With a sigh Katherine Hawk wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying wouldn't help. Nothing would help. Her parents were gone. Her grandparents were gone. Her old life was gone, and it was time, past time, to accept it and get on with a new life. Filled with determination, she turned away from the pretty, slow-moving stream and looked up at the house that was now her home. It stood on a small grassy rise, a rambling two-story ranch house that had once been the showplace of three counties. A wide driveway led up to the porch, which ran the length of the front of the house and wrapped around the southeast corner where the kitchen was. Why her grandparents had traded their comfy home for such a grand one would never be known to Katherine.