Disclaimer: Disney owns Disney. Bronte wrote Jane Eyre. I just happen to
come up with the idea to combine two of my favorite things to create this
story. So, yes, it's not all that original. So sue me.
Chapter 2
Jane's eyes closed and reopened a thousand times the night before she was scheduled to leave the Delancey home. She had dreamt of attending school for some time now, and though the School for the Children of God and its headmaster Lawrence Snyder were not what she had envisioned, her heart beat wildly with anticipation. Just when her eyes would slowly close, another question would spring into her mind and jolt her back into consciousness. Would the instructors be gentle and patient, or would they carry wooden sticks and beat her if she answered incorrectly? Would the children be kind and befriend her, or would they think her plain and taunt her in the same manner as Oscar? The prospect of meeting children her own age was the most thrilling of all of the possibilities she had conjured up in her imagination. Other than Oscar, and his slightly more docile older brother, Morris, she could not name another under the age of fifteen whom she had exchanged more than a polite greeting with.
Morning came, and despite her lack of sleep, Jane Beck was wide-eyed and alert when she was called to the front hall. Her unruly brown curls bounced with each step that led to her future. She took a deep breath as she rounded the corner to the richly decorated entrance way. A tall, skinny man with a crutch and hair nearly as wiry as her own stood next to Constance's maid, Louisa. Louisa handed Jane a carpet bag with her few possessions as she looked up at the man before her.
"Ah, this must be the young Jane Beck." The man said in a pleasant, nasal voice.
Jane blinked, surprised at his affable tone, but then remembered her manners. She curtseyed as best she could. "Yes, sir. I am Jane Beck."
"Well, then, Jane, I am Mr. Davies, and I am here to bring you to school." He smiled, revealing a slightly imperfect set of teeth.
Jane felt her heart rise to her throat with excitement, and it was all she could do to manage a slight nod.
"Your servant, Miss." Mr. Davies bowed as Louisa opened the door.
Jane followed the limping man to an awaiting carriage. As the driver started them off along the path to the School for the Children of God, Jane fairly shivered with excitement.
"Were you happy at the Delancey home, Jane?" Mr. Davies asked.
"No, sir. I most certainly was not."
"Did they treat you very badly?"
"Yes, sir. I don't suppose I will ever forgive them." The sudden ferocity in the small girl's voice made the hair on the back of Mr. Davies' neck prickle.
"Those are very strong words, Miss Beck." He responded.
"Well, they are very bad people, Mr. Davies." She said firmly, her eyes meeting his.
Charles Davies had been at the school for nine years, and he had seen children of every size and shape come through the system. Their faces had, at this point, all meshed together to form one, generic visage. Somehow, though, Mr. Davies knew that he would never forget the determined face of Jane Beck, and her haunting brown eyes.
"I can't say that you will love the school, Jane, but I can promise you that if you work very hard and do as you're told, you will find this sort of living much more satisfying than the life you led with your Aunt Constance." Mr. Davies explained.
"Are the children very friendly?" Jane asked softly.
"Children are children, Jane. Some of them are friendly, and some of them are not. But, I can assure you that you will meet many friends."
A smile stretched across Jane's pale face, the first that Mr. Davies had seen. That tiny change in her expression made her seem slightly less plain to Mr. Davies. He knew that this child would never be a beauty. Her nose was far too wide, she lacked a distinguished chin, and her frailness made her seem almost ghostly-but that single smile somehow helped to draw attention away from those flaws.
"I should like to make friends very much."
The carriage came to a stop eventually, and Jane found herself taking very small steps (in order to stay at the same pace as Mr. Davies and his crutch), into the looming stone building that was to be her new home.
"Jane, one of the older students will be sent to help you with your things and show you to your cot. Master Snyder will introduce you to the other students at the midday meal, which is held promptly at twelve o'clock. That will be followed by a half hour of leisure time, and classes will resume once again at one. Welcome, Miss Beck."
Until next time. Please review! I don't think that chapter is as strong as I would have liked, and I might go back and do some editing, so let me know what you think!
Some SOs:
Sapphy: Weasel is most certainly NOT Jane's father. He was the uncle that nobody talked about, I suppose. Heh. And your dearest Ershey shall be appearing in the next chapter. Ooh, and Helen (aside from Jane) was always my favorite character in Jane Eyre, too!
Josephine August: Jane's gonna get some more butt kickage action in the next chapter. Woot woot! Thanks again for letting me use her in my little story!
Trolley: Aww.thanks! Yippy skippy right on back to ya!
Eire: Thanks ever so much for reviewing and being so dang nice! :)
Serina: Thanks! Yeah, when I was thinking about who would be John Reed, Oscar immediately popped into my head. It worked well, I thought. You'll have to wait and see who some of the other characters: Mr. Mason, St. John, etc. are.heh heh. I'm having a blast writing this thing!
Maverick: Your FB means so much to me because I absolutely HEART your fics! I hope you'll keep on reading!
Ershey: Thanks tonnage! Look for your appearance in the next chapter. I was going to make this chapter longer and include her introduction, but I decided otherwise. I hope you keep sane with all of your busy-ness!
Blaze: Thanks! If I don't do it before my next update, I've been planning on reading Blaze of Glory all the way through.I've read the beginning and I love it, but I've yet to have a real sit down and read time to finish it. So yes, if I haven't reviewed by the time I next update this thing, give me a swift kick and I shall!
Matches: No, thank YOU! :-)
Spunk: Well, that will probably come in either chapter 4 or chapter 5. Keep on readin'!
Morning Dew: ¡Gracias! *gasp* Austen is another one of my favorite authors! Mr. Darcy rocks my spock! Erm, thanks again!
Puck: Thank ye for reading it and liking it! Woot woot!
Chapter 2
Jane's eyes closed and reopened a thousand times the night before she was scheduled to leave the Delancey home. She had dreamt of attending school for some time now, and though the School for the Children of God and its headmaster Lawrence Snyder were not what she had envisioned, her heart beat wildly with anticipation. Just when her eyes would slowly close, another question would spring into her mind and jolt her back into consciousness. Would the instructors be gentle and patient, or would they carry wooden sticks and beat her if she answered incorrectly? Would the children be kind and befriend her, or would they think her plain and taunt her in the same manner as Oscar? The prospect of meeting children her own age was the most thrilling of all of the possibilities she had conjured up in her imagination. Other than Oscar, and his slightly more docile older brother, Morris, she could not name another under the age of fifteen whom she had exchanged more than a polite greeting with.
Morning came, and despite her lack of sleep, Jane Beck was wide-eyed and alert when she was called to the front hall. Her unruly brown curls bounced with each step that led to her future. She took a deep breath as she rounded the corner to the richly decorated entrance way. A tall, skinny man with a crutch and hair nearly as wiry as her own stood next to Constance's maid, Louisa. Louisa handed Jane a carpet bag with her few possessions as she looked up at the man before her.
"Ah, this must be the young Jane Beck." The man said in a pleasant, nasal voice.
Jane blinked, surprised at his affable tone, but then remembered her manners. She curtseyed as best she could. "Yes, sir. I am Jane Beck."
"Well, then, Jane, I am Mr. Davies, and I am here to bring you to school." He smiled, revealing a slightly imperfect set of teeth.
Jane felt her heart rise to her throat with excitement, and it was all she could do to manage a slight nod.
"Your servant, Miss." Mr. Davies bowed as Louisa opened the door.
Jane followed the limping man to an awaiting carriage. As the driver started them off along the path to the School for the Children of God, Jane fairly shivered with excitement.
"Were you happy at the Delancey home, Jane?" Mr. Davies asked.
"No, sir. I most certainly was not."
"Did they treat you very badly?"
"Yes, sir. I don't suppose I will ever forgive them." The sudden ferocity in the small girl's voice made the hair on the back of Mr. Davies' neck prickle.
"Those are very strong words, Miss Beck." He responded.
"Well, they are very bad people, Mr. Davies." She said firmly, her eyes meeting his.
Charles Davies had been at the school for nine years, and he had seen children of every size and shape come through the system. Their faces had, at this point, all meshed together to form one, generic visage. Somehow, though, Mr. Davies knew that he would never forget the determined face of Jane Beck, and her haunting brown eyes.
"I can't say that you will love the school, Jane, but I can promise you that if you work very hard and do as you're told, you will find this sort of living much more satisfying than the life you led with your Aunt Constance." Mr. Davies explained.
"Are the children very friendly?" Jane asked softly.
"Children are children, Jane. Some of them are friendly, and some of them are not. But, I can assure you that you will meet many friends."
A smile stretched across Jane's pale face, the first that Mr. Davies had seen. That tiny change in her expression made her seem slightly less plain to Mr. Davies. He knew that this child would never be a beauty. Her nose was far too wide, she lacked a distinguished chin, and her frailness made her seem almost ghostly-but that single smile somehow helped to draw attention away from those flaws.
"I should like to make friends very much."
The carriage came to a stop eventually, and Jane found herself taking very small steps (in order to stay at the same pace as Mr. Davies and his crutch), into the looming stone building that was to be her new home.
"Jane, one of the older students will be sent to help you with your things and show you to your cot. Master Snyder will introduce you to the other students at the midday meal, which is held promptly at twelve o'clock. That will be followed by a half hour of leisure time, and classes will resume once again at one. Welcome, Miss Beck."
Until next time. Please review! I don't think that chapter is as strong as I would have liked, and I might go back and do some editing, so let me know what you think!
Some SOs:
Sapphy: Weasel is most certainly NOT Jane's father. He was the uncle that nobody talked about, I suppose. Heh. And your dearest Ershey shall be appearing in the next chapter. Ooh, and Helen (aside from Jane) was always my favorite character in Jane Eyre, too!
Josephine August: Jane's gonna get some more butt kickage action in the next chapter. Woot woot! Thanks again for letting me use her in my little story!
Trolley: Aww.thanks! Yippy skippy right on back to ya!
Eire: Thanks ever so much for reviewing and being so dang nice! :)
Serina: Thanks! Yeah, when I was thinking about who would be John Reed, Oscar immediately popped into my head. It worked well, I thought. You'll have to wait and see who some of the other characters: Mr. Mason, St. John, etc. are.heh heh. I'm having a blast writing this thing!
Maverick: Your FB means so much to me because I absolutely HEART your fics! I hope you'll keep on reading!
Ershey: Thanks tonnage! Look for your appearance in the next chapter. I was going to make this chapter longer and include her introduction, but I decided otherwise. I hope you keep sane with all of your busy-ness!
Blaze: Thanks! If I don't do it before my next update, I've been planning on reading Blaze of Glory all the way through.I've read the beginning and I love it, but I've yet to have a real sit down and read time to finish it. So yes, if I haven't reviewed by the time I next update this thing, give me a swift kick and I shall!
Matches: No, thank YOU! :-)
Spunk: Well, that will probably come in either chapter 4 or chapter 5. Keep on readin'!
Morning Dew: ¡Gracias! *gasp* Austen is another one of my favorite authors! Mr. Darcy rocks my spock! Erm, thanks again!
Puck: Thank ye for reading it and liking it! Woot woot!