Chapter 1

Mr Brownlow's residence was now alive with the sound of children. Alice and Oliver had certainly brightened the household with their presence.

The servants enjoyed seeing the smiley face of the young master. Alice, however, was a different story; she was unknowingly causing havoc with the house's system. She wouldn't let the servants do anything for her and leaving them with more problems than usual. They were being refused to do their job and then Mr Brownlow was getting annoyed at them for not completing their jobs, which was all very confusing and a lot of hassle.

Oliver, on the other hand, was settling in slowly to the new lifestyle but relishing his privileges of having wealth in status as well as money and of course being the young master of the house was growing on him very well. He was very keen to learn what Mr Brownlow had to teach him and life itself had never looked so optimistic. The only thing that he disliked was his sister's lack of enthusiasm to just about everything their great uncle gave her. He understood that she was missing her old life, but he couldn't understand how she could not enjoy having the new opportunities in front of her.

Alice loved watching her brother go around the house was his new found confidence, it unnerved her a little to see just how comfortable he was with everything. She was still struggling with the change. It was just too drastic for her liking. To be torn away from everything she'd known and loved was bound to take some getting used to. To live in a big rich house when for most her life she had been surviving on the streets providing pretty much by herself was too overwhelming to be comfortable with immediately.

Mr Brownlow was oblivious to Alice's discomfort. He was enjoying having his great nephew and niece around him. It made him feel like he had a new lease of life. He was beginning to get a sense of family that he had never been able to properly experience before. He was determined that he wouldn't fail this new family and he wouldn't lose them like he had done their mother. He felt he owed them the best he could possible do for them after their poor start they had gained of life.

Beginning by giving Oliver lesson's in all the relevant subjects. With Alice he had brought a whole new wardrobe to replace the one tatty dark blue dress she had to her name.

And now he was about to give them all his trust in the hope that he could gain their trust.

Alice and Oliver were in Mr Brownlow's study, waiting to see why they had been called.

"I've left a rather important suit at the tailors to be mended; I was wondering if you could both pick it up for me? I've been tied down recently." Mr Brownlow gave them their task.

"Why'd'yer go and do that for? I could have sewn it up for yer as well as any tailor!" Alice exclaimed putting Mr Brownlow slightly of course. That was quite the response he had expected.

"It's true Alice's sewing is very good." Oliver backed her up.

"Well…now that I know, I can make sure that Alice can do the tailoring but meanwhile it doesn't change the fact that my suit is still in the tailors regardless of your abilities." Mr Brownlow said bringing them nicely back into the main task, although his mind had wondered onto how Alice seemed to actually have a proper ladylike pastime that by the sounds of it she was very good at.

"Yes, Uncle, we'll go." Alice replied in a tone that Mr Brownlow wasn't altogether pleased, but it answered his query.

"Thankyou, here's the money, 30 shillings and twenty four pence, just give it to the shopkeeper." Mr Brownlow entrusted the money in Alice's hands, she stuffed it in her pocket trying not to show how amazed she was to be in possession of such a sum.

"I'll just get my shawl and I'll go and get it." Alice said leaving the room in the direction of the coat stand.

Oliver remained where he was.

"Go on get your coat." Mr Brownlow told him.

Oliver frowned, he had assumed that Alice was making this trip and Alice only. He reiterated his thoughts the Mr Brownlow causing his to take a puzzled look.

"My dear boy, you don't expect your sister to go alone do you?" Mr Brownlow seemed to find this very amusing. Oliver was seeing it.

"Well, I don't see why not, she's done it before practically knows the streets of London like the back of her hand." Oliver explained.

Mr Brownlow looked put out. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"A Lady always has a male escort, even a younger brother can do that job." Mr Brownlow attempted to devise a flawless plan. But Oliver was still hesitant.

Bang.

The door slammed back in place. They both knew Alice had left already.

"Your sister is going to have to learn how to be a respectable lady and that means learning new ways so will you please go after before you lose sight of her completely!" Mr Brownlow seemed agitated that Alice had left without him and So Oliver obeyed his uncle and chased after Alice.

"Hey! Wait up!" Oliver called to her, his smaller legs unable to catch up with Alice's taller ones.

Alice sighed and stopped to wait for Oliver to be by her side.

"I suppose Uncle told you to come did he?" Alice asked when he was close enough.

Oliver nodded confirming her suspicions. Something was going to have to be done about their great uncle's overprotection.

Mr Brownlow wandered around the house for a leg stretch and eye rest after he had his hard work stuck in his study at a desk. He had gone upstairs to fetch something useful to his appending work that still lay on his desk, on his way out his eye was drawn to Alice's door which had been left ajar. Not the way he would have expected the servants to have left it. Cross he marched over to correct the mistake. He had his hand on the handle when something else caught his attention; Alice's room was a mess. The bed was not made properly, the sheets had simply been thrown back over, drawers had been left half open and her housecoat was discarded haphazardly on the floor.

Angered by this Mr Brownlow ordered a meeting with the entire household's servants. They all crowded round the pantry (the only room big enough to fit everyone in) to hear what the master had to say.

Mr Brownlow relayed what he had discovered to them all and then asked for a valid explanation.

"Alice won't let us going into her room, Sir." One of the more brave housemaids said after there had been much eye contact and nodding between them all.

"What?" Mr Brownlow exclaimed quickly carrying on before anyone else got a chance to say anything. "For starters why are you not calling her Miss Alice?" he reprimanded the poor young girl.

"She refuses to let us call her that as well." Someone else put in.

Mr Brownlow listened with his mouth wide open in shock as he was told of the numerous things Alice had done to upset the running order of the servant's lives. There was certainly a whole side of his great niece that he had noticed before.

When his mind had grasped this new information it began to form a temporary solution to the problem.

"I will talk with Alice, but in the meantime everyone is to go back to their usual routine until told otherwise, everyone understood?"

Nods came from all the servants and Mr Brownlow, satisfied that his work here was complete, dismissed them all.

As the servants got back to their work, the master of the house wandered back to his study, doting on what he was going to say to Alice when she arrived home.

You could hear Alice and Oliver arriving back at the house from a mile off. Oliver was being very lively and talking loudly which made Alice raise her voice to tell him to calm down and be quieter.

Oliver was carefully carrying Mr Brownlow's suit over his left arm, Alice had done the talking and the money exchanging so he had insisted that he got to hold the suit as his contribution to the trip. This suited Alice perfectly and she gladly let him take charge of it.

He had taken up his duty with care and the suit had remained in the pristine condition it had left the tailors in right the way up to the front entrance of the house.

They were both still arguing about how quiet they were being when they entered the house.

Disrupted by the noise, Mr Brownlow left his work and went to greet them. He watched as Oliver brought his suit into the house and was pleased at how much caution he was taking to prevent it from coming to any damage.

He noticed that Alice was seemingly not paying attention to what her brother was doing as she closed the door behind her and returned her shawl to it designated peg but Mr Brownlow caught her glancing slyly at Oliver, checking that he was doing as he should. It was the sort of thing he supposed a mother would do, by giving the impression that she wasn't paying any attention the child felt they had more freedom in choice but yet she still knew exactly what they were doing. It surprised him how easily Alice could do this, it was as though she had done it for the whole of her life.

"Arh, let me take that off you!" Mr Brownlow said breaking his own musings and taking the suit wisely off Oliver.

"I got it for yer, I kept it safe an' all! Alice did the payin' and I did all the carryin' we even got some change too!" Oliver let himself get carried away, his cockney accent reigning prevalent after spending only a few minutes out in the streets.

Alice tried her best to keep her face from showing how that last sentence had irritated her, but you only had to glance at her to know it had. After everything she taught him Oliver seemed to have forgotten all of it. Never give people money back.

"Alice, you've still got the change haven't you." Oliver asked oblivious to her expression.

Had this been a different situation Alice would have most certainly kept the change in her pocket and denied all knowledge but this was her Great Uncle she would be stealing from, her only relative apart from Oliver. She felt obliged to hand it back although she made it plain she was not best pleased.

"Thank-you, Alice could I have a word with you in my study please?" Although he phrased it as a question Mr Brownlow's tone made it more of a command. And as he made a swift turn to return to his study, Alice began to follow out of curiosity more than anything. As she passed Oliver she knocked his cap off his head as a punishment.

To anyone watching it could have looked like a mere accident or a playful sibling to sibling gesture but Oliver knew it was more serious than that. He had seen it once before when Jack had failed to do something Fagin had wanted him to. The most disrespectful thing to do to an Artful Dodger he had been told afterwards. Ok Alice had bent the rules slightly but the message was still clear. Bending down to retrieve the cap, Oliver stared after his sister. He understood what the gesture meant but what had he done to deserve it? It took a while for it to click, but eventually he realized that she had been unhappy with the way he had been so eager to give the change back to their uncle. It had gone against everything that Dodger and Alice had taught him, no wonder she was cross.

Mr Brownlow sat down in his elegant study chair. Despite Mr Brownlow's assumptions Alice remained in the doorway, arms folded, leaning on the doorframe.

"There is something that has been brought to my attention that we need to discuss." Mr Brownlow began finding the fact that she hadn't even come properly into the room rather awkward.

"Yeah, go on…" Alice prompted wanting to get this over with.

Mr Brownlow hesitated on continuing his speech; Alice standing in the doorway in that fashion was unnerving him.

"Alice, sit down." He ordered.

Alice rolled her eyes and sighed but nevertheless took a seat.

"now, the servants have told me that you have refused to let them do their job, your room, cleaning, mending, not even letting the maid help you dress or do anything, is that true?"

"Yeah." Alice stated with a shrug.

"I feared as much!" Mr Brownlow sighed. Alice shot him an irritated look and he was obliged to elaborate.

"Why can't you be more like Oliver? He's settled in so well and well you still haven't…"

"There are two reasons for that. Number one Oliver is actually enjoying this new lifestyle whereas I'm still trying to adjust and two he doesn't want to disappoint you."

"And you do?"

"I'm not…bothered, I just…ain't gonna change my ways for no one that's all."

By that statement it was perfectly clear to Mr Brownlow that was about all he was going to get out of her and so concluded that the talk was over and dismissed her out the room.

He had to think. Things weren't going as well as he thought…

The first chapter! Hope you enjoyed it, please review!