She nodded her head, and took some time to compose her thoughts before she began, having learnt over the years that sometimes it was best, if you wanted to tell a story, to not start with the words before the brain caught up.

"I lost my parents when I was very young," she said when she'd gotten herself sorted out. "That's not a very big part of this story, but it's important to know, because it tells you why I didn't have a home until I was eleven years old. Oh, I always had a roof over my head, but there's a very big difference between a house and a home, don't you think?"