The Passages of Amelia Lisbon

Chapter 1

3 years later: 

"Amelia's so posh! Amelia's a snoot! Amelia needs a kick with a boot!" With each taunting rhyme they kicked her on her legs, stomach and even sometimes her face. She tried to fight back but there were to many. They kept on kicking her for many minutes which seemed like hours to Amelia but they gradually grew bored.

Amelia was curled up in a ball on the floor as the group of popular kids walked off laughing at her expense. She sat up slowly knowing that if she sat up fast her bruises would hurt and they would take longer to heal. Wiping tears off her face she cautiously looked around for any boys and then gradually rolled her stockings down to see if they had made her bleed anywhere. There was a small cut on her leg from where they had pushed her down so she quickly took a small bandage out of her knapsack and wrapped it around her leg where she was cut.

She was so used to being attacked that she had a tiny medical kit full of her mother's old remedies and tools which she used to fix herself up. Her head felt slightly dizzy but there were no bumps so she didn't want to stay on the ground any longer. Cautiously she stood up and although a bit unsteady on her feet at the beginning she soon looked completely normal apart from her bonnet being slightly askew.

Just then the teacher rang the bell for class and Amelia slowly walked towards the classroom. It wouldn't do to be late for class because of some silly school fight. "Lateness is never the answer" as her Aunt would say "Even if you are dying your diary should always be followed." and as of right now her diary was clocking that she needed to be learning if she wanted to get a job.

Her family had become poor and unworthy compared to other gentry after her Mother had died. Although they had kept the family house and grounds her Aunt could only just afford to send her to school and keep food on the table never mind other luxuries such as new clothes. Even though they couldn't have new clothing her aunt and herself were always clean, something her aunt was never willing to compromise on despite the fact that it would save them lots of money to reduce the baths to once every fortnight. Her aunt was a stickler for cleanliness and tidiness and always made sure she was corrected if she was even slightly wrong in her mannerisms. 

And speaking of manners it did not do to be late. Being the last one into class did not sit well with the teacher so Amelia hobbled quickly through the door before she could be accused of dawdling. As the last people wondered in the lesson began. This lesson was a new one that they had started this week and it was all about sewing. Amelia found that she was surprisingly good at it. She had made her first dolls dress the other week and the teacher had called her the star pupil. The other pupils called her a stuck up but she knew that if she could have a skill then she could make something of herself. The tides were changing at court apparently ,according to her aunt, and the gentry were slowly losing power to richer business men and people close to the royals. The loss of lands and property hadn't reached Cheshire yet but her Aunt soon suspected it would which is why they had created a back up plan of trying to find skills and going into normal people's areas of work.

We had been learning skills that would allow us to survive outside of the relative comfort of the manor. A few months ago her Aunt had hired a martial arts teacher from China to teach Amelia and herself defense because they had been saving up for. It earned them all kinds of funny looks but allowed them to feel safer knowing they could defend themselves. Amelia now ran every morning to keep herself lithe and fit and with lessons at school and at home she was always shattered at the end of the day. It was hard work learning from the farmers, gardeners and general people in the area but they were life skills that these people had been learning for centuries and only now were they realizing what an asset they were. They had fired the maid months ago but now found due to these skills that if Amelia and her Aunt spent the weekend washing and cleaning then we could keep where we live relatively clean, which made Amelia's Aunt happy. 

Amelia loved making her Aunt happy ever since her Mother died she had been so hard to get a smile out of and whenever she got one she felt proud of herself. Whenever she did well in her lessons her Aunt would always give her a small smile of pride which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Her Aunt would love what she had done today. They had been making doilies and practicing needlepoint. She had made a gorgeous rose which reminded her of the roses in Covent garden and she dreamed of having her own roses someday. Her teacher had praised her for the good work which was extremely unusually in general but not in Amelia's case. Amelia didn't realize how lucky she was to be at a local school that did not approve of corporeal punishment. Amelia had never been hit in her life and was oblivious to what happened in other schools. She was quiet naive in that aspect she had never ventured out of her village so did not realize that despite the scorn she faced she was extremely lucky to live in a place like her village. 

Her teacher then realized what time it was and called time for the school day. As she walked home she smiled at the poppies and tulips that scattered the fields around her home. She loved walking home this way for the smell that came from the poppies filed her noses reminding her of her Mothers perfumes. She nodded to the farmer in the next field sending him a small grin. 

She could now see the manor and began walking up the driveway. It looked gorgeous in the evening sun with it's white outside and its many turrets it looked like a place that you only get in fairy tales. She could see her bedroom from this way in the tallest turret of the tower with her light blue curtains. 

She went in the servants entrance as the front door was only open for special occasions. The cook smiled at her and Amelia told her "Umm smells good what are we having?"

"Stew and dumplings young missus good for the soul and the toes."

"Ohh sounds good I'll be sure to gobble it up!" The only reason they hadn't told cook to go yet is because cook had worked for the family for many years. The cook had worked for Amelia's grandmother and her mother and so didn't have anywhere to go if she was let go. Amelia stole a piece of bread from the side and took it upstairs despite being given an evil look by the cook. Amelia just gave her a cheeky look in return and skipped her way up the steps. It would be time for dinner soon and her Aunt had some important dinner guests. She would need to get changed into her dinner dress because of the guests. Hopefully it wouldn't about anything boring. Uhh she hated business guests!! 

A/N: I am basing this on lots of parts of History before 1900 so if it seems a bit jagged then that is why :)