Disney land was a magical place even for a 15 year old. It was a great place to unwind for a week with my family after a hard school year. We had been saving for 3 years for this vacation. My two little sisters, our parents, grandparents, and me it was going to be a blast. We saved several thousand dollars by driving instead of flying. We decided we would stay at a horse farm halfway. Even though we lived on a working farm and I competed in equestrian competitions we barely had the time to enjoy the animals. Taking care of a farm is hard work. This vacation would be a much needed respite for all of us. In our family everyone worked together on the farm.With as little hired help as we could get by with. The place my Grandparents chose was breathtaking. It was in the smokey mountains of Virginia. 

              With the horses and the thin mountain air I would spend my days with my little sisters riding horses and playing with a lasso and old steer head on a barrel. It was used for roping practice, The first night we where there we came out of our cabin to find a gift basket filled with homemade baked goods. There were huge chocolate chip cookies, small banana nut muffins, even homemade jams with small pieces of fruit in them. All courtesy of the cabin owners, a lovely middle aged couple. He was a rough and tumble cowboy with skin the color of honey bleached from many seasons spent in the sun. He had a trimmed beard and short thinning chestnut colored hair, I saw his receding hairline at dinner the first night they invited everyone to dinner.  It was impolite to wear your hat at the table. This was a rule at home too. She was a sweet lady with long dark brown hair she kept braided all the way down past her butt. She had deep chocolate Brown eyes and a very kind face, a quiet lady.  With a calming presence. I'm not sure she left the kitchen much while we where there. There where 5 cabins and they were filled the 3 days we stayed. The last night when we received the basket it had a note telling us about the horse show at 6pm along with the trick rope show. My sisters and I grew up on our grandparents farm. We had been riding horses since we were old enough to sit up. My parents had me when they were both 14 years old. My Dad's parents let my Mom move in when her parents found out she was pregnant they kicked her out. So they took her in and gave my Dad a job running their carpentry business which he excelled in very quickly. He started with 1 helper then 5 years later he had 6 workers and 20 contracts with local business' who were looking to remodel or have additions built. It's a good thing my Dad works hard because when I was 2 they found out my Mom was pregnant with twin girls. Mandy and Allie where born 2 weeks early and 5lbs each they were healthy, happy babies. They're fraternal twins which means they're not identical but with their brown hair freckles and bright blue eyes the three of us look like triplets. With very subtle differences my parents would often mix us up. Calling one of them Emily or me Allie or Mandy. It didn't bother us though we liked that we could share clothes especially when we became teens. My Dad would make sure we did plenty of chores on the farm to help things run smoothly. We had 10 horses of our own and we boarded 12 for people who wanted the luxury of being able to enjoy a horse riding when they wanted to but not all the care that went into them. I would wake at 3am each morning at age 9, clean 4 of the stalls. Then feed the horses I was responsible for. But I'm not complaining I loved the time I spent with the horses. Even the cold quiet mornings. Workong alone in silence with just the animals and the earth for  company I felt a peaceful sensation flow through  me and a glow in my heart. These where the moments I lived for. I would wake my sisters at 6 for breakfast before school. Mom stayed home to care for us. She was a homemaker in every way. She was great. She always made sure we had delicious home cooked meals every day. She taught us girls to cook clean and sew buttons on and do little repairs to clothes We had a good childhood. Living in the Garden state, New Jersey we always had fresh vegetables year round from our huge garden. We sold chicken eggs, duck eggs and cows milk. The money we made went towards buying feed, hay, and medicine the animals needed. We had several other animals that I enjoyed playing with like our dog, Duke. He was a black Labrador, he was a sweetheart. He would follow me all over the farm. When we went to school the other kids in our area where from farming families too so we had a commonality, a kinship if you will. Our parents all knew each other, so we often got together on Sunday after we would all cram into the tiny Methodist church in the middle of town. The 15 families that went would take turns inviting people back to their farms for bbq, and fellowship. Often at these gatherings some of the men would drink and after a couple  of hours they'd break out the guitars, fiddles and banjos. Two men even played harmonicas. My grandfather could play guitar,banjo,fiddle,harmonica.piano and accordian. He never had any musical training he could read sheet music but usually played be ear which is amazing to me.
      My grandfather being a man of many talents but he was a modest man always looking to help someone down on their luck. He would often help homeless men giving them odd jobs on the farm. Often in exchange for a place to stay in the small cottage out behind the farm. Originally it was a place for Pop-pop and his 4 brothers to stay when they went hunting. It was tucked back in the woods about a mile away from the farm. So when the man that would later become my stalker approached my grandfather asking if he knew of a job on any of the local farms with room and board included. My grandfather told him about the little cottage in the woods and he moved in that night. Tom had quit his job and left his home that he owned to come work on the farm for room and board. In reality he was set for life from a car accident that he had been in with a school bus when he was 11 it left him with significant brain damage and a bit of a limp when he walked for long periods.

Some would say an ideal childhood. I wonder now if I was too sheltered  on the farm. Never seeing evil only glimpses in the news that seemed worlds away. In reality some of the the violent things that happened in Philadelphia only an hour away from where I lived seemed so improbable and unlikely to us kids.
     We spent summers fishing in the lake a few miles from our house. We would ride 3-wheelers, horses, have corn shucking contests, race small carts we would hook the horses to. Sometimes Pop would let the older boys pull the little kids around in them if they wanted to show off.
       We would help in the gardens where we grew all sorts of delicious organic vegetables. Never spraying with chemicals or fertilizer we would make our own compost then mix it with a third horse manure, a third compost and a third topsoil then put it around the base of the plants so that they'd grow big and healthy.
The horses did a bunch of tricks. One of the horses, a white horse was able to balance on a large ball. The others were just as amazing. They jumped barrels, bowed, or curtsied. They even had one that drank a glass bottle of root beer and pretended to be drunk. Even laying on the ground drinking the soda.
       I loved to watch my aunts and uncles work the horses at home. So when the lady that worked in the kitchen came out on a beautiful paint horse and did the rope show I was enthralled. I couldn't take my eyes from her. She was dressed in a red white and blue sequined vest with blue pants and a white cowgirl hat with silver sequins on the brim and an American flag on the front of the hat also sequins. What I loved the most out of her outfit were her boots. They were red,white, and blue too but, it was red white and blue leather something I had becer seen before they were beautiful. I wanted those boots so bad. I told my parents I loved her boots so much. When we left there was a pair in my size with a matching outfit in the trunk.
    My parents were my idols. Loving, kind and very smart. My Mom had devoted her time to teaching us girls to read, write our names, address and phone number before we started kindergarten. The three of us started together everyone called us the triplets and that was okay with me, I love my family. We never fight we are too busy with school work and the farm. So the night the man moved into the cabin I didn't even see him because it was dark.
          Then, the next day I stayed at my best friend Alyssa's house. We had met two guys online who seemed really nice. They said their names were Tommy and Timmy, they were brothers. They said they were 15 like us. We never have thought it would be two men ages 24 and 25! People wouldn't lie about that. That night when we went to the movies and saw the men we felt nervous but we proceeded with the blind date anyway. When Tom put his hand on my thigh 10 minutes into the movie I jumped. But quickly settled when he said,"sorry" and reached for my hand. I knew it was wrong but I was shy and afraid to hurt his feelings besides he assured me he had the most honorable of intentions. Who was I to argue. I was just a girl. Little did I know that's exactly why he had chosen me, my naivete and country farm girl upbringing of sheltered experiences and unworldy views was just what a predator like him was looking for....