I hope you enjoy this. It started with a simple idea. We are building a new garage onto our house, and the entrance to the second floor is through my room. On the first warm day of the year, I was in there and I had the windows open. the room in the first part of the story is like the incomplete upstairs of our garage. To enlarge a little, it is just plywood and boards. If you have ever seen the inside of a house or shed under construction, you'll know what this is like. i described it pretty well in the story, but that's enough of an intro. Please enjoy this. i might change the name, so I'm open to suggestions. Even if you don't have any ideas for one, please comment. I always like a little critique.

A girl struggled through the raging elements to an old abandoned house at the top of the hill. There were no other shelter in the area, so the girl fought her fear of the house to seek shelter from the snow. Rumors had drifted around town of the young man who had gone there and never returned. But now she had no choice. It was either disappear in the house or die out in the blizzard. Somehow, she chose the nice, warm end to her life. She crept through the old oak door and closed it behind her. It wasn't as dark as she had thought it would be. She wasn't so frightened anymore and decided to explore. She walked up the stairs and through a door. It led into a lady's dressing chamber. Laughter and gay voices seemed to echo in the air. It appeared that the inhabitants of the house had left in a hurry, because the dresses and jewelry and shoes were still out on the bed and chairs and tables. Being the curious, immature girl that she was, she tried on every single dress and tried out every outfit, hat, shoe, necklace, bracelet and ring in the room. She was particularly drawn to a green dress that complemented her brown hair perfectly. It was a simple thing that she would have worn on any day at all. She decided to bring some things home, so she packed most of the dresses into a bag she found, along with shoes and and a full jewelry box. She saw another door leading off the room and decided to try it. She walked in and immediately a delicious smell hit her. She closed her eyes and walked forward (quite foolishly, since she had not even seen what might be in front of her) her dress whispering across the floor (She was still wearing the green one). She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a large empty room with old fashioned braided rugs on the floor and six windows running down the walls. She walked along to two long windows at the end of the room and suddenly noticed that every single window was open! She also realized that she was warm and the room was lit up by light streaming through the windows! She rushed to the end of the room and leaned out the window. The wonderful smell of spring blew into her face. Warmth radiated onto her skin. She could smell flowers and earth and honey and animals and bread and...and...spring! She marveled since it had been snowing quite harshly when she had been out a moment ago. She wondered for a moment, then, being rash, darted down the stairs to a back door that she instantly darted out of. She drew in a breath of air and looked about her in amazement. She was in a garden, surrounded by flowers. She lay down on the ground (still in her green dress with the bag of clothes in her hand) and fell asleep. She was awakened by a man, a train porter, gently shaking her awake.

“Miss? Miss? This is your stop.”

She came awake instantly.

“What? Oh, thank you.”

She picked up her bag and walked off the train with the dozens of other people. She stood near the benches, half expecting Aunt Carol or Mother to pick her up. She wondered why so many people were wearing such old-fashioned clothes. Then she looked down at her own dress. It all came back to her. She had somehow been transported to another world. Having read stories on this particular subject, she walked along the platform, glad she had decided to wear the shoes, too. And the hat. Now she looked like anyone else. She made her way out of the station and out to the road. She tripped over something and was falling toward the ground when someone caught her arm. She was pulled back up and turned to see the kindest looking boy she had ever seen. He was wearing a coat and breaches and a cap like she had seen in movies about England in the old times. He smiled at her and lifted his cap.

“Afternoon miss. I hope you are all right.”

She smiled back and wiped a little dust off her skirt.

“Quite. Thank you sir.”

He waved it away.

“'Twas nothing. And don't call me sir. It makes me fell like an old codger. My name's James Parker. And yours?”

“Collete Creedmoor. I don't know if you could help me, but I seem to be lost. I was expecting someone to pick me up, but they didn't come. Do you know wear the nearest tavern or inn is?”

“Nothing suitable for a young lady such as yourself. Come with me and I'll show you my house. Perhaps if you like it, you can stay.”

“As long as your family is as nice as you, I'll like it.”

James grinned widely.

“You're too kind.”

“Not at all.”

“Shall we go?”

“Indeed.”

They strode off through the crowd, arm in arm.

James swept the door open and allowed her to walk in. He spoke to a servant and turned to Collete.

“This way, miss.”

He led her to a parlour, and pulled out a seat for her. She dropped her bags and sat down, smiling gratefully at him. He called a servant and asked for tea to be served for himself and his guest. The servant curtsied and hurried off to the kitchen. James and Collete talked until the tea was brought in. They chatted over Earl Grey and raspberry tarts about each other, though Collete was clever enough not to let slip about how she was transported. She twisted everything cunningly to make it sound like she had been living in this new world all her life. She thought that maybe she was just back in time. She asked questions about this world, phrased carefully to avoid suspicion. Suddenly the par;our door opened and an older woman came in. She was dressed in an everyday dress with her hair up in a bun. James rose respectfully and pulled Collete up with him.

“Mother, this is Collete. We ran into each other at the train station and I invited her to stay with us until she can find her friend.”

Collete smiled and curtsied politely. The woman smiled back kindly, (though with a crafty gleam in her eye) and nodded at her.

“Of course she may stay. It is a pleasure to have you with us. I hope you will enjoy your time here.”

Collete smiled.

“Thank you. I'm sure I will.”

The woman glanced at James, who was looking intently at Collete. His eyes were distant. The gleam in her eye grew sharper.

Over the next three days, James showed her about the sprawling estate, which had gardens and archery ranges and stables and fields and even a forest with a creek running through it. The house was huge, with kitchens and a dining room and the parlour and a den and a study and forty three bed rooms. In addition to the servants' quarters, there were eighteen other large rooms with furniture and boxes. There was a library and rooms that nobody used anymore that were filled with cobwebs and dust. On a rainy day, she and James explored these rooms, many of which James hadn't even seen before! The library was unused and deserted. Collete would come here for hours and lose herself in an imaginary world of fantasy. She would sit on a window seat and read for hours, then look out the window and imagine and daydream. Her favourite book was a collection of fairytales with colorful pictures. When she was tired of reading, she would open to a picture of the beast from Beauty and the Beast. It was a horrific and detailed painting. She would gasp and shut the book and shudder, then slowly open it back up and do it all again. She also stared for long periods of time at the picture of the beast after Beauty turned him back into a prince. He was lying on his side on the ground, reaching one hand up to Beauty, who was kneeling over him with her hands held to the sides of her face. Collete would stare and stare at the prince and suddenly the picture seemed to shift into something only slightly different. The clothes became more modern and the faces seemed to change. In the place of the prince, James lay, looking starved and half-dead. Beauty morphed into Collete, with tearstains running down her cheeks, her brown hair tangled and dirty. The first time she saw this, she had screamed and threw the book down. She now kept watching. After a few moments, it turned back into the normal picture. She puzzled over this for a while, then decided to join the realm of the living and go back downstairs. After a week, she realized that she had no way of finding her family, so she began to scheme. She wrote a letter in a heavy hand so it looked as if it was written by a man, then put on a nonexistent return address on it and sent it from the post office. It arrived a few days later and she read it. It said that her parents and family had died in a fire and there was nothing left for her. She pretended distressed and told James. She was packing her bags to leave when he came in her room. He stood quietly inside the door and watched until she got antsy. She turned around and asked him what he wanted.

“Are you really leaving?”

Collete looked puzzled.

“Yes, why?”

James walked further into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Well, mother would be very upset if you tried to go off alone. And I would really miss you.”

Collete narrowed her eyes.

“What are you trying to say?”

James sighed.

“You do learn quickly. Would you like to live with us?”

Collete jumped to her feet.

“Really?”

She hurried over to him.

“You really mean I can stay here with you?”

He laughed.

“Of course! I have a feeling my mother has secret plans for us, but I'll enjoy having you live with us.”

Collete hugged him so tight he couldn't breathe, then whirled off across the room. She hummed gaily as she unpacked her things. She took off her traveling dress and slipped into a light, floaty lavender dress with a lacy gauze skirt. She pinned her hair up in the most adorable, impish manner and skipped down the stairs to the long hall at the bottom. She waltzed out to the garden and picked some white flowers. She stuck them in her hair and raced off to the forest. She danced across the grassy floor to the creek and whispered to a female cardinal sitting on a branch,

“I'm staying! I'm really staying! I can't believe it!”

The bird cocked it's head on one side and surveyed her with a beady black eye. It chirped as if to say, “don't you think you're a little too excited?”

But Collete didn't care. She pranced across the creek and swirled in and out of the trees like it was some sort of old dance. Her joy was unbound. She stood up against a tree and sang clearly into the bright afternoon sky. The birds and animals hushed to hear her sing. James was tromping through the woods to gather dead branches for firewood when he heard the singing. He stopped, thinking it was some angel. He crept forward and peered through the foliage. He saw Collete standing and singing beautifully, unaware of his presence. His breath caught in his throat. She was so...lovely. She looked like some sort of wood nymph or fairy. He scarcely made a sound, afraid that he might break the spell. She finally stopped singing and smiled. She sat down on the grassy creek bank and sighed. But it was a happy sigh. She loved it here. James carefully slid away from the creek and met up with it further on. He carried the water up to the house, his head spinning. Of course he didn't know her that well, but already he loved her. She was so beautiful. He sat the water down inside the kitchen door and wandered to the stable. He went to his horse's stall and began to groom him.

“What would you do to win a girl over, Regal?”

The chestnut thoroughbred whinnied.

“You'd probably give her a carrot old boy. Oh well, I don't suppose she'd be won by a carrot.”

He sighed and filled the feed trough with grain.

The next day, Mrs. Parker decided that, as a permanent resident of the house, Collete needed some new dresses. They went shopping and were away half the day. When she got home, Collete sent a servant up to her rooms with the bags she had amassed, and went straightaway up to the deserted library. She sat in her favourite window seat and read her fairytale book from cover to cover. She stopped and stared at the picture of the prince and Beauty, but as soon as it morphed, she shuddered and turned the page. She was sitting and staring out of the window with the book open to this page when James came into the library. He made his way through the aisles to her window.

“I thought I might find you here.”

“Hmm.”

“Supper is ready. I thought I should let you know.”

“I'll be right down.”

There was a momentary silence.

“Um...what are you doing?”

“Thinking.”

James shifted awkwardly and turned.

“I...I'm going now.”

“Ok.”

He walked slowly to the door and looked back over his shoulder. He saw Collete look down at the book she was holding and shut it quickly. She put it down on the seat. She stood and pulled a woolen shawl around her shoulders. He went downstairs to the dining room. When she arrived at the table, she had changed her dress to something more suitable for dining. It was a green evening gown with a string of pearls around her neck. He thought she looked like a queen. A few days later, he had a run-in with her. She was weeding some plants out in the garden when he walked up. She smiled up at him and kept weeding. He sat down next to her and picked up a weed from the pile she had.

“What's this?” he asked. She took it from him and looked at it before dropping it back with the others.

“That's wild shamrock. The flowers are yellow when they bloom, but they take over everything.”

“Why don't you plant it somewhere else?”

“Because they're wild. And even the normal shamrock will spread.”

“What color are normal shamrock flowers?”

“Pink. We used to have them in our garden, but then we lost everything else.”

James watched her for a while then said,

“Mother wonders if you ride.”

“I used to take lessons, but I stopped after a short while.”

“You want to go on a ride with me?”

Collete looked up.

“Sure,” she said, “When?”

“Right now if you want.”

“I'll go inside and change into my riding things.”

“I'll go get the horses ready.”

He stood and reached down to help her up. She smiled and took his hand lightly.