The car carrying the Greyson family slowed to a halt. Charlotte sat in the back next to her sister Bethany, not wanting to be there at all. Her earphones were plugged into her ears and the music on her phone was turned up quite loud. The last thing she wanted to do was participate in any family discussion. The last thing she wanted to do was move.

As she watched the trees and the pretty patchwork fields go by, her thoughts turned back to when she first met her closest friend, Emily Philips.

Charlotte sat at the front of the class, her best friend at the time Kelly Harris sitting beside her. Their bags were packed as they waited for the coach to arrive to take them off on an outdoor adventure camp for part of half term. The teacher, Mr Larson, stood at the front of the class, his bald head shining as the sunlight beamed from outside. He held a red clipboard in his hand and pushed his glasses back up his rather large nose. In his usual Welsh boom of a voice, he called out the list of pupils that were to accompany him and a couple of the other teaching staff on the adventure trips.

By the time he'd finished, and ticked off all the other names, the door opened and in walked the head teacher, Mrs Callumfield. As the woman entered the room, a girl stood behind her, a small brightly coloured pink suitcase by her feet. She then introduced her as Emily Philips and announced that she would be joining the class on their trip.

No one turned up for school and immediately went on a school trip away for a fortnight. It was completely unheard of. Charlotte couldn't help but find this strange. However, when the class boarded the bus a few minutes later, Kelly Harris decided to sit next to her boyfriend James Jones, meaning the seat next to Charlotte on the coach was vacant. Charlotte, who had never been a fan of long journeys, sat and opened her book at the last page she'd read. She started to read, but then a strange American voice caught her attention and ruined her concentration.

"Hey," the girl said

Charlotte looked up from her book to see a tall slim girl with a mass of Afro curls standing in the gangway, her small wheeled suitcase in hand. Although she was pretty, with a high green bow in her hair, and wearing pastel purple jeans with a pink rainbow top on, no way was she possibly dressed for the great outdoors. Charlotte moved her bag off the empty seat, and the girl sat and introduced herself.

"You do know we're going to a campsite right, not Florida?" Charlotte replied, "your outfit may be cute but it's completely impractical."

"Oh. I see. I'm sure I got something else in here. My mom packed for every occasion." The girl paused for a moment, "I see you like novels. Whatcha readin'?"

And that was it. One conversation turned into a discussion and a bonding chat about their favourite books and authors. It turned out that Emily was also a fan of the series Charlotte was reading. It didn't take long for them to plan to go and see the film adaptation of it together once the camp was over. Four years of friendship finished in a blazing row about something that was out of their control. If Emily's mother wanted her daughter to live with her in the States, there was nothing anyone could do about it. If Charlotte's parents were moving her and her sisters to Scotland, then that was it. At the end of the day, both Charlotte and Emily were still teenagers and what their parents said went.

That was earlier, Charlotte thought, maybe Emily had calmed down by now? There wasn't any harm in trying. She got out her phone, switched the music off, and tried calling Emily. The phone rang and rang endlessly. She waited and expected to hear the funny giggling sound of her friend's voicemail message, but nothing. The phone just rang. She went on to the instant messaging app and typed out a long and heartfelt message to Emily.

Hey Em, it's Charlotte. I'm so sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn't have had a go at you. It's not your fault your mum wants you to go home and it's not hers. I was so in the wrong saying that to you and swearing at you. It was a really stupid and immature way and I am so sorry. You're my best friend and it shouldn't matter if you're in America and I'm in Scotland, we can still be friends.

Send

The symbol spun around and around. It appeared to still be loading the message. And then it happened. A reply, but not from Emily's account, instead from Instatext.

x_Emmie_x is not accepting messages from you at the moment. It appears the account may be visible to their chosen contacts or you have been blocked.

That day, she'd lost both her best friend and her favourite horse, fallen out with her father and was being forced to move against her will. As they'd travelled away from Cambridgeshire, they'd sat in almost complete silence.

The car door opened, "look, Charlotte, you haven't eaten anything since this morning. Come on darlin', I'm gonna get you a burger." Her father said, "There's a lavatory inside. You don't know when you'll next get a chance to go. We've got another five hours to go yet."

Charlotte stepped out of the car. Dad opened his wallet and handed her a ten-pound note, which was enough for Charlotte to get herself a burger and coke. She sighed as she took the money, and gave him a faint smile. As she followed her mum and sisters into the drive-through, Dad waited outside by the car, making a few phone calls as he sat in the calm afternoon sun.

The three girls sat inside the warm building, and the mouthwatering smell of freshly cooked burgers and chips filled the air. Charlotte sat closest to the window, her heart filled with sorrow and heartache for leaving behind everything she knew and loved. She sighed, as she gazed out at the trees and listened to the sound of the traffic from the motorway in the near distance. She took her phone from her pocket and checked her friendship message group, to no avail. Not a single unread message from any of her friends. It felt like her worst nightmare was coming true, and only a few hours passed since she left.

"Charlotte?" Her mother's voice snapped her out of her dream-like state. "We didn't know what you wanted to eat so we've got you a chicken burger, chips and an orange juice." Mum placed the tray of food down on the table in front of them

"Thanks." Charlotte moved her food off the tray and placed it on the table in front of her.

"Oh, one-minute girls," Mum continued, "I'd better take this out to your Dad." And with that, she picked up a paper bag with his meal and left the girls at the table.

As Charlotte sat picking at her food, Bella reached into her bag and pulled out a huge A4 magazine. The sound of the heavy book dropping against the thick plastic tabletop vibrated through the small room and made Charlotte jump.

"What's that?" Asked Bethany.

"Dad gave it to me from the estate agents. It's some information on our new home."

Bella flicked through the pages and stopped to show them to Bethany, as they looked at the detailed images showing the new home. The ancient-looking castle stuck out of the dark background like a sore thumb. Bright green ivy climbed up the grey stone brickwork of the old fortress, and a pretty mote snaked its way around the gardens at the rear. Photographs of the inside showed the girls a life of luxury. Heavy crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings and portraits of many grand dukes and duchesses sat in frames on the walls. The floors were covered in what looked like thick piled carpeting in rich, dark colours.

Bethany turned the page and began to read aloud a paragraph about the house. Her eyes widened as she read each sentence, wishing she was there.

"Ooh," she said, "built in the late sixteenth century, by the first Earl of Greystone, the castle was home to the Greyson family for four hundred years. Sadly, the castle was passed on to the McDonald's in 1902, when Arthur Greyson, the thirteenth Earl lost the castle and the estate during a disastrous card game." She paused, and took a sip of her drink, before continuing to read the rest of the article.

Although Charlotte pretended not to listen to her sister, she had in fact, heard everything. The feeling of butterflies fluttered around inside her, part of her a tiny bit excited about the move. Although her parents had always tried to get their daughters more interested in history and historical events, it wasn't something Charlotte found herself caring about. No matter how many stately homes they dragged her to, or museums they forced her to walk around, she failed to find anything interesting, deciding to spend the time flicking through her phone and texting her friends. History was in the past, right?

This, however, felt different. Castle Stone was part of her, and as Bethany had just read, it had been part of her family for generations. Seeing images of her relatives hanging on the castle walls, she could see part of herself, the matching noses and the piercing blue eyes. The home was where the heart was, and she knew that was where she was meant to be.

The next few hours' drives felt like they'd been in the car forever. Charlotte sat in the back, no longer hungry from the large burger and chips she'd eaten earlier before. She began to wonder what life at Castle Stone would be like. When she was a little girl, her father built her and her sisters a brilliantly pink castle out of old bits of wood. It was big enough for their Barbies to stand up and 'walk' around. Each of their ten dolls had its bedroom which had carpet on the floor. There was a spacious bathroom with a toilet, bath and basin. The lounge was huge and luxurious, with perfectly pink furniture that matched the carpet and walls. Then, Princesses' was a game, now, that game was becoming reality and her mind began to plan how she wanted her bedroom.

Own room. That in itself would be a huge change. No longer would she have to share a room and bunk beds with Bethany. No more being woken up constantly by the sound of her sister's phone pinging through the night. No more tripping over Bethany's bras and other stuff, as she moved through the junk on her way to the loo. Charlotte had always dreamt of having her bedroom, with a huge four-poster bed, a television on the wall and an en-suite all to herself, and her dream was becoming reality.

Before she packed her belongings up for the big move, and on her way back from her last day at school, she decided to pick a few books up from the local bookshop. It was an old store that had been in the same location for almost a century and over the last few years, had become almost her second home. She'd sit in her favourite saggy brown leather armchair, a cup of hot chocolate in front of her, and just read and relax. Inside it smelt of warm leather, and when the coal fire burned in winter it felt like heaven. 

Reading books by her favourite authors about brilliant and exciting characters made her feel alive, even in her darkest hours, there was always something to make her smile. She thought back to those long days and scary nights when she was recovering in the hospital.

Mum was busy looking after their little cousin Joey, who stayed with them over the school holidays when his parents went abroad, and Dad's business wasn't doing quite as well. With Bethany preparing herself to start secondary school, and Bella constantly getting into trouble, books became Charlotte's only friends. She could be who she wanted to be and live the life she dreamt of. She could travel to brilliant places in her imagination, eat with Kings and Queens, fight dragons, meet Vampires and even hug a werewolf. What most would think of as a silly little girl's daydreams and fantasies, for several months, was Charlotte Greyson's life. When eventually she was discharged, the kind staff on her ward brought her a book token as a goodbye present. While most kids her age would have been disappointed to receive that as a gift, to Charlotte, it was like giving her the key to unlocking something wonderful, to choose her next adventure.

The car travelled down miles and miles of the motorway through endless scenery of rather boring farmland. Charlotte couldn't remember the last time she saw a shop. To help to pass the time, instead of joining in with the monotonous games of I Spy, the girl began to read. 

So far, she'd finished one about a young boy who starts at a magic school, and the second, about a girl who communicated with spirits. Magic schools didn't exist, and why would the characters' families take him in if they didn't want to? It didn't make sense. Charlotte saw it as a waste of a fifty-pence piece. The second book, written by an author she hadn't read before, was something different. It told the story of a girl around her age who, like Charlotte, was sent away, not forever, just for a few weeks while her family dealt with a crisis. During the time the character stayed with her aunt, strange things started to happen. Then, one night, her first night, the girl came face to face with a terrible, horrible sight, a ghost, in her aunt's front room!

Some authors had strange imaginations. A girl talking to ghosts. Ghosts existing in real life weren't something Charlotte believed. While no one could say one way or another whether or not spooks and ghouls and things that went bump in the night, really existed, Charlotte thought the whole thing was daft.

Dad cleared his throat.
"Girls," he said, "we're here!"