Rose sat in the room, the scarce light coming from the window lighting across her face as she looked, heartbroken, down at the letter in her hand.

She stayed like that for hours, until finally, she heard a key turn in the lock again.

Burying her letter back in her pockets, Rose stood up immediately and straightened just before Matron opened the door. "25623."

"Sorry, Matron," Rose looked at her.

"A lesson learned, I hope?" Matron said sternly.

"Yes, Matron."

"I'm glad," she replied. "Your unruly behavior came as quite a shock. I will put it down to influenza just this once. Do not return to your old ways, Green. Is that clear?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, Matron."

The woman led her to the laundry, saying. "Now, let's see if you really mean it. With the hospital on emergency measures, we are falling somewhat behind," she pointed to a pile of dresses, sheets and aprons. "All or this, washed, scrubbed and mangled. Girls and boys laundry."

"All of this, Matron?" Rose checked, her eyes wide.

"Indeed," smiled Matron. "I shall return in two hours."

She left the room hastily, and Rose walked forward, making a decision. She picked up a boys' unform before she could think otherwise.

"Do not return to your old ways, Green."

Trouble is, her old ways had never retired.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

Before she knew it, Rose was dropping into the records office, the boys uniform and cap on to cover her long hair, even sporting a pair of boots.

She exited the office quickly, moving stealthily about the corridors until she heard Mr Cranbourne's voice.

"Come along, boys, let's go!"

Rose dove behind a door, watching all the boys walk past in a line with gardening aprons on.

Leaning out slightly, Rose was able to see the faves of each boy who came past. But there were no glasses... not yet.

She recognised Mathias and Will, and behind them came a black boy who was laughing, and another black boy, both of them smiling, and then-

Upon recognising the glasses, Rose leapt forward, siezing her brother by the arm and pulling him into a cupboard.

"Let me go-" Ned tried to say, but Rose had the door closed before he could say anything else.

"Ned!" She hissed. "It's me, Rose. I had to see you. I want to talk to you-"

"Why? After all these years?" Ned demanded, a look of understanding dawning on his face.

It was then that Rose noticed how much he had changed.

Ned had always been smaller than her, but now he towered over her. His voice had gotten way deeper, and his face more grown up. His glasses hadn't changed, though.

"Because... I remembered," she answered his question. "I-I had influenza, I almost died- and then it all came back to me. You, me, Jake."

"Please!" Ned said. "I'll be late-"

"Our borrowed family," Rose blocked the door. "I-I just couldn't let you go without saying a proper goodbye."

She took the letter out from her pocket. "Give this to Mathias and Will, tell them I'll not forget them either."

Ned grinned. "And they'll never forget you. Especially Will. He keeps going on and on about how you're nothing like he thought girls would be."

Rose smiled slightly.

"Now we can get out of here," said Ned.

"I don't know, the day I find you, you run off to sail the seven seas!" Rose exclaimed.

"Anywhere is better than this place," Ned shrugged.

"Yes but nowhere is ever going to be as good as home would be!" Rose tried to reason with him. "Remember?"

Ned sighed.

Rose went on. "We used to be so happy, running through the fields and helping on the farm. Remember the day the circus came-?"

"Rose- don't," Ned told her.

"And when we got home, you'd always tell mother about it, and shower her with useless facts," smiled Rose fondly. "Please, Ned, let me come with you."

"How can I? Girls can't go to sea," Ned told her.

"Not to sea," Rose snapped. "Let's go home."

Ned looked down.

"Anything's better than this place," Rose reminded him.

Then she did it. She mouthed "I love you" like the day they were admitted here. Ned smiled at her, clearly remembering too.

"Agreed?" Rose checked.

Ned nodded. "Tonight."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to hug him, so happy that she had found him again.

"Once the night watch checks your dorm, that's our signal to go," smiled Ned as they pulled back. "Meet us in the records office."

"I'll be there," smiled Rose.

She took a deep breath as she headed out the cupboard, running down the corridor to the records office again, past Mathias, past Will, and back to the girls' wing.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

Matron sported a stern look as she entered the laundry. "Green?"

Rose had slaved away for the past twenty minutes, working her absolute hardest to get everything sorted.

So, when she revealed herself to a surprised Matron, she had some confidence. "Yes, Matron? All washed and drying."

"Well done," Matron managed to hide her surprise as she said it.

"Thank you, Matron," smiled Rose.

"Good to see you back to your old self, Green," she said, taking a toffee out from her dress pocket. Rose hesitantly took it.

"Thank you, Matron."

As she left, Rose exhaled in relief.

Thank. Goodness.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

That night in the dorm, the five girls sitting in a tight circle, Rose told her friends of what was happening.

"Just promise me one thing - you'll always remember me," she whispered, before the five of them collapsed into a group hug.

"Aw, look, Matron's punishment has sent her all soppy!" Sheila mocked from across the room.

"Sheila, go stick your head down the privy!" Hetty snapped at her.

"She already looks like she has," Rose quipped, the five of them all laughing at this.

Sheila jumped up. "Don't cross me, Green. Ever. Again. Or you'll end up like... her!" She pointed to Mary, who jumped back.

"Shut in the tench and falling apart," smirked Elizabeth.

"You're nothing but a she-mob," Rose told the three girls venemously.

Monica was confused. "What's a she-mob?"

"Girls who stick together with Sheila cause they can't think for themselves," Rose retorted.

And the three girls didn't say anything, but instead retreated back to their little group on the other side of the dorm.

Rose turned back to her circle. "They'll get what's coming to them one day, and you'll all be here to see it."

They all laughed, holding each other's hands in the circle. Rose decided to take in this moment for all it was worth.

It may be the last time she ever saw her four friends.

And they meant a lot to her.

Friends were how you survived in this place.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

That night, as the night watch came to the dorm, Rose was wide awake. She half closed her eyes and her muscles locked up. She could not afford to be discovered.

After he left, Rose slowly got up and shifted her covers off, the other four girls all rising as well, watching her.

"Goodbye," she mouthed to them, as she put on her stolen boys coat on top of her dress and stuck her bonnet on top, quietly heading out the room.

She made the well practiced journey to the records office with ease and climbed down onto the desk. The room was dark, and no one was in it.

However, as she made her way towards the door, she discovered it was locked.

And then she saw the light appear under the door.

In a whoosh, she blew out her candle and dove to the side the door would open onto, if it was to open.

Then she heard footsteps, slowly going past the door.

"Rose?" Came a hiss. Rose recognised that voice.

"Ned? Ned!" She hissed, now at the door. "Let me out of here, quick!"

She heard a lot of hissing on the other side, then heard a key turn and the door open.

"Rose!" Two voices shouted. Ned and Will.

However, it was Ned that Rose embraced.

"See? I promised she'd be here," said Ned to the rest of the boys.

"We haven't got time for this!" Another boy hissed.

"Run!" Mathias added, as they all ran round the corner and to the side door the night watch was about to unlock.

"The night watch will be here any second," Will reminded everyone. "Once he unlocks this door, we have six minutes before he returns to get over the wall."

"Hide in there," Mathias gestured to a cupboard and they all rushed into it, blowing out their candles.

Rose could feel her heart beating out the roof. If they were caught now... the boys would be in trouble. But her? She had done far worse than any of them.

Suddenly, she felt a hand take hers, and looked around, expecting to see Ned.

She saw Will, who could only offer her a small smile, squeezing her hand gently.

Rose couldn't describe the feeling of comfort that gave her.

Finally, they heard the night watch coming and unlocking the door.

After a few seconds, Mathias leant out the cupboard, and he was gone. He let out a small chuckle and so did everyone else after him.

They hurried out the door, now unlocked, of course, and all got a look of the wall they were about to climb, which was at least fifteen feet tall.

They all ran past the bushes that grew in front of it and soon ended up right there, at its foot.

"Easy," Rose shrugged.

"For you, maybe," snapped Ned.

"Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done," smirked Will, taking the makeshift rope the boys had made with sheets and duvet covers, and starting to climb.

He slipped down almost immediately.

Rose rolled her eyes, attempting to take the rope from him. "Let me, I used to shin up a tree in seconds."

"You? No way! Will goes first, not some girl!" Walter, another of the boys, exclaimed.

" 'Some girl'?" Rose snapped. "Is that all you think I am, just 'some girl'?"

Without any hesitation she took the rope from Will and started to climb.

"Will, stop her!" Came another cry.

But Will just said. "No. If Rose can do this, we all can."

Rose found a good bit of wall where ivy grew and there were some knocked in bricks, and soon, she was already halfway up.

When she got to the top, she yelled back down. "Not 'some girl' now, am I?"

She then got comfortable, one leg on either side, and kept a good hold of the top of the rope, throwing the bottom of it down to the boys. "Ready?"

Will grinned, stepping forwards and getting ahold before scaling the wall, no problem.

"That- was amazing," he panted, as he reached the top. "Where did you learn to climb like that?"

"Jake was going to reach Ned and I together but Ned didn't want to, so he gave all his climbing attention to me," Rose shrugged.

Will smiled at her.

When he got up, he and Rose sat opposite each other and helped Mathias, who was next in line, get up.

Then two boys called Jack and Arthur came up without much struggle.

Then came Ned.

"That's it!" Rose called gently, when he was about a third of the way up. He was struggling, she could see it, but he couldn't give up. He couldn't.

She smiled as she saw him make the decision to not give up, and eventually, he got to where Will could lean down and their hands were almost touching.

Then the sheet part of the rope started to tear.

"Rose-!"

"Ned, no!"

But it tore through before Will could catch him, and Ned landed on the gravelled ground with a grunt.

"Ned, are you alright?" Rose yelled down.

"Yeah- yeah I'm alright," grunted Ned.

Mathias, meanwhile, shouted. "Boys, keep it going!"

Gideon sighed, chucking the rope back up to him.

"Mathias, we can't just leave him!" Rose exclaimed.

"We have to! Unless we all want to get caught," he snapped back.

But Will couldn't help but look at a helpless Rose, who was near crying now.

"If we leave Ned, he'll get the tench, and it'll be our fault!" Rose cried.

"Rose... this is out plan. We're almost out of it," Mathias sighed.

"Listen to him! All of you, this is your chance," sighed Ned. He looked up. "Rose... go home. I just can't come with you."

Which would make this all pointless.

Will gave Rose a helpless look, but she shook her head. "If Ned's staying, I'm staying. He's my foundling brother."

Will was quick to say. "I'm going back too, it wouldn't feel the same without everyone."

Rose tried to smile at him.

So Rose and Will both went back down the rope, Gideon and Walter both staying with them as well, because they were all going to help carry Will back.

Mathias gave them all a sad look as he started to hoist the rope up, over the wall.

"Mathias... see you around," Rose turned to speak to the boy before they ran off.

"Not if I see you first," Mathias smirked back at her.

So Mathias, Jack and Arthur all got away. And all the others stayed.

As they went back, they heard the door open and saw Matron come out of it, with Mr Cranbourne and none other than the she-mob next to her.

"Snitches," Rose clenched her fists.

"No time for that- let's go!" Will hissed, as Gideon and Walter carried Ned and Rose and him led the way.

They got back to the records office and Rose said a hurried goodbye to the boys. She knew they had to get back to the dorms as quick as possible, otherwise Matron would know they had been part of the escape.

Rose ran through the rafters, and down into the cupboard, along the corridor, before sneaking back into the dorm and shoving on her nightdress and clambering into bed, trying to slow her heartbeat as she pretended to sleep.

Less than a minute later, a candle was shoved in her face.

"M-Matron?" Rose frowned. "What's going on?"

"Matron, I saw her, walking out the dorm!" Sheila shouted, making Rose slightly jump at the severity and shock in her tone.

"Maybe you dreamt it," shrugged Monica.

"What, with my own two eyes?" Sheila demanded.

"Green, where have you been?" Matron leaned closer to her.

"Me? I haven't been anywhere!" Rose exclaimed.

"Rose! I saw you!" Sheila shouted.

"Apart from going to the privy in case I was sick," Rose lied deftly.

"Privy? You were escaping!" Sheila hissed venemously. "Mary told me."

Rose's head snapped to the girl. If anyone was going to crack under pressure, it was her.

But she shouted. "No, I didn't!"

"Rose came straight back, Matron, like I told her," Polly quickly put in. "I put her to sleep."

"You did what?" Sheila exclaimed.

"Poor Rose - she's still removing from influenza."

There was a pause in which Matron turned to Sheila, Monica and Elizabeth and looked at them. If looks could kill, they would all be out.

"You three, bed! I'll deal with you tomorrow," she hissed.

She said no more, but gave Rose a last indifferent look before sweeping from the dorm.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

No, Rose hadn't escaped, but still, everything had changed.

First off, Sheila had got her hair cut off and was now meaner than ever. Matron was not happy with her, or Monica or Elizabeth.

Second, Matron was being put through her paces as well, the governors of the hospital concerned at the lax discipline that was being shown.

But third and most important, Rose now knew Ned.

Obviously, this didn't make daily life any easier, but now, when they passed the boys in the corridor, Rose could smile to him, could talk to him if she got enough time.

At Sunday services, she could grin across the aisle at him. Sometimes she even caught Will's eye, and he grinned at her, too.

However, this Sunday service was different.

As soon as Macclesfield slammed the doors closed, everyone knew they were in for it.

"Attention, please!" Matron shouted angrily over the general talk, and immediately, everyone silenced.

"Dormitory confinement is over," Matron announced. "However, there is to be a change in foundling hospital rules."

Rose and Polly locked eyes as everyone started to talk and whisper-

"Quiet!" Matron slammed her hand on her podium, making silence fall again. "As you all know, last night, three foundling boys escaped. From today... if one pupil is caught even attempting to escape... then every foundling will face the same punishment. One strike of the strap. Bread and water for a week. Blankets removed from beds and no recreation time. The foundling hospital will become a living tench. We will make you suffer, do you understand?"

There was a mumble, but that wasn't satisfactory.

"I said, do you understand?"

"Yes, Matron," everyone said.

"Back to your classes," Matron said.

As they left, Rose tried to catch Ned's eye.

She caught Will's instead.

He offered her a small smile and mouthed, "are you alright?"

Rose couldn't help but smile as she felt a strange hot sensation in her cheeks.

She mouthed back. "Yeah. I've got you."