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Back Princess at Heart Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. The Rosewood Chronicles
  4. Dedication
  5. Prologue
  6. Part One
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. Part Two
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. Part Three
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. Author’s Note
  48. The Rosewood Houses
  49. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Then the town was in view, and she could see the station shining like a beacon. Part of her was searching endlessly for a blacked-out car, for Ellie.

Her mind hurtled her back to the first time she had seen Ellie. Leather jacket, dark eyes hidden behind sunglasses, a storm clinging to her, the electric smell of wet earth. If she just thought about it hard enough, she’d be with her again.

She was on her own in the town, the purple tartan pinafore making her completely conspicuous.

People stared as she ran. Children filtered out of shops, pointing. The exposure made her afraid in a way she hadn’t felt in years, since long before she came to Rosewood Hall.

Ducking out of view, she bolted down a grey-stone alley, hoping to stick to the shadows on the way to the train station. She only had a vague idea of what she was doing. Make it to the train station, call Ellie on the public phone, wait for them to pick her up.

She reached out to steady herself and was shocked to find her hand shaking. If Ellie was really gone, if her worst nightmare was real, then she was entirely alone.

This wasn’t right. She’d made her peace with Ellie; she’d proven they could be together even when she wasn’t her Portman. So why had she gone? Why was everyone gone and she was left behind again?

Legs crumbling, she slid down the stone. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to have one more year with her; they were going to face this together. They were going to find Jamie. And now she was completely alone, sitting in a dirty dark alley, no Jamie, no Ellie – and without them she couldn’t find herself; she didn’t know who she was.

‘Ellie, Jamie, where are you?’ she croaked.

The loneliness was nauseating and swirled up inside her. She was faced with a version of herself she thought she’d never see again. The sad little girl hidden away in the attic, no family, only drawings and fairy tales for company, dreaming of Rosewood and who she’d become there. Now it was all being ripped away. She was sure she was about to be sick.

‘What’s that?’ A voice from the end of the alley drifted over.

Lottie peered through her hands to see three indistinct figures in the chink of sunlight.

‘Looks like someone’s lost.’

37

The figures at the end of the alley stepped into the half-light. They were not people she recognized. They were teenagers, not much older than herself, but the way they skulked towards her made her recoil like a trapped mouse.