A/N: I don't own anyone except Claire...Enjoy.

The chandelier fell, slicing through the painted plaster ceiling. Claire ducked below her seat as one of the crystal ornaments grazed her head. Then there was fire, fire everywhere. As the smoke filled her eyes she looked around frantically for her father. She spotted him near the back of the theatre and blindly made her way towards him. People kept crashing into her as they ran past. No matter how hard she tried Claire couldn't run fast enough, it was like there were lead weights attached to her legs. Finally she reached the door and stumbled out of the opera house and into the blinding summer light. Then she saw it, just before it passed the corner, the wagon carrying her father's open coffin.

"NNNOOOOOOO, Papa!!!!" she screamed.

Suddenly strong arms grasped her shoulders.

"Don't worry child" sneered the voice. "I'll be your father now."

Claire spun around to face her step-father.

Then she heard them, the carriage wheels rolling across the cobblestones.

"Ah" her step-father said menacingly. "Here's the carriage to carry us home."

"NO!!!!!!!!!" she yelled and tried in vain to struggle against him.

With the light beginning to fade one last thought passed through Claire's mind, "this is the point of no return."

Claire sat blot upright, and looked around. The stable she had hidden in was much larger than she had realized in the dark. The first rays of dawn were coming in through the high windows illuminated six ornately carved stalls. She shook head as if to shake off the dream, the same one which she had for the last two years. As sleep began to recede from her mind she realized what had awoken her, the sound of carriage wheels. Nervously she looked around for a place to hide and finally decided on the stall at the end of the stable.

As Claire, with some difficulty, climbed over the gate she hoped to God that the horse inside was friendly. Crouching down and covering herself with hay she was relieved to see that the horse took no notice of her. After a few moments she heard the carriage coming closer and turned to watch it through a crack in the wood as it climbed up the gentle slope towards a large mansion. In the distance she heard the carriage door close and the front door of the house open. As soon as it closed the carriage took off again, this time heading directly towards the stable. Claire fidgeted nervously with the edge of her dress as she heard it stop right outside. Peaking through the hay and the boards of the stall she saw a tall thin man pull the stable doors opened and lead two horses inside. As the man put the equipment away Claire could see that he was on the verge of being elderly with grey hair and a wrinkled face. The look in his blue eyes showed a mix of fear and fatigue, as if he had just been through a stressful ordeal.

As soon as he locked the horses in their stalls and left, a middle aged woman entered carrying two pails of oats. She moved towards Claire's stall and opened the door. Claire held her breath, praying that the woman would not spot her. Although, in a sense she almost wished she would; Claire missed human contact and had reached the point where she would actually enjoy becoming a servant in a wealthy household. Claire smiled to herself, so much had changed in so short a time. As it was, Claire got her wish, for as the woman held up the bucket the horse spooked and began to stamp around the stall. As it neared the back corner Claire was left with no choice but to roll out of the way. She stood up and quickly, ducking the horse's head ran out of the stall.

"What's this?" the woman said with a twinkle in her eyes. "A stow away?"

Claire noticed that the woman was slightly rotund, with deep brown hair and warm and friendly face.

"More like a run-a-away" Claire replied with a grin.

The woman returned the grin, noting the young girl's beauty, slim figure, and her bruises.

"Ah, I see" she said returning to feed the now calm horse. "And where might this run-a-away be from?"

Claire was silent for a moment.

These people are rural servants, if I tell them I'm from Paris they may shun me."

"The Loire valley" she lied.

Deciding to help Claire picked up the other pail of oats and began to feed another horse.

"And does the run-a-away have a name?"

"Claire" she replied, enjoying the woman's kind disposition.

"And you are?" Claire asked.

"Rachel!" cried the old man.

"Yes Claude?"

"Who is this?" he asked, eying Claire suspiciously.

"Claire. Our newest servant" she replied calmly, ignoring the growing look of worry in Claude's eyes.

Claire blinked in surprise.

"Well YOU had better go and check it over with the Master, you know he does not like having too many servants" he said.

"Alright I will, just as soon as we're finished here and I get her all cleaned up."

Once they had finished cleaning the stables Claire and Rachel sat down to a lunch of fresh baked bread and cheese. Claire ate hungrily, not caring if she appeared rude or not.

"Are we going to meet the Master now?" Claire asked, eager to know if she had a home, and could finally stop running.

"No, you will see him tonight, he is awake at night" Rachel said, looking away.

"Alright" Claire replied slowly, now extremely curious to know what kind of man he was. "Why is he only awake at night?"

"So" Rachel said, ignoring her question and deciding it was time to change the subject. "Why and from what did you run away?"

Claire sighed and stared at her hands.

"I-"

"Claire, Rachel" called Claude as he made his way towards them. "The Master wishes the house to be cleaned and for it to be finished before nightfall so that he will not be disturbed when he gets home. He also said that it will be fine to keep another servant girl."

"Thank you Claude" Rachel said.

Claire felt a tinge of disappointment at not at least being able to meet this strange man. They finished their lunch and followed Claude up the slope. As they reached the top Claire was finally able to see the house by the light of day. During the previous night it had simply appeared as a black mass rising out of the ground, but now she could see that it was a beautiful grey stone home which looked like a cross between a manor and a castle. As they neared the large oak front doors Claire could see that all the drapes were drawn.

"Odd" she thought, especially since it was a beautiful sunny summer day.

They did not however enter the front doors, but instead went around the side to the servants entrance. Claude led them down a narrow stone hallway filled with several doors.

"I will show you your quarters later" he said.

He was now walking through the house at a brisk pace, and Claire was forced to jog to keep up. They passed rooms filled with beautiful paintings and tapestries, columns of polished marble and furniture of the finest woods.

"This is the most beautiful home I've ever seen" she thought to herself. "The only problem is that it's so dark."

And it was very dark, with heavy burgundy curtains covering all the windows and the only light coming from the odd candle. Finally Claude stopped them in a huge parlor with a grand piano in the corner of the room.

"Claire, you are to dust and polish this room, then you will come to see me in the library and help me there. The library is upstairs on your left. Claire, are you listening to me?"

"Uh, what? Oh, I'm sorry" she replied, tearing her eyes away from the piano.

She had never been able to play very well and had given it up long ago, but she would still play sometimes, when no one was home.

Claude repeated the instructions and then added sternly. "Do not touch the piano except to clean it, do NOT play it."

Claire nodded as he shoved a bucket of cleaning supplies into her hands. Rachel gave her a weak smile and followed Claude out the door and closing it softly behind her. Having never done much cleaning before Claire was uncertain where to begin. She gazed around the room looking for a place to start. The high ceiling room contained a black leather couch centered between two mahogany chairs which were padded in ornate embroidery. There was a tapestry on the wall depicting a lord and lady on a beautiful summer picnic and on the floor an oriental carpet of green, blue and black. The focus of the room however, was not the beautiful furniture, but the large black grand piano that stood in the corner, silent and inviting. Claire decided, since it was the nicest piece in the room that she would clean it last.

Three hours later she was finished dusting, cleaning the floor and polishing the wood and silver. With the large curtains closed Claire had lost all sense of time, and it was only as the sun was beginning to set that she made her way to the piano. She ran her hands over its smooth black surface before picking up her dusting cloth. Half an hour later a yawn escaped her mouth as she finished dusting the last leg. Straightening up she gazed nervously at the keys, her hands unconsciously twisting the cloth. She dusted the first key, pressing it down lightly, unable to resist. The perfect middle C echoed through the room. To Claire it was the most beautiful sound she had heard in a long time. Slowly she moved up the scale, pushing each note down gently. Suddenly an idea struck her, and she smiled in the candlelight.

Instead of dusting the keys in order she would play a tune as she worked. Quietly Pachabel's Canon in D major resonated throughout the room. Claire was just about to start a new bar when the door burst open. She spun around.

"What are you doing?" said a man's voice.