Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this novel. They belong to Frances Hodgson Burnett. Note: This book is based off of the MOVIE "The Secret Garden" (1993 Warner Bros. Version starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, Maggie Smith, and John Lynch) not the Book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Chapter 1: Lord Craven's News

Mary Lennox-Craven lazily brought a hand up to her face to shield the mid- morning sun from her eyes as she lay in her oversized bed that was fit for royalty. She rolled over on her mattress to face the window noticing that the weather was no longer cloudy and rainy, as it had been for the previous three days. She smiled to herself as she rose to walk towards the shower. She was a young woman of about sixteen now and her features were beginning to shape her natural beauty. Her hair was now long, strait, and significantly darker than when she had first come to Misselthwaite.

As she began to dress herself in a lilac colored spring dress, she bumped her night table, causing her truck less ivory elephant to rock, which now sat openly on display. She gasped as she reached a hand out to steady the animal, and then let out a sigh of relief.

In a wing on the other end of Misselthwaite manor was an identical ivory elephant which still maintained its trunk sitting on the night table of young Colin Craven's night table, as he too had been awoken by the morning sun and was now fully dressed. Colin picked up his elephant and raised it to eye level as he thought back to when his adopted sister Mary had handed it to him for the first time. Their father, Archibald Craven, had opened his widow's bedroom and allowed Colin to visit as well as her garden after his reunion with his son six years before. Both now stayed open and accessible to everyone.

Colin shook himself as he heard his sister's voice calling from the corridor "Colin? Are you awake yet, Colin? The sun is shining." Colin smiled and hastily set down his elephant, pausing for a moment to steady it. With a sigh he ran to open his bedroom door to greet Mary.

"Colin!" she said "Did you see? Did you look outside?"

"Yes, hurry up lets go!"

Colin and Mary ran down the levels of stairs until they were in the main foyer of Misselthwaite. "We'll be in the garden if you need us!" They yelled as they ran past the head housekeeper Martha on their way out of the giant doors.

Waiting for them under a giant tree on his snowy white pony, was Dickon. As often happened with Dickon, there were many animals nearby. A family of sheep were huddled near the trunk of the giant tree, while a variety of birds sat pirched in the branches.

"Colin! Mary! Isn't this weather wonderful? Hurry up. The garden's bound to be blossoming splendidly after a good rain!" He leapt off his horse and ran to join them in running around the bend to the entrance of the garden.

The door now sat propped permanently open. Ben had seen to it that the door never be shut again by lodging a particularly large bolder in its path. As they jogged through the other gardens towards the door, birds scattered, startled by the sound of the three friends' running. As Mary entered the doorway behind Colin (since he was by far the fastest runner of the three) she slammed into the back of her brother only to be followed by the blow of Dickon crashing into her back. "Colin! What's the matter? Why did you stop so quickly?"

"Look!" He had said while pointing in front of him.

Mary and Dickon collectively gasped as their jaws nearly hit the garden floor. The garden was bursting with life and color. Flowers; that was all that they could see for as far as their eyes could see. Tulips, Daisies, and Lilacs. More roses than the three of them knew what to do with. The friends stood and stared in awe for what must have been minutes. As they smiled and turned to look knowingly at each other, they knew their hard work before the storms had paid off.

**

"Ain't she a beaut?"

Mary, Colin, and Dickon turned around as they heard their friend and gardening partner Ben's voice from behind them. "I wondered when you three would be showing up? Must have slept in." He said this last part with a grin. The old man was standing in the doorway leaning on a garden shovel which was planted firmly in the ground. He began to approach them, leaving the handle pointing strait in the air. "Did you see all them roses?" He asked excitedly.

"I know their lovely." Said Mary.

"Did you weed the tulips?" Asked Colin.

"S'all taken care of, Master Colin."

"Did you bring the bulbs?" Mary asked.

"Sure did Miss Mary." He said stepping aside and holding out an arm to reveal a wheelbarrow that stood propped in the doorway behind the shovel.

Dickon ran to the wheelbarrow and began to wheel it as the rest of the company began to walk further into the garden. Dickon walked next to Mary after they had reached the area of the garden they were to be planting in, and placed an arm around her shoulder. "You look very pretty today, Mary"

"Thank you, Dickon"

He looked down, leaving the brim of his hat to block his blushing face. "I got these for you this morning." He held out a hand full of randomly assorted flowers that still had the dirt filled roots dangling from the tips. "I picked them from the garden next to this one."

"Thank you, Dickon" Mary said, awkwardly scrunching her face while trying to put the flowers in her basket without getting dirt all down the front of her dress. She knew, however, that it was a futile effort for she'd be covered in dirt in a few short moments when they began to plant the new flower bulbs.

After placing the flowers safely inside the basket she looked up and Dickon and smiled. Dickon gazed into her eyes smiling back brightly.

"Hey!" cried Colin in a rather irritated tone of voice. "Are you two gonna help or what?"

Ben and Colin where already down on their hands and knees digging in the damp soil. Mary gave one last giggle and skipped over in her brother's direction.

Since the garden had been consuming most of their time, Mary had brought sandwiches for the group that Martha had made them when she saw the rain had gone. But at dinner time, Mary and Colin were obligated to return to the manor to dine with their father. This had become an every day occasion since Lord Craven's reunion with his son, and the adoption of his former niece, Mary.

Lord Craven never spent much time away from the manor anymore. This made Colin very happy since he hadn't met his father until he was ten years of age. Although, Colin was a weak baby, he had grown into a slightly above average-sized young man. Since he had learned to walk, he had developed muscles in not only his legs but other parts of his body as well. He had also grown nearly two feet in height, most of which was between the ages thirteen and fourteen.

"Hello, father" Colin and Mary said as they entered the dining hall for supper.

"Hello, children." He said, rising to embrace them in a fatherly hug. "You look more like your mother every day, Colin"

Colin smiled as he took his place next to the head of the table where his father sat. It was true. Colin had grown to look more and more like his mother, now that he did not look weak all of the time. In fact, he and Mary looked a great deal alike now days. Given that their biological mothers were identical twins, this was not unusual for two people who were blood cousins.

"How does the garden look? I meant to get out there today and see it but I got caught up in work" Lord Craven was saying as he pulled his chair in beneath him.

Mary and Colin began talking rapidly at once. "Oh its beautiful father you must come see it tomorrow..." said Mary.

"Oh father there are tulips and roses and..." Colin began.

"One at a time, please." Lord Craven said as he laughed heartily.

With that Mary began again "Everything's blooming so beautifully, father. All the hard work we did paid off. Ben says the new flowers we planted today should be blooming in no time as well."

"Father," Colin cut in, "You will come see it tomorrow, won't you?"

"I will try my best, son. You know I'm a busy man. But I promise I will see it before it begins to hibernate for the winter."

Colin looked down into his soup that had just been placed in front of him by Mrs. Medlock, who was now filling Martha's old position as the deputy housekeeper. She and Martha had more or less changed places.

Colin didn't like how much his father worked. If he had his way, his father would spend all day every day with Mary and him. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know what his father was working on, or why he worked. They were extremely wealthy and didn't need the income. Colin then looked over at Mary, as she slowly sipped her soup. She looked up at met Colin's gaze, causing him to quickly turn away.

Lord Craven cleared his throat. "We will be having a guest arriving tomorrow." This pronouncement was followed by a long silence. Colin and Mary looked up from their soup and across the table at each other, and then to their father.

"Who is it father?" , asked Mary, "there hasn't been a visitor to Misselthwaite for...years!"

Lord Craven smiled. "Now now Mary where are your manors? You will find out who our guest is when she arrives tomorrow."

"She?" asked Colin.

"Tomorrow, Colin"

"How long will she be staying father?" Mary asked.

"It hasn't been decided yet. A week, a month, perhaps longer. We shall have to see," With that the conversation was finished.

After supper Colin and Mary began up the stairs to finish their homework and get ready for bed. It was Tuesday evening, which meant that their homework was due the next morning, because the headmistress from the village school only came to the manor to home school the children on Monday and Wednesday. Colin and Mary tended to put off their homework until the night before it was due, owing to the extensive amount of time they spent in the garden.

That night as Mary lie awake in bed staring at the ceiling, she thought to herself, "Who could it be? She?" She rolled over and closed her eyes.

"Mary?" She heard a whisper coming from the direction of her bedroom door. She sat up, startled, and reached for the lantern on her bedside table. As a figure entered the range of light, she placed her hand over her heart.

"Colin. It's you."

"Sorry I scared you. I couldn't sleep."

"You too, huh?"

"Yes, its father's guest. Who do you suppose it could be?"

"Hmm. I don't know, Colin. I've tried to think who it would be and I can't come up with anything. Can you?"

Colin shook his head. "No. I've got nothing."

They stared at each other for a moment with puzzled expressions on their face. Then the silence was broken when Mary yawned.

"Colin it's late. I've got to sleep and so do you. Madam Andrews will be here at 8am sharp. Have you finished your arithmetic homework?"

"Yes, all done. Well, good night, Mary."

Colin turned and left, and Mary's room was soon again in total darkness.