~*~*~*~*

"UP! GET UP NOW, WENCH!"

Lily sat bolt upright on her mattress made of hay inside an empty sack of horse feed at the yell of the ill-tempered cook. Her comforter, which was slightly larger than the mattress, but made of the same materials, slid off of her bare, thin arm.

"I’m coming!" she yelled hurriedly. She glanced through one of the many cracks in the old barn wall and saw a faint pink tinge coming from the horizon. "Oh no!" she moaned to herself, "It’s already light outside! Petunia is going to kill me!"

She reached for her old, tattered black dress and a clean pair of underwear, noting that she only had one clean pair left, and made a mental note to do her laundry as she removed her also tattered white nightdress and put on her clothes. She leapt down the ladder with practiced ease and ran to the huge mansion known by everyone as the Evans’ House. As she was running, she realized with a start that it was her eleventh birthday. "Oh, well. Another one gone," she thought morosely.

The small redhead jogged through a back door that led to the kitchens. Once she entered the main kitchen, the cook shoved Petunia’s breakfast in her arms and practically pushed her out the door. Lily climbed the back stairs and entered Petunia’s huge bedroom. Lily released a breath that she wasn’t aware she was holding – her sister was dead asleep - and quietly placed Petunia’s breakfast on her table in the center of the room.

She lit a fire in the grate and cleaned out Petunia’s hairbrush, which rested on her large vanity. Lily looked up from placing the hairbrush back where it belonged and straight into the large mirror.

She had dark red curls that tumbled down to her mid-back. It had gone below her knees, but Lily was able to steal the kitchen scissors and cut it to her shoulders, but that was a few months ago. She had rosy lips and flushed cheeks that were dirty because she hadn’t been able to visit the lake and bathe lately.

But perhaps Lily’s most startling feature were her bright green eyes that sparkled like precious jewels in the light.

A rustle from the king-sized bed startled her from her gazing and she quickly backed away from the mirror. She pretended to be poking at the fire.

"LILY!" Petunia screeched. Lily jumped and dropped the rot-iron poker merely centimeters from her toes. "STOP MAKING SO MUCH NOISE!" she roared.

"Sorry!" Lily said a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, now that you’ve woken me up," Petunia snapped as she got up from her bed, "I might as well eat my breakfast." Her limp blonde hair was tousled from sleep, making it look like she was a lion with a mane. Lily giggled suddenly.

Petunia jerked her head up from drinking her coffee. "What’s so funny?" she snapped.

"N-Nothing, Petunia," replied Lily with a straight face.

"TELL ME!" she yelled.

"Well, um, it’s-it’s your hair," said Lily as she burst out laughing.

Petunia jerked her head around to face her mirror and she shrieked.

"LILY! BRUSH MY HAIR NOW!"

Lily exhaled and walked slowly to her as Petunia settled herself onto the cushioned seat in front of her vanity, and began brushing Petunia’s thin hair.

"Father is coming home today," Petunia said conversationally, flipping through a fashion magazine.

"Oh." Lily didn’t know he was gone.

"He went to visit Aunt Violet, and she is coming home with him to stay for a little while," said Petunia nonchalantly.

"Whose that?" Lily asked, trying to untangle a piece of Petunia’s hair.

"Oh, don’t you remember? A long time ago when we had to clean you up and dress you properly?" she sneered.

Lily vaguely remembered dressing up for some woman whom she couldn’t remember.

"Yes, she is quite young, only twenty-two last time she visited, that means now she must be twenty-five or six. Anyway, Father told me I’m to find some decent clothing for you and you’re to take a bath and fix your hair."

Lily’s heart leapt. "When is she coming?"

"Some time this afternoon, I think. I didn’t like her much, she’s a little strange I think…but at least she wears the latest styles, plus she is extremely rich." Petunia sounded as though this made up for her being "a little strange". "I will dress and shower first - you lay out clothes for me, then get Mary to go to the attic and retrieve some of my clothes for you from when I was, oh, lets say, eight?" she smirked at Lily and flounced into her bathroom to take a shower.

Lily sighed and looked into the mirror again. She did indeed look to be around eight years old. She sighed again and went to find Mary.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been about three years since Lily had taken a proper shower, with hot water and real soap, and it was Heaven to her. She was dressed in flair jeans, black platforms, and a rather ugly tie-dye tank top from when Petunia was eight and wanted to be like her hippie friends. It felt wonderful to have her hair done by someone instead of vice-versa, and when Mary was done drying Lily’s hair with a hair dryer, the effect was amazing. Lily looked much like her eleven-year-old self, even if she was too thin and not quite tall enough.

The sound of a car coming up the driveway meant Aunt Violet had arrived. Lily raced down the stairs, the front stairs, she was pleased to note, with Petunia sticking her nose up in the air and walking daintily behind. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Lily hesitated. The great front door was only a few steps away…what would her father do when he saw her?

She didn’t have time to ponder this further because at that moment, the door was flung open and a tall man with brown hair entered. He was smiling jovially and holding a suitcase, which he gave to the butler. "Princess? Where’s my-" He stopped dead when he saw not one child before him, but two. A blonde woman entered behind him and smiled at the girls.

Edward Evans cleared his throat. "H-hello, Lily."

Lily replied in a small voice, "Hello, Father."

He quickly moved to Petunia and smiled at her, a true smile, and hugged her tightly.

Aunt Violet was indeed dressed in the latest style. She had on a pink sleeveless dress and a scarf over her hair with large sunglasses over her eyes. Her blond hair was shoulder-length and flipped out. She was even prettier then the former American First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, whose style she was imitating.

Aunt Violet noticed the exchange between Edward and Lily and then Edward and Petunia. She removed her sunglasses and placed them in her pink handbag and gave it to the butler. She walked over to the tiny redhead, noticing the pain and longing in her eyes when she watched her father hug Petunia.

"Hello, Lily," she said and gave her a hug tightly. Lily tensed up, like she wasn’t used to the affection. Violet frowned and greeted Petunia, but did not embrace her.

"Well, I must say, after that journey, I need to use the restroom!" Aunt Violet exclaimed, looking at the Evans’s. "Lily, would you be a dear and show me where it is?"

Lily nodded and led her Aunt Violet out of the room. Once they were out of earshot, Violet touched Lily gently on the shoulder and pulled her around to face her. She gasped. Lily’s eyes were identical to her mother’s, Violet’s older sister.

"Actually, Lily," she whispered when she got her voice back, "I just wanted to get away from them so I could have a chat with you. Why don’t you show me to your room so we can talk privately?"

Lily bit her lip worriedly and said in a tiny voice, "I don’t have a room."

Violet straitened up and sighed. This was worse than she thought. "Well then, do you know a place where we can talk by ourselves?"

Lily studied Violet for a minute and with the tiniest of nods, she started walking at a brisk pace. She led Violet out of the house and into an old barn. She climbed up a ladder leading to a hayloft with ease, while Violet had a bit of trouble because of her spiked heels.

Lily sat down on a sack of horse feed that was stuffed with hay and Violet made herself comfortable next to her. She took one of Lily’s small hands in hers and said, "Lily, is this where you sleep?"

Lily nodded again.

"Oh, my," was all Violet could say. "Do you know why?"

Lily nodded and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I-its because my-my fa-father doesn’t l-like me!" she sobbed.

"Oh, Lily!" Violet exclaimed while pulling her into a hug. This time, Lily did not tense up and back away, but leaned into Violet and cried.

When Lily’s sobs had subsided, she fell asleep against Violet. Violet stroked her beautiful dark red hair and couldn’t help thinking of her poor, deceased sister. It was evident Edward Evans blamed Lily for her death – a problem that made Violet’s heart ache. She had to do something…she couldn’t let Lily grow up like this-

Suddenly, overhead, there was a great flapping of wings and a small, brown owl landed right in front of Violet.