Chapter 1: Welcome to Heelshire Manor

Watching the trees fly by from the back of a taxi, Heather Miller let out a sigh of content. She needed this little getaway after the year she'd had; a fresh start, a new beginning.

At this very moment she was on her way to her new job at the Heelshire Manor where she would be spending the next few months looking after little Brahms Heelshire, an eight year old boy who, according to his parents, couldn't wait to meet her.

Heather was rather excited to meet Brahms as well. She loved children very much, that was what she had gone to school for, she had a degree in early childcare development and education, it was also why she had decided to take the job as the boy's nanny.

She was jostled from her musings when she noticed the Taxi driver take a turn leading them towards a large gate with a large H in the center. A man came forward on the other side of the fence and opened it for the taxi to enter.

That path leading up to the Heelshire home was a mess of trees on either side of the cobble stone driveway, and it seemed to be never ending. As they pulled to a stop in front of the manor Heather was awed by its building.

The Manor grew out of a well manicured lawn. Its nascent stone walls were a pale grey and were barren of the moss or ivy that clung to the walls of the older homes in the village. The grey brick that made up this manor clashed perfectly with the red shingles that adorned the roof. Its large oak door was double wide and was sheltered under a wide wrap around porch supported by pillars; and above those pillars sat a balcony that looped the entire dwelling.

All in all it was beautiful. In all her twenty-four years Heather never dreamed she'd be living in a place like this, no matter how briefly it was to be.

Heather jumped in fright when she was brought out of her thoughts by the taxi driver knocking on her window. She opened the door and stepped out.

"My apologies miss; I didn't mean to scare you."

Heather shook her head and smiled, "That's all right I was admiring the house and hadn't realized we had stopped."

The driver nodded as he pulled her luggage from the trunk, "Understandable, miss. It is a lovely old place." He finished pulling her last suitcase out and turned to smile at her, "Now how about we get this luggage inside and you can meet the family, hmm?"

It took all of five minutes to get everything Heather brought into the house. Unfortunately the Heelshires had stepped out for a bit, so Heather had to leave the luggage in the front parlor until they returned and informed her on where to put it all.

Once all of her things where inside, the driver bid her goodbye and left.

The inside of the house was just as lovely as the outside and Heather wished she could take a look around, but she didn't want to seem rude by exploring without their permission so she decided to wait in the sitting room with the rest of her belongings for the Heelshires to return.

While waiting, Heather decided to pull out her copy of Pride and Prejudice as a way to keep occupied for the moment, and before she knew she had become immersed in the words of Jane Austin.

"Hi." Heather jumped let out a squeak in fright turning to look in the direction the greeting had come from.

It was a young man about her age. He was quite attractive with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, and he was growing a bit of stubble out as well.

He smiled at Heather nervously, "Sorry, believe it or not, I was... I was actually trying not to scare you."

Heather chuckled and stood up to face the man, placing her book in the seat she was just occupying, "It's alright, I should have been paying better attention."

He stepped forward and offered his hand for her to shake, "I'm the grocery boy… ah well grocery man. I own the store actually." He rambled nervously, still holding onto her hand, "Oh, I should probably mention my name, I'm Malcolm."

Heather grinned at him, "Heather, I'm here for the nanny job."

Malcolm finally released her hand, "Nice to meet you, Say I've got some groceries to put away in the kitchen, if you want to join me?" He offered, "I can give you a tour of some exotic locations...such as the pantry and bread bin." He paused, turning to look hopefully at her, "Does that interest you?"

Heather laughed and nodded her head, "Yes thank you that sounds much nicer than sitting her all alone. Lead the way."

Malcolm turned around and began heading back for the kitchen, with Heather following behind, "You are American, correct?" he asked.

Heather nodded as she looked around, "Yeah, This is my first trip outside of the country."

They made it into the kitchen and Heather began helping him put away the food. "Alright, so let me guess…Montana?"

Heather smiled at the man as she grabbed the carrots, "Alabama, actually." she motioned over to the basket on the counter, "In this, right?"

Malcolm nodded, "Yep, right in the basket. I'm usually so good at these things. I've got a touch of the gift."

Heather turned back around to face the man, "The gift?"

"Prognosticator, clairvoyant, whatever you like to call it. I had a grandmother that read tea-leaves. My mother read palms, so..." He shrugged and continued unpacking.

Heather had the distinct feeling that this man was trying to flirt with her, "So what do you read?" and she had decided she was going to let him.

"What? Me?" he questioned looking almost embarrassed.

She laughed, "Yes you."

"Chewing gum."

"What? Really?" Heather asked.

Malcolm smirked at her, "We don't get to choose our gifts, Heather." He moved closer, rounding the island in the center of the kitchen, "Come on; If you'll allow me...Let me show you."

"You want to read my gum?" Heather asked, amused.

"Yes, I am going to read your gum." He nodded in affirmation.

She sighed, "Okay," and popped it out of her mouth and into his waiting hand.

Malcolm looked down and studied the gum, "Interesting teeth marks. Have you had braces?"

Heather chuckled, "Yes."

He nodded, "Yes, I see that you're a writer, from Montgomery, Alabama. It looks like you've come here to be inspired by the English countryside and to get away from the hustle and bustle of your life in the U.S. of A."

"No." she shook her head with a small laugh.

"Okay let me give it one more go then. Say did I get anything right?"

"Nope."

"Alright then, one more try. Ah okay, I see what went wrong. It's very obvious now. I see a dark past. On the run from someone, are we?"

Heather's smiled disappeared immediately, but she was quick to replace it with a fake one, "Missed again, would you like to go a third round?"

Malcolm chuckled and threw her gum in the trash, and the two of them went back to unloading the groceries, "No I think I'm done embarrassing myself for one day. I'm afraid that was my best attempt at flirting. Believe it or not I'm actually considered charming in this country."

Heather threw back her head and laughed, "I can believe that."

He chuckled, "It's amazing that any of us manage to procreate at all really."

She looked over at him with an amused smile, "Bread?"

He pointed, "In the cupboard behind you."

"So," Heather started turning back to face Malcolm, "What are the Heelshires like?"

He let out a fond smile, "Well they're nice, you know...very generous. As good a people as you'll ever hope to meet."

Heather nodded along with a small smile, "And Brahms? What's he like?"

Malcolm paused and looked at her thoughtfully, "Brahms, he is…I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but…" he was cut off by the sound of someone entering the kitchen.

Heather looked up and is greeted with the sight of an elderly woman. She smiled and walked over with her hand raised, "You must be Mrs. Heelshire. It's so nice to finally meet you."

The woman gave a small, tight smile, "Is that your luggage crowding the parlor?"

Heather's smile turned a bit nervous, "Oh yes ma'am, I wasn't sure where you wanted me to put it so I just left it sitting there."

"Hmm. Malcolm," Mrs. Heelshire called, "would you mind terribly, helping Miss Miller move her things to her room?"

Malcolm nodded, "Sure."

The two of them followed Mrs. Heelshire back into the parlor where Heather's luggage was. "Brahms is very excited to meet you Miss Miller; he's never met an American before." Mrs. Heelshire commented as she led the way.

Heather smiled at the older woman, "I'm very excited to meet him as well."

Mrs. Heelshire turned and looked at the young lady, "You have a very different accent than what we were expecting, Miss Miller. Where are you from again?"

Heather turned and smirked over at Malcolm, "Alabama, Mrs. Heelshire."

Malcolm just rolled his eyes at her playfully. Once they arrived back in the sitting room Malcolm moved to grab her two suitcases, and began making his way up the stairs to the room Mrs. Heelshire told him Heather would be staying in.

Heather went to grab her purse and book only to pause, "That's odd."

"What's that Miss Miller?" Mrs. Heelshire questioned.

Heather turned back to face the woman, "I could have sworn I left my book sitting right here on the chair, but it's not there anymore."

Mrs. Heelshire gave another tight smile, "It'll turn up; Brahms most likely took it. He's a rather playful boy, and he probably couldn't pass up the opportunities to read something new." At that Mrs. Heelshire looked a bit nervous, "I do hope that it's a book that he would be permitted to read."

Heather nodded, "Its Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, he should be okay to read it; though, I'm not sure how much an eight year old is going to understand. What with thinking girls are infested with cooties still."

Heather chuckled and managed to pull a small, forced laugh from the older woman. "Indeed," She agreed, "Now come along, we've kept Brahms waiting long enough." She motioned up the stairs.

Going up the stairs they past by a rather large portrait of the family, "Is that Brahms?" Heather asked rhetorically, "He's a handsome young boy."

"Thank you, Miss Miller." Mrs. Heelshire replied but didn't slow her stride.

They enter a large room where a man, Mr. Heelshire she guessed, was leaning over a chair speaking to someone, most likely Brahms.

"Daddy." Mrs. Heelshire called as they entered the room and moved closer to the elderly man, "Miss Miller, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Heelshire."

The man nodded and smiled, "Miss Miller."

Heather smiled back at the elderly man, "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Heelshire."

"And this is our son, Brahms." Mrs. Heelshire informed her as they both moved out of the way.