Witchwood Estate: Going Home

By Patti Roberts

Twelve years later, Alexandria is going home to Ferntree Falls to claim her inheritance - Witchwood Estate - the home where she was born, and where her parents were murdered.
But something very sinister is going on in Ferntree Falls - something that will change Alexandria's life in ways she never imagined. For starters, her new best friend disappears in the sunlight...

Whimsical, "TV" length episodes in an ongoing series. Witches, spells, ghosts, sprites, shape-shifters, wolves and more. With an equal measure of Magic and Evil, Witchwood is sure to win your heart and soul.
For all those young at heart, grab your broomstick and come along for the ride!
“Patti Roberts has a pristine talent for making characters on a page breathe. Love them -- Hate them ... you won't be able to help yourself from muttering under your breath about them...” Leslie Hansford.

What a delightfully magical read! For the young at heart or others who don't fear to dream. I enjoyed it so much! The wonderfully created world that you have so vividly written is easily envisaged! Katrina Whittaker

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patti Roberts
• Release date: Mar 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301954957

Book preview

Witchwood Estate – Going Home

Book 1

Published By Paradox

Copyright © 2013 Patti Roberts

ISBN: 9781301954957

Proofreading & Editing By Tabitha Ormiston-Smith

© Cover design by Paradox Book Cover Promotions – Patti Roberts

Magic – Olivia Newton-John. Lyrics by John Farrar.

License Notes

Smashwords Edition

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work. This book is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents depicted herein are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Tabitha Ormiston-Smith for all her valuable support during the writing of Witchwood Estate. Your insight is meticulous.

To Leslie Hansford and Ella Medler, for all your inspiring words and support. Thank you.

Katie Shelby, a big thank you for all your ongoing support. Thank you.

To my big sister, Sue McGuinness, for reading the first chapters, warts and all.

To my dear friend, Trisha Dowling, for all your incredible friendship. Thank you.

For all my Facebook and Goodreads friends, too many to mention, your support has been brilliant. Thank you.

To everyone that has read my books. Thank you!

The Witchwood Series – The Craft meets Practical Magic…

There is something very evil lurking in the woods surrounding Witchwood Estate.

Alexandria Santorini learns as a child that she comes from a long line of Harvey witches. Now, as a teenager, Alexandria must say goodbye to Catnip Cottage and the Barnabys, her loving guardians for the last twelve years, and go home to Ferntree Falls to claim her inheritance. Witchwood Estate. The home where she was born and her parents were murdered. Her journey home becomes even more sinister, however, when she discovers that there are those around her who have other plans for her and her new friends…

Prologue

If you Google the word Prologue, this is what you will find on Wikipedia.

A prologue (Greek πρόλογος prologos, from the word pro (before) and lógos, word) is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information.

Well, that was what my life kind of felt like. A prologue.

Every day began and ended the same way, as regular as the ticking clock on the wall. You’d think that after twelve years there would have been some kind of evolution to the daily ritual that was my life, but no.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t unhappy with my life, not at all. I relished the simplicity of it all... Until that morning. There wasn’t anything particularly different about that morning as I walked down the stairs to meet Olly and Martha Barnaby for breakfast, the clock chiming to announce my six-thirty arrival.

The Barnabys became my legal guardians when my parents died twelve years ago. They were an older couple with rosy cheeks and salt and pepper hair. They’d not been blessed with children of their own, so when I came along at the age of five, they’d welcomed me with open arms and open hearts. The Barnabys were the only family I could remember with any clarity. The blood that ran through our veins may not have been linked, but I loved them with every nerve and fiber of my being.

Chapter 1 – Morning Has Broken

Pull the curtains, dear, Mr. Barnaby said as Alexandria appeared in the doorway leading into the kitchen. A hand-stitched tapestry hung on the wall above an old wood-fired brick oven. Kitchen, the heart of the home. Alexandria smiled every time she read it, marveling at the simple truth of it. She was going to miss this kitchen, and the people in it.

Alexandria ran her fingertips over the growth chart chronicled in blue pen on the doorframe. On the eve of her birthday, after a luxurious bubble bath scented with lavender and honeysuckle, the Barnabys would line her up against the doorframe. Head high, little lady, Mr. Barnaby would say as Mrs. Barnaby drew the line and the year above her head. The last year noted, marked her sixteenth birthday.

Alexandria smiled with the memory and sighed.

Mr. Barnaby, attuned to