Ellie is really the unfolding of two stories simultaneously. There is the story of Randy, a childcare worker who is employed at a small but successful children's home just outside the small town of Orangeburg South Carolina. In his mid fifties Randy has plans to retire soon but instead finds himself caught up in a mystery that will take him back to the early 1800's in his quest for answers. Extensive research in the basement of the Times and Diplomat, the towns local newspaper, and in the hot, dusty attic of the local Historical Society museum will provide him with many strange answers but unfortunately, with no solutions. Young boys are disappearing and Randy wants desperately to know how and why, as well as how to stop the disappearances before the reputation of the children's home is totally destroyed. Ellie is also the story of the Stroman family. There are the parents, Joseph and Martha, a daughter Ellie who at fourteen is filled with dreams of knights in shining armor and wonderfully romantic experiences. There is also Robbie, her younger brother who at nine years old is, as they so often say of boys like Robbie, "all boy" and full of mischief. All is well for the Stroman family as they prepare to attend their church's annual Founders Day picnic one Sunday morning in early spring. Little did they know, at the time, how dramatically that picnic would change their lives. Ellie's first romantic picnic with her beau Will which she had been planning and anticipating for weeks is about to be completely ruined through a prank played on her by Robbie in revenge for her kicking him under the table at breakfast. Because of Robbie's prank and Will's failure to come to her rescue Ellie vowsrevenge, if necessary, from beyond the grave.