We are going to take a break from all the action for Carol to go on a hunt for something that her grandmother left for her in the house (Legacy). I hadn't really forgotten about it but put it in on back burner with all that Carol had been up to. I want to thank ReedusLover for reminding me that I should tell you what Grandma Nancy left for Carol. It's a change of pace but I love Grandma Nancy and I hope that you do too. Carol's latent toughness had to come from somewhere and who better but a sweet silver haired lady with smiling blue eyes?

Treasure Lost, Treasure Found

Carol woke up to another empty day that she would fill with repeatable tasks, cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. She was lonely for Daryl. She was mourning Tyreese. She was sad. Carol tried to concentrate on Daryl to see if she could get some bit of vision about him but instead she was remembering talking with Tempy Blaylock about her grandmother. Tempy was grandma's cousin and had a bit of the "sight" herself. Tempy had told that day that her grandmother had left something for her in the house and Carol had looked around the house but hadn't found anything. Her grandmother had left her this house so she thought maybe Tempy had gotten mixed up in the story.

Carol got out of bed, got dressed but found herself remembering that day. Tempy had passed on not long after that but her mind had been very clear that day. Andrea noticed that Carol was in a sort of dreamy mood that morning and she took over all the cooking and cleaning. Carol wandered around the house wondering where her grandmother would hide something.

Carol looked through her bedroom though it had been cleared of most of her grandmother's things when she got there. She looked at the dressers which had empty when she got there. Daryl had been wearing his wedding ring when he left but she opened the box that he kept it in anyway. There was a piece of notebook paper folded inside and she opened it up. She recognized Daryl's scrawl. It was a love letter to her. It was dated the day before he left.

My Dear Wife,

I am leaving tomorrow for a long journey. I must go you know that or I wouldn't ever leave you. I will drag my body away but my heart will stay here in this house on this mountain with you.

Sometimes when I am out in the woods I stop and close my eyes and think of what I saw that night up in the mountain. Michael McAllister-Dixon, our boy. He's real to me even now.

I can't come up with big fancy words to say how I feel about you. I love you and always will. You are my Cara mio.

When I get back I am going to follow you around like Canary for at least a week.

Your loving husband

Carol cried for a little while. She knew why he didn't sign it. "Your loving husband" was the name that he wanted her to know him by. Her grandmother had told Tempy that Daryl was kind and that they would have a child together. She touched her stomach and said to herself, "Michael".

She roused herself and continued her search. Grandma hadn't hidden the treasure in this room. Carol decided to go upstairs and check out the attic. She remembered going up there with Grandma to get the Christmas decorations. She had loved doing that, Grandma loved Christmas and she had all sorts of boxes with Christmas decorations in them. Carol climbed the steps to the attic thinking about the day they had fought all the raiders from this house.

The attic floor had been redone from when she was a little girl. She hadn't noticed that before. The house had been renovated since then and some work must have been done up here. The windows on each end were larger and brought more light in. Carol walked around the big room with its boxes. Grandma had thrown out the old cardboard boxes and had put all her treasures in plastic bins neatly labeled. The Christmas decorations were along the back wall. She opened a few and looked at the dusty lights and wreaths. It wasn't quite Thanksgiving yet and Grandma always waited until that holiday was over to decorate. Carol was going to decorate this house just like her grandmother. Daryl would help though he might fuss a little and for the first time Carol let herself think of decorating this house next year with Daryl and Michael. She cried a little more then.

Carol started to go through the bins and pick out decorations that she wanted to use. Some were too old and broken but she found some that would be beautiful on the tree and the house. She was having a wonderful time when she found the letter wrapped up in the scarf Grandma always used on the mantel. She opened it and was surprised that it had been written on a computer. Grandma and a computer?

My Dear Carol,

I have having a very good day and I am going to spend it with you. I have missed you so long and now my time to be with you here is running out. Don't weep for me; I had a long life and an interesting one. Don't be angry that we didn't spend much time together here; we have an eternity together.

I am going to tell your things that may surprise and shock you. I have secrets that I have never told anyone else. I am telling you because you will understand why I did it. You have had to do some things that other people don't understand or approve of I imagine.

Remember when your Grandpa died? He was killed by a log truck and the insurance company settled with me for a million dollars. That seemed like a fortune to me until I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do with it and then it didn't seem like so much money anymore. My "sight" was getting stronger since my mother had passed and I started investing in the stock market. I used my "gift" for ill-gotten gain. Yes, I did and I enjoyed it.

I decided that I would keep two sets of books. One set was my modest investments and I had an honest accountant keep track of my money. I paid my taxes and I have lived on my honest investments ever since. Now for the other set of books, I found an unscrupulous accountant and a proxy stock broker and I invested in the stock market and bought and sold at will. I paid them well and they hid the money in off shore accounts that I could access when I wanted to. It's fun to be Robin Hood. I educated your cousins in excellent universities and set them up in businesses. I did most of it so they didn't know that it came from me. Money buys a lot of silence.

I invested in Adair. The excellent library and the modern hospital didn't come cheap, but the term "anonymous donations" comes to mind. I tithed to the local churches of course. I may be dishonest but I was glad to fund all sorts of things. I could be Santa Claus every darn day.

I got out of the stock market before it will all crazy and before I might get caught. I invested in gold, silver, jewels and found another scoundrel to buy and sell as needed. The "sight" told me that something terrible was going to happen and I tried to think of how I could protect all of you that I love the most. I invested in every way I could think of to make these homes safe and comfortable.

I was worried about a world without electricity. Modern life is dependent on it and pardon my language but your new world is one shit storm after another. You need electricity to make that hospital run and everything else. Do you remember Jamie's definitions of an honest politician? It's a politician that stays "bought". I have been buying politicians for years and they come amazingly cheap too. I have managed to finagle a new hydroelectric dam for Adair and have used all my "bought" influence to see that it gets started. I am not going to be here to see it completed; the government works at a snail pace. It's not wonder why they are so ineffective. You may have to see that the dam gets finished, and I know that you will.

I started seeing you in my visions, and it had been such a long time since I had any "sightings" with you in them. You had turned away from me and from all of us. You know it is true, Carol. Do you know how many times I prayed that you would call me or Ashton? I knew that you were in a terrible situation and one call and we would have been there. How could you forget how much I loved you? How could you forget that you are the Queen of McAllister Mountain? I am not blaming you; somehow you pushed those truths into some dark place and wouldn't bring them out. Then, I one day I saw you coming through the mountains with a dark skinned woman driving and you were with people that loved you.

I was so happy to see you but I soon realized that my time would run out before you would come. I saw other visions after that about things that you have had to go through that hurt me to the bone. You are stronger and tougher than anyone I know, and I saw that you are now surrounded by people that love you. Most of all of course you have the man with the tough face and the kind heart; that's not a bad combination by the way in your new world. Your Grandpa would say that he is a "keeper" and suddenly I miss Jamie so much even after all this time. I need to move on now.

I never forgot you, and I have been putting things away for you for many years. This house and all its contents are yours. This house is your treasure, you always loved it so. Now, you will find one of your treasures underneath in the box. Go ahead and open it and then come back to me.

Carol looked underneath the scarf and found a wooden box labeled Nativity Scene. She opened and saw Grandma's Nativity set. Grandpa had made the manger and there had been a paper Mache figure for a complete Nativity scene. She had always loved it and Grandma would let her take it out of this box and arrange the figures on the mantel. Carol picked up one of the three kings. He was wearing a blue robe and had a gold crown on his head. It was incredibly heavy. She took all the figures out and arranged them on the dusty floor. They were works of art, hand crafted and painted, and all made out of solid gold. The king's robe was festooned with jewels that looked real. The character's eyes were made from precious gemstones. Even the animals were solid gold but covered over with paint. She couldn't imagine what this would cost, but it was a fortune. Grandma had hidden her treasure in plain sight.

Aren't they beautiful? The old ones were worn out like me and I wanted you to have something that you loved as a child. The rest of the treasures you will find as you go. Just don't take everything at face value. There is something in almost every room in the house. I always loved puzzles and I will leave you with this clue. If it meant something to you as a child then it will be a treasure one way or another.

I am getting too tired to go on. I can almost feel you reading this in that dusty attic. You loved to play there as a child, you hated the basement and wouldn't go unless I went with you. Be happy, my sweet girl. You have the kind man and that child coming. They are the treasures that you will keep close to your heart. Everyone that you love and that loves you is a treasure. Enjoy your life, my Carol Ann McAllister and don't ever forget who you are again.

I am glad to finally tell all my secrets and trust you to keep them. These are your treasures; do with them as you will.

You Loving Grandmother

Grandma hadn't signed it either, but she knew that it was from her. Carol sat there for a long time with the Nativity Set. She couldn't wait until Christmas to put this up on the mantel and to decorate the tree. She would keep her grandmother's secrets and continue to look for her "treasures", but she would heed her grandmother's words. Her real treasure was with the people who loved her and that she loved in return.