Chapter 1.1 extract

Anna went into the pantry. As soon as she did, Totty inched toward the service door at the back entrance to the apartment. The door was little used, primarily for service personnel and deliveries. It was like a secret door to a place of magic for Charlotte and she leaned against it listening to the sounds of the elevator.

“Dolly and Dan Bingham must have adopted me, ”Charlotte said, her face pressed against the service door. “They can’t be my real parents. Everyone knows that parents love their children. They must have taken me away from my real parents.

“Because they had to have a child,” Charlotte reasoned. “As a family with a child, Dolly and Dan would appear more normal.

“But one day,” Charlotte went on in reverie, “my real parents will come to claim me. They would have been on a quest to find me, to correct their awful error.

“My real mother is a woman with flaming red hair and a warm, loving nature to match,” Charlotte continued. “Father would be quiet.” Totty remained in the dream, her cheek pressed against the service door, waiting for the elevator that would bring her real parents, waiting for them to ring the doorbell.

Totty heard Anna’s step. She went back to the table, to the buttered toast and the books. Anna returned to the kitchen and moved softly about her tasks. Totty watched the clock. Two hours passed during which time Totty found the silence in the apartment to be unbearable.