The trees shuttered and the wind was cold. The harsh voice of a woman was coming from house number 19, and the wailing of a child filled the air. The owner of the house, Mr. Peter Henderson, married a wife not long ago to take care of his little daughters Eleanor and Anastasia. His second wife pleased him, but the moment he went out to work, the two little innocent children missed him very much, as the house would become a hell for them. Another child lived in the house too, Mariana, the only difference is that the former lived in rags with a heart of gold while the latter lived in costly furs with a heart of stone. Mariana was often angry when she thought that her parents needed to take care of the two sisters even when their mom left them. She felt disgusted and jealous of the two sisters, particularly Eleanor.

It was going to be Christmas. There was a festive mood in the air. Mariana made a plan to show her pitiful face to the sisters to make them listen to her words and also drive them away from the house.

That night, she quietly entered the dirty storeroom. She found the two girls sleeping soundly.

-“Anne? Eleanor? Are you two sleeping?”

-“No, I’m not. But Anne has slept. What happened?” Answered Eleanor.

The blonde-haired girl thought for a while and said softly, “If you want to live happily, then follow my words. Runaway from this house, and you’ll find paradise.”

Eleanor was quite amazed. She thought that no one cared for her and her sister, but now Mariana wanted to help them! But she suddenly felt a chill on her back and thought, “If I leave this house, then it’s possible that I and my sisters will totally lose connection with father and maybe we can never return home again and die on the streets.” She asked-

“If I’m going to leave this place, then where am I going to live with Anne? Who will take care of us? What are we going to eat?”

This question set Mariana thinking and thinking but in her mind she was hoping that the two sisters should starve to death. Eleanor replied- “Don’t worry, Mariana. We will leave here soon, but we have to make good preparations. Thanks for caring for us.”

Mariana was angry and hopeless yet relieved to hear that Eleanor would soon go away with Anne from that house. She happily went back to her room.

Days passed by. Three months passed. A whole year went by. Eleanor and Anne still did not leave the house which worried Mariana. She tried to contact Anne and give her some advice so that they can leave the house in a small-time. But Eleanor did not care about anything that Mariana said and served her stepmother like a God. Then one day she had a small conversation with her father, Mr. Henderson.

-Father, what shall happen if I leave the house with Anne?

-You will go nowhere! Until your mother comes home and begs to me for the mistake she had made and marries me, you and your sister will live here.

-Did you say that after my mother comes, you’ll marry her?

-Yes. Your mother has kept her virginity for long, if I wouldn’t have drugged her and

forced her, then she wouldn’t have given birth to you two.

-Father, can you tolerate stepmom after marrying mom? (Ellen curses her father continuously, he's such a pervert!)

-Of course not! I’ll send her in my bungalow at New Jersey where she’ll live with Mariana. I’ll visit both of you, at different times. But she’s not gonna stay her, or she’ll create chaos.

-Okay, father, I’ll live here with Anne as long as nobody forces me out!

Mariana overheard the conversation. She stood in front of the door shivering. Does her father not love her anymore? Will he abandon them after that devil’s mum will come? She felt like crying. It was a warning from Eleanor!

After 3 years, Anne herself urged Eleanor to leave the house and that she could suffer no longer. Eleanor was clever but was afraid to leave the house as she did not have anyone to rely upon. Anne wanted to ask about this to Mariana but Eleanor warned that no one should know that they are going to run away from the house.

-“Anne, you know that we are to run away from this house. If father comes to know of this, he would lock us in a room and mum will be hurt. Let us keep this a secret and let your poor elder sister make a plan.”

-“But, sister, if we are not successful?”

-“Don’t worry.”

Anne was happy that they were to leave the house soon. Meanwhile, Eleanor decided to make an excuse to her stepmother so that she can visit her friend in the nearby locality.

“What! We have run out of potatoes just when I wanted to have some French fries!” said

the stepmother.

“Yes. Stepmother, please allow me to go to that shop in the nearby town. I’ve heard that they sell nice and tasty potatoes which are very cheap. In this way, you can also save some money for Mariana’s birthday party.” replied Eleanor.

The stepmother was happy as she thought that she could contribute some money to the party and her daughter would be very happy about it. But she felt a little uneasy as she thought that if Eleanor would run away from the

house, then Mr. Henderson will surely divorce her. Afraid, she commanded- “I order you to come within 2 hours else I don’t know what will happen to your little sister.”

Eleanor nodded her head and said, “Mother, don’t worry. I’ll surely return home within 2 hrs.” And of went Eleanor to her friend’s house leaving behind her little sister in the house.

Eleanor had studied with Emma when she used to go to school. Now, she missed her beautiful school days because she stopped going to school a month ago as her step mother thought it useless to send her to school. On reaching Emma’s house, Eleanor knocked the door.

“Who’s it?” asked Emma.

“It’s me, Eleanor!” replied the beautiful but poorly clothed girl.

“Oh, Eleanor! Come inside!” and Emma quickly opened the door. Before Eleanor could speak, she asked, “What happened to you? Why didn’t you come to school these days?”

Emmawas very angry when she came to know that Eleanor’s stepmother treated her and her sister so badly- poor dresses, not enough food, taking away all books, stopping them from going to school, taking away all happiness from their lives and so on. “She’s your stepmother, isn’t she? Then why does she has a daughter equal to your age?” Eleanor hesitated to say it at first but then she realized that she needed help. So she blurted out everything she knew.

“My stepmother already had a baby with my father before the marriage. That baby was born at the same time as I was born. I don’t know what happened to my mother but surely, she’s not dead. She and my father probably divorced because of my father’s affair with other women. So my step mother’s path was cleared and she could easily marry my father. But my stepmother didn’t know that my father already had children and above all my father refused to give us to mum. So she tried to divert his attention from us towards her child Mariana. And now that she’s successful, she treats us worse than a servant. So we’ve decided to run away from the house.”

Hearing this, Emma understood why Eleanor came to her house. She said, “Don’t worry Eleanor! You can rely on me. I have a full-proof plan.”

When Eleanor came out of Emma’s house, 15 minutes was left to 3. There was not much time to go to the market and take part in the huge queue. So she decided to take some vegetables from her house. When she returned home, she quickly boiled the potatoes and cooked the food. On seeing this, her step mother was pleased.

“So now you’ve understood that you are just a mere servant?” asked the step mother.

“Worse than a servant”, replied Eleanor, “At least a servant is paid”.

Life was tough for the two sisters. They worked hard from morning till evening and could have rest only at night. They only knew that one day this harsh life will surely end and all those who have hurt them will surely suffer. After 3 years, Mr. Henderson got a promotion. So he had to leave for the next city for a week or two.

Mariana was becoming prettier and prettier day by day. But sadly, Eleanor was still more beautiful than her. After Mr. Henderson left Britain successfully, Mariana tried cruel means to overpower Eleanor. Eleanor was clever and she could easily defeat Mariana. Seeing this battle between the two step sisters, Mrs. Henderson realized that to make sure that Mariana is married into a rich family and to protect her position as the company’s heir, she needs to be kept out of family troubles.  So she sent Mariana to the rich boarding school in Britain and pampered her more and more. On the other hand, she felt that Eleanor and Anne were becoming out of control. Ms. Lily, a very strict woman, was asked to take care of them while Mrs. Henderson went to look after her husband in the next city who became ill. Before going, she warned, “You may run away if you wish. But remember, you may be in any part of this world, but I will surely find you.” said Mrs. Henderson.

When Ms. Lily fell asleep, the two little sisters decided that it was time for them to escape. So they left at midnight, around 2:30 am. They disguised themselves as foreigners, changed their names and went straight to Emma’s house where she gave them the tickets to New York. Until it’s time for the plane, they have to

stay at the airport.

“London to New York, quite a journey,” said Emma, “If uncle or aunt comes to know of this, we all are dead!”

“It’s okay”, replied Eleanor, “Now give me that house address. I’ve to see whether I can recognize the place.”

Emma quickly handed over a small card to Eleanor and said, “Well, I’ve nothing to say. Take care and please don’t get lost!”

It was late already when Emma realized that she forgot to give food and other documents to Eleanor. She ran to the airport as soon as possible but unfortunately, the plane had taken off. Eleanor had gone to New York with her sister.

Anne was excited as she had never visited New York. But Eleanor was calm, as she had already spent her 5 years of childhood there.

On reaching New York, Eleanor had a phone call. The person who spoke to her was an unfamiliar girl. The girl said, “Ms. Eleanor, please come to West garden hotel now. Your room has been booked.”

Eleanor went to the hotel and in a few minutes, she shifted to her new house. Though the whole house didn’t belong to her, the place was quite comfortable and very quiet than the previous one. Suddenly, there was a banging noise and the door opened. A girl came into the room and hugged Eleanor. But Eleanor was quite confused.

The girl looked up. “Oh Ellen! We’re meeting after such a long time! You’ve grown quite pale. And this, are you married? Where is your husband? And is this your daughter? How old is she?” she asked, pointing at Anne.

“Oh! She’s 13 years old.” Replied Eleanor, who was 16. She was unable to control herself from laughing seeing the petrified figure of the unknown girl.

She asked, “Jennet, long time no see!”

Now, who’s Jennet? Jennet is the person who owes Eleanor a thousand promises. We’ll soon come to know of this but for now, let us keep it a secret!

Jennet and Eleanor had a long chat together. They played games and ate to their heart’s content. Then Eleanor spoke, “Oh no! I suddenly realize that I left all my documents, birth certificates, and other things with Emma. Now I have to soon find some work as I don’t have enough money. You know, we just can’t spend Emma’s money uselessly.”

Jennet was listening. She spoke, “I’ll find you a job. You don’t need to worry.”

The next morning, in London, there was a long but unfruitful rush to find Eleanor and Anne. Mrs. Henderson was quite amazed at how cleverly the girls had escaped. There was nothing that could have been done and they left no trace. Even, when they checked the flights, they couldn’t find them as both Eleanor and Anne had changed their names to Diana and Eva respectively. So, of course, they could do nothing about it.