Grace Ziscoff lived in a small village in Greece with her mother and father. Grace’s mother was a very out-going person, with nothing to be ashamed of. But her father was completely different. He was quiet, shy and afraid of almost everything. He barely left the house in fear of something happening to him. Grace’s family was well known in the village. Their ancestors were famous warriors for many generations. Except for Grace’s father. He was scared that if he went to war, something would happen to him.

One day, Grace’s father was reading a book with gloves on. He always wore them because he was scared of getting a paper cut. There was a knock on the door. Since he was afraid of opening the door, Grace’s mother answered.

At the door, two burly men stood, towering over her.

“We would like to talk to Mr. Ziscoff please,” one of them requested.

Grace’s mother led them into the living room, where they found Mr. Ziscoff reading Charles Dickens with skiing gear on.

The two men explained that a war was going to take place in a couple of weeks. One man from each family was to join the army and fight. Any family who didn’t do so would be burnt at the stake. Since Mr. Ziscoff was the only man in the family, he was the one to go to war.

Of course, Mr. Ziscoff was petrified. He didn’t want to go because he was scared of wars but he didn’t want his family to be burnt at the stake. Grace could see what was going to happen. Grace couldn’t stand the idea of that happening. She had to do something.

Grace thought all day and tossed and turned in her bed at night. She couldn’t think of one single thing to do about it. Then in the morning when she was eating her breakfast, an idea struck her. Instead of her father going to war, she could disguise herself as a man and go to war instead. She knew her parents wouldn’t approve of it but she felt she had no other choice.

On the night before all the soldiers in the army were due to arrive at the training camp, Grace cut her hair short like a boy and took her father’s army uniform and gun. She was extremely nervous, but she couldn’t stop then. She also wrote a letter to her parents telling them what she was doing.