1 The red room

Jane Cyre

Chapter 1 The red room "Where's Jane? I know... hidden behind the curtain, like a little rat!" Flinging back the curtain, my cousin John revealed me, clinging to the window seat. "There she is," he crowed to his sisters, Eliza and Georgiana. "Come out... NOW!" And he grabbed my book, my beloved History of Birds. I loved imagining myself into its tales of faraway lands, they seemed so lonely, yet mysterious... I quickly obeyed John, dreading his violent temper. "This is MY book, not yours," sneered John, as I stood in front of him, trembling. "You have NOTHING, orphan!" He hurled the book at my head.

I ducked- but not quickly enough. Blood trickled down my neck, and a sharp pain turned my terror to anger. I flew at him, crying, "You're like the cruel Roman emperors!" I don't know what my hands did; I was ten and he a heavy, flabby fourteen-year- old, but he bellowed like a baby. My Aunt Reed, hearing the commotion, ordered her servants to come. "Take her to the red room and lock her in there." I fought like a wildcat all the way, until they threw me inside and shut the door.

The red room was never slept in. It was here that my uncle had died and lain in state until he was borne away in his coffin. Here was a vast bed with massive pillars; on the floor, a red carpet; the windows dark with blinds drawn down. This chilly chamber never even saw a fire. Despairingly, I tried the door... Locked. With nothing else to do, I sat on a stool and thought about my life. Why did they hate me so?

My cousins were spoiled, selfish bullies, yet they were adored. I could never please them or Aunt Reed. 'Naughty, sullen, ugly,' they called me, and I...? I could not love them. In that house, I was an outsider. "Not fair! Not fair!" raged my heart. Hours passed. I tried to face the darkness boldly- until I saw a moving light. I think now it was the gleam from some distant lantern, but in my gloomy prison, I thought it a vision from another world, my Uncle Reed's ghost. A rushing noise filled my ears. I screamed. Aunt Reed opened the door, her gown rustling stormily. "Oh Aunt, please..." I clung to her hands, "punish me another way. I can't bear this." "Silence, Jane!" Thrusting me back, she locked the door once more. As the key turned, I sank into unconsciousness. The memory- the agony- of that night has never left me.