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Chapter One
Shifting to Richmond, Virginia
"Are we there yet, mom?" asked a curious seven year old Diana Hawkes as the car sped along the highway towards their destination. They had just alighted from their flight at Richmond airport and were on their way to their new house. Having lived in a small apartment in Chicago all their lives, they were excited to have a house all to themselves. They looked at the beautiful suburbs as they left the city of Richmond behind and started driving through Henrico county.
"No sweetie, another fifteen minutes to go," said her mom, Nora Hawkes.
"Daryll, look, there's a pet shop. Mom please can we go buy a puppy?" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes, looking from her twelve year old brother, Daryll to her mom. She had always wanted a puppy but since their apartment was small, their parents weren't interested. Now that they would be living in a house, she could keep a pet.
"No sweetie, you know dad's allergic to pets," her mom said firmly as Diana's face fell.
Their father David Hawkes was a lawyer who had already shifted last month to join his new place of work. The children completed their school term in Chicago where they all used to live and took a transfer certificate. They were to join their father in Lakeside at Henrico County, on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia.
They reached the beautiful gated residential complex lined with two-storeyed houses on either side of a tree lined avenue. Each house came with its own front yard and a backyard with a personal swimming pool.
"It's cool, isn't it, mom?" Exclaimed Daryll, excitedly. His mom nodded, impressed by the new sights and sounds around her.
The cab dropped them in front of a house in a corner plot. Immediately the door flew open and there stood their dad. He came forward and helped them with the luggage.
"There's an electricity shortage in the complex, right now. It'll take time to fix up. Just settle down. Tomorrow I'll drop you at your grandpa's house at Smithville. It's just a two hour drive away," said their dad, looking at his two children.
"Is it a village dad?" asked Daryll.
"No, it's a small town. Don't worry, you'll love it there, " said his father as Daryll sulked. How could he love living in a small town with nothing to do, that too amongst strangers?
"How long do we stay there?" asked Diana, pouting.
"Maybe a week," answered their dad.
The children dramatically sighed and trudged along to their rooms. It would be the worst holiday of their lives. Their school here would reopen after a fortnight. They couldn't wait to check out their new school.
Diana and Daryll had adjacent rooms and shared a balcony overlooking the background. There was a spare room opposite theirs. Their parents' bedroom was downstairs along with a guest room beside theirs.
Diana came out of her room in her swimsuit,"Let's check out the pool Daryll," she suggested, excitedly. They used to live in an apartment in Chicago so the sight of a personal swimming pool excited her beyond words.
"Give me a minute, Di. I'll go get my swimming trunks," he said. Di, went downstairs to check out the pool. It was clean and the water sparkled like jewels when the rays of the afternoon sun fell upon it. Their mom came out into the backyard with Daryll.
"Tomorrow morning your dad will drop you off at grandpa's house. Each of you pack a small suitcase full of essentials to last a week. Arrange the rest of your stuff in your closets," she said before leaving to make dinner.
"Daryll, do you want to go? I want to stay here. We can manage with no electricity," Diana said, unhappily.
"We have no choice. You know once dad decides something, there's no way you can change his mind," he said.
They both made sad faces at the prospect of leaving and swam about for sometime, playing with a ball that Daryll brought with him.
"Daryll, what if we don't like it there and the electricity comes back? Can we return earlier then?" asked Diana. She just didn't want to leave this new house and the pool.
"In that case, I'll call dad and we'll return. Ok?" said Daryll. He also scowled at the thought of going to some village and living with unknown people but dad's decision was final.
"Let's carry our camping gear and scouts bags. If we get bored there we could sit and watch birds through our binoculars," suggested Daryll and Diana agreed excitedly.
Afterwards, they went up to their rooms, showered and changed. Each of them packed a small suitcase each as their mom told them to do. They had a separate duffel bag with their scouts gear and another with their camping gears.
Dinner was ready. They went down for an early dinner. Their mom and dad were already at the table waiting for them in the candle light.
She had made a simple chicken stew and potato salad and buttered the store bought bread rolls. She served brownies that their dad bought from the bakery nearby. There wasn't much she could cook without electricity.
"Mom, if we don't like it there, can we return home before?" asked Diana as she placed a forkful of salad into her mouth.
"We'll see about that Diana," said her mom.
"Don't worry so much children. You both will like it there," said their dad and they all ate while their parents talked about the electricity shortage.
They went to bed early as there wasn't much they could do with emergency lights and candles.
The next morning, they were ready by 8 o'clock in the morning. Having a light breakfast of ham sandwiches, fruit salad and muffins, they left for Smithville, Virginia.
