Relative Possessions free porn video

Chapter 1 The rain beat down on the roof of my girlfriend Bailey's car as I kissed her goodbye. My car was in the shop so she had been giving me rides for the last two weeks. I ran to the mailbox to grab the mail. A heavy, parchment paper envelope rested on top. It was addressed to me, Leigha Stone in a very elegant handwritten script. The return address said Magnolia Manor. I shrugged as I noticed the misspelled name. My name is Leigh but the mistake happened often enough that it did not bother me much anymore. I grabbed the rest of the mail and ran inside. The house was empty so I left my grandparents' mail on the counter and ran upstairs to my room. I bounced down on the full-size bed and opened the envelope. An invitation to a family reunion waited inside. The Forsythe family, my momma's family, the ones I hadn't seen since I was four years old, when my momma killed my daddy, then killed herself. My computer sat on the desk in the corner, and I ran over to it. Google was my friend. Curiosity had me looking up Magnolia Manor long before now. My Granny and Papa refused to tell me much about that side of the family, but I remembered the name from when I was little. I lived there until I was four, when it all happened. Afterward, my grandparents brought me from Georgia to where my father's parents lived in Tennessee. A search of Magnolia Manor pulled up their Web site with details about the family reunion. They would be honoring the 150th anniversary of the death of Clarence Forsythe and the disappearance of his daughter and son-in-law, Gabriella and Garrett Gillette. The Magnolia Ball ended the week of events. From what I learned on the Web site, the family reunion was held every year. I wondered how many I had been invited to without even knowing it. Granny and Papa meant well, but they tried to shield me from that side of the family as much as they could. I hadn't even talked to my other grandparents since I had moved to Tennessee. I overheard them talking about it once, and Papa said I could look them up when I was 18. I only had three months, but I was going to that reunion, no matter what. They weren't going to stop me this time. Granny and Papa went to the senior center on Wednesday to play Bingo, so I had the house to myself for a little while. The card had a number to RSVP, too, so I grabbed my cell phone and called it. I was supposed to speak to Ava, and I wondered if that was my grandmother. My hands shook as I dialed the number, and I chewed on a fingernail as I waited for someone to pick up the phone. What were they going to think of me? Would they be glad I called? Or was I just a reminder of something they wanted to forget? "Magnolia Manor. This is Ava Forsythe. How may I help you?" I couldn't find my voice. I hit the end button and cut off the call. As soon as her voice filled my ear, I knew in my heart that it was my grandmother. I remembered her talking to me as she smoothed a strand of hair behind my ear, her voice as she read me a story or singing a song as we sat on the front porch swing with the rain falling overhead. I had to figure out what I was going to say and call back. What would they want to hear from me? Should I be myself or try to be cool? I wanted to be that little boy again, curled up in her lap with my head against her chest, her perfume making a sweet-smelling cloud around me. We couldn't go back again, as much as I wanted to, but moving forward was possible and new memories waited on me. I dialed the number again. When she answered, I told her who I was. "Excuse me? Leigh? Is that really you?" "Yeah, Grammy, it's me." My name for her sprang immediately to mind, and I knew it was the right one. "I got the invitation for the family reunion today. I want to come." "You do? Oh, that's wonderful." Her cultured voice sounded elated but quickly became more subdued as she asked, "What do your grandparents think about it?" I got up from my desk and plopped back down on my bed. "They don't know yet. I reckon I'll have to talk to them about it tonight. I don't know what they'll say." I did know, but I didn't want to say it out loud. "I'll go ahead and put you down for a room. You just let me know if they don't want you to come or won't let you, and I'll take you off." She sighed. "If you want me to, I'll talk to you for them." "I might need you to do that," I said in soft admission. It would not be easy to convince my grandparents to let me go and I needed an ally I could get. "I'll let you know. I can't wait to see you again." "I can't either. Leigh, we have missed you so much. I wish..." Grammy's voice filled with regret before trailing off. "Wish what?" My Mother's mother sighed remorsefully. "It doesn't really matter right now. We would love to see you, so please do what you can to come." I promised to do my best and wondered what she wished. Did she wish Momma hadn't killed Daddy, then herself? Of course she wished that. I wished it myself. I wished it every single night and quite often throughout the day. Maybe she was wishing she hadn't let me go and live with Granny and Papa. That made more sense, but she didn't really have a choice about who I lived with. My parents hadn't left a will, and my grandparents were granted custody because of what my momma did. I put the invitation in my journal in my desk drawer and wondered what to do next. An image of an antebellum home filled my mind, and I knew it was Magnolia Manor. According to the Web site, the plantation came by its name because of four magnolia trees evenly spaced on the land. Clarence built the house directly in the center of the trees. Back in the 1950s the house had been turned into a bed and breakfast, with the slave quarters fixed up to be rented to house guests. I remembered helping my Grammy clean the rooms when I lived there. I tried remembering my other relatives but came up blank. Maybe seeing them would jog my memory. I just had to convince Granny and Papa to let me go. If they didn't, I guess I could get Bailey to drive me to Georgia, but I didn't want that. My grandparents could be dense at times, but they meant well and I didn't want to hurt them. A door shut down below, and Granny yelled up the stairs for me. I answered her, then decided to run down. Before I asked, I had to see what kind of mood they were in. I gave Granny a kiss on the cheek and then sat down on a barstool to eat a brownie from the ones she brought back from the senior center. She stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. "You've got your momma's hair. Forsythe red, your daddy always called it." Granny hardly ever talked about my parents so I was intrigued. "I knew Momma had red hair from the picture I've got. Did anyone else?" "Yes, I believe your daddy told me all the women in the family had red hair. I also remember pictures on the walls of the bed and breakfast of ladies with red hair." "What about the men?" I asked as I pulled some of my overly long hair to look at it. "They have red hair too don't they?" Granny appeared lost in thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Not that I can remember but I only met a few of your momma's kinfolk." What was making Granny think about my parents? The anniversary of their deaths was coming up, but even so, she didn't usually talk about them this much, especially not momma. She talked about daddy every once in a while, so I knew more about him than I did the woman who gave birth to me. She sat down beside me and got a brownie. Maybe now was the time to talk to her about going to the family reunion. Papa had already gone into the living room to watch TV. He would go along with whatever Granny said anyway. "Granny, I got something in the mail today." She turned to me with a smile. "Did your ACT scores come? I just know you did well on them." I fidgeted nervously before plucking up the courage to push forward. "No, that'll probably be next week. I got an...um...it's an invitation to the family reunion at Magnolia Manor. I want to go." Granny shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Why bring back such bad memories? I don't think I could stand going down there." "You wouldn't have to. Bailey could take me down there if my car is not fixed by then. It's in August, so I wouldn't have to miss any school." I turned to look at her. "They're my family, too, and I want to see them again." Granny's eye grew wide as she started shaking her head. "Bailey take you? No, no, that just wouldn't look right. She wouldn't stay, right?" I knew she was weakening. "I'll probably stay in the house, and she'll stay in one of the cabins outside. My grandparents will be there to keep an eye on us." I leaned in to whisper, knowing I was going to freak her out. "Besides, we don't have sex anyway." She waved her hand in front of her face. "I DID NOT need to know that, Leigh. Well, maybe I did need to know, but I don't want to talk about it." I laughed. Most boys would freak out about talking to their Granny about sex, but I don't really care. She's pretty much open to whatever I have to say about it. "Well, we aren't. So, you wouldn't have to worry about that." I pinched a corner off a brownie. "I've already called them. My grandmother said if you wanted to talk to them about it, you can give her a call." She stood up and paced the floor. "I just don't know. I'll have to think about it. You still got about a week before you have to go, right?" "Yeah, I do. It's right around the time when..." Her expression showed the pain I was feeling thinking about that day. "I know. It happened at the end of the reunion week. We were there; we always came down for it. I don't know why they continue to have it that week." "I went on the Web site, and it said they were honoring the anniversary of the death of Clarence Forsythe and the disappearance of Gabriella and Garrett Gillette." Granny's voice rose in anger. "They could have stopped after what happened. Had it another time. I don't know what in the world they're thinking about." She stopped her pacing and sighed deeply. When she began speaking again her tone was resigned. "But it's their choice. I'll give you an answer soon." I nodded, then went upstairs to my room. It did seem funny they'd keep having the reunion in August after what happened. Maybe they kept having it then because it was the anniversary of Clarence's death and the disappearance of Gabriella and Garrett and didn't want to change things. I needed to talk to someone about all of my feelings. My best friend, David, didn't understand. He always said I was too serious and never wanted to have any fun. Losing your parents the way I did at the age I did will make you serious. I always told him. He wouldn't want me to go just because I'd miss some party. We seemed to be drifting apart lately, anyway. I spent more of my time with Bailey than I did with him, and he had recently started dating someone seriously, too. I had my cell in my hand when it rang. It was Bailey. I laid down on the bed and propped the phone to my ear. "Hi, hottie," I said. "You sound off somehow." My girlfriend could always tell when something was on my mind. "Anything special happening?" She asked. I explained about the invitation I received. "I want to go, but I'm waiting on Granny to tell me if she cares." "I'll take you whether she says yes or no, if you really want to go." The depth of her sincerity shined through. Bailey always had my back and would always do what she thought was best for me. "I know, but I don't want it to come to that." I sighed. "I could drive myself down there if I really wanted to go against them, but I don't. I want her to tell me it's Ok." "Why?" Bailey laughed lightly. "You're about to be eighteen so does it really matter?" "Yeah, it does." I loved my grandparents for everything they had done for me. "They took me in and raised me and they didn't have to. I don't want to do anything to disappoint them." "All right, babe. The offer still stands, though." "I know," Granny yelled up the stairs that supper was ready. "I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." *** After supper, I came back upstairs and laid down on my bed. Granny hadn't given me an answer yet, but I thought she might let me. She always stressed the importance of family, even though she had kept me away from the other side. I never really understood that. Maybe it was because it brought back sad memories of my dad or maybe she was afraid I'd turn out like my mother if I stayed around them. I know she blamed momma for everything that happened. My memories of Momma were happy, singing, bubble baths, playing with toys, coloring. Nothing that ever hinted at violence, but she had snapped somehow. I heard about it all when I turned 12 from my Granny. After asking her a ton of questions, she finally sat down and explained to me what happened. Bailey and I were getting up early the next day to take a road trip to Chattanooga to visit Rock City. We did things like that quite a lot during the summer months when neither of us had school, and she didn't have to work. Besides, come fall, she was going away to college, and I was going to be starting my senior year. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. After turning down the bed and getting my pajama's on, I went downstairs and kissed my Granny and Papa goodnight. Granny hugged me tight and said, "I'll let you know soon about the reunion, OK?" I nodded and went back upstairs to my room. What might convince her to let me go? I climbed into bed with that question in mind. The twilight state between sleep and awake soon found me, and just as I was about to go over into the land of sleep, I heard a voice. It wasn't loud enough to make me rouse up, but it sure sounded familiar. "Leigha, you must go to the reunion," a female voice said. Familiar though it was, I couldn't place it. A male voice then joined in. "You have to make the truth known and make it all stop." Chapter 2 A flash of red hair went before my eyes. Was I dreaming? I couldn't seem to make myself sit up or open my eyes. Sleep seemed closer and closer as the two figures came nearer to me. Now, I knew why the voices were familiar. It was my mother and father, and I had to be dreaming. As if he read my mind, my dad said, "You aren't dreaming sweetheart. This is the only way we can visit you to let you know what we want." "This isn't happening. I'm lying in my bed with my eyes closed, and I'm seeing dead people. It's a dream." It was remarkably like a dream. I was standing in front of the two people I had longed to see every day of my life. Momma touched my hand, and I felt her touch on my real hand that rested on the bed. Even though I had longed to feel her touch for years, the coldness of her hand made me jump back, and I felt myself being pulled out of sleep. She grabbed me back just before I woke up. It felt as though she was pulling me through pudding. "Leigha, we need your help," Momma said. "We need you to go to the family reunion and stop a curse that has affected your family for the last 150 years." "Curse? What curse? I don't know what you're talking about." I wanted to wake up and get away from them, but I also wanted to stay with them a little longer, to hear the voices I hadn't heard in so long. "We won't be able to rest until the mystery is solved. I didn't kill your father, not really," she said. Dad moved to stand next to her and took her hand. "She wouldn't have done that. We loved each other too much. She wasn't even mad at me the night she died. You have to solve the mystery." "Why me? Why not someone else?" "Because we know you can do it," Dad said. "You'll be able to figure it all out since you didn't grow up in the house, and you've distanced yourself from it. Find a way to go." "I don't know if Granny will let me or not," I said. "She's never let me have anything to do with that side of the family before." "I'll take care of her," he said. "I'll appear to her just as I have to you." I wanted them to stay forever. I had so much I wanted to ask them, but they turned away. I grabbed Momma's shoulder and turned her to face me. "Why haven't you appeared to me before now?" "It takes a lot of energy to do this, to travel to a different location than the one we are at normally," she said. I felt like a little boy as I asked, "Can I have a hug before you go? Please, just one?" Momma and Dad both smiled with tears in their eyes. Momma held her arms open, and I ran into them. She didn't feel like a ghost to me, and she wasn't cold anymore. Solid and warm with the scent of lavender, just as I remembered. I didn't want to let go, I tried to squeeze a little tighter, but I was soon waking as she disappeared from my mind. Maybe I had just been dreaming, but why did I still feel her arms around me? A curse? How was I going to break a curse? I didn't know anything about curses or ghosts, except for the shows on television which are never real anyway. The thing is, what Momma and Dad said stuck with me. I never believed she could have done it either or maybe I just didn't want to believe it. Sometimes, I even felt like I was bad or different because of what she did. If I could clear her name, that would be great, but should I trust a dream or whatever it was? Tears would not stop rolling down my cheek to my pillow. Their visit made me realize with such clarity how much I missed out on by not being able to grow up with their love and support. I thought about calling Bailey, but her mother would freak if her phone woke her up. I settled back down under the covers and closed my eyes. Part of me hoped Momma and Dad would appear to me in my dreams, but my sleep was quiet for the rest of the night. Granny knew I was leaving early the next morning, so it didn't surprise me too much when she stuck her head in the room before my alarm clock even went off. She came over and sat down on my bed. "I've decided to let you go to the family reunion," she said. Her eyes looked more peaceful than I had ever seen. While I'd been hoping she would say yes, her quick decision caught me by surprise. I was not expecting an answer for at least another day or two. "What made you change your mind?" "Your mom and dad appeared to me in a dream last night." Granny's smile was serene as she shook her head. "No, dream isn't the right word. I don't really think it was a dream. I really think their spirits came to me. They told me I had to let you go, that what I thought happened was wrong. They want you to figure it all out. I feel like I'm crazy telling you this." I took her hand. "You aren't crazy, Granny. They came to me, too. I don't know how I'm going to figure anything out." Dad said he was going to appear to Granny, too, but I still didn't feel confident that it wasn't anything more than a dream. "I don't know anything about curses or ghosts." "It doesn't matter to me if you figure it out or not," Granny said, "but I know what I feel now. I don't think you're Momma did it. I've let go of the anger I felt against her for the past 13 years." Tears filled her eyes. "It was so hard to hate someone that you loved." I hugged her. "I know. I've always had trouble believing it. The memories I have of my momma don't fit that of a murderer." I sat up and hugged her. "You and Papa can come, too." "No, I don't think so, not this time. You go. I don't want to interfere in you meeting them," she said. "Bailey can take you, but I am going to talk to your other grandmother about putting the two of you in bedrooms far away from each other." I rolled my eyes and laughed. "I've told you, you don't have anything to worry about." She left the room, and I got up to get dressed. Even though my dad and momma appeared to Granny, too, I wasn't sure if I really believed it wasn't anything more than a dream, a very real dream, but a dream nonetheless. As I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt and pulled my long hair into a ponytail, I wanted to believe I really saw them. I wanted to believe that my Momma's hug was real but it was almost too much for me. I had never seen any ghosts before, and didn't even know if I believed in them or not. *** The next week went by fast. Granny called Magnolia Manor and spoke to my other grandmother. She was assured that Bailey would be put into a cabin outside and that I would have a room in the house. Bailey's parents gave her permission to go. Together, we planned out the best way to get there. The plantation was located just outside Bowman, Georgia, which was very close to Atlanta. From what I gathered from the Internet, they hosted school groups to show them what a plantation was like during the slave days. Workers dressed in period costumes and showed them how to make soap, butter and other things. Guests ate at a table in the dining room with food served family style. All of this happened about 40 years ago, right around the time my momma was born. I wondered why they changed from farming to the hotel business, but their web site didn't tell me that. I guess I'd find out when we got there. I called Bailey the night before we were leaving to work out the final plans. She was as excited about it as I was. "You're going to be here around 7 in the morning, right?" I asked excitedly. "And, you filled the car with gas already?" "Man, you sound like mom when she and my dad are going on a trip. Yeah, I'll be there at 7, and I've filled it up." Bailey said with a laugh. "I think this is going to be a lot of fun. Do you think the place is haunted?" I already shared with her my dream of my parents the first time we talked this morning. "I don't know, but if I was really seeing my parents' ghosts, then I would say it is. I've got to find out about this curse right away or if there even is one." "I think I'm going to like trying to solve a mystery. Besides, I know it'll make you feel good to figure out what happened with your parents." I nodded before realizing she couldn't see me. "I guess we'll see about all that tomorrow. I'm going to pack and then try to get some sleep." I ended up with clothes all over the room. I wasn't sure what to pack. Grammy hadn't told me much over the phone. I wasn't a dress up type of person. My wardrobe consisted mainly of jeans and t-shirts and sneakers. I knew it would be hot there, even hotter than here at home, so I packed some shorts and jeans. I decided on one nice outfit, and even it was just a button-up shirt and black pants. I took out the only dress pants I owned and debated between the two nice shirts I had. I thought I owned a tie but could not find it anywhere but it was not a huge loss as it was a clip-on. I couldn't borrow one of Papa's because all his ties were older than me and almost as wide as my entire body. The thought crossed my mind to have Bailey stop somewhere so I could buy something nicer but quickly changed my mind. Even though my girlfriend could see that I was smaller than most guys my age, I didn't want her to go with me to shop from the boy's section. Besides, I wasn't going to pretend to be something I wasn't. Either they loved me for who I was or they wouldn't at all. I slid down under the covers. Even though I was so very tired, I didn't think I would be able to sleep. Ever since my parents appeared to me in my dream, bed time never came soon enough. With me hoping they might come to me again, that made it even harder to fall asleep. As soon as my eyes closed and I started drifting into sleep, I knew I would have the dream I had had since moving in with my grandparents. The setting was my parents room at Magnolia Manor. The room was dark when a loud noise woke me up. I felt around the walls but couldn't find the light switch. My hands fumbled in front of me for the door, for anything to help me find my way, but my feet always get tangled in a blanket on the floor, and I fall. I find my way back to my feet and put my hands out once again, sobbing, as I hear heavy breathing and frantic whispers. I don't know what is going on. My hand finds the door and as I turn the knob, a bright light flashes as a loud noise fills the room. I scream before waking up. Instinctively, I knew it's a nightmare of the night my parents were killed. After I have it, I always feel guilty. Like I could have done something to prevent me becoming an orphan. Tonight was no different. I sat up, put my head in my hands and cried as if I were the same frightened four-year-old again. As silly as it sounded, I carried a hope that I would find my parents at the plantation, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. They were dead. My dream was just that: a dream. A nice dream, a wonderful dream that allowed me to feel my mother's love again but did she really love me? A woman who took my father away from me before leaving herself was not a woman that loved their child. It was time to face reality, my parents hadn't really appeared to me. I wasn't going to Georgia to stop a curse. I was going to see a family I hadn't seen in 13 years. Chapter 3 Bailey and I traveled over Monteagle Mountain on our way to my grandparent's. In another month, she would be coming this way to go to Sewanee, the University of the South. I was hoping to get in myself, but they were very select in who they picked. My grades were almost as good as Bailey' marks, and we both participated in the same number of extracurricular activities. I thought I might have a good chance. I looked over at Bailey, wondering again how I had gotten someone as gorgeous as her. Ok, I knew I wasn't ugly but I was not conventionally masculine. I had nice hair, straight teeth and good skin, but I was a small little nobody. At only five foot 6 and barely weighing a hundred and twenty-five pounds, I was one of the smallest boys in my class. I was thin and didn't really have any muscle tone since I never worked out I didn't play any sports, although I was involved in many of the academic clubs and editor of the high school newspaper. I had never been the type to take pride in my appearance. Most mornings, I rolled out of bed in just enough time to brush my hair and throw it up in a ponytail. Bailey, on the other hand, was a sports fanatic. She played softball and basketball and she was good at it. She had also been on the homecoming court last year. She was the perfect girl. Short black hair, green eyes, a flat stomach, five foot eleven and a perfect athletic build. She was not over endowed in the chest area, to be honest you couldn't really tell she even had breasts, but I don't think she would have looked right with large breasts. I thought she was very sexy. The greatest thing about her was that she was mine. I guess it didn't hurt that we had known each other since I moved back to town with my grandparents, but I never would have guessed that the day I turned 16, she'd ask me out for a real date. The thought never crossed my mind that someone as beautiful as her would be interested in dating me. Of course, I said yes, and the rest is history. Bailey had taken the lead in our relationship since she first asked me out. She preferred to drive when we went out. Anytime we went anywhere we either went dutch or she paid. When things started becoming more serious, she was the one who made the first move. I was ok with all of it because I'd never been aggressive in my life. My grandmother always called me the sensitive type and attributed it to the trauma of my parent's death. I had no idea why I was the way I was. All I knew was that I was the type who was happier helping Granny in the kitchen than helping my grandfather work in the yard or on his farm equipment. I forced my mind to stay on Bailey and school to keep it away from what was going to happen when we arrived, but I wasn't strong enough to do so. Would they be glad to see me? Grammy acted like she was, but I didn't know about my grandfather. My memories of him weren't as strong as those of my grandmother, but I remembered him smelling of vanilla from the pipe he smoked. "You're awfully quiet. You nervous?" Bailey asked. I could see the concern on her beautiful face. "Yeah, a little. I'm just wondering if they'll want to see me." I said while looking out at the passing scenery. She reached across her small car to take my hand. "I'm sure they do. It's been a long time, and they loved you. I think they'll be glad you're there." I shrugged. "Maybe. Last night I had that nightmare again. When I woke up, I thought maybe I was wrong for believing my parents had really come to me. Let's be real here, there isn't any such thing as ghosts. Now, I don't know what to think." "There are ghosts." Bailey's voice was firm with conviction. "My mom said she saw her dad the night he died, even though she was at college 200 miles away. I've heard other people talk about it, too. I've always believed in it. It doesn't mean you're crazy if you do." I squeezed her hand. "I guess I can ask them if the house is haunted when we get down there. I don't know what they'll tell me about the night Momma and Daddy died, but we'll see." The closer we got to Atlanta, the hotter the weather became. Bailey rolled up the windows and turned the air conditioner on. We traveled the interstate until we saw the exit we needed to take and turned. Bailey followed the curving road until we came to a small town. I put my hand on her arm. "Before we go to the plantation, I want to stop at the library," I said. "I want to find out if there really is a family curse." Bailey had a skeptical look on her face as she glanced at me before looking back to the road ahead. "How are you going to do that? You really think someone is going to tell you something?" "I'm going to look at the newspaper archives" I said as I began to share an idea that had been rolling around in my mind since last night. "I'm sure they have a newspaper here, and I'm sure they'll have copies in the library. I'm going to search out every month of August for the last 100 years and see what I can find." "That's a good idea." Bailey's beautiful face lost all traces of doubt as she smiled. "Let me stop and ask where the library is, and we'll get over there. What time are they expecting us at the house?" My eyes moved to the clock on her radio. "Not for a few more hours. We've got time. I really want to do this." I needed to know if the dream was real or not. Late at night, I seemed crazy for even believing it, but it had seemed so real and Granny had dreamed the same thing. How could we have the same dream? It wasn't that I had never believed in ghosts before. I did or always thought I did, but when something paranormal happened to me, I wasn't able to believe it. Bailey pulled her dark blue Hyundai Veloster into a mom and pop gas station, and a man came out to check if we wanted gas. Most places didn't do that anymore, but in a lot of small Southern towns, you could still find personal service. Bailey asked him to fill the tank, then inquired about the library. The little old man wiped his hands on a rag and stuck his head in the window. When he saw me, he said, "You've got to be one of the Forsythe girls, what with that red hair. You in town for the family reunion?" Bailey snickered as this was not the first time an adult had made that mistake. Instead of correcting him, I just nodded my head. I didn't know whether to tell him who my parents were but decided to go ahead and do it. "Elizabeth was my mother." "Shame what happened to her and Robert. I always liked them. Don't seem like that long ago, though. What was it, 'bout 13, 14 years?" "Yes sir. It was 13 years ago. I haven't been back since." I wondered if he would tell me anything. Thankfully this was a small southern town and they all loved sharing gossip. "Seems like something bad happens out there every so often. Nothing since your momma and daddy though." His expression became deadly serious. "Still, you be careful out there." "What kind of bad things happen?" Bailey asked before I had the chance. "Murders and suicides. We don't talk a whole lot 'bout it round here. You just watch yourself out there. It's haunted, y'know." I looked at Bailey, who grinned at me, then back at the old man at the window. "No sir, I didn't know that. Who's the ghost supposed to be?" He wiped his nose with the rag. "More than one ghost out there from what I hear. Don't really know who it is. I do know they have trouble keeping help." The gas pumped clicked, and he moved to top off the tank. When he came back, Bailey paid him, and I thanked him for the information. After we pulled away, I looked at Bailey and grinned. "I don't think we need to go to the library. I believe I've got all the information I need right now. Those murder-suicides must be the curse my parents were talking about." "Yeah, I think so, too." Her eyes flickered with the same excitement I was experiencing. "I think we might've been able to get more out of him if it had taken longer to fill up the tank." "Maybe we can go back another time if I need to try to find out more." Now, I was more excited about the trip. I knew something happened out there. Whether it was a curse or not didn't matter. The little old man proved to me that the visit from my parents had been true and not just a figment of my imagination. I read from the directions I had taken down from my Grammy over the phone to help Bailey find the plantation. Every landmark she described to me as places to turn were just as I imagined. Her driveway started off the main road, but we couldn't see the house. The gravel road twisted and turned with magnolia trees lining the way. My mouth dropped open as the house came into view. I didn't know what I had been expecting really, but the house was in much better shape than any other Southern plantation home I had ever seen. The porch, or veranda as I had heard them called before, wrapped around the entire house with the porch steps extending into a cobblestone walkway. Hanging ferns hung above the wrought iron porch rail. The bricks were white and looked as though they had just been painted. Eight windows graced the front of the house with a small balcony above the green front door, which accented the green tin roof. A side porch held a swing and other lush plants. Memories stirred as I looked out over the fields and saw a grape arbor with a hanging swing. I knew I spent a lot of time there when I lived here. I looked over at Bailey who sat with her mouth wide open. I reached over and pushed up on her chin. She grinned at me. "Nothing like this back home," When I made no move to exit the car, Bailey reached across and gave my hand a light squeeze. "We can't sit here all day Baby." She smiled and put my unvoiced fear to rest. "They're your family and they'll love you so stop worrying. Let's get out and get going." We opened our doors at the same time, and as we did so, a silvery-white haired woman came out of the front door. I tried to get a reading on her face, but as the porch was high off the ground and we were parked a good distance away, I wasn't able to tell if I knew her or not. As I walked up to the house, she started to run down the steps and stopped when she was right in front of me. She touched my hair. "Just like your momma's. Oh Leigh, I'm so glad you came." Tears welled up in my eyes. It was my Grammy, and she was glad I was here. I didn't have any doubts about that. She held out her arms to me. I ran into them and squeezed her as tight as she did me. When Bailey approached with our bags, I broke away from her and introduced the two of them. Grammy told Bailey to leave the luggage there and took us both by the hand. Together, we walked up the stairs. As we ascended, I took the time to study Grammy. Her hair gleamed in the sun and curled gently around her face, not a strand out of place. She also wore a full face of make-up, something I wasn't used to as my Granny rarely even donned lipstick. She wore a pencil thin skirt in black with a polka dotted blouse. Her white wedged heels set it off to perfection. I looked down at my own worn jeans and faded t-shirt and wished I had taken the time to put on something nicer. "Your grandfather is waiting inside for you. He wants to take the two of you on a tour of the grounds and the house." She looked over at me and smiled. "I just want to look at you for a while. It's just been too long." My head bowed in shame. "I know. I'm sorry my grandparents kept me away." Grammy's fingers gently lifted me face back up so she could stare at me. "I understand why they did it. It's a lot of painful memories." She wiped at her eyes. "Let's not talk about that though. I don't want to ruin our time together by talking about sad things." I didn't want to hear that. Someone was going to have to share with me about what happened in the few days leading up to my parents' death or I was never going to be able to figure it all out. We walked into the house, and the first thing that greeted me was a huge winding staircase. The rich honey-colored hardwood floors continued to the staircase, which seemed to go all the way to the top of the cathedral ceilings. An old gilded mirror rested on one wall above a table which held a vase full of yellow flowers. The walls were a rich deep red. A chair upholstered in the same red as the walls stood under a painting of a red-haired woman. As the wall continued up the stairs, so did the paintings. The next to the last painting was of my mother, who was wearing a green off-the-shoulder dress with a hoop skirt. The next was of a girl I didn't know, but she looked remarkably like my mother. "Those are every first-born of every direct descendant. We're going to have to have yours done while you are here." Grammy said. All the pictures were of women and each of them wore a dress very similar. "But they are all women." I said as I continued to stare at the wall. "Are they? Grammy said with a smile. "I haven't noticed before. We usually do them on the 16th birthday, but we'll make an exception in your case." She squeezed my hand. "Let's go find your grandfather." I looked back to Bailey who shrugged her shoulders. It felt good to know that she was as confused as I was. We continued up the stairway and turned on the first landing. The house had three floors. "Do your guests stay all over the house?" I asked. "Pretty much, except for one wing on this floor. It has your grandfather's office and our parlor and bedroom. When your mother and uncles were little, we took the whole third floor as our home and just rented the rooms on the first and second floor." She turned down a hallway. "We don't need that much room now." We stopped outside of a closed door, and she knocked on it. I heard a deep voice tell us to come in. I remembered hearing it read me stories as a child, but I couldn't put a face with it. In just a minute, I would be able to. Grammy opened the door and led us in. My grandfather stood in front of a fireplace with his elbow resting against the mantle. He wore dress pants and a shirt and tie. I wondered if he dressed up like this every day or if he did it for me. Again, I wished I had taken more time with myself that day. He looked from a picture of my mother and father to me. "You look so much like my Lizzie," he said. He held out his arms to me, and I ran to them like I was eight instead of about to turn eighteen. He carried the same aroma my memories said he should. "You smell just like I remember you," I said with tears in my eyes. My voice was muffled against his shirt front. "How's that?" He asked with an amused grin on his aged but handsome face. "Like vanilla tobacco. I remember your pipe." He pushed away from me and walked to his desk and opened a drawer. When he straightened, a pack of the tobacco rested in his hand. "I still smoke it, just not in the house. Grammy doesn't think the guests would like it." I introduced him to Bailey and then said, "Grammy said you want to give us a tour." "I do, and I want to show Bailey to her cabin. She'll be staying out there while you're here. I think you'll like it." Chapter 4 The tour started out on the grounds. My grandpa took us out to the cabin where Bailey would be staying, and we stowed her luggage in there. Our next stop was another cabin way across the plantation, this one was not modernized. "We use this cabin to show school groups what life was like during the slave days," he said. "We try not to gloss over the details and make life seem easier for the poor souls forced to stay here than it was." The cabin had a dirt floor and rough wood table. One corner contained a bed which was merely a straw mattress laid on wooden strips. Across the room was a fireplace. I walked around the room and tried to imagine living in something like that. Even though the weather was warm, wind blew through the cracks, so I knew it would be freezing during the winter months. The one window didn't have glass in it. "Do you get a lot of school groups?" I asked. "Usually in the spring," he said. "They bring them out for their final field trips." We walked over a big hill and at the bottom of it was a large pond. A dock extended out into it. I suddenly remembered fishing there with my grandpa and falling in one time. I laughed and said, "You jumped in after me one time, didn't you?" His laughter carried a deep undertone that seemed to echo across the pond. "Yes, I did. It was your first time fishing, and you fell in. You came up laughing. You loved the water. Do you still?" I nodded and ran out to the end of the dock to look at the murky green water below. "I don't think I'll want to swim here, though." "We've been thinking of putting in a pool for our guests," he said. "I guess we'll see about that next year." We moved past the pond and went to the grape arbor with the swing. Another memory stirred, this one of my parents. Momma held me in her lap while my dad pushed us from behind. I remembered the cool breeze blowing across my face and the warm sun shining down while we all laughed. Bailey and I sat down in it together, and I looked up at my grandpa. "You're Grammy doesn't like to talk about it. She thinks it will give us a bad name or something, but some say this house and the grounds are haunted," he said. "This is actually one of the places the guests have said they've seen something. I've seen ghosts here." "Who did you see?" Bailey asked. "Elizabeth and Robert. This was a favorite spot of theirs. Your mother loved it when she was a little girl, too." Grandpa sat down in a wooden chair across from the swing. Bailey and I pushed the swing with our feet. I leaned back and enjoyed the feel of the breeze on my face. When I looked back down, I found Grandpa staring at me. I smiled at him and asked, "Are there any other ghosts here?" He nodded. "I grew up hearing about these ghosts because this is my family's home. Grammy thinks it makes us look bad, but almost everyone knows it is. Our first ghost is Gabriella," he said. "Isn't she the one who's being honored this week?" I asked. "Yes, we always hold this family reunion in honor of the anniversary of her and her husband's disappearance and the death of Clarence, her father. In 1857, Gabriella and Garrett went on a trip to visit his parents under the guise of picking up their daughter who had been visiting them for a few weeks. They never made it to his parents' house nor back home." "They never found their bodies?" Bailey asked. Grandpa shook his head. "Nor any sign of them either. The morning after they left, Clarence didn't wake up. He was dead, had died in his sleep. He never knew they had disappeared." "Did they ever have any clue about what happened to Gabriella and her husband?" I asked. "Not really. Several books have been written about their disappearance. It?s one of the big Southern mysteries," he said. "One of them was pretty sensationalized. It said they were kidnapped by Union forces and held for years as prisoner." "But the Civil War didn?t start for several years after their disappearance," I said. "That?s right. Even so, the Union wouldn?t have wanted them as prisoners because they had abolitionist tendencies. Years later, it came out that Garrett's parents had been involved with the Underground Railroad. It was believed that Garrett and Gabriella were involved in it, too. Some have said they were killed by a slave owner, who disposed of their bodies. Others have said they were caught and escaped, but had to travel out west so they wouldn?t be jailed. One thing is for certain, though, Gabriella would never have left her daughter forever. She loved her too much. From what we've discovered through family diaries and letters, the child was the light of her life." "What was her name?" I asked. He smiled. "Leigha. Your momma loved the story of Gabriella and Garrett. Plus, Leigha turned out quite well in spite of losing her parents and growing up during the Civil War. She went on to own her own business, so your momma took it as a good sign to give you that family name." "That's so cool. I never knew that I was named after someone in the family. So, Gabriella is a ghost here?" "We've had guests who have heard her crying. She never speaks to any of them, just glides in and out of the rooms as though she's searching for something. We think she's looking for Leigha." "What about Garrett? Has anyone ever seen him?" Grandpa shook his head again. "No. I'm not sure why, but he doesn't seem to be here. The only other ghost is Clarence." "Gabriella's father?" "Yes. He's seen on the front porch of the house with a gun in his hand. He's also seen right outside of the cabin where Bailey is staying. Usually, he can be heard crying." I didn't understand why Clarence would be crying. Gabriella was understandable, but Clarence. "Why? Why would he be sad? He never knew Gabriella and Garrett went missing." "I've never been able to figure it out." He stood up from his chair. "Would you like to see the house now?" I nodded. "I'd really like to see where I'm going to be staying." We followed him to the front porch, where he turned to stop us before going in. "Please don't say anything to Grammy about the ghosts. She doesn't really like to talk about it, and she wouldn't like it if she knew I told you about it. She likes to keep up appearances." We promised that we wouldn't say anything. I didn't understand why he would tell us if Grammy was so against anyone knowing about it. Maybe he was afraid someone else would tell us and we wouldn't get the whole story or even the right one. The first room we entered was the dining room. A huge dark wood table rested in the center. Pushed up to it were about 16 chairs. Smaller tables rested in the corners of the room with four chairs to them. "We try to serve our guests family style, but sometimes we have too many to fit at the main table," he said. "When the whole family gets here for the reunion, we'll need all these tables and then some." The next place we visited was the ballroom. Grandpa told us the Magnolia Ball was held there every year. The floor was an intricate patchwork of light and dark wooden squares. Windows, some stained glass, went from floor to ceiling. "I can't believe those made it through the Civil War," I said. "They didn't. This whole room was redone around 1890 after Leigha's business took off. She owned a dress shop and was able to have the whole house renovated," he said. "We've had the floor redone since then. You should see it on the night of the ball. Everyone dresses in period pieces. Magnolia branches and flowers grace the window sills and the mantle over the fireplace. Candlelight flickers. I believe your father fell in love with your mother on the night of the Magnolia Ball." I smiled and closed my eyes. The music of the Tennessee Waltz filled my ear, and I could see Momma with her red hair in ringlets and a white off-the-shoulder dress dancing with Daddy. "I remember them dancing in here. I wasn't supposed to come down and look but I did anyway." His matching smile grew wider than my own as he nodded his head. "I remember seeing you peek through the drapes where you were trying to hide. Do you remember me picking you up and dancing until your Momma caught us?" "Oh, now I do!" I said with a laugh. I was hiding inside one of the many curtains that hung around the room and squealed in delight as Grandpa lifted me up from behind while tickling me. He dipped and twirled me while singing the words in his rich baritone voice. I remember loving every moment. "The maids we have cleaning this room say they've seen your momma and daddy in here dancing." Grandpa said, losing the joy on his face. "I've seen something when I was outside and looking in the window but I couldn't be sure." He showed me the guest rooms on the first and second floors, and then we went to the third floor. We walked past one room, and my memory flared again. All the air left my lungs as I stopped in front of it. "This is where it happened, isn't it?" I didn?t realize I was crying until Bailey pulled me close and wiped a few tears from my cheek. "Yes," Grandpa said with his own tears beginning to form. He took my trembling hand in his own. "This was the room your parents stayed in the night they died. We don't allow anyone to stay in it. In fact, your Grammy keeps it locked and hasn't changed anything since that horrible night. Your momma's things are still in there. She lets the maids go in once a week to clean." I had to get into that room. I wanted to see if stirred any memories for me. Maybe my parents would appear to me again if I went in there. I might even be able to get something that was my momma's. I didn't have anything belonging to her at all. Grandpa showed me to my room, which already had my bags in it. Grandpa left Bailey and me alone and went back to his study. We went outside and sat in the swing under the grape arbor. My head rested on Bailey' shoulder. "I hope I get to see my parents while we're here," I said. "Maybe they can tell me more about this curse." "Do you think it might have something to do with Gabriella and Garrett? More Gabriella though, since she and Clarence are the only ghosts to appear." "I would think so. I wonder how we can find more out." I sighed. "Grammy isn't going to tell us anything." "I bet if you talk to the staff you'll find stuff out," my brilliant girlfriend suggested. "They'd probably love to spill about things they've seen going on." My arms wrapped around her neck and I kissed her with all the passion I could muster. "What a great idea! You're right." I looked at my watch. "It's too late to talk to anybody about it today, but we can do it first thing in the morning. I'll take the inside staff, and you can talk to the grounds people." "Sounds good to me." She leaned over and kissed me again. "I hope I don't see Clarence's ghost outside my window tonight." I laughed. "With my luck, I'll probably hear Gabriella crying. I don't mind seeing my parents, because I'm pretty sure they won't hurt me. However, I don't know enough about ghosts not to be scared of the others." Chapter 5 The next morning, I went down to Bailey's cabin before breakfast. I knocked on the door, and she opened it wearing just a sports bra, yoga pants and bare feet. She was the only girl I knew who had washboard abs in high school. It was one of the many things that attracted me to her after we became teenagers. Not only did she play softball, she was on the basketball team and practiced every morning in the gym before school. Before the practices were over, she?d always be down to her sports bra and dripping with sweat. I think I stared at her stomach for six months before she caught me. This morning was no different. It was obvious she'd been exercising from the layer of perspiration covering her attractive body. I loved that stomach and pushed a hand against it to make my way back into the cabin. She flopped down on the bed and pulled me on top of her. I hadn't lied to my Granny. We weren't having sex, but I was surely tempted at times. Like then, when she smelled so good and was pushing my hair away from my neck and kissing my neck. I allowed her to do it for a little while and then kissed her back. When I pushed away from her, I was breathless. "It's getting harder and harder to say no," I said. "Then why do it?" She asked and grinned as she ran her fingers through my hair. "Have I ever told you how much I love your hair?" I smirked at her. "Maybe once or twice." She was the reason I kept my hair long. In eight grade I overheard her talking to her friends about how she found men with long hair sexy. The only haircuts I?ve had since hearing her say that were just to trim the dead ends. "We don't have time for it this morning." I said even though I was leaning my head closer to her so she could continue running her fingers through my hair. Her stomach growling ruined the moment. I patted her toned tummy, letting my hand linger longer than I probably should. "We've got to get you some breakfast and then talk to the staff." She grabbed some clothes out of her bag. "Let me take a shower, and then we can go back up to the house. You want to join me?" I grinned and shook my head. I knew she was only kidding. Even though I was probably the last great-American virgin in the country, I wanted to stay that way until I was 100 percent sure I was ready. I was at 98 percent and climbing but I didn?t want Bailey to wind up a statistic. A promising future ruined by becoming pregnant in high school. I know it made me strange to think about things like that, but I did. Bailey came out of the bathroom fully dressed and drying her pixie cut hair with a towel. She put some gel in it and ran a hand through it and pronounced herself ready to go. She didn?t need make-up to be beautiful which was good because I could count on one finger on one hand the number of times I?d seen her wearing any. And that was only because she lost a bet. I hugged her again before giving her another kiss and said, "Let's go eat, and then we'll get busy with our investigation." We sat down at the large table with Grammy and Grandpa. So far, we were the only family who had arrived. One of the maids brought out platter after platter of food. How did they eat like this every morning? Grammy, Grandpa and Bailey all took a fluffy buttermilk biscuit and broke it apart. They passed a bowl of sausage gravy around the table, and each one placed a large dollop of it on their biscuits. I passed. I once heard that if you didn?t like biscuits and gravy, you weren?t Southern. I guess I?m not Southern then because I?ve never been able to stomach the stuff. I did, however, take some of the butter and honey and put it on my biscuit. Over the bacon and eggs, Grammy told me my uncle Kerry would be arriving with his wife. His children, who were almost all grown and married, planned to get here the next day. "Your dad and Kerry were best friends during college," she said. "That's how Robert and Elizabeth met." I filed it away for later. I was sure Kerry could give me plenty of good information about my dad. When I searched my memory for him, I couldn't put a picture with the name. I just knew I felt good when I thought about him. After everyone finished breakfast, I left Bailey on the front porch and went back inside. My first stop was going to be the kitchen. I didn't have any idea who the cook was, but I thought he or she might be able to give me some clues about what was going on in the house. I pushed open the double doors leading to the kitchen. A large black woman scrubbed a stainless steel table. She turned to look at me, and a big grin lit up her face. "Well I s?wanee. You gotta be Miss Leigha. I'd know you about anywhere." "I?m not a Miss but I am Leigh." A name entered my head. "You're Miss Lena, aren't you? I remember baking cookies with you." Her grin widened as she opened her arms. "Yes ma'am you sure did. Now get over here and give this old woman a hug." I found myself sinking into her embrace and was immediately taken back in time. I had no doubt that she must have hugged me a bunch when I was a kid. I was about to correct her for calling me ma'am but decided against it. She might not talk to me if I did. "I didn't remember you until I saw you," I said. "I still don't remember a whole lot." "Bless your innocent little heart. You were awfully little when you left here. Shame what happened." She shook her head and flipped a towel over her shoulder. "Figured you might be coming to see me." "Why did you think that?" I asked. "I been working here for going on fifty years." Miss Lena winked mischievously. "Thought you might want to talk to someone who knows about this house." "I do." I looked back over my shoulder to make sure no one else was in the room, leaned over and whispered, "My parents' ghost came to me. They said this house has a curse." Miss Lena's head began nodding vigorously. "They're right. It do. I came to work here ?bout 10 years after your grandpa's sister and her husband died. They couldn't keep anybody in the cook's position because of the ghosts, so they were paying an awful lot for those days. I took the job and stayed on. I had two boys to put through school." "What is the curse? Is it that a woman in the family kills her husband and then kills herself?" She nodded again. "That's what it looks like to me, but I ain't so sure that's all of what it is. I've seen it happen three times since I been here. Those three couples shared a mighty love for each other, specially your momma and daddy. Find it hard to believe Miss Lizzie would want to kill Mister Bob." A tear began forming in Miss Lena's eye. "I helped raise your Momma. Every day she came in here to spend time with me. To talk wit' me about stuff she'd never tell your Grammy." She began shaking her head. "No Maam. There ain't a person on this earth that could convince me your Momma didn't love you and your Daddy with all her heart. Miss Lizzie wouldn't a left ya by her own choice." My own tears began falling as I saw how much Miss Lena loved my Momma. Missing out on having this wonderful woman look after me growing up was another on the list of things I had been deprived of in my life. "What do you think happened?" She walked over, leaned against the counter before handing me a cookie. "I think it's something to do with the ghosts in the house." I took a bite and savored the deliciousness before I asked, "Why hasn't anyone tried to stop it?" Miss Lena shrugged and helped herself to a cookie, too. "Who knows? Your grandpa, he don't mind admitting the place is haunted, but your Grammy won't hear a word about it. If?n you can't admit there's a problem, ain?t nothin? no one can do to fix it." "My parents asked me to stop it, but I don't know how." I sighed before finishing the cookie. "Talking to you was my first step." "T?was a good one girl. Talkin? to the other staff will help, too. Some of the girls have been here quite some time and seen a whole lot. The gardener's another good one to talk to. It ain't just the house that's haunted; the grounds are, too." I grabbed another cookie and gave her a hug. "Thanks for your help Miss Lena. I really do remember you. I can't believe you're still working here, though." "The pay's good and I?ve grown to love your family. They always been real good to me and mine." She said as she returned my embrace. "If?n the good Lord?s willin?, I'll probly be here another 40 years." I waved goodbye and rushed from the kitchen. Miss Lena had given me some good information, but she didn't really know anything more than what my grandpa told me. I still thought the best way to find out any information was to get into my parents' room. I didn't know whether to ask my Grammy or not. She might not like the idea of me going in there. The maids had a key to the room. Would they let me in when they cleaned? It wouldn't hurt to ask. I made my way up the stairs looking for them. I didn't see any signs of anyone until I looked up at the third floor landing and saw three women with cleaning supplies coming down the stairs. I waited for them to come down to the second floor and walked up to them. "Have you cleaned all of the third floor yet?" I asked. One of them nodded. "We've got all the extra rooms finished for when the family gets here." I decided not to ask about the room. I'd find another way to get in. "I was just talking to Miss Lena, and she said y'all had seen the ghosts around here before." The taller lady looked over her shoulder. "If your Grammy knew we were talking to you about this, we'd probably get fired. We've all seen Gabriella walking around. Your momma and daddy, too." "Did you ever hear them say anything?" I asked. "The only thing I've ever heard is Gabriella crying and your parents laughing, or at least, I think it was laughing. It's very quiet and hard to tell exactly. Gabriella's crying is a lot louder." Knowing my parents were happy together gave me hope. If momma had truly killed daddy, there was no way they would spend their afterlife together. There had to be a curse and I was more determined than ever to stop it. "Where do you normally see them?" The younger girl spoke up. "Your parents are usually running down the stairs, hand in hand, toward the ballroom. Seen them in there, too. Gabriella's always on the third floor or in the ballroom, although some people have said they've seen her outside. I ain?t never though." We walked a little way down the stairs. "Do you ever see anything in the bedroom where my parents were killed?" "No, but it's creepy to go in there," she said. "Your parent?s things are all still in there. I think the only thing that has changed is they took the sheets off the bed and changed out the mattress." "I've seen something in there." The woman who had remained quiet thus far finally spoke up. "There's a picture of you as a baby on the dresser. I unlocked the door one day and saw your parents standing there looking at it. It wasn't scary. I just felt bad for them." Her telling me this made me want to get into the room even more. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. Not only did I want to get in there, I was thinking I wanted to spend the night, too. If I had more time in there, they might appear to me. The woman went down the stairs, but I stayed where I was and sat down. In my dream, my momma told me it was hard for them to appear to me, that it took a lot of energy. I needed to find a way to communicate with them that wouldn't take as much energy. I didn't know a thing about ghosts though, had never even taken the time to do any research or read any books, although I did love a good ghost story. I wanted to figure this out to clear my momma's name. I hated the thought of her going down through history known as a murderer. Even though I remembered very little, I know I have always loved her. Tears filled my eyes, and I wiped them away. One way or another, I was going to find out what happened that night. I made my way to the third floor and to the room where my parents died. Even though I knew the maids had locked it behind them, I tried it anyway. The knob turned a little when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I shrieked and spun around. Chapter 6 A man stood in front of me. He had dark auburn hair not as bright as my own but apparently only ?the women? and me had the distinctive hue. I knew he had to be part of the family. I tried to place him, but couldn't. "If you want to go in there, I can get you a key. You don't have to sneak around to do it." He stuck out his hand. "I'm your Uncle Kerry." I felt like I should remember him, but I really didn't. The only thing that came to mind was him bouncing me up and down on his leg and him saying, "Trot little horsey." Beyond that, though, he was a mystery. "I wasn't trying to sneak in there," I said cautiously. "I thought I just might c