June 21st, 1984
Their presence is now officially gone. Their bodies are feet below the earth's surface, their room is in a disarray - no thanks to Harper, and their names have been stripped from the Thornton family business. Mother was the head of the company. Not anymore. Grandaddy has taken over, as he's the closest in kin and has already had experience in running the company. Soon the true heir will be named; Grandaddy has men in fancy suits looking into it.
Harper's devastation has only worsened, I'm afraid. Whatever new hiding place she's discovered is her home now...I haven't seen or heard from her in days. I wonder where she is - it's possible she's not even in the Hall right now. She could have run often into the forest or hopped a ferry to the mainland. She could be as far as Savannah or even Atlanta. Harper could truly be long gone.
Mother's and Father's gravestones got engraved and placed this morning. It's all so depressing. I'm trying to be strong, to recover that confidence and bravery that I once controlled, but everything makes me sad these days. I thought getting out of Thornton Hall would help, so I took a walk.
Now I'm not sure where I am. I fear I will never find my way back home. My home is in the ground now, buried within the world. Harper has lost it; Grandaddy's obsessed with the company's well being. I'm more alone now than I've ever been.
Though it's mid-summer, the wind sends a chill through me. I can feel the ghosts of the forest dance in the wind, feeding off the cold energy. I wrap my arms around myself and sigh. Were these the ghosts that Mother always spoke of in such high regard? Is this magic?
The sun begins to go down, changing the sky into an orangey purple. I turn around and head back towards the Hall. I find Grandaddy in the doorway on the front porch, arms crossed and face twisted in a wicked way.
"You've been out all night, Charlotte," he says. I can tell he's upset.
"I just went for a walk, is all," I reply, uneasy.
"You can't just leave whenever you want. You're supposed to be forming into a lovely young woman, not prancing away from the Hall." His voice is tense yet sad; he's never been this way with me before.
"Oh, and Harper's absences are perfectly excusable, I assume?" I hate to use Harper this way, to get out of trouble, yet I find the words falling from my tongue nonetheless.
"This isn't about Harper, Charlotte! You need to start shaping up. You're almost sixteen!" Grandaddy snaps.
Tears threaten to fall from my eyes, but I ignore them until they shrivel away. Haven't I been good already? What shaping up must I do? I'm trying my best…
"I don't understand, Grandaddy. I'm only fifteen? What must I do?" I ask, practically a beg. I feel so utterly weak and pathetic.
"Charlotte…" His voice calms a little, but there's still anger in his eyes. "I didn't want to tell you this way. Not yet. Not so soon…"
"What?" I demand. "What - tell me what?!" Fear surges through me as I can only assume he's speaking of sending Harper to that school in North Carolina.
"Charlotte." Grandpa Jackson looks me dead in the eyes. "You're the heir to the Thornton family company. You will inherit it once you turn twenty-one. I've looked into everything...there's no way around it. Until then, I will remain in charge. But when the day comes, there's no choice for you."
The youngest anyone's taken control of the Thornton family company was Sandra Thornton back in the early 1800s, at the age of thirty-three. Most usually the leadership privilege gets passed down once the current head becomes too old. Early death never occurred when the children of the leader were this...young.
My jaw drops and my eyes bulge. Tears escape and slide down my skin. There won't be a way around it. I'm the heir to the business, and I only have five years to prepare.