Chapter One- Isadora

Chapter One
Ms. Isadora's Mansion
By Kati a.k.a. Keowyn
01/08/06

Marissa Kay Lenus applied the cherry lip gloss to her dry, chapped lips, then stuck her head out the Ford Expedition's window. The wind blew in her red hair and her brown eyes sparkled. The SUV went around a curve, and a voice from the driver seat yelled,
"M. Kay! Get your big head inside this vehicle before it snaps clean off your neck!"

Marissa ground her teeth as she let the window up. M. Kay was her least favorite nicknames, and all of the names Mrs. Copelind thought of were cheesy or babyish. "Please, Mrs. Copelind, Marissa is fine," she said. She picked up a magazine and flipped absentmindedly through the thin pages.

Mrs. Copelind shook her head. "But don't you like M. Kay? And, you used to love to be Rissa," she said. Marissa shivered, like something sour was in her mouth. She looked at Mrs. Copelind, toning out the lady's babbling.

She had grey, frizzy hair and blue eyes. She sported warts everywhere on her round face, and was always wearing a hot pink business suit. Mrs. Copelind claimed it was from the '70's. She was, in Marissa's mind, the exact look of a household maid.

Marissa sighed. "Mrs. Copelind, why, again, am I going to this lady's house? I don't even know the woman," she asked. Mrs. Copelind took a deep breath, and began to explain to Marissa for the millionth time.

"Your mother and father are both in Alaska, looking for a house. They've both been transfered, and think that Ms. Isadora would be a very good guardian whilst they're gone," she said.

"But why couldn't I come too? There isn't going to be anything to do," Marissa grumbled. For weeks, she had known that she would be spending her summer in a big, old mansion, while her parents house hunted in Alaska. It wouldn't even be fun for her, and going to a place where it always snowed sounded alot better than, well, staying with some old lady.

Mrs. Copelind turned onto a dirt road. "Well, we can't argue anymore. You're about to see the mansion," she said cheerily. Marissa sighed and rolled her window down again.

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After driving on the dirt road for about ten minutes, the masnion came in site. It looked the average kind: rickety iron fence, dead trees, peeling paint. But a red mustang convertible was parked outside, and some washing hund on a clothesline. Marissa whistled.

"That granny has taste," she said. Mrs. Copelind nodded. "Yes, old mansions are all the rage," she said. Marissa closed her eyes so she couldn't roll them. She said, "I was talking about the car."

Mrs. Copelind honked the horn and opened the door. She smoothed down her hot pink suit and looked around. "There's plenty of trees here," she commented as they walked to the front porch. A steady breeze blew through the trees. Marissa knocked on the old wooden door, half expecting it to open to an empty room, sort of like a haunted house. But, a slim, twentyish woman opened the door and smiled.

"Can we talk to Ms. Isadora?" Mrs. Copelind said politely. The woman looked at her, clearly annoyed. "I AM Isadora. What did you expect, a little old lady?" she said. Mrs. Copelind laughed nervously, and shrugged at Marissa.

"This is Marissa Kay Lenus," she said, changing the subject. Isadora smiled at Marissa. "What do you like to be called?" she asked her.
"M. Kay."
"Marissa," Mrs. Copelind and Marissa said at once. Isadora looked at Mrs. Copelind, and said, "I was asking Marissa."

She blushed. This was awkward! "Plain Marissa is fine," she said. "Bye Mrs. Copland," Marissa said, using her nickname for her parents' friend. Isadora brought Marissa inside and slammed the front door. They heard Mrs. Copelind drive off in the large, green SUV.