Well, after 13 consecutive Christian Bale stories, I guess it's time for me to finally move on to other places. Sad face.

Oh, well, it was bound to happen eventually!


Winnie Foster and Lena Bennett could not have been closer. While Lena was four years older than Winnie at age nineteen, she loved Winnie like a little sister and they could nearly always be found together. Winnie's mother considered Lena a mentor for her daughter, but to Winnie, Lena was so much more than that. Neither girl had many friends so it was a lovely change to find someone they could be so close to.

Both girls agreed that the formality required of them was utterly stifling. It was exhausting having to live up to the expectations of society, it was painful to wear the horrid corsets, and it was annoying to hear Winnie's mother constantly reprimanding them, more so Winnie, for their improper behavior. Who decided what was proper and improper anyway?

They would spend hours envisioning a life where they were free to live the way they wanted, free from society's rules, with a man somewhere out there to love them.

School had just let out and the two girls were eager to spend some time doing something other than schoolwork.

Winnie was being pushed to work on her etiquette and classical studies. Lena was being pushed to find a husband and start making a name for herself. After all, she was almost twenty and most girls her age had already been married off to someone or were about to be married off. But Lena wanted to marry someone she loved with all her heart. Not just anyone just so she could please the people around her.

Lena and Winnie lied down on the grass in Winnie's front yard, looking up at the beautiful clouds.

"I want the man I marry to be as carefree as the wind," Winnie said. "Someone who doesn't care about me not being proper enough."

"I want a man who can provide for me and some children," Lena replied. "But above all, I just want someone who cares for me and loves me more than himself."

Winnie turned to look at her as she propped her head on her arm. "Lena, why haven't you gotten married yet? You're the right age."

"I just…haven't found the right person yet."

"How will you know if you've found him?"

"When it comes to love, Winnie, sometimes, you just know."

"Winifred!" Winnie's mother's shrill voice pierced the air. "Lena! Get off the ground! You're getting dirty! How many times must I tell you? Lena, come help Winifred practice her piano."

They two girls quietly groaned and then stood up to head inside the house. Winnie sat at the piano while Lena stood behind her. Every now and again, Lena would gently push on Winnie's shoulders to get them to relax. She tended to tense up a lot when she played, but Lena knew that was a result of trying to please her mother.

"Very good, Winnie," Lena told her when the song was done. "But make sure you relax your shoulders and keep a steady tempo throughout."

If anyone else gave her instructions like that, Winnie might've rolled her eyes and completely ignored them. But she knew that Lena hated doing this just as much as she did. And for that reason, she actually did what she was told.

"Winifred," Winnie's mother said. "Take a seat please."

Winnie got up from the piano bench and sat across from her parents while Lena stood by her side.

"There's something we need to talk to you about," her father told her.

"A proper education gains one entré into society."

"Your mother and I have given this a great deal of thought."

"Middlehouse Academy for Girls in Pensford has an excellent reputation."

Lena felt her mouth go dry. Middlehouse was 500 miles away from Treegap. She would hardly ever see the little girl she called her best friend. How was she supposed to live in this awful place without her? Who else was there to talk to about the awful expectations of society?

"Middlehouse?" Winnie said horrified. "But that's a terrible place. Everyone says so. It's like a jail."

"Nonsense!" her mother insisted. "Girls emerge from there as refined young ladies, well-versed in etiquette and manners, both of which you are sorely lacking."

"But I don't want to be one of those girls."

"Which is precisely why you must go."

"I want to stay here with Lena."

"Lena is past school age now and will remain in Treegap to try to find a husband and start making a living. But I cannot let your unbridled nature ruin your chances for a respectable future."

"Winifred," her father said apologetically. "I'm sorry. But we have to do what's best for you."

Winnie looked up at Lena and then back at her parents. "I won't do it," she said firmly as she stood up. "I'm not like those girls. I won't go!"

"Winifred!" her mother said in a berating tone.

"I won't go!"

"Winnie!" Lena called.

She ran after the girl and saw her take off outside the fence of her house. It was a while before Winnie finally stopped running and Lena caught up with her.

"Winnie! What are you doing?"

"You heard them! They want to send me away from Treegap! Away from you!"

"Running away isn't the answer. Let's just go back and talk about this reasonably."

"Can we please just stay out a little longer? I've never been in these woods before. It's so…peaceful."

Lena wasn't going to deny that Winnie was right. These woods were beautiful and neither of them had ever set foot in them before, thanks to always being busy with lessons. "Alright," she conceded. "Just a few minutes longer and then we will return to talk about this whole mess."

The girls walked in silence, letting the crunch of the leaves below their feet be the only sound amongst them.

Unfortunately, when they both went to turn back home, they quickly realized that neither of them had any idea how to do so. They took several twists and turns, but each one just seemed to lead them deeper into the forest.

Just when they were about to lose hope, they spotted a boy drinking water from the base of a tree. He couldn't have been much younger than Lena or much older than Winnie. He was indeed quite handsome, and by the look on Winnie's face, Lena was certain she had come to the same conclusion.

When the boy turned around, he froze at the sight of them.

"How long have you both been standing there?" he asked them.

"Not long at all," Winnie replied. "We were only walking past, and we…"

"Well, you shouldn't…be in these parts of the woods. It's best you both turn around and go home."

Winnie and Lena looked at each other, wondering why he was so nervous around them and so eager for them to leave.

"Well, go on, now, get!" the boy ordered when he saw neither of the girls were moving.

"Excuse me," Winnie answered, "but I own these woods, and we'll 'go on and get' when we want to."

"You own these woods?"

"Yes, I do."

"What's your name?"

"Winifred. Winnie. Foster."

"A Foster? Well, I'll be. Is that a fact?"

Winnie nodded her head, trying to appear part of the upper class which made Lena want to burst out laughing. This was certainly a new side of her that she hadn't seen unless it was forced on her, usually by her mother.

"You a Foster too?" the boy asked Lena.

"No, I'm just a…friend of the family, so to speak. My name's Lena Bennett."

"Well, Winnie Foster and Lena Bennett, like I was saying you need to turn around and go home."

"It just so happens that we were on our way home before you made your rude suggestion and we would be happy to continue on our way. If we only knew which way to go…" Winnie said sheepishly.

"In other words, you're lost?" the boy asked, looking like he was trying not to laugh. "I'll point you home." He began to lead them away from the tree.

"I'd be much obliged," Winnie said politely. Then she spun around and began to walk to the tree. "But I want a drink first."

"Wait! No! No!" the boy said stopping her from walking any further.

"What?" Winnie asked.

"You don't want that water. Uh, it's poisoned."

"I saw you drink some."

"Well, now I'm feeling sick."

It was obvious to Lena that that was a total lie, but she couldn't help but wonder why he didn't want them drinking any of that water. What could possibly be wrong with it?

"You don't look ill," Winnie countered.

"Winnie," Lena said. "Maybe you should listen to him."

"I just want some water. I'm dry as dust."

Winnie went towards the water again, but the boy roughly grabbed her and tried to pull her away from it.

"I said leave it alone!"

"Let go of me!" Winnie screamed wrenching herself out of his grasp. "My father will have you arrested!"

"Well, you're not going to go and tell him now, are you?"

Lena looked at the boy and sighed before taking off in a sprint after her friend. "Winnie!"

"Hey! Come back!" the boy called after the both of them. "Don't run away!"

Lena finally caught up with Winnie…right as they both slammed into someone's hard chest.

"Where you going so fast, Misses?" the man asked them as he firmly grasped both of their arms.

"Miles, wait!" the boy cried as he caught up to the two girls.

"You know what Tuck said, Jesse," the man said to the boy. "No exceptions."

Tuck? Who was Tuck? No exceptions about what? Lena's mind was racing trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

"Help!" Winnie screamed as she tried to get away. "Let us go!"

"Don't do this!" Lena cried. "Stop!"

The man dragged both of them away and put all three of them on a horse with Winnie in front and Lena in the middle.

"Just stay calm," Lena said in Winnie's ear. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise."

They continued to ride for a while before coming upon a log cabin. The man, Miles, slowed the horse. "We're stopping here," he said roughly. He got off first then yanked the two girls off the horse as well. "Not a word out of either of you, hear me?" He began dragging them towards the house as Winnie tried to squirm out of his grasp.

"Miles!" an older woman exclaimed as she ran over to them. "What are you doing? Let the poor girls go!"

Miles released them and Winnie collapsed onto the ground. Lena quickly went next to her and put her arm around her while her other hand squeezed Winnie's.

"There's no reason to be frightened, young ladies!" the woman insisted.

"I caught them at the spring with Jesse. She's a Foster, and the other one's a friend of theirs."

"Oh, Lord. It's finally happened."

"I want to go home, please, I want to go home!" Winnie begged. Lena looked up at Miles and could've sworn that a brief flash of guilt crossed his face for taking the both of them, but it was gone just as fast if it had even been there at all.

Lena began quickly studying him and came to the conclusion that he couldn't be much older than she was. He looked angry, but she could also see that he had a sadness in his eyes that could only be seen if one looked hard enough.

"There, there, child. Please don't cry," the woman said in the tenderest voice Lena had ever heard as she came down to their eye level. "We're not bad people. We'll take you both home just as soon as we can. I promise." The woman stood up and faced Miles. "Miles, go find your father. He's across the lake. He'll know what to do with them."

"Tell Jesse I'm going to fix that mouth of his," Miles said as he led the horse away. Lena sent him a death glare that he managed to catch before he was out of their sight.

Lena rubbed Winnie's shoulder and held her close to her. The woman took out a little music box and began playing it.

"I've heard that," Winnie mumbled.

"Have you?" the woman asked with a smile. "It's my little music box. I found it in the forest one day. Just waiting for me, I expect. I've had it a long, long time. I put my baby boys to bed with it every night. Gave 'em such sweet dreams."

Winnie looked about ready to burst into tears. Lena continued to hold her so she would feel safe. "You're going to be okay," she said quietly. "No one is going to hurt you."

Winnie rested her head on Lena's shoulder and Lena could just barely make out a few tiny sobs. Her hand rubbed Winnie's tangled hair softly. She looked over at the woman and saw her smiling at her kind actions towards the poor, frightened girl.