Neverland is Forever

Lily awoke the next morning at the sound of the morning church bells, the small amount of sleep received fitful and dreamless. She stood and checked the other girls, making sure they were awake and heading to the washroom to clean themselves and get ready for the day.

After a few minutes, Madame Dubouis made her way to the washroom, her small black eyes looking down her pinched nose at the girls.

"Come now, you little urchins, breakfast is already on the table. If you don't get down those stairs, I will have every one of your meals tossed to the dogs and you will go without!"

Everyone rushed downstairs, eyes wide at the prospect of losing even so meager a meal as breakfast at Dubouis'.

When the porridge and bread had been eaten, Lily helped two of the girls, Jane and Paulette, to wash the dishes. As she finished scrubbing each dish, she would hand it to Paulette who dry it, and in turn pass it to Jane who would place it in the cupboard.

As Lily was concentrating on getting the porridge pot clean, a loud crash made her jump. She turned and saw Jane and Paulette standing completely still, their eyes as big as any of the plates that lay in broken shards on the floor.

Within seconds, Madame Dubouis rushed in, a flurry of severe black skirts.

"What is this?" Her voice, thin and shrilled, grated on Lily's ears. Before the girls could say anything, Lily moved in front of them, one hand in front of each girl in a protective gesture.

"It was me, Madame Dubouis. I was clumsy and broke some dishes."

As the woman turned to inspect the broken flatware, Lily whispered to the girls, "Whatever the punishment, I'll take it. Don't worry yourselves."

The headmistress turned back to the girls, her already beady black eyes now only as big as pinholes.

"You!"
She jabbed a finger at Lily.

"First that stunt you pulled with the Douglass couple- it took days for her to get the flour out of her hair- and now this?"

She grabbed Lily's arm roughly and dragged the black haired girl away. Mary and Paulette opened their mouths to protest, but Lily looked back over her shoulder and shook her head as she was jostled down the hallway.

Lily could feel the woman's sharp fingernails digging into the flesh of her arm as she was dragged up a circular set of stairs. She was being taken to the top of the towers.

Madame Dubouis unlocked the trapdoor quickly and shoved Lily up and inside. She shut it again before the girl could even gather her wits.

"You'll stay here until some bloody family decides to take you home, unlucky lot. And you'll get nothing but bread and water for your meals."

"Splendid!" Lily responded. "I wouldn't want any more of that nasty porridge anyway!"

Madame Dubouis' gasp was audible. "For that, you'll go without anything for the rest of the day!"

Lily listened to the sound of the woman's retreating footsteps as she stared at the locked door. After a long moment, she took the time to view her surroundings.

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All right, I know, "Where's Peter already?" Well don't worry; he'll be in the next chapter. I promise!