Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

Nyla sighed heavily. "I'm not sure how I'll survive having another one around. My sisters-in-law have been a lot of help but they have their own children to contend with. One of them has been vomiting all day so the children were stuck with me."

She realized she had complained to someone she didn't even properly know and hastily apologized. "Forgive me, I don't quite feel myself these days. How do you know Katie? I have never seen you around before and I know everyone in this town."

Abby had already decided that she would have to call herself a cousin instead of a sister because they couldn't explain the truth to everybody. Catherine du Pont was fairly well-known.

"We're cousins and grew up like sisters. My parents moved to Shibatsu for a while as diplomats but after they died I decided to come here. Annalaias is much more restrictive to women so I came to Katie instead of going to the du Ponts," she improvised.

The du Ponts were nobility. There was no other reason a relative of theirs would be in Shibatsu than politics. People didn't typically move freely between nations in this world based on how shocked everyone in that country town had been by her hair and eyes.

A thoughtful expression crossed Nyla's face. "I see. I'm afraid I don't know much about Katie's family. She mentioned her siblings occasionally but doesn't really visit them. For the most part they exchange letters. From what I understand, the earl and countess were horrified when she decided to move here with Al."

They finally reached the park and made their way to a park bench to sit down. The playground was a truly impressive structure and looked very similar to the one Abby remembered. Except instead of rubber there was rope and instead of plastic slides there was a single metal one.

There was even a swing set consisting of three swings made from rope and a single slat of wood as the seat. There was a sandbox too with little shovels and pails lying around in it. She was impressed by how well they had maintained the integrity of a playground while working with limited materials.

Nyla's older children raced around the wooden structure and swung from hanging ropes while whooping with glee. The younger ones played in the sandbox with Adam.

How on earth had they even managed to get enough beach sand up here to make this? Unless there was some other sort of similar looking sand found in the mountains. Because it definitely looked more like sand than regular old dirt.

Their group wasn't the only one at the playground. There were other dark-haired children running around as well. Abby was starting to wonder how these people were even able to tell each other apart.contemporary romance

She had heard how the Kanta all had black hair and gray eyes because of the blessing of a mountain spirit. Hearing it was one thing; seeing it was another. Having attended university on the east coast, Abby was used to a whole lot more diversity.

Everyone she met so far had been pale skinned but she supposed they must have been in the northern or southern part of the world. Katie told her once that skin tones had originally started the way they were because of the people's distance to the equator.

The closer to the equator, the darker they were. The farther away, the lighter they were. It was an evolutionary thing.

These people didn't seem to travel very far, which made sense given the restrictions of boats and wagons. The only countries Abby had even heard of since coming here were Annalaias, the Kanta region, Shibatsu, Rowenhilde, and Idaris.

The captain of the ship that brought her here said Idaris was normally too far away to be considered worth trading with but he had been there once. The people there had darker skin and eyes in shades of yellow, orange, and green.

What Katie told her must have been right because Idaris was about as far south as most maps would show. They didn't seem to have the concept of a world map here; showing only the countries that were close enough to interact with.

"What are all of these kids doing out here?" Abby asked. "Where are their parents?"

Nyla looked at her a bit funny. "They have work to do. These children are old enough to come by themselves. I make mine walk with me because if the older ones rush off the younger ones want to as well."

None of the children here could be more than eleven years old. The youngest aside from Adam and Nyla's two little ones were maybe five. Did their parents really let them come here alone?!

It sure was a different world. She supposed there weren't cars to worry about and when you lived in such a tight-knit community there wasn't a sense of 'stranger danger' either.

"The younger ones are here with their older siblings," Nyla said with a shrug. "It is better for their parents to send them out here when they are too young to be very helpful with the chores. Most of our children spend at least a little time every day either here or at the library. Katie enjoys reading children's stories aloud."

Abby couldn't help but smile at that despite her shock at the way this world worked. That sounded like something Katie would do. She had always liked kids and her time as a school librarian had served her well.

She supposed they didn't have a concept of school here. Like Europe in the 18th century, children only went to academies if they were nobles. If they were commoners, they stayed with their parents helping around their farms or businesses until they were old enough to learn a trade if they were boys and get married if they were girls.

Child labor laws weren't a thing back then. Very young children could become apprentices.

The boy she and Blaise ran into outside the mine looked like he was supposed to be in high school. She wondered how many of these children even knew how to read. Had Katie really not even considered opening a school here? She would have to ask her later.

Her mind wandered back to Blaise and the discussion happening back at the house as she watched the kids play. Abby hoped it was going alright.

done.co