Mr.Pelton and His Five Children

The First Meeting

Annabel hummed a cheerful tune as she walked uphill, opposite of the large streams direction on her left.

The cascading sun rays made the water shimmer and glisten. The fish darting inside were as visible as the mansion in the far distance. Their scales were a bright silver, and you could even see their gills expand with each breath they took.

As she continued to walk upstream, a continuous little squeak caught her attention.

"Oh my." 

She rushed to the water's edge and sat on her knees.

"How did you end up here you poor little thing?"

A wet, shivering, baby squirrel sat digging it's little claws into the rock he was on, trying to hold onto dear life and not get swept away by the current.

"Don't be scared now. I'm going to rescue you."

She slipped off her slip on shoes and bunched up her slightly longer than knee length dress as she stepped into the freezing water.

The squirrel was luckily on one of the few shallow parts of the very large stream, and Annabel was able to reach him in no time.

"It's a good thing you aren't that far away from shore. I can't swim." She smiled down at the squirrel who was edging its way closer to her and holding a paw out. "I got you."

She slowly reached her hand down as to not spook him on accident, and he hurriedly climbed on.

"Here you are. I'll keep you warm. How did you get down here? Where's your mummy?" She slowly made her way back to the shore and slipped on her shoes with one hand, and tried to warm him up by holding him close to her.

The side of the stream she was walking on was the clear, grass field side, with a dirt road not far away, not a single tree was in sight other than the cluster of three trees closer to the far away mansion. There's no way the squirrel had come from there. The only possible explanation was that he was from the forest on the other side. He must have fallen into the water from his nest and somehow, in his panic, swam all the way over to the side she was on.

"Don't you worry. I'll take care of you until you're strong and healthy. Then you have to look after yourself and go back to your friends." She wrapped her thumb around his little body, giving him extra warmth and picked up her bag with her free hand and continued to the mansion.

"You're late." The butler said when he opened the door upon her arrival. He was nearly an entire head taller than her. His eyes were a piercing brown, cold, calculating. His tailcoat went all the way down to his knees. The bow tie sitting just below his chin was more put together than her life ever was and his hair was white and fluffy as snow, although he had it combed and gelled back.

The foyer was one of the most impressive she's ever seen. A large chandelier hung up, rugs rolled out on the polished floors, stairs that led to the top floor, part of its hallway looking down on the foyer. Straight in front, past the round table right under the chandelier were large double doors leading to what seemed to be an extraordinarily large dinning room with a long dinning table. The right seemed to be leading to a living room and to the left were the stairs. Under the stairs was a large closed door that she couldn't tell where it led to.

"I'm terribly sorry, I was just-"

"It does not matter. Master Richard is expecting you in his study. Follow me." 

"James! Don't be so mean to her. She's only just got here." A petite round women slapped the butler with a towel and pushed him away so she was standing in front of Annabel.

"Hello dear. I'm Samantha, the cook! Don't mind James, he might seem cold but he's actually really sweet and kind. He cares a whole lot about Master Richard and his kids." Samantha's brown, greying hair was up in a bun with strands coming out of it. An apron was wrapped around her waist and it had blotches of sauce and flour. Her hazel eyes and round figure were inviting and looked very motherly with her plump cheeks and yellow dress.