Chapter 1
The vivid yellow dandelions swayed amongst the soft green grass , as a slender hand caressed a particular dandelion with immense love .
Dark curly hair swept down , covering the hand . A sudden gush of wind revealed a sun-kissed face covered with freckles on the top of the nose and piercing blue eyes.
The girl hurriedly sprinted across the field, causing her locks to bounce around, and held her hat tightly on her head .
She looked up and observed the grey clouds blocking the scorching sun . With a hint of fright in her face , the girl hopped on her bicycle and pedalled as fast as she could. Despite the constant gushes which blew directly on her face , she pedalled on and on , until she reached the gates of a large mansion .
After hiding her bicycle well amongst the perfectly trimmed bushes , which surrounded the mansion , she flattened her pastel pink dress , covered with mud stains , hoping the creases would disappear .
The girl pushed her messy hair behind her pointy ears, and placed the hat on the top of her head quite elegantly , which nearly covered all the little leaves and flower petals stuck in the spirals of her hair .
With her chin up and back straight , she strutted towards the gate , which opened almost instantly .
With a calm look on her face she walked forward and ascended the creamy stairs , leading to a huge cedar door . Its four corners were adorned gracefully with golden flowers .
The dark skinned girl rose her right hand and curled her index finger to reveal a knuckle .
She simply knocked twice , and the majestic door split in half and was opened wide ajar .
A large hall with a chandelier on the ceiling revealed itself . On the two sides two cream coloured stairways built their way up two the second floor . Their sides were embellished with stone encrusted golden railings.
“Elizabeth!” , a short, plump woman with reddened cheeks hissed , “ Where did you run off to this time ? ”
Broken by the trance of the incredible view of the house , Elizabeth replied , with a reassuring smile :
“ Just to the fields next to the rivers , you know , nothing dangerous. ”
“And certainly nothing that concerns father.” She said, gazing off to a distant chamber , whose door was tightly locked .
“Well, lucky for you, Mr. Banks had a very important meeting , which couldn’t wait , so he left me in
charge ”, the plump woman said, as she struggled to close the colossal door.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Failing to conceal her delight, she squealed and twirled around . Her mud-stained pink dress flared out.
“ Martha , do you know what this means ? ” ,The youthful girl breathed blissfully, as she placed a firm grip on both sides of Martha’s shoulders.
Martha was unwilling to nod , even though she knew exactly what “this” meant . She stood there , frozen , captivated by Elizabeth’s eyes, which sparkled with joy .
Not a moment sooner , Elizabeth let go of her tight grip and ran hopped up the stairs . After a few intimidating minutes , Elizabeth descended the stairs , eyeing some papers in her hand . The closer she got , the thicker the stack of papers seemed .
“I’ve waited so long, so long , Martha. ” The girl exclaimed, while pressed the stack of papers against her chest .
“Today is the day my novel will finally get finished .” declared Elizabeth , as she held up her stack of papers and grinned at it broadly .
“Does it also mean it is my last day helping you behind your fathers back ? ” Martha asked. She held out a rusty old key and walked towards the chamber.
“Perhaps.” Elizabeth said, not heeding what Martha was talking about .
Martha rolled her eyes and unlocked a stylish lock , which hung between the two bronze handles of the umber door . She pushed the door open and urged Elizabeth to complete her novel as fast as she could .
Elizabeth skipped towards the majestic chamber , which belonged to her father . Two sides of the walls were entirely covered with book shelves . The wall, on which the door was , was the only bare wall . It was covered with historical embroidery and paintings. The only remaining face of the room was just a massive transparent glass wall ,which permitted the person in the room to gaze upon the endless lawn this mansion possessed . Its sides where slightly covered with golden curtains. An olive leather chair was seated in the middle of the room, facing the window. Infront of the chair stood a matching , glossed , olive coloured desk , with all the materials one could ever need . A chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling , thus right on top of the chair and table .
Captivated by the fairy tale like room , Elizabeth hesitated to step in . But she did. She had been here before, and was capable of breaking her trance every time she got lost in it .
“Elizabeth,” Martha’s voice quivered , “ How many sheets of paper did you use for writing this novel? ”
Elizabeth flipped her locks.
“About 300” she answered , slightly heeding the question .
“And you´re sure your father won´t notice 300 sheets missing? ” cross-questioned Martha .
“My father ” , began Elizabeth , while she set down der stack of paper on the olive desk and started organizing it , “is a very rich and busy man . He has important business to attend to and certainly won´t notice a few sheets missing . ”
Martha shook her head vigorously , followed by a light, knowing smile for Elizabeth´s stubbornness.
“Fine, fine . Just finish it quickly. ” chuckled Martha.
The hours went by swiftly. The flaming orange sun soon sunk behind the endless ocean, causing its reflection to dazzle on the water .
Elizabeth caught a glimpse of a lush oak tree, which stood right in the middle of the endless lawns , while she gazed off at the farthest visions one could lay its eyes on .
A rapid , and rather disturbing knock on the majestic door broke off Elizabeth´s gaze .
“Yes?” queried Elizabeth , although she knew exactly who it was and why she was being disturbed.
“Hurry!” urged Martha , whose voice seemed muffled , through the heavy layers of wood Elizabeth and Martha was separated with .
Elizabeth caught one last glimpse of the mesmerising view from the window , clutched her untidy papers and headed for the door .
She shoved the stack of paper underneath her arm , so that she wouldn´t have suffer the pain of opening the majestic door with her single dainty hand .
Even though she freed her both hands , she strained to open , or even budge the door .
“Martha? “squeaked Elizabeth. She instantly realised it wasn’t loud enough and bawled: “MARTHA!”
No response .
“Father is going to come soon.”, murmured Elizabeth , while she eyed the pendulum clock , which ticked louder than before .
Tears of sweat started to form on her forehead .
“It´s ok , it´s all fine ” whispered Elizabeth as she stroked her own hair with her clammy and trembling hands . Her heart pounded.
What if father found about her novel? All these days , weeks ,months… for nothing would go down the drain . He would never let her publish her own book .
Elizabeth huffed. She leaned against the cedar door, whose glossy polishes were now visible, and slowly drooped down , as if she was being pulled by the wooden floor .
With one last surge of hope, Elizabeth pounded on the locked door .
No one.
Elizabeth exhaled.
She dragged her long ,crossed legs towards herself and wrapped her arms around her knees .
A sound of the main gates opening abruptly broke off Elizabeth´s drowsy gaze at the well furnished book shelfs .
Father.
Elizabeth staggered up and raked her fingers through her curls .
It was time to face her father . All the emotions in her head added up to one . Guiltiness. Sooner or later he was going to find out and sooner was better than later.
A small voice whispered in Elizabeth´s head. “Perhaps father won´t be that decisive about me being a female writer. Mother always taught me that women are no less than men. She was always right , why should that change now ? “
Elizabeth noticed the door slowly creak open as the cedar door revealed a pale man , neatly dressed in a black suit . His long , sleek, grey front hair was neatly tucked behind his pointy, hot pink ears .
His piercing blue eyes were fuming with rage as he flushed with anger . He stuttered with fury:
“What are you doing in my office , Elizabeth ?”
“I´ve been meaning to tell you ”,squeaked Elizabeth ,
“I´ve been working on a novel . It´s rea-”
“A novel? Oh, for Pete´s sake ,Elizabeth .That´s a job for men ! ” interrupted Mr. Banks, as he eyed the papers with a hint of displeasure .
“But you and mother always taught women are capable of everything men are . ” the young girl protested.
“That was when you were a kid , Liz . What did you expect us to do ? Tell you that the society doesn’t accept women the way the accept men? It’s not just you. Those people out, they don´t even grant white women full independence . ”
“Oh” scoffed Elizabeth , as she denied eye contact with her father and stared out of the window “So all this is over my skin´s colour. ”
“Try to understand me, Elizabeth . I am trying to protect you from the outer world .”
Elizabeth didn´t want to understand her father´s lectures . She felt like she had just been stabbed in the back with a honed dagger by her own father . She felt like she was bleeding incessantly. She was. Not in the form of blood , but in the from of tears . Warm tears ran down her cheeks like a river . She thought her father was one of the people who would never judge her of her skin colour . But here she stood, proven wrong .
“Perhaps it´s people like you I should protect myself from . ” sniffled Elizabeth , as she ran out of the room , and climbed the stairs . She burst in her room , which was adorned with lilac ornaments . She spotted Martha sitting on her bed , swaying her short legs .
Elizabeth seated herself next to her.
“Where were you ? ” she asked softly .
Martha looked up from her crossed palms and perceived Elizabeth´s presence . She rubbed her glossy eyes. “When I told you to come out, I didn’t hear a response , so I thought you had finished and already left. Hence I locked the door. Only you and Mr. Banks had that…that conversation , did I realise that I had made a terrible mistake. ” , uttered Martha at one go under her breath , followed by a burst of tears .
Elizabeth stroked Marthas flat golden hair.
“Martha, it´s okay . But I´ve made my decision. It may be that father cares about me a lot , but I must encounter what awaits me out there . And that will never be possible as long I am locked this cage . ”
Martha´s cry grew louder. She kept bawling , as she wrapped her plump arms around Elizabeth´s slender waist .
“I will miss you very much, Martha” ,whispered Elizabeth.
“ I will miss you too”, responded Martha , slowly letting go of her tight grip around Elizabeth´s waist.
Elizabeth´s heart ached again .Leaving home ? Leaving Father? But, on top of all of it , leaving Martha? She felt a throbbing agony, but tried not to reveal it . She was going to miss all of this indisputably. But what she also knew was , every good thing came with a price .
And Elizabeth was willing to pay the price.
Elizabeth gradually got op from her bed. She dragged her suitcase from a corner of her room and dumped it on the bed ,next to Martha .
Martha dabbed her swollen eyes with a silk handkerchief and tucked it in her pocket . Then , she got up and went into Elizabeth´s closet .
Meanwhile , Elizabeth had lost herself in a picture . She ran her fingers over the frame. A young girl with an olive complexion and cyan blue eyes , was smiling at the camera , while her both front teeth were missing . Beside the grinning little girl , sat a ebony skinned woman on her knees . Her eyes were closed , due to her wide grin.
Elizabeth´s thoughts flashed back to her childhood memories .
“Mother”, whispered Elizabeth softly. She ran her long fingers over the photo again and carefully tucked it in a corner of her suitcase.
All of sudden , Martha burst out of the closet , as she clasped several dresses of pastel shades with her hands.
“These were the best I could find ” she huffed , as she flopped all the dresses , one after another , on the bed. Elizabeth smiled and neatly folded all the dresses , so that they would fit .
After sometime of relentless packing , Elizabeth was ready . With her suitcase held firmly in one hand, and a bag with an ample supply of cash , she descended the stairs .
On her way out she was halted by a firm voice behind her:
“Where do you think you´re going? ”
Elizabeth tilted her head to look at the person, whose voice she heard . A pair of familiar blue eyes gleamed back at Elizabeth. “There´s no point , leaving with all this fuss ” , whispered Elizabeth , while her head faced the ground .
“Liz, I´m sorry. I didn´t mean it like that. ” explained Elizabeth´s father . Even if it looked like his main intention was to show Elizabeth that his choice of words weren´t correct, deep inside he clutched on to the thought about Elizabeth leaving. Without Elizabeth, life wouldn´t have a purpose . The dullness he had drowned in before , before he met Rhonda , Elizabeth´s mother , was haunting him again. The dullness from William´s past was haunting him again.
But these were not the thoughts in Elizabeths head. Her mind was set on one and only one thing.
Getting out of this house.
“Father, I know you love me ,but ever since mother …”,
Elizabeths glance drifted off to her father´s face , instantly realising she brought up the wrong topic .
“Ever since that , you´ve been holding me back ”
Elizabeth´s father didn´t give his daughter a response . His face didn’t even flinch when Elizabeth mentioned her mother.
He just stood there. With folded arms and his faced towards the floor.
“Elizabeth, you´re a privileged kid . Are you really going to give that up for… what? Writing columns in the newspapers? ”
Elizabeth nodded with an evident look on her face , as if nothing could be more obvious .
“I get it .When I was your age , maybe a bit elder , I was hungry for fame . I was hungry for a certain accomplishment in life . Something that would change lives. And look at where the right approach , and by that I mean an investment by my father , got me now . For goodness sake ,I worked with Rockefeller! I am the COO of Ford! The Ford!” declared William .
“I don´t want fame , or money nor do I want to change the lives . All I want to do is share my passion of writing amongst others like me. Other women. Other women like me. ”stated Elizabeth .And with those few words , she stepped outside the mansion . She dragged her suitcase and her bag out of the mansion until its gates . The guards opened the gates instantly , at first sight of Elizabeth . As the young, rebel girl set her foot out of the gates , she caught a glimpse of the mansion with the corner of her eye. Little did she know, she was never going to come back here .
Her journey started now.
And there was no going back .