Echoes of Dollanganger by V.C. Andrews

Author:V.C. Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

When I got up there, I realized it was a little warmer than it had been. It was mostly sunny, with just a slight breeze from the south. I knew my father wanted to get as much of the exterior work done as possible before winter came rushing in full-blown on what he called “the skirts of the dropping jet stream.” I’d told him that from the way he could predict the weather, he could have just as easily been a farmer. “When I retire, that’s what I’ll do,” he’d replied.

I was surprised to see just how far along he and his team had gotten with the construction of the new house. Everything unusable from the restored Foxworth Hall had been hauled away. The part of the old foundation that was visible and utilized was freshly painted with an off-white waterproof material. The framing of the two stories was completed, with the upstairs floor laid. It was easy to envision it now even without having seen the plans.

Behind it and to the right, two bulldozers continued to expand the grounds by driving out the overgrowth and cutting back the forest of birch, maple, and oak saplings. I could see that the plans for this new property created what was going to be an even larger and more elaborate landscaping than what had been done for the development of the original and the restored Foxworth Hall. The bulldozers had already moved and flattened much of the ground. Footings for fountains and the setting of tile or cement pathways was to follow. The scent of fresh earth permeated the air. What had once been more like a rotting corpse of a property now had the look of something fresh and new, full of promise and potential beauty.

My father and Todd were standing back and observing the crew constructing the pool, which looked like it would be at least as long and as wide as the one in our school. Todd had his arms folded across his chest the way my father had his. If he could, he’d walk in my father’s footsteps all day, I thought. He saw me first and nudged my father to turn my way as I drove up and parked. They both watched me approach.

“What’s up?” Dad asked. I think ever since my mother took ill and died, every time something or someone surprised him, his first reaction was always to tighten up and prepare himself for some sort of bad news. Running through his mind was surely that someone had called the house with some.

“I thought I’d come up to see if you’ve been working as hard as you’ve said or just jawin’ up a sweat,” I replied. It was his favorite way to kid fellow construction workers.

With relief, his face quickly softened into a broad smile. He looked past me at my car. “By yourself?” he asked, even though it was quite obvious. It was his way of asking where Kane Hill was.

“Yes. Kane has a meeting with his father, and I wanted to see what was already done up here.

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