//<br >Chapter 1<br > Neil Powers rapped on the opened door of his daughter s<br >room and stuck his head in. "Quinta? You coming to the Ball?"<br > Quinta was lying on the quilted coverlet of her white<br >spindled bed， reading. A huge bowl of fruit lay next to her. She<br >plucked a grape from a half-eaten bunch and without looking<br >up said， "Nah. I think I ll pass. I m really enjoying this book."<br > "What re you reading?"<br > "Pride and Prejudice."<br > "For pity s sake， girl. Why read about balls when you can<br >go to one?"<br > She looked up and laughed at that and tapped the pages<br >ofh~ book. Because its lots easier to pretend I m dancing at<br >this one，" she said， and her face， which still had some growing<br >up to~do， sparkled with teenage superiority.<br > It was a pretty face， tanned and with a refreshingly un-<br >pert nose， and framed by straight gold hair. It didn t look like<br >her mother s， and it didn t look like her father s. Quinta was the<br >only one of five children who truly had believed， that her<br >parents found her under a cabbage leaf; change-of-life babies<br >are like that.<br > "Sure you won t come? When your sister s back up and<br >around I can always drag her， but for now . . ." He was<br >packing the loose tobacco in his pipe with his index finger， a<br >careful study in abandonment.<br > Quinta flipped the book over on its front and sighed. Her<br >father was getting better and better at laying on the guilt. For<br >the last four years， ever since her mother died， he d been<br >wandering through life aimlessly， leaning on one daughter，<br >then another， to share his activities. But daughters have a way<br >of growing up， and now everyone had left the nest except<br >Quinta. As she watched him， calmly aware that she was being<br >manipulated， it suddenly became obvious to her: He would<br >not grow up while she was there to minister to him.<br > 3<br ><br >