Bell
              A story of intrigue and suspense told threw the eyes of a southern bell



Soft wind blew threw the trees, making them shift restlessly above the shady Georgia  orchard.  

It was the middle of summer and the cool touch of the wind was a welcomed relief to Milly O’Riley,

the tall blond woman was perched on one of the low hanging branches of the largest apple tree in the orchard.

She had been napping for sometime but something had woken her quite abruptly. At first she had blamed an errant

apple for the rude awakening but after investigating her surroundings she found no trace of an

apple under the branch she had been sleeping on. Pushing off the branch Milly gracefully leapt to the ground,

straitening her wrinkled petticoats as she did so. Looking around the orchard the blue eyed woman found her culprit,

Mitchel the caretakers son was standing five feet or so from the young lady, an acorn in hand, smiling much like a

cat that caught a mouse. Rolling her eyes Milly walked towards him, laughing a bit.



“Mitchell” she called softly when she was a foot away from the young man, “what in heavens name did you mean

to accomplish by heaving acorns at my person my dear?”



“Your father told me to wake you by any means necessary but not to lay a hand on you miss, it was th’ only

thing I could thing of.” Milly let out a frustrated breath knowing what Mitchell was going to say next.

“He said it aint seemly for a young lady to be out sleepin by her lonesome Specialy in th’ trees miss.” She wasn’t

disappointed



Milly shook her head tousling her long golden curls in the process, she pushed past Mitch in a tiff ready to

shoot her daddy. The man put his nose in her affairs much too much she decided stomping her way back to their

mansion on the other side of their property. She rushed by planters and dairy maids making her way past the large

duck pond and finally threw the bit of woods that separated the main house from the rest of the property.       



Stomping up the steps in a most unladylike fashion Milly pushed past a cleaning girl who happened to be in

her way,and stormed threw the front entrance to her fathers study in the east wing of the house. As she walked she

passed large ornate doors and candelabras that had yet to be lit because of the sun streaming threw the ceiling to

floor picture windows that lined one side of the hall. When she reached her fathers study she took both handles in

had and threw the double doors open. Her father, who was reading a legal document, looked up for barely a moment to

acknowledge his oldest daughter before once again look at the paper in his hand. This blatant dismissal set Milly’s

temper on fire and she stormed to her fathers desk and slapped both hands down.



“Father!” she raved “why is it that I cannot even have a nap in the fresh air without you sending someone
after me?”