Chapter 3

The car was a silver Mercedes Benz CLK Cabriolet convertible. It was in need of a good wash since it hadn't been used in years. She told herself that would be one of the first things that she would do when she got to the estate. She had already hired a cleaning crew to clean the estate before she got there, but never thought about the car being dirty. 'You really are more spoiled than you ever thought you were' she said to herself. She decided at that moment that she was going to change the way she looked at things from now on. She would treat her time here at the estate as if she were someone who didn't have the option to just pay for everything to be done for her. She really wanted to know what it would feel like to be just an average girl that never grew up with money and people doing everything for her. This should be interesting she thought to herself as she smiled.

She drove to the gas station to fill up, and then set off on the hour and a half trip it

would take to get to the estate. She smiled to herself as she thought about how pumping her own gas was the first thing she had done herself in a while. It felt good to her, like a new life she just couldn't wait to explore what was waiting for her. Wow all that from pumping gas, what will it be like when you do laundry or cook your own food she thought to herself.

The drive went quickly but at the same time she wished that someone else was driving her. She wished that she could look around and enjoy the scenery like she did when she was a child on this drive, instead of concentrating on the road. As she entered the long drive way that lead to the estate she stopped the car. So many things were going through her mind about the time she had spent here as a child and she missed her parents now more than ever. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe you should just turn around, she thought to herself.

"No, this is what we need. We need the room to roam. We need to start a new life here" another voice inside her head stated.

This other voice was an often occurrence to her, she had heard it since she was about 15 years old. The voice just started one night and she though that maybe she was going crazy. Now, she was use to the voice and would often carry on conversations with it as if it were another person. The voice seemed like a guide to her, when she didn't know what to do it always seemed to chime in and lead her in the right direction. It was also there for her when she needed it like when her parents died. The voice helped her sort through all her feelings, and was always there to offer comfort when she needed it.

She never told her parents about the voice, but the same month that the voice started something else started too that she had to talk to her parents about. She was just sitting at the dining room table one night like she had so many other nights and all of a sudden she started to feel really restless. Her father noticed almost right away and asked what was wrong. Angel stated she didn't know, she just felt like she needed to get out of the room and she needed to cool off.

She walked outside and her whole body started to shake and her vision went blurry. Her father had followed her and noticed her body shaking; she told him that her vision was blurry too. The next day they had the family doctor visit. He said that she had a panic attack and gave her anti-anxiety medication. Every month she would have the same thing happen for about two days. If she took the medication then it would go away. So it just became a normal part of her life just like the other voice in her head had become.

Angel wandered around the estate for hours, going through all the rooms and taking in all the memories of the times here with her parents. She then pulled out the garden hose and washed off the car like she had promised herself she would do when she got here. 'There that looks much better', she thought to herself when she was done. It was almost dark by the time she sat down in the kitchen to think about her day and what she would do next.

"See I told you this was a good idea" the voice inside her head stated.

"You're right," she agreed with the voice. It was about that time that her stomach wanted to let her know that it needed food.

She remembered that there was a small town just down the road that has a little market store and a small diner. She headed out to the car to visit the town that was only about 10 minutes away. Once she arrived, she went into Betty's Diner and sat at booth looking at the menu. The diner was small with only one, maybe two waitresses on duty at a time. It was decorated in a 60's theme with black and white checkered tile floor. There were bright red vinyl booths and stainless steal tables. Neon lighting surrounded the window that connected the diner to the kitchen in the back. Even the menus had a little pink poodle in the top corners.

It turns out that Betty, the owner, remembered her from when she was younger and they had a long talk about her parents and the estate. Betty was a lovely older lady. She had short curly grey hair that hung loosely around her little round face. She was pretty for her age, and Angel was sure that she would have been beautiful as a young girl. She was the type of person that was always there to listen, but was never one to judge. She also wasn't one to push you into a conversation. She was good at reading people and could always tell when someone didn't want to talk, and she would leave them alone. When Angel was finished with dinner and talking to Betty about her stay here, she headed to the market store to get some food and supplies to take back to the estate with her.

The next few weeks went by about the same way, she would visit town daily and talk with Betty about the weather, or the estate. She found that it was very comforting for her to be there. She really felt at home at the estate and it was nice to be able to talk to the people in town and get to know them. They didn't look at her as a rich snobby girl like the people back in Chicago did. They were just happy to have someone new in town to have a conversation with. It was a small town and not much ever happened there, so when someone new came into town it was like they were getting a new book to read and enjoy.

She was twirling her phone in her hand debating if she should call the airport to get a ticket home or if she should stay for a little bit longer.

"We should stay here, it's where we need to be" the voice said.

"But what will we do here were all alone?" she argued back.

"We have each other and Betty from the diner. We like her too." The voice said back.

"We can't just go bug Betty everyday she will get sick of us." Angel said back.

"No, she won't. She likes us. You could offer to help her out there, get a job there a few days a week" the voice begged.

Angel gave into the voice, she knew that she wanted to stay too she just needed someone to talk her into it. She didn't think that someone would be herself, but it worked.

She picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Aunt Greta, its Angel"

"Oh Angel how nice to here from you, are you enjoying your trip?" the voice on the other line asked.

"Yes very much, actually so much that I think that I am going to stay for a few more months, maybe longer." Angel explained.

"That's great; you sound like your happy there. Don't worry; I will take care of the mansion while you are away. Would you like me to send any of your things?" Greta stated back, barely able to hide the excitement in her voice. I just made her day Angel thought to herself, she didn't know if that made her happy or pissed her off.

"No, I have all I need here, but thank you. I have to run but I will call again soon. Bye Aunt Greta." She stated as she hung up the phone.

It had been three years to the date since she decided to take a trip to Montana. Now she was happily living in her beloved estate. Today was her 21st birthday. She woke up and stretched in her bed, as she lay in the sun rays shining through her open window. She had been so much happier since she moved her than she ever was in Chicago. She couldn't imagine even living there anymore. Just the thought of the smells in Chicago almost made her sick. She could smell all the fast food, the exhaust from the cars, and the pollution there. Here all she could smell was the green forests, the flowers from her garden, and lush plant life. Her Aunt was happy of course, Angel moving to the Montana estate meant that Greta could stay in the mansion as long as she wanted.

Angel walked out of the room, into the kitchen and made some coffee. She was sitting at the table reading the paper and sipping her fresh hot cup of coffee when she heard a truck outside. She looked out the window to see a moving truck slowly backing into the driveway of the old farm house next door. Even though her estate had over 50 acres of land and forest, all of her acreage was to the west and south of the property. There was an old farm house to the east of her estate that had been empty for as long as her parents had owned the estate, who knows how long before that. Her father had tried to buy the house and the acres that it sat on when he bought the estate but the owner had refused to sell.

She hadn't seen the house up for sale. It must have been handed down in a will to the people who were about to move in she thought to herself. That house must be a mess inside. It hasn't been touched for decades she thought to herself. As she watched the moving truck back up closer to the house she started to think about having neighbors. 'Am I going to like having people live next door to me? I have always been here alone, and no one was ever there to bother me. At the same time it would be nice to have company some times. I guess I never really thought that anyone would ever move in, I though that it would always just be the empty house next door.'

'I really hope that they do something with that yard. It needs a good mowing and a flower bed would be nice.' She was having a whole conversation with herself in her head about the new neighbors when the door opened to the truck and a man stepped out. Her thoughts all of a sudden stopped and she was focused on this man. Before she could fully take in the man standing before her another man stepped out of the truck. The she heard another door close and one more man stepped around the truck from the drivers' side.