Cindy took up the story. "I am afraid Kait is right. I first met Samantha when she was about 6. Her parents were home schooling her because the local junior high wouldn't believe that a 6 year old had the intelligence to be in a class with 11 year olds. At that time, her father would not allow her to speak to him in English. He believed she should be…Kait, what is the word I am looking for?" She asked shaking her head at her daughter.

"Polyglot." Kaited stated without hesitation.

"Thank you." Cindy replied. "Mr. Danner wanted all of his children to speak at least 3 languages fluently so even Samantha's lessons were in Spanish or French. He went a little overboard with her though and also decided she needed to know Japanese and Chinese so she spent 4 summers with language tutors in those fields as well. Anyway, my first impression of Samantha was that she was an unhappy little robot. Aside from spending 8 hours a day on school lessons, Samantha took 2 hours of ballet classes everyday, piano lessons twice a week and gymnastics classes on the other 3 days of the week. Saturdays she spent another 5 or 6 hours working on ballet with her mother as her instructor. Sundays were her only day off and usually the family would spend the day at the museum or if they were lucky, the zoo. There was never a time when the kids were not immersed in some sort of learning activity."

Howie's eyes grew larger as he listened to Kait and Cindy relay Samantha's childhood to him. "Samantha was never a child was she?" He mused.

Cindy shook her head. "No. Sad isn't it?" She took a sip of her drink and then continued. "Odd thing is, their parents didn't push Rachel the way they pushed their other kids. Rachel is by all standards, a 'normal' person. She is very bright and intelligent. I have no doubt she would have responded as well to the regimen as Samantha and the boys did but for some reason, she was spared of the ordeal. She went to a regular school, with regular classes. She speaks a little Spanish and French but is not fluent by any means. She met her husband at college and they are perfectly suited for each other. I will never understand the differences that were made." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Christopher & Peter went away to school when Samantha was about 8. Nothing really changed during the first year they were away. During the second year though Samantha began showing more and more promise as a gymnast. She soared through the local competitions. The better she got, the longer her father made her practice. He built a gym behind their house so Samantha could practice after her regular sessions were done. He would be out there barking commands to Samantha and Taryn until 1 or 2 in the morning some nights. I don't know how Samantha managed to keep her studies up and I know she didn't get enough sleep. The school had finally admitted her so she had regular times she had to be in school."

"Why did Taryn have such an influence on Samantha's life?" Howie asked hoping to finally get a straight answer.

Cindy hesitated. "That is a question we would all like an answer to Howie." Cindy took a deep breath. "I have really strayed from the topic." She said. "Howie, Samantha developed an eating disorder after her first year at college. While she lived at home, she was under so much physical activity that that her body never matured enough to enter to puberty. She started college at 14. She was 4' 8" tall and weighed 71 pounds."

"WHOA! That is tiny! Didn't anyone think there was something wrong? Why wasn't her father ever reported as being a child abuser?" Howie cried out.

"It wasn't considered abuse back then Howie." Cindy stated. "Everyone praised Keir for the way he doted on Samantha. He looked like the most loving father in the world."

Howie shook his head. "I feel so sorry for Samantha."

Cindy smiled "We all did Howie but she turned OK for the most part."

Jill took up the story at this point. "Peter and I started dating when he was 18. Samantha was 12 almost 13 when we got married. If you look at the photos of the wedding, you would think Rachel was Samantha. She was already a good 6 inches taller than Sam was at that point and she was 2 years younger." Jill shook her head. "Anyway, Samantha went away to college the next year. When she came home for Christmas she was a couple of inches taller but still terribly thin. I didn't see again until the following Christmas because she chose to stay at school for the summer. She had grown 5 inches and put on almost 20 pounds. She looked great. Her face was full and she was even beginning to develop and look like a teenager. Her father was furious! He spent the entire 2 weeks she was home watching every morsel of food that came anywhere near her mouth. He kept telling her she was ruining her dancing career by gaining the weight. He got her up at 5:00 every morning and made her run with him. After breakfast he would haul her into the studio and make her dance until lunch. Samantha tried to protest but he turned a deaf ear. When she came home at Easter things were even worse. She hadn't gained any more weight but she hadn't lost any either. Keir was relentless. Samantha finally broke. By Christmas of that year she was down below 80 pounds. She looked like a skeleton but her father had stopped nagging her so she honestly thought she looked good.

Howie shook his head. "I thought Samantha was thin when I met her. I am glad I didn't know her then. I am afraid I would have said something to her father." He paused. "By any chance did Taryn have something to do with this as well?"

Jill and Cindy both shook their heads. "No." Cindy added. "This time it was all Keir."

"Samantha was about 17 by this point." Jill continued. "She was just finishing her regular studies and was preparing to entire medical school. She was also beginning to show signs of developing a mind of her own. We would visit her at school and everything would be fine. She would eat with us. She didn't worry about calories. She skipped her dance classes when we were there. We all thought she had finally stopped giving in to her father's behavior but as soon as she hit the door of his house it was back to counting calories and working out."

Kait took up the story again. "Samantha started straightening up about the time she moved to Carmel. She seemed to finally be in charge of her life. I have spent the past several summers with Sam and she was doing great. I would go home with nothing but good reports for mom and dad on how well Samantha was doing and how well adjusted she had become. I had a really bad feeling after she left grandma & grandfather's house after Christmas this year though. I noticed her father making mordant remarks every time she ate something. Even vegetables set him off. I had hoped Sam wouldn't revert back to her old habits but it looks like she has." Kait bit her lip as she glanced around the table.