The Gilded Cage - Finding My Place

Homeward Bound

"Good grief...they have been working those girls like slaves!" Mr Brewster exclaimed as we both searched online, checking on exactly when and what the girls had been working on since their poor mother had died, which was largely a matter of following their social media activity as their whole existence seemed to be documented on those accounts. "I knew that they were Durante's meal ticket, but this schedule would be horrific for adults...wouldn't it?"

"I certainly don't see when they were having any time off," I agreed, staring at a tour schedule I had found on the Bethlehem Sisters' website and cross-referencing it with Instagram posts and Tweets. "Whilst they were filming the first three series of Little House on the Prairie, they seem to have made two albums and appeared in some twenty concerts...as well as television appearances and other events. And their characters are in just about every scene on that show as Philippa told me, so they would not have had many days spare. Do you think your lawyers could find out anything else? I really don't think this is normal...for anyone...for adults...and as children, I thought that there were rules on how many hours they could work...rest periods and study time should be built into their schedules? There certainly are rules in our country and all child actors have to study? The girls say that they have had hardly any lessons, and although they worked hard enough on the worksheets I've given them so far, I do not think they did that well...which doesn't make any sense, Sir...they are bright girls, they should be able to do some age-appropriate worksheets easily enough...shouldn't they? I am no teacher...but they didn't look that hard to me?"

"Miss Scott...you are a genius...if this is right, I am sure that we can prove that the studio has been blatantly exploiting those girls...with the obvious cooperation of their father...and that awful young woman was the torturer in chief...I'll get onto the lawyers straight away...it needs some proper investigation!"

"Has Mr Durante asked to see his daughters, by any chance?" I asked, changing the subject slightly. He shook his head rather sadly.

"Well, the FBI would not have allowed it earlier in their investigations, but I actually did ask that question yesterday," Mr Brewster sighed, frowning at me. "I was told that he would not even consider seeing them until they were back at work...that really does seem to be all that he is worried about...the money?"

"Is he going to go to prison, Mr Brewster?"

"I am not sure...my lawyer thinks he is a small fish in something much bigger, and if he can be persuaded to give evidence against the real sharks, he might get a deal...but if he is involved with the sort of people that I think he is, I do fear the girls would be in great danger if he did that...if they stay here?"

"I think you need to talk to the judge again, Sir...we need to get those girl's home?"

Much to my delight, things moved quite quickly from there. Whilst I was trying to keep the girls busy with some lessons, and their minds off of their troubles, Mr Brewster's lawyers went to work, delving further into the amount of work the Bethlehem Sisters had got through over the previous eighteen months, since they had really made their names. And they presented their initial evidence at a court hearing that very afternoon, where the studio was still trying to force Mr Brewster to honour the contact the girls had with them. But faced with proof that the studio had not been following the law with regards to child actors, and the amount of work they were doing without any real education, the judge found that they were in breach of contract and duly released the girls from any further obligations, just like that. The studio instantly appealed the surprise verdict, but that did not matter, because the ruling changed everything for us. And the next morning, in a different court, the temporary custody order was briskly turned into a new permanent one. Mr Brewster had been expecting a much harder fight, but for some reason, Mr Durante did not even contest the application for permanent custody. He essentially washed his hands of his three daughters, as soon as he was told that they were no longer under contract to Bisney.