Chapter 2

Something awful, that had the smell of ammonia, was being held under my nose. I could feel the back of someone's hand touching my lips. I twitched and tried to pull away, only to hear somebody say, "She's coming around. You can put the smelling salts away."

I thought to myself, 'What's that? Who's coming around?' I opened my eyes to see and was startled to find that I was lying on a bed, with several people leaning over my prone form.

"There, there, Amelia, take it easy. You just fainted. Understandable after what you've just been through in this terrible weather. The other girls were overcome as well, but everyone is doing fine now. This will be your bedroom for your visit. We're going to leave you alone now to get some rest. The doctor will be back to check on you when he has finished with the others, and Anne will be in shortly. She just went to get you some warm milk."

I nodded and the three people, none of whom I recognized, straightened up and left the room.

I just lay there for half a minute, trying to gather my thoughts. Where was I? Amelia? The last thing that I remembered was that I was in the old Westervelt Mansion. We had seen something unusual that seemed to be a ghost, and we had been cornered at the front door. I put my hand up to my head, and I almost screamed. It wasn't my hand. It wasn't even my arm. And what the heck was I wearing? I looked down at my body and suffered another shock. I appeared to be wearing a dress. And were those bumps on my chest part of me? I closed my eyes as tightly as I could. This had to be a dream, or a hallucination. When I opened my eyes again, everything would be normal.

I worked up the courage to open one eye, and closed it again quickly. Nothing had changed. What should I do now? I reached my hand up and felt one of the bumps on my chest. OH... MY... GOD, they were real. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. Things like this just didn't happen. I MUST be dreaming. I pinched myself. It hurt like crazy, and I was still here. What do I do now? Get out of bed, I told myself. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't bend. I felt my chest and stomach. There was something wrapped around me, which was hard and unyielding. I slid to the edge of the bed and managed to get to my feet with a great deal of effort, but I almost fell over as I tried to stand up. My feet were wobbly as I tried to balance. This must be dream, I thought. But it didn't feel like any dream that I had ever had before.

I managed to slowly make my way to the dressing table and looked at myself in the mirror. But it wasn't me, or at least not the me that I expected to see. I was expecting to see an image of myself in a floor length dress. But instead of the carrot topped, gangly, male image that usually stared back at me, I saw a pretty, no, beautiful, petite brunette with long flowing hair. I raised my arm and saw that the reflection did also. Yep, this had to be a dream. That couldn't be me. Attractive was not a term that could ever be used to describe me, and this girl was beautiful. I continued to look at the reflection that appeared in the mirror as I moved me arms up and down and made faces at it. What was going on? Why couldn't I wake up? I lifted the bottom of the skirt and looked at the shoes that I was wearing. They were tiny, not at all like my size 10's. Even with the heels, that appeared to be about 3 inches, I couldn't be more than 5 feet, 6 inches tall. That means that I was now only 5 feet, 3 inches tall. People don't shrink overnight. For that matter, they don't grow boobs overnight either. And their hair certainly doesn't grow two feet longer overnight. I tugged on my hair. Yep, not a wig.

I sat down in the chair at the dressing table. My clothing immediately began cutting into my body. I must be wearing a corset, I thought. I had seen pictures of them in old pictures. I moved to the front edge of the chair, and sat up very straight and rigid. That relieved the pain. I looked down at the dress that I was wearing. I had never expected to see myself in a dress. I was sure that any minute I was going to wake up. I examined my finely trimmed fingernails, and the jewelry that I wore on my hands and wrists. Then I looked at myself in the mirror again. I would love to date a girl like that, but with my looks, there wasn't much of a chance. Wait a minute, I was that girl. At least until I woke up. I bent as close as my clothes allowed and examined my face. A finely sculpted nose, beautiful mouth, deep blue eyes, and high cheekbones made for a real aristocratic face. I felt my breasts again. Touching them made the nipples stiffen. They were real. No silicon or foam rubber here. I put my hands around my waist. As Andy, I had never been fat, but now my waist couldn't be more than eighteen inches with this corset. I followed my form down to where I usually found little Andy. But there was no sign of him. The clothes prevented me from doing a full examination, but I would have known if he were there.

I quickly removed my hands as the door opened. A beautiful, lithe blonde walked in carrying a small tray which bore a glass of white liquid. I assumed this to be Anne, and that must be the warm milk. I really hated milk.

"Oh Amelia, you're up. I'm so glad," she said as she smiled. "I was so worried about you. I got so scared when all four of you fainted at the same time. It must have been a terrible trip. The weather has turned so bad, that Daddy says that we may get snowed in for a month. You, Roberta, Martha, and Elizabeth may have to extend your visit. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, wonderful. You say that it's snowing?"

"Oh, dear," Anne said as a worried expression come over her face, "you're still dizzy. It's been snowing for simply hours. Daddy sent out all of the men out with sleds to find you when you didn't arrive on time. They found your carriage stuck in a snow bank about five miles from here. They were afraid that you had all succumbed to the cold. The men swore that none of you were breathing when they reached you. But when they got you back here, all four of you woke up and appeared all right until you suddenly fainted in the entrance hall. The doctor can't explain it. None of you four are even suffering from frostbite. It's a miracle."

"Oh, yes," I said guardedly, "I remember now, Anne. Thank you."

"That's alright, dear. Here, drink your milk. It will make you feel better."

Warm milk was the last thing that I wanted, but I figured that I should drink at least some of it. To my great surprise, it actually tasted good. I drank about half of it before I started to feel full. As I drank, I decided that I needed to find Rob, Marty, and Eddie. Anne had mentioned a Roberta, Martha, and Elizabeth. I wondered if they were my friends, and had been turned into girls as well. Only one way to find out.

I said, "Anne, where are Roberta, Martha, and Elizabeth staying?"

"Roberta is in the next bedroom, Martha is across the hall, and Elizabeth is in the room next to hers, and across from Roberta's."

"Are they feeling alright, now that we have been rescued?"

"Yes, they're awake. But they're all so confused, as you were. Martha and Elizabeth didn't even know their own names at first. It must have been terrible out there. Daddy says that your driver may lose a couple of his fingers, and all of the toes on one foot. Doctor Rogers is with him. We were lucky that the doctor had come for the party."

"Party?"

"Yes. My engagement party. Don't you remember."

"Oh yes. Of course. I'm sorry, Anne. Please bear with me. I'm improving."

"Don't let it upset you, dear. After what you've been through, you're entitled to a little confusion. You'll feel much better in the morning. A good night's sleep is all you need. I have to return to my guests, but I'll come back up again later. Why don't you try to get some rest now."

"Yes. Thank you, Anne."

I stood up and she wrapped her arms around me. I couldn't just stand there, so I did the same to her. She said, "I'm so glad that you and the other girls are alright, and that you could come. It will be just like being together at Miss Peterson's Finishing School again. I have been so looking forward to your visit. Wait until you see all the eligible men that my brother Jeremy has invited. Eight of his friends from Yale will be here. He says that each one is handsomer than the next. And they're all good catches. You're all so pretty, I'm sure that they'll be fighting over you and the other girls before your visit is over. Well, I have to get back. Get some rest, dear."

"Alright, Anne. Thank you."

After she left, I again turned my attention to my body. I was wearing a beautiful, taupe, dress with a dark brown bodice. It had two layers of ruffles and lace on the bottom of the skirt, and a high collar, with boning. I felt something mounted above my tush. It felt like a pillow. Lifting the front of the dress, I counted five layers of petticoats. Last year I had helped out with our school play when we had done a shortened version of 'Gone with the Wind'. I had found myself staring at the girls when they were in costume. The clothes had excited me, and I had found myself aroused every time that I got close to the young actresses. I had found myself wishing that I had lived back when every woman had dressed like this. It would be like Christmas every day. I never told anybody of my desire. I feared that they would think of me as being weird.

A knock at the door caused me to drop the front of my dress. I straightened up and said, "Come in."

A man of about 35 years of age, dressed in a black suit with a stiff white collar on his shirt, walked into the room and introduced himself as Dr. Rogers. He carried a little black bag like I had seen in all of the old movies. Removing something that looked like a small rubber hose with a little cone at each end, he put one end against his left ear, and the other end against my chest. I assumed this to be an early stethoscope. He told me to breathe deeply, and he moved it around to several places as I did.

He said, "Miss Amelia, you're surprisingly fit. I expected severe frostbite, and possible internal damage, but you and your three companions are as healthy as any young ladies that I have ever examined. It is most strange. But who am I to argue with the work of our Lord. Tomorrow you may join the other guests in the festivities. For tonight, I think that you should all get some rest. The servants are waiting to bring your bags upstairs. I shall tell them that it is all right to do it now. Goodnight. I shall look in on you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Dr. Rogers. Thank you."

After he left, the servants brought up a large trunk and several small suitcases. One of the female servants opened the trunk and put the clothes into a wardrobe closet. I saw that it already contained a beautiful gown. After the servant had finished putting the rest of the things into a dresser, she turned to me.