Chapter 3
The tall butler smiled to himself at the city girl's frustration and disappointment. There would be a lot of new changes for her to adapt to in her new home and he would just sit back and enjoy all of them. He had been a 'hired hand' for Miss Li for a number of years, more than he could recall clearly. His family had been in service to hers for as long as his oldest relative could even remember, and being the youngest, he now had to work for the successor to the Li family name.
"In just a few minutes, you should be able to see the gates to Miss Li's home," he mentioned to his passenger as if their drive had only been a few short minutes previously.
The City Girl, as the butler found himself referring to her as stood up in her seat as the wrought iron gates came into view. She looked at the place and whistled low, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand to get a look at the grounds around the home.
"Home my ass, this place is a mansion," Kita said, leaning forward in the seat.
"Welcome to Li Manor, this will be your new home from now on."
Kita turned to the dark clad driver. "I never knew my mother hung out with such high class people, I can get used to this."
The Manor was a two leveled building with a main entrance and two wings that reached out until the forest came up to meet them on the sides. A series of large oriental arches enclosed the stone walkway to the front doors. The entire home was painted a warm beige, and over the windows were crimson shutters. A small stream trickled underneath a small bridge just before the front door and disappeared into the forest. The roof of the manor bored deep red tiles, and each corner of the roof angled gently upward.
The carriage stopped at the bottom of the walkway to let its occupants out. Kita looked up the gentle hill and the many stone steps to the front door, and glanced back at her luggage. She then turned to look at the butler with a look of utter horror. She grew angry as the man smiled kindly at her.
"The steps are good for your heart, I suggest you start walking."
Kita stared after the butler as he took the steps like they were nothing, and he was still lugging her baggage, one suitcase under each arm. She sighed, she was used to taking taxis and the subway everywhere, but she guessed she could make an exception just this once and walk up the steps.
The door to the manor was opened and two smiling faces were there to greet the travelers before either reached the door. The first out the door was a young girl about Kita's height with black hair down to the middle of her back. Her hair was pulled up to form two meatball looking buns on the sides of her head, with the rest of her hair hanging down from them. Kita stared at her as she bound down the stone steps. No, Kita corrected herself, this girl didn't bound down the steps in a happy bubbly kind of way, she bounced down them, as if each step was spring loaded. Kita smiled to herself as she thought about the girl being launched into the air and hitting her head on one of the archways. That would make her bounce a little less, Kita thought.
The next woman out the door was dressed in an elegant kimono of dark blue and green. This woman had the air of riches and royalty about her. However, there was a smile on her face too. To Kita's relief, this woman did no bouncing of any kind, instead, she seemed to glide down the sloping steps. It didn't seem to matter to her that the steps were rough stone, nor that they slanted on the hill, she walked over all of them as if they were smooth as glass. The woman stopped to say something quietly to the butler, who turned around to face Kita once he was well behind the woman and her train of silk. The bouncy girl stopped, turned around, and bounced to the elegant woman's side.
"You must be Miss Kita Kinomoto. You have already met my hired hand, Zima, and this is my niece, Meilin, she motioned towards the girl who had stopped bouncing for the time being. I am Funaho Li, and I would like to welcome you to Li Manor." The woman bowed slightly and outstretched her arm, motioning towards the home and grounds behind her.
