Chapter One

CHAPTER 1


It was just an ordinary house, though now falling apart from lack of love. It was located on a back street in a village called Shadybrook. The house was old, that is, to a child's way of thinking. Actually, it was hardly fifty years old, which to an older person was rather new since older people are so used to one–hundred or two–hundred–year–old houses. To the people who had just moved in, it must have seemed like a dream house, even though it was run–down and shabby looking, with paint peeling off the outside and weeds running wild all around the grounds. Some might just say it was dilapidated.

Rumor had it that the family was allowed to live there free if they agreed to fix it up and paint the whole house inside and out, and take care of the front and back yards. The day they moved in, the whole village was curious, and all during the day neighbors casually walked down the street to catch a glimpse of what the newcomers were like. One of the most curious was only a young girl, not quite ten years old.

It turned out the new family were poor people, though there was a certain dignity about them. The father and mother seemed gentle; their young boy appeared to be ten or eleven, though he could have been a little older. They were dressed in simple clothes that looked well worn. The father looked older than his wife; he might be in his thirties. He had a kind face, but one could tell he had a lot of cares, as if his life was not too easy. The mother, looking younger, was maybe in her late twenties. She was very pretty; in fact, quite beautiful, with sallow skin, warm penetrating brown eyes, and long, naturally wavy brown hai