Mandie Elizabeth Shaw hugged her mother as the tears ran down her eyes. She looked up from the tight embrace to give her mother, Elizabeth Shaw, who married her uncle, John Shaw, a warm smile before she left her arms for the last time as an unmarried woman. Elizabeth gently brushed Mandie's tear away from her cheek and gave her a wink.

"Now, darling, we don't want to spoil your wedding look for Joe." Elizabeth lovingly gave her daughter a push towards the front door of the house. Today was Mandie's wedding day, and she was getting married to her lifelong friend, Joe Woodard. She was nervous to walk out infront of all those people and was glad her mother was there with her.

Mandie blushed as her mother talked about her fiance Joe. "Oh mother, don't worry about that. Joe and I have been lifelong friends ever since I lived in Charley Gap with my father," Her voice choked up as she remembered that fateful day her father passed away, when she was only eleven years old. Joe had been with her on the day of the funeral and promised to take care of her and her father's grave. She smiled as she remembered how Joe and her had kept in touch and went on many adventures solving mysteries all throughout her childhood and teenage years. Here she was now, twenty-two, graduated, and Joe had finished law school.

The doors of the house started to gently sway open, and Mandie felt her mother grasp her hand as she left to follow behind her, holding her big skirt. Mandie took a big gulp, here I go.

"Oh Mandie, will you stick your head back in here? We're too far off now your family won't be able to see you anymore." Joe spoke as he tried to lure Mandie's head, which was sticking outside of the wagon and waving her hand frantically, back inside the marriage wagon.

"Joe, I was just giving them one last goodbye. I won't see them for awhile because we will be at our own house. I will miss all my friends, Celia, Sally, Uncle Ned, Dimar, Jonathan, Grandmother, Uncle John, Mother, Aunt Lou, Liza, and oh everyone else." Mandie slumped down into the wagon, folding the bottoms of her white dress. Joe grasped her hand and she looked up at him with a small tear in her eye.

"Mandie, I'll take good care of you just as I promised. You will like our new home, it is right by Bryson City and only about an hour away from your Father's house where Mr. Jacob Smith lives." Joe tried to cheer Mandie up. Mandie squeezed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Joe Woodard." Mandie spoke softly.

"I love you more, Mandie Woodard." Joe winked at her, but she was already dozed off asleep.

About an hour later, the wagon stopped at a fenced yard off of the main road. The wagon jolted to a stop and quickly woke Mandie up. Mandie's head shot off Joe's shoulder when she realized they were finally there. She quickly tried to jump off the carriage.

"Mandie! Slow down, we haven't even grabbed the key yet from the trunk!" Joe warned as he tried to help her down off the wagon. Mandie jumped down, long white skirts toddling down to the ground and soiling her dress.

"Oh shucks." Mandie groaned as she looked down at her bottom folds. "Well, I'll just get it pressed." She decided out loud, and then grabbing the bottom of her skirt, she left Joe to fiddle for the key while she explored their new house.

Mandie opened the gate to the fence, and quietly took in the scenery. The house had no close neighbors, but over on top of the trees there was chimney smoke not far. She swirled around to see the freshly cut grass and small patch of wildflowers right by the front porch. She noticed a small garden by the stable and squealed.

"I'll first explore the house," She decided and then she climbed up the front porch steps. The porch was a wrap-around and held a small swing, just as Joe's house in Charley Gap had. The house was all white with wood trimming around the porch, and the windows had brown shutters. Mandie loved all the windows. She decided that the house must have at least three floors as she compared the size.

She turned the door knob to the house and realized it was unlocked. Just then Joe appeared next to her.

"I finally found the key!" He exclaimed, huffing and puffing from the effort he put into looking for it amongst all the other luggage. He then looked at Mandie, who already had the door opened, puzzled.

"Joe, the door wasn't locked?" Mandie questioned as she looked at him. Joe stood there puzzled.

"I don't know how that could be because I had just locked it two days ago when I was finishing up the last touches," Joe stated as he scratched his head confusedly.

Mandie shrugged, "Maybe you thought you locked it, but you didn't?" Then she smiled. "Or we just have a mystery on our hands!"

Joe groaned and rolled his eyes. "Mandie Shaw-I mean Woodard," He shyly smiled, "There will be no mysteries revolving around this house. I will make sure of it!"

Mandie sighed as she gave up and walked inside. We'll see about that, Joe, she thought. She gasped. The living room had the rocking chair from her father's house that her father used to sit with her in and tell stories to her. The mornings before her step mom Etta and her step sister Irene would get up she would spend special time with her father. She felt a choke in her throat as she held back tears. There was more furniture, a soft deerskin rug, a beautiful chimney and the room went further in to lead to a parlor, a small dining room and of course a kitchen.

Joe wrapped his arms around her small shoulders. "Welcome home, Mandie!" He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Mandie was overjoyed, she turned around to face him and gave him a full hug. "Joe, you made it all look so perfect. I feel so at home here, it is a perfect combination of my uncle's house and my father's house!"

Joe held her tight, "Now it's late. We should get to bed." He smiled. The driver of the wagon had finally brought in the last trunk from their travels and Joe walked him outside to give him his appreciation and bid him goodbye.

As Joe stepped out, Mandie decided to explore the second floor. She walked over to the stairs and climbed to the second floor, struggling a bit as her dress was far too long to catch up with her as she was eager to explore. As she got to the second floor she noticed it had four rooms. One room was a large guest room, one an office, one a small library, and the other room was storage. She then noticed that there were more stairs at the end of the hallway that housed the second floor. She climbed up the stairs and came into another floor that held one large room with a small seating area. She came to the conclusion that this must be their master bedroom.

She laid her hand gently on the shelves and noticed how each was crafted out of wood and she figured Joe must have paid someone to put in this hard work. The room was large and had windows around the room. She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself and giggled, her dress was worn and she had a bedhead from sleeping in the wagon.

As she tried to fix her hair she heard the window by the sitting couch creak. She quickly peered over to find the window cracked and opened. That's weird, she thought as she gently touched the window curiously.

"Mandie!" A loud voice called from floor one. It was Joe and he had already lost her within the house. Mandie left the suspicious window and ran to face the stairs.

"Third floor, Joe!" Mandie yelled at him from the stairs. She heard him climb up the stairs and finally saw his sleepy face arrive at the third floor. His unruly hair flopping as he skipped up the stairs eager to see what his wife thought of their bedroom.

"This place is all ours. Isn't it neat, Mandie?" He gushed lovingly as he smiled at her. She smiled back at him, but then became perplexed. Joe realized the shift in her facial expressions. "What is it, Mandie?" He inquired.

Mandie took him by the hand and showed him over to the window across the room. "Look at this Joe, it is cracked and partially open."

"Hmm...that's strange. I haven't opened any of these windows, and no one else has been here." Joe scratched his hair again and then touched the window.

Joe turned around to discuss the matter with Mandie, but realized his wife had slumped onto the couch and was rubbing her eyes. He smiled at her, and before he knew it she was dozing off.