The first 500 words….

<!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –> <!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –> <!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –> Chapter 1 ———————————————————————————————————— “Why do you think she saved all these?” Chloe asked her sister. “They’re written by  someone named, Lavina Whitely. Who’s that?” She pulled the letter from the envelope that sat on top of the stack.  Out of the corner of her mouth, she blew damp strands of blond hair from her eyes. It had rained earlier, and the humidity mixed with the now bright sun made it warmer than usual for August in Ireland.  The heat plus the stale air in Emma’s closed off bedroom made it hard to breath. Ignoring the sweat trickling down the back of her neck, Chloe turned the yellowed page over in her hands.  The lower right corner crumbled. The cheap lined paper had not fared well with the passing of time. The fact that the writer had used a pencil didn’t help. Chloe narrowed her eyes, struggling to bring the faded words into focus. She was having more than a little trouble understanding why these letters from a stranger were important enough to have been in the big black trunk her aunt kept locked at the foot of her bed. “May 22, 1993,” she read. She looked to see if her younger sister by 18 months was as bewildered as she was before adding, “That was almost 15 years ago, Mollie!” Both girls jumped at the sound of a car pulling onto the graveled drive, two floors below. Chloe gently folded the brittle paper and slipped it back into its envelope.  She hesitated, deciding whether to take the packet of letters with her or to leave them in the trunk. A car door slammed–then another. “Chloe, they must be back from the funeral,” Mollie whispered. “We have to go!” Not waiting for a reply, Mollie started toward the door. She glanced back at Chloe’s still unmoving frame as she headed into the dark hallway. “NOW!” she said hoarsely and was gone. Chloe could hear her heart pounding in her ears.  Was that her heart or someone’s footsteps?  She impulsively tucked the envelope inside the elastic waistband of her shorts. There’s a ton of stuff in there and at least 20 letters. Nobody will miss one, she thought.  Quickly, she lowered the lid of the mysterious trunk Emma had, in life, considered her most prized possession and started after her sister. She heard voices coming from the entryway below and stumbled in the semi-darkness. Before she reached the door, she felt an icy hand cover her mouth from behind.  The last thing she remembered was falling backwards.