Robert and Elsie Anderson stared at the old house in the Madison suburb. They missed their home in Chicago, even though the neighborhood hadn't been as nice as this. What they missed most with their father. He had been a wonderful man and had taken them everywhere.

Robert was tall, red haired, and muscular, having wanted to be like his dad. Elsie, on the other hand, was medium height and brown haired. Both had green eyes. Robert had glasses, but Elsie wore contacts.

Their father had been on active duty and had been sent to Afghanistan. A week ago, they got the call every family dreaded.

"I'm sorry to inform you Mrs. Anderson that your husband has been killed in action." said the army officer over the phone. They had been devastated. Though they did have their father's military benefits, without his salary, they couldn't afford to live in Chicago anymore and had to move. They moved near Madison, Wisconsin, which was cheaper.

"I wish Dad were here.' sniffled 11-year old Robert.

"I know." said their mother Helen, sniffling.

Robert had taken his father's death hard, and having to move and leave all of his friends behind and go to a place where they knew nobody made life even harder on him.

His 12-year old sister Elise was playing Free Cell on her cell phone. She sure seemed to play it a lot lately. He knew that she too was trying to cope with their father's death.

They came to the house, which looked old. The kids groaned. "It's not that bad, and it's bigger than our old house. Cheaper too." their mother tried to reassure them.

They went inside. The place needed a dusting, but wasn't too bad. There weren't an cockroaches, bats, or ghosts, so it wasn't as bad as Elsie had feared.

"This house was supposedly part of the Underground Railroad." their mother had told them.

Normally, the information that they were in a place where runaway slaves had been hidden to aide their flight to freedom and defy the evil Fugitive Slave Act would have fascinated Robert, but, after his father Dan's death, he didn't really feel all that excited anymore. Indeed, he wondered if he ever would again.

They went up the stairs, which, luckily, didn't creak as much as they had worried it might, given the age of the house. Their rooms were big enough, though, of course, there was dust and a few cob webs. Luckily, there weren't any spiders as it was March. Robert put his father's Purple Heart on his bed stand, along with a photo of the family. "I wish you could be here with us Dad." said Robert sadly.

Elsie moved into her room. It was a bit cleaner than her younger brothers. She too missed her father. Both of them wondered if their life would ever be the same.