that I realized something. The Edbuilds are not just schools for the smart.
They are schools that “educate” us in the special subjects, or that’s what they
say. Really they are just training us to become super machines. All our 7
senses are trained to be exact: my hearing, smelling, seeing, touching, and tasting
are beyond extraordinary. The two extra ones aren’t really senses as much as
things that we have to learn from scratch. One of the two is: The ability to
control your brain/mind to do as you need. Or access things that are normally
dormant. They train us to do this so they can “install software” into our
brains, like the finger cams, or sound recorder, seeing in the dark, and a
whole bunch of stuff we could never dream of using, in the outside world. Our 7th
sense is extreme physical and mental strength, again something we had to really
work hard at, not really a sense, more of a requirement. Actually all the seven
senses are required, which is why the last two are included in the 7 senses
class. The rest of our classes, take place in Carflaa, a world just outside our
own, carefully hidden in plain view. The moon. It “belongs” To the Educators.

Our
classes include anything from extreme spying, to old fashion lock picking,
detective work and crime solving. Then there are the 12 core subjects that are
harder than top university classes.  The
12 subjects are: all kinds of Math, Writing, Languages (French, Spanish, all
kinds of Chinese, Japanese and Indian languages, Greek, Latin and each year,
new languages or dialects are added on). We have 7 different science courses,
history/geography and reading. After these classes we have the art classes: Material
arts, drawing, painting and any other kind of art that creates something, music,
acting, and dancing. Dancing is another school you can take tests for. We learn
dance in case we have to pose as a student at one of the dancing schools. The
everyday classes include sewing, disguise, foods, washing, blacksmith,
carpentry, engineering, carving, electronics, gardening, and human emotions.
That’s only naming a few.

 Educators building 1, which is where I go
along with most of my siblings is the top Edbuild. It is only for the people
who get the top marks on the tests. We have access to the newest technology and
information, from us it gets passed along to the other 7 Edbuilds in order.

I
look at the clock, 11:49 exactly. Opps, I immediately start to cry out and I
can feel Saria’s eyes on my back. Finally she gets up and comes over, shakes me
and whispers loudly “Hey, Lea, you ok? Wake up!”

I
flutter my eyelids open and gasp. She tries to calm me down. I eventually
pretend to calm down and say,

“Thanks,
I think I’m going to read for a bit.”

 I get up walk to my closet and grab my book.
Saria looks panicked, I wonder if I should tell her the truth. No I can’t do
that. At last she goes back to bed, but my guess is that she would try and go,
as soon as I even my breathing. In that case I hope this book turns out to be
good, I’ll be reading it about 12 times, from now; 11:57 pm to 7 am. Lovely.

  I nearly fall asleep twice. My book as it
turns out is great. That is if you don’t have to read it 12 times in a row.
Saria fell asleep around 4 am, meaning I didn’t need to stay up till 7, but
just in case I did.

I’m
deep in thought at breakfast when it feels like a needle was stabbed into my
shoulder. Out loud I yelp, “What the heck was that?”

“Sorry
Lea,” cries Belinda.

“Belinda
stop throwing your fork around, it is not a toy!” Screams Rubie.

“It’s
breakfast. So stop screaming Rubie. It’s annoying!” Demands Eva.(That’s how she
talks)

“Well
sorrrrryyyyyyuh” Replies Rubie.

“Pass
the milk Taryan” Dustin says.

“What’s
the magic word? Taryan asks.

“Open
sesame, cookies? Ok. Taryan PLEASE pass the milk” Dustin answers. Rolling his
eyes.

“Fine”
Taryan says, as she passes the milk.”

“Taryan
watch it! Geez now you’ve done it” Bellows Dustin.

“I
I I’m sorry” Whimpers Taryan.

“Well
there’s no need to cry over spilt milk” Catra announced gleefully, excited to
use the phrase.

“Don’t
just sit there go grab a towel” Orders Eva to Taryan, then turns her glare to
Catra.

“Hey
Taryan while you’re at it can you get me some more toast?” Justin asks.

“But
that’s your fourth piece!” Says an incredulous Ava.

“Yeah
whatever. Just hurry it up,” snaps Justin.

“Where
is mister snuggle bug? Wailed Falcon (or Eagle I can’t tell who’s who.)

“You’re
sitting on her” Zoei said. A gleam comes into her eyes.

“Angelica!
Catch!” Zoei screeches as she throws snuggle bugs over the table.

“What?
Oh, hey Rover! Pass this to Freddy” Giggled Angelica.

“Give
it back!” Blubbered Falcon. (Or Eagle)

--Enter a sleepy and annoyed
Saria—

“What
the …. Everyone sit down and eat! Sharon give snuggle bug back to Eagle, (it’s
now at Sharon and ahh it was Eagle). Taryan go throw that paper towel out, it’s
soaking! And you, why don’t you help out sometimes?!” Glowered Saria.

The
last part must be meant for me, because Saria turns and gave me an evil glare.
Bother it looks like I get to be a nurse maid here too. A last little riff
breaks out, and Saria settles it, with one withering look. She is obviously not
a morning person. Back to my thoughts. Today I plan on making a quick visit to
Carflaa myself and inform the Educators of Edbuild 5, about my little dilemma,
that I’ve caused myself. Aunt Kerala declares that tomorrow I shall look after
the babies and get familiar with the house, while the rest of the kids go to
school. She also mentioned that my uncle will be coming home today.

This
is how I find myself looking after 5, 8 month old babies. I have forgotten how
time consuming babies are. I look over to May who has just let a wail, that I
long ago figured out means hunger. At the same time, Kay lets out the same
wail, Followed by Liana and Fay who need to be burped. I notice a strong smell
of full diaper, and follow it to Tina. Great what to do first. I change Tina first,
because my strong sense of smell, amplifies scents by around 832%. Then I burp
Liana and Fay. Finally I begin the never ending task of Feeding two babies at
the same time. As I am giving May a spoonful of applesauce. Liana needs
changing and Kay needs burping. On and on this goes, the never ending tasks of
feeding, changing, playing, comforting, burping, and nap time routines. For a
baby this is all it knows. Multiplied by five. I can’t get away for a mille-second.
Not to mention the 20 minutes it normally takes to get to Carflaa and back. Oh brother
what am I going to do?

At
last I hear the heavenly sound of an engine pulling up and a door slamming. The
babies are taking their late afternoon nap. And somehow four are sleeping, and
May is just about to drift off. I decide that I can greet whoever comes to the
door (Aunty or uncle). It’s my uncle who pulls open the door. He does a double
take and exclaims,

“Cecilea,
I mean Lea, What a surprise, I had no idea you were here!”

To
which I reply,

“Oh
hello uncle Wathou”

“O
dear this does change my plans” My uncle murmurs, more to himself then to me,
but I ask him what he means.

“Ahh
you see I have booked a table at my family’s favourite restaurant, but its only
booked for 25…”

I
perk up at this. It’s the perfect chance to have the house to myself and visit
Carflaa.

“Uncle,
I really don’t mind, I have had a super busy day looking after the quintuplets.
I would much rather go to bed early, then to go to a restaurant.” I say, in a
sleepy tone.

“You
looked after all the babies, by yourself all day?!” He asks incredulously.

“Sure
did, they sure work you to the bone.” I say

He
sends me upstairs immediately, I have orders to sleep. He’ll look after the
babies when they wake. I set my alarm clock for 6:30, which is when I hope the
family will be out, and let myself fall into a deep slumber.