The Girl Without a Name

by Rachel Burns

“I would like her to be called Sophia Stephanie Reeves.” The corners of Mr. Reeve’s mouth lifted up.

  Wow, but that name made me sound as if I were someone important. I had never had a last name before.

  “Do you approve?” he grinned at me.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Mr. Reeves made all sorts of arrangements for us, everything first class. When our papers were finished, he pocketed them and shook the man’s hand. As soon as it was free, he took hold of my hand again. “Come along, Sophia.”

  We went to the car, and he paid the driver, who brought our bags aboard the big airship. We had to show our papers to a woman who acted the same way that the man in the office did. She knew his name before he said it and hardly glanced at his papers.

  I was still holding onto Mr. Reeves’ hand, but I was looking around at all the different airships docked here. Ours would first be leaving in two hours.

  A group of people spotted him, and they came running over to him. He placed me in front of him and held onto me tightly, as if he was afraid to lose me.

  The people wanted to shake his hand. His left arm moved so it was under my chin, but he was holding on tightly to my right shoulder. My body was pressed against his. I couldn’t move at all. He smiled and shook several hands before security came along and got rid of the people.

  He looked back to check on the nanny and Kyle. They were still there but off to the side. The nanny brought Kyle over. He had a huge smile now. “I know who you are now. I saw you on TV. They did a special show about you. You were the captain of the ship that won the last battle in the war.”

  “Yes, that may be so, but I am someone far more important to you now. I’m your father. Yours and Sophia’s.” He looked at me again. “She let me pick out a name for her,” he told Nanny. “She is now Sophia Stephanie Reeves.”

  “What a lovely name, sir. You did well picking out the name. I know you have always wanted to name a child.” The nanny gave him a smile of adoration. He was someone extremely important besides the fact that he adopted me. That alone made him important.

  “Yes, she likes it too, and that is what matters the most.” He assured Nanny. “And this young man is now Kyle Samuel Reeves.” Mr. Reeves laid his hand on Kyle’s shoulder.

  “But I didn’t want to change my last name,” Kyle protested as we walked up the plank to the airship. They were testing the outside lights, and they were blinking away very brightly.

  “All of my children have the same last name. Mine. It is easier when we travel. This isn’t up for discussion.” Mr. Reeves held onto my hand tightly. He didn’t want to lose me.

  Kyle looked mad. “How many children do you have anyway?”

  “I now have ten with you two. I have never adopted two at one time before. Nevertheless, that isn’t a problem. I have lots of room in our house for you two. You’ll each have your own room.”

  “Sir, do you have a wife too?” I asked hopefully.

  “I’m afraid not. She died a couple years back.” He gave me a pained look.

  I frowned. There went my dream of having a mother brush my hair.

  “But you will have several nannies. This one is Nanny Pearson. She will take care of everything you need.”

  We were now onboard.

  A man was walking over to us. “Sir, we are very honored to have you onboard with us. I assure you that the cabin we are providing for you and your family is the best that this ship has to offer. Allow me to personally show you to your rooms.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Mr. Reeves said to the man. “That is generous of you. I realize that you have plenty to do at the moment. Come along, children, we don’t want to waste any of the captain’s time.” Mr. Reeves was still holding my hand so I figured that he meant Kyle, who was still sulking about the name change. For me, it wasn’t a problem. I was glad to finally have one.

  “Captain Reeves, I would be honored if you and your children would join me at my table for dinner this evening.” The captain bowed to my new father.

  “We gladly accept. How does that sound, Kyle? Dinner at the captain’s table? It will give you something to tell your brothers about when we get home.”

  Kyle did look like he thought that was cool.

  “These are your rooms. You have four separate bedrooms. Through here is the master suite. If you need anything, anything at all, my staff will be happy to get it for you.” The captain personally showed us our rooms.

  “I would like to show my son the bridge when there is a quiet moment. Do you want to come along too Sophia?” Mr. Reeves was certain that the captain would say yes.

  “Of course, Captain Reeves. I’ll leave you alone to freshen up. Until dinner then.” The captain left closing the door.

  “Sophia, pick out which room you want to sleep in this evening.” He let go of my hand.

  I carefully opened doors and peeked in. His room had the color gold, one was silver, another light blue, but the room next to his was a soft rose color. I picked that one.

  “A good choice, Sophia.” He laid his arm around me and gave me a hug. “Nanny Pearson which one would you like?”

  After she chose the silver one, Mr. Reeves told Kyle to go to the remaining room and change into something for the workout room.

  “Nanny Pearson, I need Sophia to have clothing. After you have finished unpacking for Kyle, I want you to take her shopping. She needs everything. She doesn’t own a piece of clothing or a toy. See to it that she picks out a toy at the shop too.” Mr. Reeves turned to Kyle. “Kyle, you and I are going to the gym until the ship is ready for take off. We will meet you ladies on the observation deck. Kyle and I will then carry down Sophia’s things.”

  ~

  The shop was amazing. It had so much to choose from. Nanny Pearson was very strict about what I was allowed to wear. No jeans or any sort of pants. But the clothing she did pick out were of the best of quality. I blushed red at what he all needed to get me. Most of the other children were at the orphanage because they had recently become an orphan. I was the only one who had been one all of her life. Nanny had the clerk put my old clothes in a box and had then sent off back to the orphanage.

  When we left, I was wearing a beautifully cut rose colored cord dress with a rounded collar and a sweater in the same color because she insisted that space travel was usually cold.

  I had cream-colored tights and rose-colored shoes to match my dress. The shoes had holes that looked like flowers and leaves stamped out of them. This was the first outfit that I had ever worn that wasn’t an orphanage uniform.

  Nanny had gotten several bags full of clothing for me. I received a workout outfit too. I also had a stuffed animal. I had chosen a gray elephant. He had the nicest button eyes. I had him tucked up under my arm.

  Nanny had the bags with my things delivered to our room. I hoped that she wouldn’t get in trouble with Mr. Reeves. She had gotten a bit carried away, insisting that I needed this and that.

  We went to the observation deck. Daddy and Kyle were already there. Both had showered and changed already.

  “She looks breathtaking, Nanny Pearson. Very good job.” He took hold of my hand again.

  Kyle was asking him all kinds of questions, and Mr. Reeves was answering them and explaining away. Nanny explained things to him too. I listened, captivated by their answers. It also captivated me how much time they were taking to teach Kyle. I was quiet as I waited for what was about to happen. I had been on airships before but never on the observation deck. This was only for the finer people, like me now.

  “Are we going to get knocked down when the ship takes off?” I asked Mr. Reeves.

  “Of course not. Your Daddy is going to hold onto you tightly. You don’t have to worry about a thing. I know how to stand correctly on a ship.” He smiled at me.

  The captain’s voice sounded on the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to take off. We are leaving the Gama Quadrant and will be arriving at our final destination in two days. I wish us
all a safe and pleasant voyage.”

  Mr. Reeves had his arm wrapped around me again, holding me against his chest. The ship was getting deafening loud, and it sounded as if it were sucking all of its energy up a huge pipe. Then in one blink of an eye it wasn’t light out anymore, and I could see the stars going by.

  Most everyone was holding on to something. I held onto Mr. Reeves too. I held onto his jacket tightly with my fist. My other arm was wrapped around my elephant. Mr. Reeves was leaning slightly against the pull. I was going with the pull and leaning onto his chest. Once things settled down, and there was no more shifting, he let go and looked at my elephant. “Did you know that people back on Earth believed that elephants brought them luck?”

  “I didn’t know that, sir.” I answered him.

  “Sophia, I want you to call me Daddy. Is that a problem?” he asked me.

  “No, sir.” I smiled at my mistake and giggled. “I mean no, Daddy.”

  “Good girl.” He seemed pleased with me. “Kyle, the same goes for you.”

  “But I had parents. I wouldn’t feel right to say that.” Kyle protested.

  “I understand, and I could never take their place in your heart. However, I am your father now, and I want to be addressed that way. I want you to call me Dad.” Mr. Reeves was looking at Kyle strictly again. “With time, it will feel okay, but calling me by any other name would make you forget that you are now my son.”

  I figured that because he had eight other children, he must have experience with this stuff. He would know best.

  “Are all of your children adopted?” I asked him.

  He broke his stare on Kyle and turned his head down to me. “Yes.” He was worried, clearly wondering why I would ask that.

  I nodded satisfied and looked out at the stars going by. They were quick flashes of light that darted by. Actually, we were going by them, but it felt like they were moving.

  “Daddy?” I said to get his attention.

  “Yes, Sophia.”

  “Back on earth, it was also believed that when comets fell to the Earth that was lucky too. People wished on them and thought that they were stars. Could we wish on the stars passing by?” I asked him.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” he responded.

  I closed my eyes and wished for a happy childhood from now on.

  Chapter 3

  Our new Daddy walked with us to the captain’s table. He was in a very good mood. He held onto my hand, and his other hand was on Kyle’s shoulder. They were talking again. They never seemed to run out of things to say to each other. Kyle was asking about the universe soccer championship. We didn’t get information like that at the orphanage unless a new child arrived.

  The man I was supposed to call daddy, was telling Kyle that he had a large TV room where he watched all the important games with his sons.

  Kyle asked him about the other boys. I was curious about the others too. It was rare that anyone had more than two children nowadays. In the beginning, after people had started to settle on new planets, the government said that everyone needed to have more children. So everyone had lots, but that was hundreds of years ago, and the adult population was now realizing that they could offer their children more if they had less of them.

  Children had become a nuisance. Because childbearing was so painful, lots of the finer women refused to have any children. The less fine women had children and sold them to the finer ones. Then the market crashed when it became illegal to sell children.

  All extra children were sent to orphanages, and the finer women had to have their own children again. This broke up the world into two classes: the finer people and the others. Finer people had jobs and lived in houses. The less fine people lived on the streets in makeshift tents. I figured that I had come from there.

  All orphanages belonged to the government. Any finer person could go and pick up one. No questions asked. A child wasn’t worth anything anymore. There were just too many of them. If a finer family had children and treated it well, then the others treated that child well too. But if the parents were mean to the child, then that was their business. A child’s worth was decided on by their parents.

  Kyle’s parents had treated him well, but I saw it in other children’s eyes that they weren’t used to being treated well. At the orphanage, children were to be treated indifferently. We were given everything we needed. Nothing more and nothing less.

  I wasn’t used to Mr. Reeves’ attention. He was showering it on me, and everyone around us was treating us so nicely because he decided that it would be that way.

  He let go of my hand to shake the captain’s hand and to thank him for the invitation. “Children, say thank you to the captain.” He stepped behind us and laid a hand on each of our shoulders.

  I curtsied to the captain. “Thank you kindly for the invitation to dinner.” I peeked back. Daddy was smiling at me. I had learned that move on TV too. We were allowed to watch as much as wanted at the orphanage.

  Kyle stepped forward and shook the captain’s hand exactly like Daddy had.

  Daddy was very pleased with us. The captain told us where to sit and Daddy held out my chair and pushed it in for me. He sat down next to me and Kyle sat across from him right next to the captain.

  The men started right in talking about the war. I didn’t like talking about war so I sat quietly next to my Daddy. He had his hand on the back of my chair. I had a feeling that he wanted everyone to know that I belonged to him now. I had never belonged to anyone before. I liked this.

  I looked around to see if other children were here too, and a few were. Mostly, the families only had one child. I only spotted one other family with two children. Being one of ten was hard to believe. There was no way he could spread this kind of attention around to ten children.

  Kyle was asking the captain a lot of questions, and he was patiently answering them. I leaned over to Daddy and whispered, “Thank you for my new clothes. They are all really very nice.”

  “Your welcome, sweetheart. There isn’t anything cuter than a little girl in a pretty dress.” He smiled at me.

  “But I’m not little anymore,” I said surprised. “I was one of the older children.”

  He smirked at me. “Well, you certainly aren’t grown up either. I will enjoy you while I still have you.” He was teasing me.

  “Where will I go when you don’t want me anymore?” I asked him. Children who turned sixteen without being picked out for adoption disappeared on their birthday. I had heard several rumors that if you aren’t picked before your sixteenth birthday that you had to join the military. Another rumor was that they were killed.

  “You won’t be going anywhere, not for a long time. One day when you are a lot older, I will find a husband for you. You will be taken care of for the rest of your life. The boys I send away to school. They will have to be strong and make their own money so they can get married. I already have a married daughter. She is still at home because her husband is also a space captain. I didn’t want her to be lonely. They will have their own home in a few years, but for now I get to keep her.” He smiled about that. He seemed to truly like children. I was starting to feel safe with him.

  He asked both Kyle and me if we’d had enough to eat and drink. He explained that we got to eat until we were full. Kyle nodded like he knew what he meant, but for me the idea was new. At the orphanage, I’d only received the portion that a child my age needed to grow. If I was sick, I was fed accordingly, but things like candy or second portions were never given.

  When the meal was over, Daddy stood and helped me with my chair again. He pushed it back into the table for me. Then he reached for my hand. He acted as if this were something that he had done a thousand times before in his life. He didn’t look at me except to give me a gentlemanly smile.

  “Kyle, push your chair into the table.” Mr. Reeves told Kyle.

  “But she didn’t have to,” he complained.

  Daddy’s grip on my hand tightened. “You will not
talk back to me. Do it now.” He lowered his voice and looked directly at Kyle. The captain looked very uncomfortable, as did everyone else at the surrounding tables.

  Kyle huffed and pushed the chair back in. He went so far as to roll his eyes. Kyle wasn’t as thankful as I was for being chosen. He hadn’t been at the orphanage that long.

  No one had ever wanted me. I was too sick as a baby and then again as a toddler. After that, the only ones who could want you were farmers. They said no as soon as they heard that I had a history of being sick. I was thankful.

  The problem was that I had been born too early, and my lungs hadn’t been finished. The doctors had said that happened a lot when the mothers were young. The less fine people had children very young. My mother had probably been around my age, perhaps a little older, but all in all, she wasn’t a finer lady. She had probably thought that by giving me up, I could be one. I was born right around the time that it was forbidden to sell children. My mother had probably been very disappointed to go through all the work of having me for nothing.

  But now I was a fine young lady. Mr. Reeves had even said so himself when he scolded me. I wouldn’t back talk him.

  He laid his hand on Kyle’s shoulder, making Kyle squealed out in pain. “Quiet boy. That is only the beginning.”

  I wondered what he meant by that. We left the dining room and went back to our suite. Nanny was waiting there, smiling at us.

  Mr. Reeves walked past Nanny. “Kyle needs some attention. Please take care of Sophia for me while I have a talk with my son.”

  “Was she good for you?” Nanny asked.

  “Yes, she was perfectly behaved.” He took hold of Kyle’s upper arm and led him into his bedroom, practically shoving hum in.

  “What happened?” Nanny whispered to me.

  “He back talked,” Mr. Reeves replied. He had good ears. I had to remember that.

  “Already? But he was just adopted today.” Nanny looked sad. I could hear Kyle crying. He was saying something, but I couldn’t understand him. Then I heard a thug, then another and another. Kyle was yelping after each one of them.