Free Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

impressed now by a forceful older brother, but watch out later!
    The meal finished, I neatly stacked the dishes back on the tray. And only then did I remember we’d forgotten to say grace. Hastily we gathered together at the table and sat down to bow our heads, and clasp our palms together.
    “Lord, forgive us for eating without asking your permission. Please don’t let the grandmother know. We vow to do it right next time. Amen.” Finished, I handed Christopher the list of do’s and don’ts that were carefully typed in capital letters as if we were so stupid we couldn’t understand longhand.
    And just so the twins, who’d been too sleepy last night to understand our situation, fully realized what they were in for, my brother began at the top of the list of rules not to be broken—or else!
    First he pursed his mouth up in a good imitation of the grandmother’s hateful lips, and you’d never believe such a finely shaped mouth as his could be made to look so grim, but somehow he managed to mimic her austerity.
    “One:”—he read in a cold, flat voice—“you are always to be fully dressed.” And, boy, did he make “always” sound impossible.
    “Two: you will never take the Lord’s name in vain, and will always say grace before each meal. And if I am not in the room to see that you do this, you may be sure that He above will be listening, and watching.
    “Three: you are never to open the draperies, not even to peek out.
    “Four: you will never speak to me unless I speak to you first.
    “Five: you will keep this room neat and orderly, always with the beds made.
    “Six: you are never to be idle. You will devote five hours each day to studying, and use the remainder of your time to develop your abilities in some meaningful way. If you have any skills, abilities or talents, you will seek to improve upon them, and if you have no abilities, or talents, or skills, you will read the Bible; and if you cannot read, then you will sit and stare at the Bible, and try to absorb through the purity of your thoughts the meaning of the Lord and his ways.
    “Seven: you will clean your teeth after breakfast each day, and before retiring each night.
    “Eight: if I ever catch boys and girls using the bathroom at the same time, I will quite relentlessly, and without mercy, peel the skins from your backs.”
    My heart seemed to flip over. Good-golly day, what kind of grandmother did we have?
    “Nine: you will, all four, be modest and discreet at all times—in deportment, in speech, and in thought.
    “Ten: you will not handle or play with the private parts of your bodies; nor will you look at them in the mirrors; nor will you think about them, even when you are cleansing those parts of your bodies.”
    Unabashed, with a funny little gleam in his eyes, Christopher read on, mimicking the grandmother with some skill.
    “Eleven: you will not allow wicked, sinful, or lusting thoughts to dwell in your minds. You will keep your thoughts clean, pure, and away from wicked subjects that will corrupt you morally.
    “Twelve: you will refrain from looking at members of the opposite sex unless it is absolutely necessary.
    “Thirteen: those of you who can read, and I hope at least two of you can, will each, alternately, take turns reading aloud from the Bible at least one page per day, so the two younger children will benefit from the Lord’s teachings.
    “Fourteen: you will each bathe daily, and clean the ring from the tub, and keep the bathroom as spotless as it was when you found it.
    “Fifteen: you will each learn, including the twins, at least one quote from the Bible per day. And if I so request, you will repeat to me such quotes as I demand, as I keep track of what passages you have read.
    “Sixteen: you will eat all of the food I bring to you, and not waste one single bit, or throw it away, or hide it away. It is sinful to waste good food when so many in this world are starving.
    “Seventeen: you will not stride about in the