She knew she wasn't going to stay in the orphanage
they put her in to begin with. She was Maria DeLucca,
and she was rich…and her family was powerful. This
was just an inconvenient stop on the road to comfort
and normalcy again.
If there was only one phrase that could describe Maria
DeLucca, it was "Does Not Play Well With Others."
Maria had never been exposed to other children much,
besides the failed school attempt, she had been holed
up in her Washington nursery. She was not used to
sharing all her toys and playthings.
Naturally, this caused trouble with the other
children.
It was Paulie who thought of the nickname first.
Paulie was a tough, solid built little boy, who was
the biggest bully in the orphanage. Nobody liked him
much, but nobody was foolish enough to get in his way.
Except Maria, who didn't grasp what danger was.
Maria was playing by herself, pushing around dirt and
stones, imaging a beautiful garden.
"Hey DeLucca- why don't you knock yourself in the head
with those rocks!"
Maria stood up and yelled at Paulie. "Go away. I
don't like boys! Go away!"
For a moment, it looked like Paulie was going to hit
Maria. Instead he taunted her.
"Maria Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row?"
He continued to sing it, and Maria got mad. Madder
with each verse of his taunt.
Finally she slugged him.
Paulie pulled himself off the ground and wiped his
bloody lip. "I'm glad you're being sent home soon."
"What are you talking about? Where is home?"
"What an idiot!" Paulie crooned. "She doesn't know
where home is!" He laughed. "It's Roswell, dummy.
I
was from there originally. And your uncle lives there.
Mr. James Valenti."
"I don't know anything about him."
"Of course you don't. Girls never do. He lives in a
big house out in the country. He's rich. But he's a
hunchback. He's cross, and he won't let anyone near
him."
"I don't believe you!" Maria exclaimed. She stuck
her fingers in her ears and would not listen to
anymore.
So it was not a surprise, when the next afternoon,
when Sister Toplosky told her she would be traveling
to Roswell. She looked so stubborn and uninterested
that they did not know what to do with her. They
tried to be nice to her, but Maria stiffened and kept
her difference from the rest.
"She's such a plain child." Toplosky sighed, watching
the girl board the plain. "And her mother was so
pretty- and had the most impeccable manners I ever saw
in a person. But Maria has the most horrid habits
I've ever seen. The Children call her "Maria Mary,
quite contrary", and one can't help but understand
why."
"Perhaps, if her mother had brought her pretty face
and manners into the nursery, Maria would be beautiful
too. It's such a sad thing. Such a beautiful thing
is gone, and practically no one knew she even had a
child." Sister Courtney replied.
Maria made the voyage to Roswell under the care of a
FBI agent, not the nice lady or man who had found her,
but another guy in a suit. There were so many of them
in Washington.
She was retrieved by Mistress Tess, the housekeeper.
"My word! She's a bit plain, isn't she?" Tess
remarked at the sight of her. "And we'd heard that her
mother was quite a beauty. She hasn't inherited
much."
"Perhaps she'll improve as she grows older."
"There's not much to improve children at
Misselthwaite, believe me." Tess said.
They thought Maria was not listening, because she was
standing by the door of the airport, watching the cars
go by. But she was listening. Years of hushed tones
and being ignored had taught Maria to listen
carefully.
She thought Mistress Tess to be the most disagreeable
person she had met, and sat as far away from her as
she could in the limo.
But Mistress Tess was the sort of woman who would not
take any crap off of "little ones". She was happy
with her position at Misselthwaite, and was not going
to do anything that might compromise her position. So
she would bring up Maria to be a lady, if it was the
last thing she ever did.
Maria sat in the corner of the limo, bored to death.
She didn't have anything to read or color, and she was
bored. Watching the desert go by was not terribly
exciting. And she hated the black dress they made her
wear. She liked colors, pretty colors, like purple,
red, blue, and green. Not black. Black was ugly.
Tess sighed. She had never seen such a silent child
before. She sat perfectly still without doing
anything. And that was a skill she herself was yet to
master. Tess grew tired of the silence, and spoke up.
"I suppose I might tell you a bit about where you are
going. What do you know?"
"Nothing."
"You don't remember your mother and father ever
talking about your uncle?"
"No" Maria frowned. She frowned because her mother
and father never talked to her. Certainly they never
told her anything about the family.
"Hmmph" Tess exclaimed. "I guess I might explain
some then. You are about to go to quite a wonky
place."
"Not that it's a big old place, and Mr. Valenti's
happy about it in his own way, and that's just gloomy
as well. The house is a hundred years old, and is on
the edge of the desert. There's near a hundred rooms
in the house, but most are locked up. And there's
pictures and furniture that have been there for ages,
and there's a small park around the house…with….but
there's nothing else."
Maria had begun to listen in spite of herself. It
sounded so unlike Washington. And new sounded
exciting…something new…adventures like in books! But
she wasn't about to look interested. So she just sat
still.
"So, what do you think of it?" Tess asked.
Maria sighed. "It doesn't matter if I care or not,
does it?"
"You're right there. You'll be kept at the manor, but
the master doesn't trouble himself about anyone…not
even.." Tess stopped as if she was about to reveal
something she shouldn't.
"He's got a crooked back. Fell while on the job.
That set him back for awhile. But his marriage was
happy."
Maria turned towards her, losing the illusion of
disinterest she'd managed to build so far.
Tess saw Maria's eyes light up and continued her tale.
"She was a sweet, pretty, young thing. Wouldn't harm
a thing. He would have done anything for her. People
thought she just married him for the money, but they
were happy…and then she died…" Tess trailed off.
Maria jumped involuntarily. "Oh, did she die?" It
reminded her of a French fairy tale she had read once,
where a fairy fell in love with a hunchback.
"Yes, she died. And it made him weirder than ever.
He won't see anybody, he cares about nobody. Most of
the time he goes away, and he won't let anybody but
Alex, his servant, see him. When he's home, he's in
the West Wing, and nowhere else. Don't expect to see
him. You'll be told which rooms you can go in, and
which you can't. That simple. And don't go nosing
around. Mr. Valenti won't have it."
Maria turned her face to the window, and stared at the
dust. She soon fell asleep.