Auntie

Setting

No just a where but a when. It is 1802 in the small town of Upton, not even a name for a town really but rather a description of a place in relation to cities and a people more relevant. Upton was the only settlement within a day's ride between the city of Stillwater and the nearest next settlement. Primarily infested with woods, Upton was a place people stayed for just a night before they carried on with their bigger, better lives.

The tavern, filled with visitors and residents alike was always bustling. Loud music, raucous behavior and lewd dealings would take place in the night, but by the first light of day the conservative and religious community would button themselves up and regard themselves as pious. The visitors would leave, as they always had with the cock's first cry. Back to their homes. Back to their labors. Onward to adventure.

The people of this town don't seem to mind, their position while relative to that of others had made them a prosperous community still. The influx of income made this community a sort of stop-over community that fed, house and entertained travelers by night and during the day they tilled the lands. There were more cows than people here in 1824. 498 dwellings, 13 single-room schools and 1246 working oxen and cattle. The cities to the south were known for their mills and industry, however despite travel being their lifeblood, Upton was considered by most to be a farming community. That year local farms produced 101,935 pounds of butter and 13,090 pounds of cheese.

There were several farms, all family owned. Few had the excess funds to afford hired hands, the children would assist in running the farm from an early age. Education was minimal in Upton, primary school was provided in single room schoolhouses and provided most children with the opportunity to learn to read and write but few bothered with schooling beyond the fifth grade. Those that did were often not the children of farmers but rather the children of landlords and mill owners.

Of course there was a problem in this settlement that had been ongoing for many years. Children had been disappearing for the last decade at least. Hardly noticed, as odd as that would seem. It was not as if the children were forgotten, they just were not missed by their parents or their peers. Many would rightly claim that their child had died, childhood mortality high during that time perhaps nobody thought much about it. Graveyards were filled with stones and empty graves -- here lies Isaac Palmer. Born 26th August, 1751. Died 25th August, 1757. The grave empty like many others. Mostly hardly over a year old.

Word Count: 456

Create a Main Character

Petunia Palmer

Appearance: Dark, long straight hair that when down meets her waist in length. Her hair is often left up, tied in place with long, dark satin ribbons and brass hairpins. Her hair is always up as that was the fashion of the time. Her eyes are equally as dark as her hair, almost coal-like. Her rounded face and small chin house pleasant features such as a straight nose and a small mouth that is often curved upward in a slight, silent smile. Her skin is fair, burning easily when exposed to the sun for too long but she often had a parasol. Her cheeks flushed and rosy, a sign of health her family would often say. Her skin was clear, free of pock marks she has the face of a 'milk maiden.'

She dresses to the fashion of the era. A thin waist accentuated by a corset beneath billowy dresses. She would not acquire the curves of a woman for a few more years, but she would develop into a lovely young lady. As a child and ultimately a woman, she would have a a number of gowns that she would wear with pride. Her step mother was an accomplished seamstress and cloth from the nearby mills was plentiful even if the textile mills were a two day carriage ride to the south. Her father's funds and influence were on display on her adolescent frame.

Personality: A quiet, dutiful young woman. She did not stand out. Well-mannered women were not known to make history, but Petunia would be the exception. She was interested in the arts, she loved music in particular. She was afraid of bugs, spiders and centipedes in particular. Her brothers would often torment her by placing one in her bed. She was literate, given the education befitting her status, she was also devout and religious. A prayer before every meal and before bed. She would spend her Sundays in mass and read scripture weekly as part of her studies.

Family: Daughter of Elias Palmer and Martha Palmer, she was the third born child. Her brother Marcus and Andrew were six and two years older than her respectively. Her mother was pregnant with a what she had hoped was a younger sister when Petunia was three, when she became ill. Her mother died of tuberculosis weeks before Petunia's fourth birthday. The child was stillborn, it was a boy. She is often told that she looks like her mother, especially as she got older. Her father's future wives resented her for this.

Her father would remarry one of her late mother's caregivers, Elizabeth. A petite blonde with large green eyes. She was a nurse and she was nearly ten years younger than her father. Elizabeth would have made for a better older sister than a mother. A rather indifferent woman in terms of rearing children that were not hers, most of Petunia's care came from house staff during her early developmental years. Elizabeth would give Petunia the younger sisters she so sorely desired -- Annabelle within a year of the marriage, solidifying her union and two years after Tiffany. Elizabeth was pregnant with her third child, but died during childbirth. The child, Matthew would survive but Elizabeth would not.

It would be another three years before Ellias would remarry again. This time to a socialite from the nearby city of Half Moon. They would have a pair of sons, twins Harold and Maxwell two years after they married. Her name was Jeanette, she was very beautiful but she was also older. Her hair was always impeccable and she dressed well. What she lacked in personality, she made up for in decorum. She was everything that Petunia aspired to be. The only problem: Jeanette was not interesting in teaching or investing in a child that was not hers. She was not cruel, but she made no efforts either. The awe would eventually fester into resentment for Petunia towards her step mother.

As for her relationship with her siblings, that was trying. She had the relationship one would expect with siblings. It was antagonistic. Her brothers were unruly and favored by her father, the eventual heirs of the family business. Her sisters, the children by other mothers. Mothers that were still alive. Fathers who only saw their achievements. Petunia suffered from middle-child syndrome. She was not noticed for being the first, nor being the smallest and most in need. She was for the most part forgotten in the tide of children.

Secret: She had a secret of course, she was not like other girls in Upton, she was a witch. The sort of witch that would get burned at the stake if anyone had discovered the truth. She did not come from a wizarding family, she was a muggle born and came to realize her uncanny abilities at the age of six. She was not educated in the public schools, rather she had private tutors like her siblings. She was in the music room practicing her cursive when the piano started to play on its own. She and her tutor both assumed it was a spirit and fled the music room which remained locked up for several months. Other small incidents would happen, often attributed to the supernatural in some manner. Ironic really. Objects would move without being touched, the occasional gust of wind or spark of light when there was one, all harmless still terrorized their family. They never thought that it would be one of the children that was 'troubled' until Petunia's 11th birthday.

Someone had come to their door on a brisk fall evening in late October. The trees were bare and the wind was howling like a crazed animal. They introduced themselves formally and they were dress well, albeit a bit strangely. It was revealed that Petunia was a 'special child,' that they were rather certain of this truth and that they would educate her in Massachusetts if their parents consented. Her parents did not consent, their reasoning obvious -- they were not going to entrust their near teenage daughter to a stranger.

In the days that followed, Petunia would be approached in private and learn that she was a witch. This would essentially be the start of her adventure. The strict secrecy laws and the danger involved in admitting her less than wholesome potential. Warnings the girl would not heed as she told her parents the 'truth', the truth that she was a witch. Their response was what one would expect -- fear, shame and anger. Calling a priest might have cost Petunia her life, so the priest was never called. They hesitantly consented but this would result in a dissolution of their relationship.

Word Count: 1127