Whispering Hills / Chapter One

Chapter 1          

         It all began with a surprise inheritance from a beloved and slightly odd great-aunt, accompanied by an intriguing letter, delivered on a sunny, and quite average spring afternoon. From that point on things became a bit … intriguing.

  Jo was busy doing her end of the month accounting and cursing under her breath at the aggravations caused by that particular chore, when her doorbell rang late Friday afternoon. Both bothered by and grateful for the interruption, Jo went to the door. Opening it she noticed a Fed Ex messenger poised to leave a call back card on her door.                                                                                                              “ You don’t give a girl much time to get to the door, do you?”

“ Sorry. I’m running behind schedule, and I was thinking you may be out already. Friday and all…”, the delivery guy had the grace to look at least a little embarrassed as he offered his excuse.

“ Well, I saved you a return trip, anyway. I assume that’s for me?” Jo asked, looking significantly at the delivery envelope in his hand.

“ Uh, yeah- just sign here and it’s all yours,” he replied with a blushing smile.

“ I thought that’s how it worked,” Jo countered with a smirk, taking the clipboard. She received another blushing smile from the man. It should be noted that the ‘man’ in question was barely out of his teens, and was having trouble keeping his eyes where they belonged. It wasn’t until after Jo handed him back the clipboard in exchange for the envelope that she realized just how she had come to the door. Because it was an unusually warm spring afternoon, and the air conditioning in her landmark registered, relic of an apartment was on the fritz again, she was wearing nothing more than tank top and an old pair of Looney Tunes boxers she had stolen from an ex-boyfriend. It was an outfit that didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination, especially when worn by a woman like Jo.

At 31, Jo looked as good or better than she had ten years before. She was fit and attractive in a healthy looking way- according to her own opinion. Men generally used adjectives like leggy, shapely and engagingly sexy. She was a woman with a quick smile and a quicker wit, but was oddly shy around people she didn’t know. Joella Roberson was the kind of woman that men adored and women genuinely liked.

At that moment though, she was experiencing a moment of mortified embarrassment as she realized what sort of impression she had made on that poor delivery guy. Then, as quickly as it came over her, it was gone as she laughed at both herself and the situation. She was shaking her head, and still chuckling to herself as she returned to her desk and proceeded to open the package she had received. She noted the sender was a Virginia law firm, but didn’t recognize the name of the firm. As a specialist in restoring old homes she had dealt with a few firms in Virginia, but this one wasn’t one of them. Anticipating a new client, she pulled a sheaf of papers and a separate sealed envelope from the package. What she found was not exactly what she had been expecting.

The cover letter from the firm of Jacobs, Miller & Lowe stated that they had been retained to manage the estate of Meredith Eulalie Moore. Jo gasped as she realized they were referring to her great-aunt Meri. Meri had died a year and a half ago and Jo remembered her fondly from her childhood.  The letter went on to explain that as Ms. Moore had died with no children of her own, that she had left the majority of her assets to several charities and historical societies. The exception to this directive was the only bequest of a personal nature 

It was greatly due to her Aunt Meri that Jo had gone into her chosen field. When Jo was a child, her mother’s Aunt Meri would come to visit and instead of taking Jo to playgrounds or theme parks , she would take her to museums, historical places and antique shops. At first Jo went grudgingly, then Meri helped her to see the magic of old places and things. She told Jo stories of the people who had lived in those places or she would gesture to a desk or chair and weave suppositions about the stories those things could tell. From that moment on Jo was hooked. At first, it was the fanciful idea of all those past secrets and mysteries, then she began to admire the craftsmanship that went into building things as it was done centuries ago. She became a student of her avocation long before she declared it, and it was all due to her beloved great Aunt Meri.

As Jo read through the papers she found that once again her aunt had given her a gift. It was a piece of property she had owned for as long as Jo could remember - a hundred and eighty year old farmhouse, situated on what was now about four acres of land. Jo remembered her aunt taking her there once, when she was about eleven years old. The house, while not dilapidated, was badly in need of work even then. Jo hated to imagine what the last two decades had done to it. Still, she thought as she laid the papers from the lawyer aside, the place had fine old lines, like the bone structure of a beautiful woman who had been ravaged by age. It was all still there, Jo knew in her heart, just waiting to be cared for and nurtured back to it’s former self. As she sat the legal documents aside, she picked up the envelope that had been enclosed with them. She saw her name, written in Meri’s distinctive hand on the outside of the envelope. With a sad smile, she picked up an antique letter opener that Meri had given her on her twentieth birthday and carefully opened the letter. When Jo unfolded the pages, she could almost see Meri sitting at the ancient partners desk she had restored herself, her trusty red Parker pen in hand as she wrote Jo the last letter she would receive from her.

My Dear Joella,

By now I’m long gone, and you’ve received my last and hopefully best gift. As you know, I’ve always thought of you as the child I was never fortunate enough to have. For all I know, had I been given a child , they would have turned out quite atrocious, since I’m sure I would have taught them all the wrong things. Be that as it may, you were and always have been a delight to me- especially since I encouraged and fostered in you an appreciation for all of my favorite things. One of those things I give you now.

The old place is in sad need of loving, caring  and most especially capable hands. It has been in the family since, well before I was born- if you can imagine that. It was once a grand place, I’m told. I never saw it lived in. Why, I’m not sure. I have heard stories - but … perhaps you should find out it’s secrets on your own. Think of it as a new project or perhaps a treasure waiting to reveal itself. Go and find out it’s secrets and do for it what I was prevented from doing. One last adventure with your crazy Aunt Meri. Go and discover Whispering Hills.



Jo had tears in her eyes when she sat the letter aside.  Yes, she thought, one last adventure with Aunt Meri. What a fitting tribute to all that she had meant to Jo. This adventure was sure to be the most thrilling of all.

  Little did she know how correct that would be.