A loud, quarrelsome bunch, they were obsessed by status and money, probably because they had so little of either. They moved a lot, sometimes at the request of their neighbors, because the father, Buck Claflin, was not above pulling a shady business deal now and then. The fifth of his seven children (several more died in infancy), Vicky always regarded her relatives as her cross to bear. Vicky was different from the rest of the Claflins. She was a winsomely beautiful child with cornflower blue eyes, silky brown curls, and a delicate profile. Her aristocratic bearing won her the nickname "Little Queen." Perhaps this was also due to the fact that Queen Victoria had been crowned ruler of England the year before Vicky's birth. More likely it reflected her unusual poise. She acted regal, like one born to command. Sometimes she would round up several of the neighboring farmers' children and lecture to them. Standing atop an old Indian mound near her house, she would preach of what might befall them if they weren't good.
