When her father went out shopping, warning her to get the laundry started if she didn't want to lose some more privileges, she was up from her perch in front of the TV like a sprinter out of the blocks.

She ran and dumped an armful of clothes in the washer, and turned it on. There. Now he couldn't complain.

Then she headed straight for his 'study'.

She giggled to herself as she pulled out her keychain and quickly unlocked his door. When he'd installed the new lock on his office several months ago, she'd taken the packaging out of the trash and headed down to the hardware store. The...