The Jane deLacey Chronicles - Chapter One

WELCOME JANE!

It was a fine Autumn afternoon as Jane went for a walk through the parkland adjacent to deLacey Hall.  She sat down on the bank of a brook, enjoying the pleasant weather, and trying to feel better about her life, when all of a sudden . . . 

ZAP! She found herself whirling through the Void!

On a warm, Spring morning, Samantha and Nellie were enjoying a little tea party, when all of a sudden . . .

POOF!  There was a strange little girl in a long, red dress right in the middle of the table!

Jane sat up cautiously.  “Oh!” she gasped, “Where am I? What has happened?”

“Gracious me!”  they cried, “Who are you?  Where did you come from?”

Jane looked around, dazed and confused.  The room was like none she had ever seen before, and the two girls were dressed most strangely!

“I am Jane deLacey, my good maids . . . an it please you,” said Jane, uncertain how to address them.  “Where is this place, and who may you be?”

“I’m Samantha Parkington, and this is my friend, Nellie O’Malley.”

“How do you do?” said Nellie, “And you are in our house by the park, in Kisco Hills, New York.”

“New York?” asked Jane.  “Never before have I heard of this place.  Where is it?””

Samantha and Nellie looked at each other. “It’s in the United States of America.” said Samantha.

“America!” exclaimed Jane, “Is this the Colony of Virginia?”

“No, it’s much further north.  And Virginia hasn’t been a colony since 1776.”

“1776?” cried Jane, with mounting alarm.  “What year is it now?”

“1904.”

“Heaven help me!” wailed Jane, “What has happened to me?”  She started to cry.  Samantha and Nellie were frightened. 

“What . . . What year did you think it was, Jane?”  Samantha knew she would be surprised by the answer. 

“1594.”

They helped Jane up and sat her in a chair, and Nellie held her, comfortingly. “That’s three hundred and ten years ago!  How did you get here?”

“I know not.” Jane shook her head.

“Perhaps,” said Samantha, “it could be that you were brought here through Supratemporal Transmigration!”

“Saints preserve us!  What a mouthful!” said Nellie.  “Did you learn that from one of your Theosophical Society tracts?”

“No, from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain.”

Poor Jane was more confused than ever.  “How am I to get back?”

Samantha sighed.  “We can’t help you.  But from all the books I’ve read, when you do go back, you will return to the very instant you left.”

“But what am I to do here and now?”

“You can live here with us, of course!” said Samantha.  “There are ten of us who live in this big house, all little girls aged eight to ten.”

“Though most of us are nine.” said Nellie.

“Why, I’m nine!” said Jane.

“Then you must live here with us!  It will be so grand to have still one more playmate!”

“Do you live here all alone?”

“Oh, yes!  And it’s such fun!” exclaimed Samantha, "You must stay with us."

“Thank you.  Thank you both so much!” 

“But you must be starving, Jane,” said Samantha, “after all you have just been through.  Nellie, let’s fix Jane some tea, and get some more cookies.”

So Samantha and Nellie tidied up the table and the floor, and made another pot of tea for Jane.  She took the cup with the steaming, brown liquid cautiously.  She sipped it carefully and looked skeptical.  She took a bite from a cookie.

“Hmm.  This ‘T’, as you call it, is . . . interesting.  But the cookie is very good!”  She ate several, and finished her cup.  Then Jane was quiet for a while. 

“I’ll bet you will be missing your mother and father.”  Nellie said, softly.

“No, not a whit.”  Jane’s matter-of-fact tone surprised them. “My father, Lord deLacey, is a great lord, and he is often at court, and rarely at home.  My mother is cold and distant, and when my brother is home, he is the very pest to me!  My governess is never kind.  No, I shall not miss my family.  But what I shall miss is my fine chamber, my soft bed, my beautiful gowns, and my servants to help me dress.”

“My!” exclaimed Nellie, “You had servants just to help you dress?  I hope you won’t be too disappointed with life here, then!”

Samantha smiled wryly.  “Three hundred and ten years is a long time, and many things have happened.  One of them is that the American Colonies are free from British rule and are now a democratic republic.  We have no king here, nor great lords and ladies.  In America, everyone is equal.”

“Some are more equal than others.” Nellie reminded her.  “But don’t worry, Jane.  This house is beautiful, the beds are comfortable, we eat like princesses, we have lots and lots of beautiful frocks, and we help each other dress!”

“Then I shall like it here very much.” said Jane.

“Nellie,” said Samantha, “why don’t you take Jane to the bedroom and find her a nice, new frock to put on.  I’ll go find the other girls and we’ll meet in the parlor and give Jane a real welcome.”

So off they went.

Nellie took out four dresses and showed them to Jane.  “These are our favorite dresses, Samantha and me.  Which one do you like the best?”

“They are a deal short, are they not?  Are you not embarrassed to show your legs?”

Nellie laughed.  “That’s one advantage to living in the twentieth century!  Little girls can get away with a lot more than they used to.  Only grown ladies have to wear long skirts nowadays.”

“I like the rose-coloured gown with the lace collar.” said Jane.  “Will you show me how to put it on?”

“Yes,” said Nellie, “but first, you must put these on!”  She held out a pair of drawers.

“Gracious me!  Whatever are those?” asked Jane.

Nellie laughed, and then helped Jane out of her red gown.  Jane was perplexed by the complicated hose-supporters, stockings, vest, and drawers that all went on first.  Then Nellie helped her into the beautiful taffeta frock.

She fastened all the hooks and eyes up the back, and tied a big, shiny black bow in her long red hair.

Nellie stood back to look at her.  “There, Jane!  You look beautiful!  You could be the Gibson Girl’s little sister!”

Jane could tell it was a high compliment.

“Now let’s go down and meet the others!”

Samantha had gathered all the girls in the parlor and explained, as well as she could, how Jane had come to be there, and been invited to live with them.  The others agreed whole-heartedly, and each offered ideas for ways to make her welcome and feel at home.  Then Nellie led Jane into the room.  The girls clapped and shouted, “Welcome, Jane!”  They gathered around her, taking turns introducing themselves and saying many nice things to her.

“I thank you all, most heartily,” said Jane, when she had the chance.  “If it had to be that I was supratemporally transmigrated, I am so glad that it has brought me here to be with you!”

(From left to right: Leah Tolly, Kathryn Alyse Ashley, Bailey Batat, Liesel Elizabeth Ott, Gila Gali, Julia Gotz, Clarice Berenguer, Jane deLacey, Savannah Conte-Héritage, Samantha Parkington, Nellie O’Malley.)