A few years went by and it was slightly difficult for Conner and Victoria; their son was starting high school and their daughter was starting school too, it was a local school, they're were no schools for the blind or deaf anywhere near, they were struggling
with money so they couldn't move to another village and the illness was causing Victoria extreme pain so it was hard for her to get around.

Magdalene and Zain payed their mother a visit in her bedroom, it was dark as the sunlight was beginning to hurt Victoria's eyes, so the curtains were closed

'Oh my Darlings,' she said with open arms 'come and give me a hug,' Zain lifted his sister up onto the bed where she snuggled into her mother Zain slid under Victoria's other arm and rested his hand on her stomach 'you both excited to start school tomorrow?'

'I'm scared' Magdalene shyly confessed

'Why darling? Don't be scared there's nothing to be scared of...is there Zain?'

'No, schools...fun' Zain lied

'See, you'll be alright, you'll go and learn things and make friends' Victoria kissed her daughters dark hair, her big eyes were still but she smiled

'Alright you two,' Conner opened the door 'bed time, you both have a big day tomorrow'

'Goodnight darlings' Victoria kissed each child on the head as they climbed off the bed, Magdalene being helped by Zain of course, he held his sisters hand and walked her to her room

'Are you alright?,' He asked her, Magdalenes little head turned in his direction, her still eyes seemed as if she was looking at him, she nodded 'don't worry about school, you'll be fine, you'll make friends and stuff'

'Thanks,' she managed to give him a hug 'goodnight Zain' he helped her into bed

'Night Mag' he slowly walked out of her room and into his own which was right beside hers.

The next morning Zain walked Magdalene to school, he took her into the headmistress just like his father had asked him to,

'Mrs Jenkins?,' Zain walked in with Magdalene 'I was asked to bring my sister'

'Ah yes,' the tall woman looked over her glasses that was placed on the tip of her nose 'sit here girl,' this woman was no woman to be messed around with, she was the classic stereotypical headmistress. With brown hair scraped back into a high bun on
the top of her head with a few grey strands, she was on the larger side and wore a string of cheap pearls round her neck. She was stern and scary 'run off now Zain, your sister is fine' she said practically shoving the poor boy out the door, she turned
round and stood tall looking down at the small girl sitting on the chair, her little white Cane was laying across her lap

'Mrs Jenkins?' Magdalenes little voice called out with a sweet tone 'am I going to make friends?' She wanted to know that her brothers comment was true

'Very unlikely for you, you're blind people don't want to look after you...well apart from the girl that offered to help you out' just then a knock was at the door

'I'm ready to show the new girl round' a head popped through the door, the girl had curly shoulder length hair and brown eyes, her smile was sweet and she seemed perky

'Miss Defoe is here... Miss Donovan will show you around the school, she'll probably take care of you'

'Of course I will,' The girl ran over to Magdalene 'Hi, I'm Marni, I'll look after you' she said grinning Magdalene grew a little smile on her face

'Alright, out girls!' Mrs Jenkins pointed to the door

Marni helped Magdalene out of the office,

'Wow, she seems grumpy' Magdalenes little voice was uneasy

'Yeah, she's not the best, but you'll be fine...I was asked to take care of you, well actually I volunteered' Marni said making conversation

'My big brother usually looks after me but he's at the big school now. He's nine years older than me'

'Aw that's nice, I'm 11 so I'm...6 years older than you I guess,' Marni guided her new friend 'so if any things ever wrong you tell me. Alright?'

'Okay' Magdalene managed to find Marnis hand and hold it, Marni didn't seem to mind.

A year had passed and Magdalene and Marnis friendship grew, they became best friends, people said some cruel things to Marni for being friends with someone 6 years her junior, but that's what was so great about her, she didn't care, she shrugged it off
and let people know they weren't to mess with her, but Marnis last year of school was almost up she was going to high school when summer ended, Magdalene was scared, she'd have no one, sure, Marni could still come round after school and they'd still
be friends but... What if Marni found new friends?
What if she didn't want to be her friend anymore?

The child's unworking eyes filled with tears and her heart beat quickened, she hopped out of bed and made her way through to her mothers room

'Mum, mum,' her little voice was cracking 'mum what if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?'

'Wh-what?,' Victoria bolted up 'Aw Darling,' she picked up her daughter and hugged her 'I've told you darling, in fact Marni herself told you she'll always be your friend...alright' Magdalene nodded her little head and snuggled in to her mother before
falling asleep.

A few weeks into the new school year and Magdalene was finding it hard, people noticed Marni wasn't there to protect her anymore, this was an opportunity for them to be nasty to her, trip her up and call her horrible names, she was too scared to go to
the headmistress so she ran into the girls bathroom in the music department, her favourite place, she liked to listen to people playing the instruments, but the only sound to be heard was her little weeps, then a clip-clop of high heels

'Hello?,' Mrs Beck, the music teacher called, she heard Magdalenes sounds and followed the direction they were coming from, the end stall, she was surprised as the door was not closed, Mrs Beck noticed the Cane she soon realised this was the blind girl,
the one Mrs Jenkins had spoke about a few times 'Oh...Magdalene?' She wasn't completely sure of this was her name

'I'm sorry' She said wiping away her tears trying to hide the fact that she was clearly crying

'Why are you sorry? What's happened?' Mrs Beck kneeled down so she was at the child's level

'No one likes me cause I'm blind' another tear dripped down her cheek, her little pale cheek

'Oh, honey I'm sure thats not the case,' she thought for a minute, the kids at this school weren't particularly known to be the kindest 'have you told anyone?,' Magdalenes little head just shook, 'why aren't you home anyway? School finished 20 minutes
ago'

'They won't leave, they said they're going to get me' Mrs Becks heart broke at this, if she could she'd sort those kids out but she'd loose her job and probably go to jail

'Say...why don't you stay behind for a bit, I'll drive you home if you like, we'll call your parents and explain,' again Magdalenes head nodded 'alright wait here and I'll go to the office'

Magdalene made her way into Mrs Becks classroom, with the help of her cane of course, she gently bumped into the piano and hit a key, she was startled at first by the noise, then smiled it was beautiful, she reached out to find another key and successfully
hit it, making yet another lovely sound, she done this for a few minutes until Mrs Beck came back, Mrs Beck made her presence Unknown, after She had managed to play some sort of little tune, Mrs Beck clapped

'Well done Miss Defoe,' she walked over to the piano 'would you like me to play?' Mrs Beck didn't even wait for a response and started playing a gorgeous medley, Magdalene smiled then started humming along with the tune, she started to play a song, a
song Magdalene knew fairly well, her little mouth opened and she started singing

'I heard there was a secret chord, that David played, it pleased the Lord, but you don't really care for music do you? The baffled king composing Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah' Magdalanes sweet little voice made Mrs Beck tear
up

'Magdalene...that was beautiful'

'Daddy likes that song,' she smiled 'I sing at home'

'I think I should have a talk with your parents'

'Am-am I in trouble?' Magdalene was terrified

'No, no honey, far from it, there's a better school for you and I feel you must go there...c'mon I'll take you home'

Mrs Beck helped Magdalene into the car, they made a pleasant little conversation till they reached the Defoe household

'Okay we're here' the car stopped, Magdalene was helped out of the car and up to her front door, Zain greeted them

'Maggie,' he gave her a hug 'hello Mrs Beck' he smiled, She was his old music teacher and one he liked very much, he might've had a little crush on her, she was very beautiful with golden hair and a sweet smiled

'Hi Zain, Is your parents at home?' She asked

'Yeah, please come in,' he opened the door a bit more 'dad!' He called, just then Conner came running down the stairs

'Mr Defoe I was wondering if I could have a word with you... And your wife, if she's well enough'

'Yeah, yeah of course. Is it alright if I ask you to come up stairs? you see my wife is very poorly and struggles to get out of bed,'

Mrs Beck said nothing but nodded her head and walked up the stairs, they got to that dark room where Victoria was sat up in the bed

'Honey, Magdalenes teacher has come for a chat' Conner said opening the door to let her in, Victoria smiled

'You were Zain's music teacher'

'Yes I was. But it's your daughter... I found her crying in the toilets...some kids were being...nasty, she's alright now I took her to my room and calmed her down...She has a great talent, have you heard your daughter sing?' Mrs Beck thought this was
a silly question but it had to be asked, the parents looked to each other

'Well...not seriously, she sings nursery rhymes and stuff but we haven't heard her sing a proper song. Are you saying she was being bullied?' Conner was shocked

'That seemed to be the case, but She's 5 years old and has the voice of an angel, my friend owns a school for the...greatly talented children, S.C.A. 'School of classical art' most of the students there are teenagers but I think Magdalene has more than
enough talent to attend, they teach basic math, English and any foreign language, but it's mostly dance, singing and music lessons, I really think you should consider it. This is her Card,' Mrs Beck dug around her bag, pulled out a small piece of
paper and handed it to Conner

'We don't have money to send her to fancy schools, can't we just sort this bullying business out? Conner stood up and gave the card to his wife, who observed it

'I know it's a lot but it's not that expensive...I can help get fundraising and I'm sure I can get the price down too, I really think this is the best for your daughter and-'

'Conner, please just let her go,' Victoria begged 'Mrs Beck thinks it's for her and so do I... Our Magdalene always said she wanted to be a singer but like my husband said money isn't easy so-'

'I do understand this Mrs Defoe, but before I can make any arrangements with Cathy...I'll need to know if this is what you want?'

'It says here, a boarding school?' Conner looked at the card

'I think she will get home at the weekends and holidays, I can't really say as it isn't my school, look I'll leave Cathys number with you and if you want you can call her'

'Can you do it just now?' Victoria asked as if scared

'Yes, yes of course' Mrs Beck took her phone and dialled the number

'Victoria, do you think this is right?'

'Conner, you know how much Magdalene loves to dance and sing, this will be great for her, and we know she's getting looked after'

'Yeah,' Conner nodded his head 'but she'll be away from home'

'She'll be fine'

Just then Mrs Beck came back in

'You have a meeting tomorrow morning, I'll meet you there at 10:30 bring Magdalene with you, I've managed to get the price down by 40%, you will not regret this' she smiled

'Thats great' Victoria grinned

'I'll see myself out,' Mrs Beck said still smiling just as she came down the stairs she saw and heard Zain reading Magdalene a story, this made her smile grow more 'I'll meet you tomorrow Magdalene, your parents seem keen'

~~~0~~~O~~~0~~~

The next morning Conner, Magdalene and Victoria all set off to S.C.A. To see Cathy, Magdalene spoke about it the whole journey there, it was a grand building with beautiful architect and magnificent details, both Conner and Victoria were stunned, walking
into the entrance they took in the architect, no words could describe it

'Welcome, you must be Mr and Mrs Defoe,' a beautiful young woman came to their attention 'you must be Magdalene, I've heard so much about you, I'm Cathy, I'll be your guidance and I'll be your main teacher, I'm also the headmistress...if you'd all like
to follow me into my office, just so we can sort stuff out' she smiled, Conner followed with Magdalene and Victoria behind him

'This is a gorgeous Building' Victoria said looking around as they sat down in the office

'Edwardian. My great, great grandfather was an architect and poet...lucky enough it was passed on down to me, I took my love of dance, music and languages and made it a school but as you've probably been told only the exceptionally talented attend, we
only have one more singer, a tenor, he's flew from Germany, we have 7 girls and 3 boys in ballet and a mix of wonderful musicians, you'll learn languages of your choice, basic math and literature'

'Wow, that's-thats great,' Conner said pushing up his glasses 'we were told about some 40% discount' he continued anxiously

'Rosa, Mrs Beck had a conversation last night, I understand everything and I know money isn't great for everyone right now, I don't usually give discounts but your daughter is an exception, she'll be well looked after here and I'll take extra care of
her, you see my sister was blind and...the epidemic...we lost her'

'I'm so sorry' Victoria's hand flew to cover her mouth

'No,no it's alright, she's in a far better place now...So Magdalene do you want to follow me and I'll show you around' Magdalene smiled and nodded

'That'd be nice' Magdalene got off the chair with the help of her stick, Conner held her little hand and followed Cathy around, after the tour around the school, Conner and Victoria were certain they wanted Magdalene to attend, she was to start the following
week.