The Jarginson Family Saga part 4

CHAPTER FIVE-- THE BEASLEYS
Once there, they all got out, and they went inside.
    “Children! Get on down here!” Mr. Beasley called up the stairs.
Two faces appeared and a girl and boy hurried down. The girl was older, about Lizzie’s age.
    “Lizzie, this is Damaris, who is 13, and this is our little boy, Sammy, who is 4.” Mrs. Beasley said.
    “Howdy do!” Damaris said, shaking Lizzie’s hand. Mr. Beasley eyed her sternly and Damaris’s smile faded quickly.
    “Damaris, take Lizzie up to her room, would you.” Mrs. Beasley said.
    “Yes, Ma’am.” Damaris took one of Lizzie’s bags and Lizzie followed her up the stairs. Once they were upstairs, Damaris led Lizzie into a large, airy room with light blue walls. Two beds stood against two of the walls. A large dresser stood in-between the beds, and a wash stand was by the door. The floor was covered with a blue carpet. Damaris opened the closet and set Lizzie’s bag inside, along with her suitcase.
    “I’ll help you unpack later, Miss Lizzie.” Damaris said.
    “Oh, Damaris, just call me ‘Lizzie’, not ‘Miss’. I’m only 12, turning 13 next month.” Lizzie said.
    “All right. I hope you don’t mind that we will be sharing a bedroom.” Damaris said.
    “Oh, I don’t mind, not at all.” Lizzie replied.
    “Uh, why don’t you freshen up a little before supper? I’ll be back to wake you when it’s time.” Damaris said.
    “All right.” Lizzie said.
The next day, Damaris and Lizzie were tidying their room. Lizzie had just put her teapot that had been given to her by her mother when Sammy ran in, carrying several toy trucks.
    “Zoom, zoom, zoom!” He yelled, crashing the trucks into the dresser. Damaris dived for the dresser and caught the teapot just as it was falling of the dresser. Several items fell to the floor, causing a loud bang.
    “Sammy! Shoo! Now look what you’ve done!” Damaris cried, looking at the broken items on the floor.
    “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it!” Sammy yelled as Damaris pushed him towards the door. At that moment, Mrs. Beasley burst into the room, stopping when she saw the mess and Sammy in the room. Lizzie thought that Sammy was going to be punished, but Mrs. Beasley said,       
    “You careless girls! You’ve ruined all these things, and now you’re being cruel to my boy!” She stormed over and snatched Sammy into her arms, glaring at the girls.
    “But, Ma’am, Sammy ran into the dresser and knocked it over, not us!” Lizzie tried to explain.
    “You girls clean this mess up, I’m taking Sammy away-- and you better not torture him again!” Mrs. Beasley said, hurrying out the door with Sammy.
 Damaris and Lizzie quietly picked up the things that had stayed together and then Damaris brought the broom and dust pan and they swept up the broken items.
    That night, when the two girls were in bed, Lizzie said,
    “Damaris, how come Mr. and Mrs. Beasley are so unkind to you, and so nice to Sammy? Aren’t you their daughter?”
    “No, Lizzie. I’m adopted.” Damaris said.
    “Oh! When were you adopted?” Lizzie asked.
    “I guess I can tell you my story. Well, When I was born, My mama died giving birth to me. Then when I was six, My Papa went to war, leaving me and my oldest sister, Dianna, who was 15 at the time, to care for our selves. Any ways, Papa was killed in war, and then Dianna got ill with cholera, and after a year, she died, too. I lived on the streets until I was almost 8, then one day the Beasley’s came to town, and they took a liking to me, since they had no children of their own yet. One day, almost a year after I had been adopted, Mrs. Beasley became pregnant with Sammy. They were starting to get tired of me, and by the time Sammy was born, they decided that Sammy was their only child that they should love, and so ever since, they’ve treated me almost like a slave.” Damaris said.
    “Oh, that’s so sad, Damaris!” Lizzie said.
    “Are they going to do that to me?” Lizzie asked.
    “I’m not sure, Lizzie, most likely. But you’ll have me, I only had...no one.” Damaris said after thinking a bit. Then they fell asleep.