Chapter One
"The art of moving on is letting go of the hope of a better past."…multiple people.
~oOo~
1950
It was all Natasha Ballard could do to get her horse to move forward, as the wind whipped through the air as hard and as furious as it could. Well, it felt like it was as thunder rolled through the sky and a flash of lightning illuminated the sky.
"You're crazy!" Natasha's sister, Amelia, stood in their parent's yard staring at her older sister. "That old mansion hasn't had anyone living in it for years. It's not because no one has wanted it; they have."
"I know, I know." Natasha smiled at her sister as she threw her gear over the back of her horse. "It's haunted. Each and every prospective buyer has been run off by the spirits of at least a couple of the original Barkley family members." She said as she put one foot up in the stirrup and threw the other one up and over the horse before sitting down in the saddle. She then leaned forward in the saddle and gave her sister such a determined look it almost scared Amelia. "I know the history of the place, the history of the Barkleys. If any of them are there, I'm not going to do them any harm. That being the case, I can't see them harming me. So, no matter what you say; I'm going to go look at the place."
As the old Barkley home came into view, Natasha heard her sister's rantings and ravings once more. If her sister had reacted that way to the many stories she'd heard, how would she react if Natasha told her of the dreams she'd been having? For that matter, what would Amelia say if she knew of the things Natasha herself could do? "Keep moving, Gail. We're about there; I can see the house now." It was the truth, and the horse seemed to sense it as she pushed against the wind. By the time Natasha dismounted her horse and led her into the old barn that still stood on the old Barkley ranch the rain was coming down rather hard.
Dismounting her horse, Natasha fought the wind as she took a hold of the old barn door and used all her strength to pry it open. "Go on, girl!" She shouted at the horse above the wind. The horse, which knew her master's voice well and had never given her a bit of trouble, neighed and went inside. After shutting the door, Natasha started doing what she had to in order to make her horse comfortable. "Well, girl," she removed the saddle and sat it down on an old crate and looked around, grateful to see that some of the hay in the old barn was still good. "I'm going to feed you some of this hay. If the Barkleys want me to pay for it, I'll be glad to. Though," she said as she chuckled, "they'll have to let me stay long enough to give them the money." That thought, the idea of giving any spirit money, had her chuckling even more. Though, once she stepped outside the barn and shut the door, the only thing on Natasha's mind was getting to, and inside, the main house.
"Here goes nothing." Natasha lit the kerosene lamp she'd brought with her. She then darted out from under the cover of the barn's awning and made her way to the door closest to her. She wasn't surprised to find it locked. No matter, Natasha simply concentrated on the lock; unlocking doors with her mind was a gift she talked about to no one. Well, she had discussed it with her late grandmother, but that was it. It took a minute or two, but just before sky was once again lit up by lightning, the door opened and Natasha was standing inside.
"Good thing I brought the lamp." Natasha held the lamp in front of her face and made her way down what turned out to be a short hallway that led to the kitchen door or into another hallway; she passed the kitchen and followed the hallway. She soon found herself near the dining room and the stairs that led to the upper floors. As curious as she was to explore the house, due to everything Natasha had read or heard, she still made her way into the living room. After all, there was heat radiating in the room, and she was cold.
If it wasn't for fact that every book or paper written on this place had accounts of a fire already burning in the fireplace when someone actually peeked through the window of the home, Natasha might have thought someone else had beat her to the mansion. As it was, she sat her lamp on the mantle of the fireplace and then sat down on the chair closest to the fireplace. Closing her eyes, Natasha leaned back in the chair and relaxed. If there were any spirits in the house, she would have better luck in feeling them…maybe even seeing them…if she wasn't uptight and trying too hard. Only problem was, she didn't realize how tired she was. Soon Natasha was fast asleep.
The moment she was asleep, Nick Barkley appeared near the fireplace while his brother, Jarrod, appeared near the window. "Don't even think about it, Nick." Jarrod said as Nick took a step towards their sleeping visitor.
"What?" Nick, who kept his eyes on the black haired woman who couldn't be more than five feet two inches, snapped. "I wasn't going to hurt her!"
"No, you were just going to wake her up and demand to know what she was doing on your ranch, and in our home." Jarrod pointed to Natasha and said, "Can't you see she's tired? Let her sleep."
"But she came in through a locked door! No one's ever done that before!" Nick rested the back of his wrists on his hips. "I want to know who she is, what she's doing here and, as I just said, how she got in through a locked door!"
Jarrod was curious too, only he was willing to wait until their visitor woke up. "For once, Nick, be patient." He paused and then added quietly, "I'm going to go get a blanket for her. It's colder in here than she realizes." With that, Jarrod disappeared up the stairs leaving Nick standing where he was, looking down at their visitor.
"He'll probably insist we just keep an eye on you once you wake up." Nick muttered after his brother disappeared around the corner of the upstairs hallway. He might have said more only Jarrod was already coming back down the stairs with a heavy blanket in his arms. Nick moved back to the fireplace and kept his eyes on their visitor as Jarrod covered the young woman up.
