When she inherits her Grandfather’s estate Meghan must face the past she can’t remember. Strange things start
happening the moment she enters her new home. Just days after she arrives at the house she inherited, an accident meant for her injures a good friend. Is it a ghost or someone more sinister that doesn't want her to remember?

Chapter One

When Meghan Thorp pulled up to the address on the piece of paper she held in her hand, she was more than a little surprised. The house sitting back from the road was at least three stories high and bigger than most in the area. Located in rural Wisconsin near the town of Ashley, the structure looked similar to a southern plantation. The home sprawled out like a grand manor and four white columns supported the front porch. As she drove into the driveway, she noticed brick columns supporting twin lion statues. Each lion sat proudly guarding his domain. The grand front door was highlighted by twin stained glass windows; one on each side and a curved stained glass window could be seen resting on top of the door.

The path and the circular driveway leading to the front door were cobble stoned and at one time must have been well kept, but now were falling into disrepair. As no one had lived in the house for years, Meghan could see that time had not been an ally. A house like this needed someone to care for it, and it was clear no one had.

Meghan thought a house like this one would be out of place in the northern states but somehow this one wasn’t. This house blended into the landscape without seeming overly grand. The woods behind the house gave it a natural back drop.

The papers on the seat next to her proving her ownership labeled the property as Thorp Manor. The house, its contents, and what most would consider a small fortune, were now hers. She still couldn’t get used to the idea she owned all of this. She had checked with the power company and the lights and water had been turned on the day before her arrival.

A few days ago on her birthday she’d had a visit from Geoffrey Anderson, attorney at law. He told her he represented the estate of the late Leon Thorp. Leon Thorp passed away years ago and left everything in his estate to his granddaughter Meghan when she reached the age of twenty five. Meghan had lost both her parents in an explosion when she was three and had lived in this house for the two years after. She couldn’t remember the accident or her grandfather, but now, twenty years later she had inherited Leon’s estate.

Unseen eyes watched her from behind the ragged curtains in an upstairs room as she took the key from her purse and unlocked the front door. When Meghan stepped over the threshold and into the foyer of the house, she shivered. She wasn’t sure why but she had a creepy feeling about being in the house. The air in the house was musty, and she could tell no one had lived there for a long time. The sun coming in the doorway revealed small particles of dust flying everywhere. Leaving the front door open, Meghan walked through the first floor room. Her footsteps echoed on the hardwood floors as she looked for her first time at her inheritance. Most of the furniture was draped in dust covers and when she sneezed, the sound faintly echoed through out the house. She thought she could hear footsteps above her head. But when she listened, and there were no other sounds, she dismissed it as part of her imagination.

Meghan stopped in front of a painting atop the mantle in the main parlor. It was a portrait of the man whom she assumed was Leon Thorp. He was a handsome man; tall and broad-shouldered and his bearing was almost one of royalty. He looked as if he belonged in this big house. Her imagination could see him living the life of a land baron, overseeing the work hands as they labored in the fields and then after a hard day, coming home to his wife and children. She shook her head. Sometimes, she thought her imagination was her worst enemy.

His dark hair was brushed back away from his face, but it was his eyes that held her gaze. They were a very unusual color of blue, and they seemed to follow her around
the room. Wherever she moved they moved with her. She had inherited those eyes. She shared his hair color as well. Meghan couldn’t help but wonder what else she shared with the man she couldn’t remember. She tried not to think about it, but it always bothered her that she couldn’t remember her parents. That feeling had always set her apart from the other children growing up. It made her different and she wasn’t sure she liked being different. While she had her Aunt Debbie, she didn’t have a mother or a father.

The painting was almost unreal and it spooked her a bit. She tilted her head and gazed at the portrait for a moment, but his face still held no recollection for her and that bothered Meghan. Surely she would know someone with whom she had lived, wouldn’t she? The part of her brain that hid what the doctors had called a traumatic event, supposedly the death of her parents, had also hidden two years of her life. Not only couldn’t she remember the accident, but she couldn’t remember anything from that time on. She realized that whatever happened that day a long time ago she might never remember.

Meghan moved into the kitchen area and found it dark. Walking to the window she pulled up the shades and discovered to her delight a back garden area. The area was overgrown somewhat, but as she loved to work in the dirt, she knew her first project after the house was put to rights would be to put the garden right again. She still couldn’t believe she owned all this but the possibility was beginning to sink in. If she were going to bring life back to the Manor and live here, she would need to make the place habitable. As far back as she could remember she and her Aunt Debbie had moved around a lot when she was growing up. Debbie needed to travel for her job and she had never had a home, now maybe she would have something she could call her own.

She continued her rounds of the house with the bedrooms on the second floor. There were four bedrooms and they were spacious and fully furnished. The furniture was dated, but somehow it fit into each of the bedrooms. Meghan opened the third door on the right side of the hall and found it was a little girl’s bedroom. The walls were a muted pink color and there were toys and an old doll house set up in the corner of the room. She shouldn’t have been surprised by the little girl’s room but she was.

She stood in the doorway for a moment and looked around the room. This had been her room, her own little corner of the world yet she didn’t remember it. She didn’t remember sleeping on the bed or playing with the dollhouse. It seemed as if she was seeing the room for the first time. Meghan took a deep breath and wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek. Gathering her courage, she stepped into the room.

She walked over to the dresser and ran her hands over the toys sitting on the top. She noticed a little girl’s jewelry box and opened it. Inside there was a little ballerina and when the cover was open, music played and the little ballerina danced. Meghan peeked inside the box and was surprised to find a beautiful ring inside the jewelry box.

She lifted it out and carried it over to the window to get a better look at it. The ring was made of gold and had a dark blue stone surrounded by diamonds. It was clearly a woman’s ring and it bore signs of being worn. As she slid it on her finger, Meghan wondered if the ring had belonged to her mother or grandmother. She was amazed that it fit so nicely on her finger. She shivered. It was almost as if someone had walked over her grave. She wasn’t sure she believed in the afterlife or not, but the simple task of putting the ring on her finger gave her a sensation as if the ring’s owner wanted her to know she was loved.

Meghan glanced around the room, half expecting a ghost to suddenly appear. Then just as quickly she cocked her head and listened. She frowned and looked toward the ceiling. She thought she heard someone walking across the floor above her head. That was the second time she thought she heard footsteps since she arrived. The footsteps were muffled but she could still hear them. Shivers swept down her spine. All these thoughts of ghosts and the past she couldn’t remember were beginning to make her hear things that just weren’t there.

She checked her watch and found it later than she thought. She still had to go into town and buy groceries before it grew dark. She turned to leave and as she reached the door, Meghan turned and looked at the room once more. This little girl’s room was nice enough but there was something missing. Meghan didn’t know what that something was but the room didn’t quite seem right. As she stepped out into the hall, Meghan quietly closed the door behind her. The faint click the door made seemed to echo. Meghan felt as if she were closing the door to part of her childhood.

It was sad because it was part of something she couldn’t recall. Meghan made her way down the stairs and out to her car. Before she slipped into the driver’s seat she looked back at the house again. She was trying desperately to find something in her memory that associated her with this house, some little thing that would connect her with the people from her past. She just shook her head when nothing popped into her mind. It was as if she were seeing the house for the first time.

Rating:

Reviewer: Stevi B.

When Meghan inherits her grandfather’s estate she must try to deal with a past she can’t even remember. What happened to her parent’s and grandfather that caused her to blank out the past? Why did her grandfather want her to return to the estate when she turned twenty-five? And why are strange accidents starting to happen just days after she has returned? Does someone or something not want Meghan to remember the past and why not? Is the old mansion haunted or is there something more sinister going on?

Meghan’s Legacy is a creepy mystery. Why did Meghan’s whole family die years ago in strange accidents or were they accidents? Who would want to wipe out a whole family and why Meghan’s family? Why was Meghan spared or was she? Without any memory of her past Meghan has no answers to these probing questions. All she wants is a sense of belonging and a family she can’t remember. I liked Meghan and from the beginning wanted her to stay and solve the mystery of her past. She spent the first five years of her life living on the estate she has now inherited but everything looks strange to her until she starts to have the nightmares she had as a child. Are the nightmares in fact memories her young mind suppressed? When one of Meghan’s visiting friends is attacked and injured, she knows that in order to keep her inheritance she will have to remember the past and figure out what happened to her family but remembering could cost Meghan her life too. She isn’t a pushover though and with a little help from old and new friends, Meghan sets out to find the past so that she can have a future free of fear. I loved Meghan’s spunkiness and willful refusal to let the bad guy win yet again. If you like spooky stories, true evil bad guys, and spunky heroines, you will like Meghan’s Legacy!

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