Nicole snuggled up against the warmth of her mother's arm and closed her eyes. They had been riding in the carriage nearly all day and she was simply ready to be home. "How much farther mama?" she asked quietly, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Not much longer now love. Look out the window." Nicole crawled up onto her mother's lap and gazed outside at the city. "This is Paris darling and we live just on the other side of Paris," her mother explained.

The bright lights and elegantly dressed people fascinated the young girl. It seemed to her that everyone in the world lived here in Paris; everyone except for her. "Papa, why don't we live here? It's so pretty!"

Her father smiled lightly and chuckled softly. "Your mother and I used to live here darling, but we moved when we were married; before you were born," he stated.

Nicole slid down off of her mother's lap onto the seat of the carriage and pressed her forehead to the window. "But I want to live here," she pouted.

Her mother smiled and stroked her hair softly. "Perhaps one day you will, love, but for now we must stay where we are," she said lovingly. "Now come, sit here on my lap again and before you know it, we will be home."

What is on me?

"Mama?" Nicole called weakly. Something heavy was lying on top of her but she did not know what. It was dark and she was outside but she did not remember how she had gotten out of the carriage. "Papa?"

She tried to push herself up but her small body could not lift the weight on top of her and she fell back to the ground. Even though she was but eight, Nicole knew that unless she could free herself she could suffocate. She used all the strength she had to begin to crawl forward, her nails digging into the dirt, and after several minutes of struggle she was free. Nicole gasped when she saw that their carriage was overturned on the side of the road.

"Mama! Papa!" she screamed. She turned and began sobbing when she realized that she had been trapped beneath her father's body. She ran to him and shook his limp form.

"Papa," she sobbed. "Papa, wake up…Please wake up…"

"Nicole…"

She heard the faint voice from down in the ditch and quickly scrambled down into it. There her mother laid, her beautiful mother, broken and bleeding and barely clinging to life. With courage beyond her years, Nicole took her mother's trembling hand and said, "Here I am mama."

Her mother smiled faintly against her excruciating pain and lightly kissed Nicole's hand. "Don't be afraid baby. Please do not be afraid," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you mama," Nicole murmured through her tears. She paused for a moment then looked into her mother's eyes. They were full of pain and fear. She curled up beside her mother in the grass as the heavens opened and it began to rain. "Don't be afraid mama…"

"No survivors, what a tragedy."

The man's voice sounded far away, as if she were dreaming, but the morning sunlight forcing its way through her closed eyes made Nicole realize she was awake.

"Such a good family too. Looks like he must have died immediately," said a second man.

Papa? No, papa is dead. Mama is too.

"And Madame is down in the ditch with the little one. What a sad day it will be. They were very well liked they were," the first man added.

"Well, I suppose we should get Madame and Mademoiselle out of the ditch." Nicole's head throbbed as footsteps pounded the ground near her head and she clenched her eyes more tightly shut. Suddenly she felt her mother's body being moved and she cried out in protest.

"No! Mama!"

"Bloody Hell! Armand, the little one is alive!"

Nicole sat up and looked at the man, her eyes watering with tears. "My mama…"

He crouched down in front of her, his expression very somber. "Child, I am afraid your mother is…well, she-"

"Died," she finished for him. "What happened?"

He smiled sadly. "Why don't you come with me child? My wife can get you cleaned up and we'll find out what is to be done with you," he offered.

"I don't know you," Nicole stated.

"W-well I know you don't but you can't stay here in this ditch. You'll catch your death out here." He turned and looked over his shoulder. "Armand! Armand go and fetch your mother from the carriage!" He turned back to Nicole. "There, my wife is coming. Would that make you feel better?" Nicole nodded and the man smiled. "Why don't you climb on out of this ditch then, and my wife will be waiting for you."

Nicole did as she was told and when she reached the top of the ditch she was shocked by the sight of her father's body still lying on the road. "Papa," she moaned and fell onto his chest. Her tiny fingers brushed his blood caked hair back from his still handsome face and traced his regal features; features she would now only see in photographs and portraits.

"Oh darling," said a kindly voice above her. Nicole felt herself being lifted to her feet, but she was too heartbroken and tired to try and fight the hands that held her. Matching the kindly voice was a kindly woman's face. "Dear, come to the carriage with me. My name is Berthe." Nicole held tightly to the woman's hand and followed, casting one glance back over her shoulder just as Armand and his father brought her mother's body up out of the ditch. A sob escaped her throat as Berthe helped her up into the carriage and she retreated into the far corner.

"Oh love, I know this is all very terrible, but Martin—my husband that is—and I, we will find someone to take care of you and love you just like you were their own. I promise. Your parents had many, many friends and I know that there is someone out there who loved them almost as much as you did, and we will find them. Just you wait dear."

Nicole and Berthe sat in silence for ten more minutes until Armand and Martin climbed back into the carriage. "Well, the doctor's just left with—" Berthe shot her husband a stern glance, "them, and now it's off to Paris."

Despite her morose mood, Nicole could not help but feel slight interest at the mention of Paris. "Paris?"

"Yes. You need a place to stay and for the time being, that is with us," explained Martin. "Just until we find out who it is that your parents wanted you to stay with that is."

"You are going to love Paris dear," Berthe told Nicole happily.

Maybe if mama and papa could be there with me instead of…

Another wave of tears spilled down Nicole's porcelain cheeks and down into her long black curls. "Mama…" she whispered and closed her eyes. She screamed when she did so however causing the other passengers of the carriage to jump in alarm. The frightened girl flew into Berthe's arms sobbing and trembling. "I saw them…I saw mama and papa…Why did they die?"