"Hurry up out there will ya Iris? A homely looking man called teasingly to the girl in the vegetable garden, before taking a swig of his beer.
"Yeah I’m workin' on it." The girl replied with good nature, her cornflower blue eye's sparkling mischievously back at her father. She sat upon damp soil, her leg’s tucked neatly beneath her.
Her father, Louis Rodgers, took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of ripe vegetables that floated about on the soft breeze. The sun shone brightly down on his thick light brown hair.
He jumped from the sagging porch and ruffled his daughters pale red hair, his faded blue eye’s filled with mischief..
"Daddy!" She cried, laughing "Stop it! Your going to make me look a mess" She pushed his callused hands away playfully.
"Ah. Messy or not your still the most beautiful little flower around. No one holds a candle to ya. Nothing for you to worry about little miss.” His slightly wrinkled, face broke into a large grin.
"Oh your just saying that because you’re my Daddy." Iris laughed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Louis gave Iris a stern look. "Oh why am I arguing with ya? Your just trying to stall! Why if we keep this up your ma is going to have both of our hides." He lowered himself to the ground and pulled his legs under him, so he could jerk a handful of weeds out of the soil, his strong arm flexing slightly.
"Daddy you don't have to help me!" Iris protested. "Mama told me to do it and you've been working all day. You need to relax sometime!" Her eyes filled with guilt.
"It ain't nuttin. Besides why should I stay in there "relaxin'" as you call it, when I could be out in the fresh air? What’s more relaxing then fresh air? Besides if we work together then we'll get done twice as fast. "
An hour later the two had finished and stood up, and stared at their accomplishment.
"There now there's time to wash up before you ma gets home" Louis said as he wiped his sweaty brow on the dingy sleeve of his shirt. "It's time to get out of this sun."
They quickly washed their hands and faces in the outdoor basin before trekking onto their shack. Inside the wood floors were worn, and the walls which had once been dark brown were faded and peeling. Glad for the chance to have some time to herself Iris slipped into her room and pulled out her scrapbook so she could flip trough the pages.
Inside there we're a few baby pictures and a smudged sketch from her parents wedding. She stared intently into her mothers face, studying her features, trying to recognize the resemblances. They both had the same eyes and their hair was the same shade. Her mothers hair was much thicker then her own though. They had similar figure's as well, but her mothers bust was fuller then her own.
There was a few clipping's from the news paper, which included an article about Lord Riley's missing daughter Isabella. The story claimed that she had been taken away by pirates. Iris felt pity for the young girl. There was a image of her and even with the faded print she could make out the girls sad eyes. Not long, just a few short months after Isabella's disappearance Riley remarried a duchess who bore him a two sons.
On the next page there were several of her poems that she had experimented with. After that there was nothing but blank pages just begging to be filled. Iris looked at them thoughtfully, trying to come up with something to fill them with. Nothing came to mind.
There was a quick rapping and then her mother soft voice drifted trough her door ."Iris come on out now. I need ya to help out with supper."
"Alright mama." Iris sighed, dragging her self to her feet and opening the door. Her mother stood there her entire posture sagging from her exhaustion.
She smiled weekly before turning towards the kitchen, and Iris fallowed.
"So mama how was you day?" Iris asked already knowing the answer
"Today was somtin' awful. My feet and back ach like you wouldn't believe! I'll tell you this Iris, when you marry, marry a man with fortune and class. I married for love and look how life is for me! Don't get me wrong now, I still love your father dearly, but sometimes that ain't enough. Hear me?" She lectured, as she set a pot on the stove.
"But mama Daddy always says that money can't buy happiness." Iris replied softly not wanting to fire up her mothers temper.
"Sure it can honey. You buy what makes you happy and comfortable ya see? And if you must love, love someone with money, so when they knock ya up they can afford to pay for the bills. Here cut these." she replied before handing Iris some carrots.
"That's awful mama!" Iris gasped., laying the carrots on the counter and grabbing a knife.
"I ain't gonna sugar coat life for ya baby. No sir. Your Daddy thinks that he can make life seem like it's all fun and games for you forever but your old enough to realize the truth. I mean seventeen! Why by society's standards you should be married and having baby's! But look at ya, still living here with me and your father." She shook her head shamefully.
"I just want things to be right. I don't want to rush things and miss out on my education!' Iris sighed as she dropped the carrots pieces into the pot.
"And what? Grow old here with your father, your nose stuck in a book? Education does no good for us women. We are mere objects in the eyes of men. Your father shouldn't have treated you like you were anymore then that." Her mother’s annoyance was clear, as she tossed in some small onions.
Iris opened her mouth to argue but her mother gave her an angry look that made her think better of it.
When Louis entered the room awhile later, he went up to his wife and tried to pull her into his arms. She pulled away expertly, before grabbing some plates and starting to set the table.
"Whats got yer' a** Eileen?" Louis demanded irritably, stepping back.
" I think it's about time to get Iris hitched. She's more then old enough." Eileen announced, as she set the last plate on the table.
"What?" Louis gasped shocked. "How could you say such a thing? You know that Iris is going to be much more then a trophy wife or a broad mare!"
"Oh is that what you consider me?!" Eileen accused spinning on Louis, her hair fanning out behind her. A glass crashed to the floor and shattered. Her eye's seemed to be on fire with her anger. “Our marriage was arranged when I was fourteen and you didn’t see anything wrong with marring me.”
"Maybe mama's right Daddy. What you think I should do is very uncommon for a women." Iris suggested, though secretly hoping that he would disagree.
"That's because you aren't common Iris! Your much more! You have so much to offer." Louis held his hands out as though pleading.
"Your only saying that because she's a result of your seed. If she was anyone else's child you wouldn't think she was so special." Eileen whined as she dropped herself into one of the dining chairs.
"Whatever. I don't want to fight about it right now." Louis grumbled before storming out of the back door.
Without a word Iris began to clean up the glass, her insides feeling like they had started to crumble.
Iris served her mother before she sat down so they could begin their dinner, Iris barely picking at her food. She kept her eye's down so as not to have to face her mother.
"Ya do know that I only have yer best interests at heart don't ya?" Eileen spoke up suddenly, slamming her fork on the table.
"Yes mama.” Iris whispered before choking down a bite of potato.
"Ya ain't just saying that are ya? I want you to be honest with me Iris. I'm your ma. Ya hear?" Eileen eyed her daughter suspiciously.
"Mama I know that you want what's best for me, but I really want to feel like I've gotten somewhere." Iris sobbed, her green blue eye’s welling over with tears.
"Marry a decent man and then you've gotten somewhere."Eileen told her coldly before rising to her feet and going to her own room, leaving a bowl of soup that they couldn’t afford to waste.

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Louis didn't return to his family for almost a week. Eileen constantly had a dark gloom shadowing her eye's. Iris and her Mother both knew the consequences of Louis's absence. When he returned he would no longer have a job and it was close to time to pay taxes. They barely had enough income to feed themselves. So when Louis returned Eileen exploded.
Louis strode in, a big self satisfied grin spread across his weathered face.
"Where the hell have ya been!?" Eileen bawled.
She practically flew out of the old rocker in which she had been sitting, her fist's clenched as she pressed her hate filled face mere inches form his own.
"I have found a solution to all of our problems. I've traveled north and I found a man who claims to be a great scholar. He tells me that he is willing to take Iris under his wing and teach her all he knows. He says that from what I have told him about her, she is just the sort of student he's been after. Bright and willing to learn. Someone who is committed." He described, the smile not falling from his face for a second.
"But what about getting married? Ya know that is still important for a women, even the fancy educated ones." Eileen quizzed, her look becoming a little less angry, yet still suspicious, her stance a little less ridged.
"He says that it will all be arranged. He told me that he has a genius son who despises shoddy women, and Iris would be perfect with her freshness and intelligence ! I don't know if we'll ever get another chance like this. I think that we should go for it."Louis concluded a proud look in his eyes, his chest swelling.
"Well then if ya really think it's for the best then do it." Eileen sighed. "I just wish she didn't have to be sent away. We may never see hide nor hair of her ever again."
"But she will be happy, and safe." Louis pulled his wife into his arms, and that's what's most important."
"I suppose."Eileen let her head rest on her husbands chest and listened to his heartbeat.
Later when Iris returned from school, Her parents sat down and repeated what her father had told her mother when he had come home. Iris sat quietly for a few moments, pondering what they had said.
"So this way I can get married and still focus on my education?" Iris said skeptically, looking from her father to her mother. They both has Cheshire cat grins as they peered down at her.
"That's right. He sent an outfit for us to dress ya up all nice in, and I'm sure your ma can help ya out with your hair. Why you be like one of those real fancy lady's." Louis burst as he pulled out a package from behind the sofa and handed it to Iris.
"When would I be going?" Iris felt her insides twist nervously inside her, as she ran her hand over the silky pink ribbon that kept the package neatly sealed.
"tomorrow. First thing. Ya have to get all of your things packed up tonight so we can just get up and go. We're going to leave at dawn" Louis's seemed to glow with excitement.
That night Eileen made a large pot of vegetable soup for dinner and roasted a duck that Louis had brought home from his journey. They all ate until they couldn’t hold down another bite, even Iris with her stomach full of butterfly's.
Before being sent to bed Eileen helped Iris wash her hair and the wrapped the strands in torn strips of cloth so in the morning when they took them out they would leave her hair is elegant curls.
The night was long and Iris didn't sleep much. She spent most of it looking about her room, relishing all of the memory's from her childhood. She thought of all the years she had used this room as a sanctuary, a place to keep all of her secrets. Where she used to have tea parties with imaginary friends and a rag doll name Lacy, which was long since gone.
She drifted off to sleep about an hour before dawn, when Eileen burst into the room and shook her daughter out of a dreamless slumber.
"Hurry up! We need to get you ready. I have to take the cloth out of your hair and we have to get you dressed! Have you even looked at the gown yet? It’s beautiful!" With that Eileen picked up the box Louis had brought home and set it on Iris's bed.
Once opened there was a dark red velvet dress and a black corset. There were dainty satin black shoes as well.
"How did they know what size to get me?" Iris wondered aloud as she rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes.
"Why I'm sure your Papa told them. Now hurry up and get dressed." Eileen's ordered as she prodded at her daughter.
Iris needed help with the corset and gasped when her mother cinched it tightly.
"Mama! It's much to tight! I can hardly breath!."Iris’s eye’s bulged as she gasped for air.
"That's how it's supposed to be hun. Haven't you ever heard that pain is beauty?" Eileen laughed.
After about an hour Iris was fully dressed and her ringlets were piled upon her head like a shining crown. Eileen and Louis gazed at their daughter with pride.
"Oh one more thing." Eileen said as she pulled a small compact out of her faded dresses pocket. Quickly she powdered Iris's nose. " There, now your perfect."
They were all crying by the time they got outside to their rickety old horse carriage. Old sam, their fifteen year old Clydesdale turned his large head to witness the scene.
"Ya be good alright?" Eileen whispered in her daughters ear, hugging her tightly. "I love ya."
"Of course I'll be good. I always am."Iris laughed trough her tears.
"I know ya well. Make me proud." Eileen stepped back and watched as Louis helped her in onto the carriage, which squeaked beneath her weight.
Louis climbed up and set himself next to his daughter. "Giddy up!"
The Sam started down the road and Iris looked back and watched her mother until she was out of sight.