Once, many years ago, there lived a sweet little Italian woman and a tall strong Irish man. They lived in Ireland on a small farm. They loved each other very much, and were very happy. They very much wanted a child, and soon found themselves blessed with a son. The next year, they had another son, and the year after that another son. The boys were very alike - strong, dark haired lads with a fighting spirit. The family was very happy, but the woman wished for a daughter. She got her wish nine years later, when she bore a baby girl, whom they named Danae.

Danae was a tiny thing at first, with dark red hair and a quiet manner, but as she grew she became her mother's right hand in the house, caring for the animals and learning to cook. Although the woman and man were greatly pleased with the baby, the three boys cared nothing for this new child and didn't pay her a bit of attention. Nor did they care when three years later a new baby was born - another son, named Duncan. Duncan was a stout lad with red hair and freckles. He was a troublesome child, at one turn happy and one turn kicking and biting the people about him. He got along very well with Danae, however, and he was mainly her ward.

As time passed, the three eldest sons became more and more distant, and finally the three of them ran off to war. The man was very upset, but proud, and he began to be very boastful about town over his boys. He made much of their exploits, and the men in town were all too quick to fight him over his claims. He would come home beaten and drunk, and his wife became sullen and withdrawn.

It was totally unexpected when three years after Duncan was born she bore another child. This last child was a tiny baby girl, named Kemora. Kemi was beloved by Danae and Duncan, who cared for her very much. Their mother was sickly now with worry, and stayed in bed most of the time. Danae cared for the house and cooked, and Duncan cared for the animals, and they tried to care for Kemi and their mother. Then, one night, their father went to the bar and never came home. The next morning, their sickly mother went to town to find that her husband had died in a huge bar fight. A fight had broken out over the war, and during the fight a lantern had been tipped and the bar set ablaze. Four men had died in the blaze.

Their mother never returned home. She walked into the sea and perished. Nobody came to tell the children left behind that their parents were gone. For months, the children tried to care for the farm alone, but Danae was only 7, Duncan 4, and Kemi only a baby. But luck smiled upon this little band of raggle taggle children when a woman in town sent a note to a man in Italy. The man's name was Donovan D'Armand, and he was the elder brother of Danae, Duncan, and Kemi's mother. Now, Donovan was only a child when his parents took his sister and moved to Ireland. Donovan was left behind at the home of his master. Over the years, Donovan took over the business, and did very well. By this time, he was a powerful man, rich and influential with the royal family. He immediately sent two coaches and several people to go fetch the children and their belongings and bring them home to Italy with him.

Imagine the surprise when two richly decorated horse drawn coaches come to pick up the three skinny farm children! They packed up everything from the house, from baskets to tables, and loaded it into one carriage, and then loaded the pets and the children into the other. Finally, they tied the children's pony to the back of the carriage and set off on the long trip to Italy. It took a very long time, and when the road trip, boat trip, and road trip again finally ended, Danae was 9, Duncan 6, and Kemi was 3. They were road weary and ever so glad to meet their uncle! For the first time in years, they had a good meal and a soft bed.

The children got to be children for the first time. Danae learned to dance, Duncan learned archery. They all got to travel Europe with their uncle, playing on the beach or picking flowers in fields. They got to dance with princes and princesses, and pet tigers. They had a beautiful childhood. And as they grew, the memories of the bad times faded, and they thought fondly of their parents again. They never saw their older brothers, but it was probably just as well.

Finally, when Kemi was 10, she decided to live in Italy at her uncle's estate, and visit with her family there. Duncan elected to go with Donovan on a long hunting trip, and Danae decided to travel to Ireland to see about the old farm she had lived on as a child. Three years later, a random event would change the lives of these three siblings. Donovan and Duncan had returned home from the hunt, and Danae was back in Italy visiting Kemi, Duncan, and their uncle, when Donovan got a note from an old friend in England. The man was getting old, and he was having a problem with his son. His son, it seemed, didn't care for his father, all he was concerned with was getting his father's house and store. The man knew his son was a fool, and would run his property into the ground. He hated the idea of his beloved home going to that boy, and wanted to know if Donovan could help him. When Donovan received the note, he acted immediately. He traveled to England and picked up his old friend. They boarded up the house and told the local sherriff that nobody, especially not the son, was to enter the building until they sent word otherwise. They paid the sherriff well to listen, and then traveled back to Italy.

The old man was treated by the best doctors and was sent to the beach to recover, which he did. He was so grateful to Donovan that he gave the house to Donovan's care, and told him to do as he liked with it. Donovan knew exactly what to do with the property. He called a meeting with the three siblings and told them of the property. It was a two story home on the main street, with the downstairs split between a storefront and a large kitchen, and the upstairs being a pair of bedchambers and a large living space. He told them that he wanted to give this house and the land behind it to them.

Well, the siblings were excited, but Kemi confessed that if it were all the same, she'd rather stay in Italy with her friends and family. Danae and Duncan, however, were thrilled. So, plans were made for a move to England. Once again, they packed the coaches and prepared to leave on a long voyage. Duncan and Danae were on their own together for the first time since they were children. They decided on a couple of things. First, they decided to live as they had back then - before they had money. Rich people were stuck up, and overly concerned with clothes. They knew that the world of the upper class was not one they wanted to inhabit. And so they made arrangements to have money sent every month secretly, and they decided to use it as best they could. They arrived in the town of Warwick in England on a drizzly April morning, and showed the constable the papers for the house. He gave them the keys and they opened the heavy oaken door. The house was dark and musty, but it was home.