Her eyes flicked open to the familiar sound of the alarm clock going off by her bedside. Annie James reached out of the warm comfort of her duvet to turn it off, it was the first day of the summer holidays, she deserved to rest! Her mind drifted back to the previous days events. It had been her last day of the year at school and things had been great. Lessons has been canceled in favour of a school wide sports day, followed by an end of year awards ceremony. Annie grinned, remembering the way she had triumphed over Millicent Jones in the fencing competition to win top prize, which coincidentally had been a renewed spot on the fencing team for next year, meaning she could skip the gruelling try out process. Not that it mattered to Annie, she could easily beat anyone at St. Augustenes blindfolded. Sighing, she turned her head to the trophy in the cabinet. She would miss the team, and all her friends, over the summer. Annie wasn't exactly a popular girl, but having a famous mother certainly helped!

The door opened to reveal a man dressed in a dinner suit and small white pinny. He was carrying a tray of steaming white toast, no crusts, with a thin layer of strawberry jam, just how she liked it. "what on earth are you laughing at Miss James?" "Oh Martin" exclaimed Annie, "do you not just love those moments when you sit back and reflect upon your life" Confused, the butler replied "How very profound" and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Leaping out of bed, Annie opened her curtains and stared down at the street below. Being on the third floor, her view of London was fairly good. She could see the taller landmarks at a distance, but for anything smaller than a hundred storeys she would have to get a taxi. "I guess that's why I will be doing today then, Hamleys, I could do with a new outfit for Arabella" decided Annie, looking across the room at her scale model Victorian dolls house where a female character was flopped over the kitchen table. "and some new wires for her back too.."