“That’s easy!” Hugh declared immediately. “I’m coming. How about you, Rennie?”

“I don’t know,” Rennie said.

“What?” Hugh stared at her. “How can you not know? Why would you want to stay here?”

“I need to think about it,” Rennie told him. She sounded cross.

“Oh, come on, Rennie!” Hugh said. “It’ll be an adventure! Like the first settlers from the Old Continent.”

Robbie frowned. “I don’t want to live in a big forest full of monsters,” he objected.

“There is no forest where we’ll be going,” Papa said. “There won’t be any monsters, either, for it’s on the east side of the Great Barrier. It won’t be as comfortable and easy as Helvan Shores, but Mill City has been settled for some time.”

“It’s still right out on the frontier, isn’t it?” Hugh said with undiminished enthusiasm. “I bet there’ll be monsters! Bison, and mammoths, and those giant things with the horns on their noses, and—”

“Unicorns live in forests, dummy; everybody knows that,” Nan said.

“Unicorns have horns on their foreheads,” Hugh said with equal scorn. “I’m talking about those huge ugly things with the curly fur and the great horn on their nose.”

“Nan!” Mama said. “You do not call your brother names. And Hugh, if you cannot remember the proper name of a woolly rhinoceros, perhaps you should spend some extra time studying your natural history from now until the day we leave. Rennie may take plenty of time to think, if she wishes. We won’t be leaving Helvan Shores for another month and a half.”

Hugh groaned, and Jack piped up, asking, “What kind of school will we be going to?”

“Will it be all in one room with the same teacher, and everybody sharing books, and no pencils or paper?” Allie added anxiously

“What is the new house like?” Nan asked, right on top of Allie’s question. “Will I get my own room, or do I still have to share with Rennie?”