The characters are not mine!  

Lucy sat on her bed, watching her sister Mary toss clothes into the open suitcase on the floor. She had been there for 20 minutes already, but neither of them had said a word to each other. Mary had just confessed to her parents that she had been smoking the night a fire had burnt down their house. Their mother had not taken the news well and was going to send Mary to live with her grandparents in Buffalo. Again. Lucy finally decided to speak up. "I'm sorry" she told Mary quietly.

"You know what?" Mary snapped, "I don't care. Everything was fine but then you made me tell mom and dad I was smoking and now they are sending me away."

Lucy felt herself getting angry as she listened. "Well don't forget, you could have killed us all. And if I remember correctly you were feeling guilty because you thought you were responsible for me being in the hospital."

"Whatever", Mary replied, stalking out of the room.

After she was gone, Lucy began to feel sorry for yelling at Mary. It was true that she had been the one to convince Mary to tell their parents. And although she hated to admit it, Lucy was going to miss her big sister. Maybe I can talk to mom and dad. Maybe now that I've recovered they will be less stressed and more willing to forgive Mary. Feeling hopeful, Lucy headed downstairs,

She found her parents sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the news paper. "Mom, Dad, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, honey" Annie replied. "Sit down."

"Well, I was thinking. Mary learned her lesson and she realizes her mistake. I think you should give her another chance. Let her stay."

"No." Annie said firmly.

"Why?"

"She put our lives in danger. What if she does it again and we aren't so lucky?"

"Don't you understand?" Lucy asked "She won't do it anymore! She knows it was wrong!"

"There is no need to yell" Annie said calmly. "If you cant have a civil conversation, please go back upstairs."

Rev. Camden, who had been silent until then put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Honey, maybe we should listen to Lucy and consider what she's saying."

"No. I am the mother. I know best. Not my daughter. Me."

"Fine" Lucy muttered, running up the stairs. If they won't help me I'll find people that will. She entered her room, glad to see that Ruthie was there, lying on her bed reading a book. Lucy wasn't sure how Ruthie would feel about Mary leaving. She remembered that when she had been sent to Buffalo for the first time, Ruthie refused to even say goodbye, because she was so angry at Mary. I might as well try, Lucy thought.

"Hey, Ruthie?"

"Yeah?" She replied, not looking up from her book.

"Did you hear that Mary's being sent back to Buffalo?"

"Of course. I know everything that goes on in this house."

"So do you think she deserves to be sent away?"

Ruthie finally put down the book and looked at Lucy. "I think that she did some thing wrong and she should be punished for it. But I also think that mom is being too hard on her, especially since she was so happy when Mary came back. Dad doesn't want her to leave either, but he won't argue with Mom."

"How do you know all this?" Lucy asked, amazed.

"I listen" Ruthie replied, picking her book up again.

"Will you help me convince mom that she should stay? I feel like I owe it to her since I made her confess. I told her that-"

"Yeah I know what you told her. I know everything, remember? And yes, I'll help you convince Mom."

"Great" Lucy said. "Now its 2 against 1. But I think we need more people to help us."

"I'll get Matt, you get Simon" Ruthie told her. They both headed downstairs toward their brother's room's.

Lucy knocked on Simon's door wondering what he would think. He had been injured in the fire too so he might be angry at Mary. But it wasn't her fault. Hopefully he would understand that. The door finally opened, and Lucy stepped in.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Do you know what's going on with Mary?"

"Yeah, Ruthie told me."

"Do you think it's fair?" Lucy asked him, sitting down on his bed.

"No. I mean, the fire wasn't really her fault, so she shouldn't be punished, right?"

"Right. So now we have to convince her that Mary should stay."

"Ok, how do we do that?"

"First we have to get everyone to help us. It will be harder for her to say no to all of us than one of us. Ruthie is getting Matt. Let's go find them. Then, we'll go see Mom.

Is the plot too stupid? If it is I won't continue. Please review!!!!