Forgotten Dreams by Eleanor Woods Read Free Book Online

and died there. Somehow it didn't seem right for the property to be without someone to care for it.
    "But the size of it," she murmured as she came to a break in the trees and stared broodingly at the imposing structure. "It boggles the mind just thinking of caring for the first floor."
    With a resigned shake of her head, she continued past the rear of the cottage to one of two small, neat white structures that sat in each corner of the spacious grounds. In one building was housed a lawnmower,rakes, and other yard and garden tools. There was also food for the evil-tempered billy goat of undetermined age that Sara Cartlaigne had raised, as well as ground corn for a feisty rooster that kept the goat company.
     
    Toni filled two small plastic pails with the concoctions that composed the daily diet of the two pets. Then she walked to the enclosure behind the building to feed the cantankerous creatures.
    The goat, appropriately named Billy, was methodically gnawing away at the corner of the covered shed that afforded him protection from the cold and rain. He cast a mean-eyed glance her way as Toni hung the pails on two hooks attached to a sturdy post that supported the fence.
    She bent and picked up her protection, a nice sturdy broom handle, then released the latch on the gate and entered the enclosure. The rooster, who was scratching in one deserted corner, puffed his feathers and gave every indication of attacking, only to scamper away when Toni gave a healthy swing of the broomstick.
    Toni couldn't help but grin as she wondered what feer friends in Richmond would say if they could see her involved in what had become a daily chore.
    All such thoughts came to a halt, however, when out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Billy making his way alongside the fence in order to get a dead aim on her derriere.
    She quickly dropped the pails to the ground, whipped her "club" from beneath her arm, and waved it threateningly at the cross-eyed goat. "Don't even think about it," she muttered in warning.
    Billy stared at her for several seconds, then gave what Toni could have sworn was a yellow-toothed leer and swung away to feast on a piece of paper that had found its way into his domain.
    "One of these days, you ornery cuss, I'm going to offer you as the main course at a barbecue," she threatened without any real malice in her voice. For as ridiculous as it seemed, there was something about Billy that reminded her of Aunt Sara.
    Each of them, in their own way, could be rude and unpredictable. And, as Susie had pointed out during one of her visits, it took someone unusually determined to get along with either the goat or Aunt Sara. "But then . . . you've always been close to her, haven't you?" Susie had said to Toni.
    Toni had smiled and nodded. "I've always admired her spirit. Even when I was a child—and she was an old lady then—I considered her the most fascinating person in my life. For weeks after each visit to Natchez, my mother would be ready to box my ears. For not only did I love Aunt Sara,. I tried to be like her."
    And now, Toni thoughtfully mused as she tipped out the first bucket of feed, here I am, still feeling the bond, the pull of affection that exists between that tiny gray-haired old lady and me. I was hurt, and the one place in all the world I
    wanted to be was at Cartlaigne with Aunt Sara.
     
    She took a deep breath of crisp autumn air and slowly shook her head. She didn't pretend to understand the workings of fate, nor was she about to waste pointless thought and energy pondering it. She was happy and content, and at the moment that was all that mattered.
    Just as she reached for the bucket containing the rooster's ground corn, Toni heard the sound of heavy
    footsteps coming toward her along the brick pathway. It must be Mr. Timmons, she decided. He'd spent the morning working in the yard and had probably left some of his equipment.
    But when the footsteps reached the corner of the storage house, Toni