Chapter 1

Welcome to the town of Solomon. Ruled over by King George, his Queen and their two sons Prince William and Prince Edward. It is a sea town, a port, where they trade with other countries. There is moor-land surrounding the town. The familes with less money live on the outskirts, whereas the families who serve the King, or have more money live in the main part if the town. It is inside one of these houses that our story begins, the Yarlow's home.

*

I awoke late in the morning. Mama had already gone into the Palace to work in the kitchens and Papa was outside gardening.

Living in the town of Solomon meant you had to earn your keep. We could not afford to feed everyone, so unless you were very rich or work for the royal family you had to grown most of your own food. Even though Mama worked in the Palace kitchens, Papa still insisted on growing our own vegetables and herbs.

I lay motionless in my bed. I could hear Jasmine and Topaz kicking up a fuss about not wanting to go to school. Jasmine was in her last year - as you finished school at twelve and then went to work – but still hated school. Topaz however, was just starting at the age of five, and was copying Jasmine's actions.

"Amber!" I heard someone call.

Guessing this was my cue to get up, I hauled myself out of bed and walked into the main room of the house. When I say main room, I mean living room, dinning room and kitchen all in one. Off this room are the three bedrooms, one for Mama and Papa, one for me and Opal and one for Jasmine and Topaz, and the bathroom.

Opal was there and when she heard me enter turned around.

"The Mrs Simmons just called, she's going out later and she needs you to take care of Emmeline."

I groaned, Emmeline was seven years old, and the most annoying child in the town. Her parents spoiled her rotten, they could afford to, her father was a Palace Guard and her mother was a seamstress for the Queen.

After I had left school, I had decided to be sort of like the village baby-sitter. If parents had to go out and leave their children at home, then I would go over to their house and take care of them. Opal was a house cleaner and cleaned the houses of those who could afford to pay her.

"Did Topaz and Jasmine give up on arguing and go to school?" I asked, as they were most certainly not in the room.

"I had to promise them they could have two slices of bread at dinner tonight." Sighed Opal "Hope Mama doesn't mind having a bit less bread afterwards."

Food was a problem in the town. Most people couldn't afford much more than bread and milk, people like us.

"I hope Mrs Simmons pays me a fair amount for looking after Emmeline." I said as I took the half a slice of bread of the kitchen counter.

"She should. Two hours with her daughter must be worth at least five gold coins." Replied Opal. "Anyway, I'm cleaning the Jones's house today, so I'd best be off."

"Bye." I said as she walked out the house.

I was now alone in our small house. Papa would not come in until lunch, and Mama wouldn't return until late. I had no idea when Opal would be back, and I had to be here at three o'clock when Jasmine and Topaz returned from school.

Unfortunately, I was the best sewer in the family, so I got the job of mending everyone's clothes. Mine, Opal's and Mama's were alright, they were rarely ever torn, but Jasmine and Topaz seemed to tear their dresses every day, and Papa usually came in with a small tear in the sleeve of his shirt or on the knee of his trousers.

I sat down in front of the pile of mending and began to sew. I sewed all morning and when twelve o'clock came, I heard the front door creak open and Papa and Opal entered.

"How's that mending going?" asked Papa as he filled three glasses with water and got a tomato for each of us out of the cupboard.

We got used to have warm food during warmer months as we had no refrigerator, but it was a real nuisance during the winter, when the water in the pipes froze and we had to carry buckets down to the well every morning.

"Okay, Jasmine seems to have torn every piece of clothing she owns." I replied, as I placed down the dress I was mending and reached out for the tomato and water.

A lunch like this was normal. Some families had bread, cheese and milk, but ones like ours preferred to spend their gold coins on things more worth-while and eat home grown food rather than buy things like cheese which was very expensive.

The day continued as normal after that. Opal went off to clean another house and Papa went back out to the garden. At three o'clock Jasmine and Topaz returned from school, and it was my duty to set them down to do their homework, something which Jasmine detested.

"But I've just spent all day at school doing work, so why do I have to do more when I get home?" she always said, when someone said it was homework time.

Some people like Opal tried to be nice, but if Mama or Papa was home and she tried that then she would often miss out on supper, not get any bread or get sent to her room. She was lucky that I was in charge today. I sat down at the table with the last of my sewing and worked while the two of them did homework. I found that if I was there then they worked quieter and weren't jumping down each other's throats all the time.

It was at about five o'clock when my family was sitting down to dinner when all of the strange events started happening.