Chapter 1

It wasn't long after the Rakweed incident that Rani moved away. She didn't want to, but Mr. Chandra got offered an excellent job in West Yorkshire that he would have been a fool to pass by. Mrs. Chandra didn't like the idea of moving her florists shop, Blooming Lovely, again but she had promised when they had gotten married that she would support her husband through whatever life threw their way. Even so, she had found a wonderful new location for her shop, and was excited because there was only one other florist in the area, thus making lighter competition.

Rani didn't like the idea of leaving, but it was hard to push against her parents when they had been so good to her, so she sat back and tried to look at the bright side. Luke and Clyde were slightly less optimistic, because what were the chances that they would find someone else to go on these adventures with them? Of course, they had felt this way when Maria had left, but in a way things turned out okay, but for this kind of thing to happen a third time was highly unlikely. Then again, the universe thrives on unlikely.

The house on Bannerman Road sat empty for about two months, even though the "For Sale" sign had long been covered with another sign declaring that someone had bought the house. Every day Luke and Clyde would look over at the house and its empty rooms, and wonder what kind of people would move in.

One day about a week later, Clyde was walking down the street to see Luke and Sarah Jane. He looked over at what he came to know as the empty house and saw three vans parked outside. There was a portable stereo sitting on the ground playing some music that he had never heard before, and a small huddle of people talking. He took a moment to observe them, but kept walking when they broke apart and started to unload the vans and put things in the house.

"Hey Clyde," Luke called from the end of his driveway. Clyde looked over and approached is slightly strange friend. "Who do you think they are?"

Clyde was going to answer that he hadn't had a chance to really look yet, but something, or rather someone, caught their eye.

She was small, only about 5 feet, give or take a few inches, with long midnight black hair and tanned skin that just screamed South American. She was slim, but looked slightly muscular, especially when she picked up two large moving boxes without looking like she was struggling. Her back was straight like she had been taught excessively to keep good posture, and the shorts she was wearing showed off tan legs. The two boys couldn't make out her face very well, but they thought they would save that for later.

While the strangers continued to move things into the house, Luke and Clyde decided to go and tell Sarah Jane that someone had finally moved in.

Sarah Jane upon hearing the news looked out her window at the new people. There was now a man on a motorcycle stopping at the house and handing the keys to the girl they saw before. Sarah Jane didn't pay much attention to the man, but rather the girl. For some reason, to her, she seemed familiar. It was hard to say because of the many faces she had seen in her life, but the feeling wouldn't leave her.

"Perhaps we should go over and say hello," she suggested. She looked at the boys and saw the timid looks on their faces. "Then again, we can wait until the morning."


On the other side of the street the girl they were wondering about before was settling her things into what would now be her room, but was previously home to Rani, and Maria before her. Boxes filled the space and her unmade bed sat in the corner.

"Be careful with that," she said to the two boys carrying her bookshelf into the room. They nodded and set it down gently.

"Come on Rosa, we still have one more van to unload." Rosa nodded and followed the boys to the front of the house to make another trip of boxes.

In Rosa's mind this was all a dream. Yes, for a long time she had wanted to move to London, but now that it was happening, she couldn't think of another place she wouldn't want to be. Everything was so much different then she was used to and it made her want to curl up into a ball and hide. She would have to, but she had been taught to keep her head up and not let anything get to her emotionally.

She wanted to say she missed her brothers, but she couldn't. She wanted to say she missed the overcrowded streets and staple attitude that comes with living in New York, but she couldn't. Most of all she wanted to scream cry and just be sad that she was so far away from a majority of her family, but her mother wouldn't allow it. She even missed the bored expression on George Washington's face when she looked at her money.

"Come on Yankee, lighten up. Everything will be fine once you settle in," Henry said to her, his native London accent much different than her own.

"I'm sure once mom gets here, things will be a little easier. For now though, I want to pout, because she won't let me when she comes." Rosa lifted another box while she spoke to her friend.

Henry was an old friend of Rosa and her mother. When they found out that they would be moving to the area, they asked Henry to help them get settled. So now, Rosa was here with him starting to unpack the house, while her mother finished up some things back in New York.

"Hey, everything will be alright. Just wait and see." Henry patted her shoulder and went inside with some more boxes.

Rosa looked across the street at a big house with a small car in the driveway, imagining what kind of people lived in there.

"I just hope this place isn't boring."