Chapter one – Away from home

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'You still up, kiddo?'

Jess stared out the window, the starry sky flashing past as the truck drove by. He laid his head on his arms that were perched on the windowsill. The wind was musty and blew dust into his face, stinging his eyes. Closing them, he asked his father, 'Why'd Aunt Ester want us to go to her place?'

'I guess she wanted some company,' Mr. Aarons said, eyes still fixed on the road, 'all she has with her are a couple of girls that work on her farm who aren't really that fond of her,'

Jess smiled. He knew very well that all the girls working at the farm didn't like Aunt Ester at all. She was bossy and wasn't really friendly. Abele, one of the girls who were just as old as him, said that she made them sleep in haystacks in the barn. No wonder they didn't like her.

'With such a huge house, she could have given all the girls a room of their own,' Jess said, sitting up, 'making them sleep on haystacks isn't very nice,'

Mr. Aarons shrugged.

'But in her last letter,' he said, turning left onto a dust road, 'she says she's found a new pet; probably an orphan,' The truck jerked to the left.

Jess pulled up the window before more dust was blown in; 'Really?' he commented, 'must be strange for that girl to agree on working for her,' Everyone knew that agreeing to work for Aunt Ester was absolutely crazy.

'Yeah, the girl's called Marty or something like that,' They could hear the bags from the back of the pick-up sliding around, 'picked her up from the river, she said, the poor girl doesn't remember a thing of where she came from or of who she was,' Mr. Aarons added just as they approached a big white-washed house with vines climbing up the sides.

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'Jack! It's good to see you!'

'You too, Ester,' Mr. Aarons said, accepting the hug from Aunt Ester. Jess dropped the last of the bags in the hallway and looked around. Nothing much had changed since they last went there, just him and his father. The wallpaper was still peeling off at some parts and the old golden frames were still up, dust collecting on them.

Leaving his dad with Aunt Ester, Jess walked out of the door and headed towards the barn.

Pushing the door a bit, he slips in and shuts it again. 'Abele,' he whispered, 'you there?'

Out of a haystack, a head came up, covered with little bits of grass and hay, 'Jess! You're back!' The girl stood up quickly, and ran to hug Jess who was standing nearby.

'Hey, Abele,' Jess said just as they let go, 'how's it been up here?' Abele dusted herself, flicking off the hay from her hair, revealing auburn hair beneath them. 'Just great,' she said, 'I got promoted so I can get the fresh hay every night,' she said, arms folded across her chest with a proud smile on her face.

'That's great!' Jess exclaimed. Adele really deserved the best out of all. Not that the other girls weren't good, it's just that Adele did her best at everything and work twice as hard as everyone else.

'How's Daisy?' Jess asked, knowing Abele liked Daisy for a topic.

You see, Daisy was Abele's very own pony. A little gift from Aunt Ester since Abele had once saved her from food poisoning when she spotted some mold on a piece of bread Aunt Ester was going to eat. Imagine that!

'Oh she's just perfect!' Abele screeched, 'I've taught her how to jump over those fences by the chicken houses, she can do all of them in a minute!' she continued, making jumping and swooshing motions with her hands.

Jess smiled, pushing back some hair from his face. Abele had grown up since the last time they saw each other when they were eight. Now they were fifteen. Her once short auburn hair now reached up to her back. And she now wore a white blouse under a jumper dress, rather than the old baggy pants and white shirt with mud stains that she used to wear.

'Abele?'

The two turned around to find a girl peeking in through the doorway. Her hair looked like gold that reached to her waist and was adorned with flowers behind one ear. She wore a sleeveless, light blue summer dress that came down to her knees.

Rolling her eyes, Abele walked towards the girl and pushed her out the door, 'Leave me alone!' she screamed before slamming it. Mumbling angrily to herself, she walked back to Jess, 'That girl is so irritating! What makes her think that I want to play with her in the first place?' she blurted out, sitting on a haystack.

'Who was that?'

'Oh, that was Martine, the mistress' new pet,' Abele said, waving her hands in the air, 'she's a spoiled little brat, that one, never done any work before, the mistress said her skin was too delicate,' she said, banging her fist on a wooden post.

'Martine?' Jess asked, 'but in the letter, the name Aunt Ester wrote was Marty,' he said, sitting next to Abele.

'That's her nickname, that little princess,' Abele explained sarcastically, 'the mistress named her that since she was sipping a martini when we found the girl lying on the river bed, unconscious,' she glanced at Jess, 'why you so interested?'

'Nothing,' Jess said, 'she just reminded me of someone, you know,' he explained. Abele nodded. Leslie. Abele learned about her from some of Jess' letters five years back. The last letter she received about Leslie was on the day the said girl had died.

'Well,' Abele whispered, 'she does look a lot like Leslie, just as you described her,' she looked around before continuing, 'but she doesn't act like Leslie,'

'Why you whispering?'

'Because that brat always finds a way in somehow,' Abele said quickly before getting up, 'Why don't we go see where the others are?'

'Sure,'

Jess jumped up and followed Adele down the wide meadow, still thinking about Leslie. Could Martine be Leslie? Nah. They probably just look the same.

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Isa: Comments please! Flames accepted!