Prologue
The sky flashed grey and white as the lightning slashed the sky. Rain poured forth and soaked people unfortunate enough to be caught outdoors. Newspapers whipped out to cover bare heads and the masses raced to their homes to avoid a soaking. Pigeons cooed as they rustled their feathers, shaking the water droplets off their wings, for they too must fly home. Below the pigeons an old woman sat looking out her window at the rain.
"What a terrible rain to be caught in," The woman said, "but, the air will smell lovely when all is clean, won't it Matthew? I know that not all rains are unpleasant, for some bring joy, as I remember," She smiled as she reflected on one moment in particular, "Do you remember Matthew?"
But no one answered, for Matthew was long gone.
"No, of course you don't your memory left you long ago," The old woman sighed as a lone tear left a trail on her wrinkled cheek. "I will start at the beginning then..."
Giggling, and gasping for breath a little girl ran and hid in the bushes. Peering through the leaves she waited and watched for her friend. Then she saw his feet and a snort escaped before she could control her laughter Delilah was discovered. Matty chased her out of the bushes and across the yard. He caught up to her, and tackled her. Gasping for breath they both rolled over on their backs, and looked at the sky.
"How marvelous would it be to fly Matty?" Delilah questioned.
"I don't know, it looks kind of scary to me," Matty replied, "I do think that it would be great to sit on a cloud."
"I would love to be able to fly. It would mean I could leave this terrible place. If I could leave it would be wi-"but she never finished because she was interrupted by a shrieking voice.
"Delilah Jane! Get in here right this instant!" Her Grandmother continued to shriek.
Once inside the girl got a tongue lashing that would make a saint grimace.
"You know it isn't right for you to be socializing with the lower class servants, especially at your age!" Your mother wouldn't approve of your behavior. You are thirteen years old already." The old woman said with a huff.
"Keep my mother out of this I didn't even get to know her!" Delilah spat back "If you remember correctly I was just born when she left."
Delilah glared at her guardian and was surprised to see her grandmother looking like she had choked on her own tongue. "Good," She thought, and stalked off.
She slammed her door, but she didn't throw herself on her bed, and she didn't cry. It was a reality that she had almost begun to get used to. Almost. Now she couldn't take it anymore, she was leaving. Not by flight, but by foot. She had money, she could survive. She wanted to take Matty with her, she wondered if he would come with her. He was like a brother to her. She would feel as if a piece of her would get left behind if she were to leave without him. She had to make a plan, and fast.
That night Delilah woke up with a start. She had sweat running down her pinched face, and was gasping for breath. She kept having these dreams, beautiful at first, but they all ended with a horribly ugly face laughing at her, taunting her. She now was scared to leave, but she knew she had to. Tonight wouldn't be a good idea. She needed to take her Grandmother off guard. It would also give her a few days to prepare. She slipped out of bed, and tiptoed across her room. The moon was casting eerie shadows across the floor, making furniture seem like evil creatures. Delilah shivered, and went on her way. She had to tell Matty that she was leaving. Racing across the spacious yard to the servant's quarters she spotted a light in one of the windows. To her surprise Matty was still awake. Delilah lightly tapped on the glass. He looked up, and let her in.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, "I thought your grandmother locked you in your room."
"No, but I can't stand being here anymore. I am going to leave this wretched place if it the last thing I do!" Delilah spat.
"I don't know what to do Delilah. I could say that we could leave together, but that would mean you would have to live with me, and my family," Matty whispered
"What would be wrong with that?" Delilah questioned
"Well, my family is a bit...what you would call different." Matty vaguely replied. "You would have to keep a very open mind about the whole situation."
"I could do that, but what exactly is it that is different about them?"Delilah asked
"It is hard to explain, you just need to have faith is me, alright?" Matty said, "Promise you'll trust me."
"Of course, I would trust you with my life." She replied.
"I need a bit of time to get word to them so you would have to endure it here a bit longer."Matty whispered, "I'll send them a letter to let them know we're coming."
But the letter came back with RETURN TO SENDER stamped in red on the front.
