Elizabeth Rose Overland was usually a happy child. A simple life, loving mother, fun brother and great friends. What more could she want? But even as smart as she was, nothing could have made her foreseen the day when it was announced that her brother, Jackson Overland, was getting married.
The village's reaction was shock, which quickly turned to a pleasant greeting whenever he walked into town. Her reaction, on the other hand, was far from pleasant.
She had spent all night crying into her pillow, dreading the future where her brother would marry, move away and never come back, even for her. Elizabeth was too afraid that Jack would forget about her and their mother. Maybe he would even sail back to London by the springtime.
The little girl loathed Jack's fiancée, Winifred Bennett, and her four younger brothers, who were all devoted supporters of the marriage. She was convinced that the boys had managed to get Jack and Winifred dating in the first place.
Elizabeth decided it was time, right then and there, to do something. She didn't know what, but she was going to do it. So she set out of the house and into the village, where Jack was most likely to be. She found him by the largest well, which belonged to the Ashmann's.
Nobody noticed her except for a few of her friends, but that changed when she marched right up to Jack and gave him a swift kick to the leg. Jack stared at her, a look of confusion on his face with a little bit of pain.
The villagers started murmuring and turning to watch them, but didn't get any closer. "I hate you!" the little girl screamed, before turning around and sprinting into the woods, where her house stood by the pond.
She hoped that would make him follow her, and when Elizabeth glanced behind her, he sure was. She raced out onto the pond, the ice cracking a little bit, but she didn't care. She stood out in the middle of the pond, watching her brother get closer.
"Liz, why'd you do that?" he finally asked. She glared at him. "You're gonna marry that stupid Winifred and then move away to London and never come back, and never think about me again!" To her surprise, he laughed. "Is that why you kicked me? Liz, I would never move away from my family, ever. Especially you."
She crossed her arms and glared at him even more. "You already spend every day in the village with her, and you never come home. It's no fun without you, Jack." He was now kneeling in front of her, with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Look, just because I'm gone, doesn't mean I'm gone forever. And I will never stop loving you. You're my sister, after all. I have to watch over you, because that's what a good brother would do." He stepped back, holding out his hand.
Elizabeth slowly accepted it, and they were able to get off the ice and onto the dirt embankment, where Jack promptly put her in his lap. "Look, you don't have to go to the wedding if you don't want to, Liz," he said.
She nodded. "But…if you get married, then you're growing up. You're gonna have less time for me…I don't want you to grow up, Jack. I want you to be my brother."
"I'll always be your brother, married or not. Do you understand that, Liz?" She nodded again, and wiped a few stray tears from her face. "Jack…can we go ice skating tomorrow? As…as one last day, just for us?"
He smiled down at her. "Of course we can, Liz." She put her head into his lap. "Ok. But promise me…promise me you won't leave me." "I promise, Elizabeth."