Background
Good heavens! What can I do with an iron stove?
Agatha Ferris' mother died when she was born, so she was raised by her father on his own. He spoiled her and was just generally a very doting father until he lost her on a shopping trip. He didn't realize she was missing until the end of the day (he was... not the most aware parent. Loving; but not very aware). She was thought to be abandoned and child protective services took custody. By the time her father figured out where she'd gone, she'd gotten lost in the system--because somebody had sold her to the Gingerbread House Project.
There she was taught that she was the heroine of The Iron Stove, and developed unnatural agility and the ability to converse with toads. It was thought she would be able to use her talents for spying. Then a child died, and the project was shut down. Agatha was placed with a family, the Forrests.
She often got into trouble for climbing things she shouldn't (both that she, well, just shouldn't, as well as that she shouldn't be able to). She occasionally wandered away--it was hard to tell if she meant to run away, or if she was just extremely absentminded and got lost. In fact, she was trying to find her prince. Despite the Forrests' attempts to get Agatha therapy, she never forgot that she had lost her stove prince. She learned to keep to herself about her quest, however. She was moderately popular in school, kept up her grades, and was a wild success on the gymnastics team.
She knew, in a way, that she needed a real job, and she knew, in a much realer fashion, that she needed to spend a lot of time in the woods to find her prince. After high school, she managed to get hired as a park ranger.
Then the GHP started up again.
Agatha Ferris' mother died when she was born, so she was raised by her father on his own. He spoiled her and was just generally a very doting father until he lost her on a shopping trip. He didn't realize she was missing until the end of the day (he was... not the most aware parent. Loving; but not very aware). She was thought to be abandoned and child protective services took custody. By the time her father figured out where she'd gone, she'd gotten lost in the system--because somebody had sold her to the Gingerbread House Project.
There she was taught that she was the heroine of The Iron Stove, and developed unnatural agility and the ability to converse with toads. It was thought she would be able to use her talents for spying. Then a child died, and the project was shut down. Agatha was placed with a family, the Forrests.
She often got into trouble for climbing things she shouldn't (both that she, well, just shouldn't, as well as that she shouldn't be able to). She occasionally wandered away--it was hard to tell if she meant to run away, or if she was just extremely absentminded and got lost. In fact, she was trying to find her prince. Despite the Forrests' attempts to get Agatha therapy, she never forgot that she had lost her stove prince. She learned to keep to herself about her quest, however. She was moderately popular in school, kept up her grades, and was a wild success on the gymnastics team.
She knew, in a way, that she needed a real job, and she knew, in a much realer fashion, that she needed to spend a lot of time in the woods to find her prince. After high school, she managed to get hired as a park ranger.
Then the GHP started up again.