One winter's day during the Great War, two adorable little girls watched out the window of the landing between the first and second floors of the three-story brick Victorian home. From their perch, they could see the American soldiers struggle with a steel-gray metal box against the fierce Chicago wind. The children tried to be as invisible as possible as the men entered the house and deposited the military casket in the front parlor. They had overheard the servants and knew inside the coffin was the body of Uncle John. This day was the beginning of the end.
Albert Meyers had been quick to put his old life as Augie Steinmetz of Germany behind him. Ill-gotten money had gained him the education he lusted after as though it were a seductive woman. Before long, he was living his American dream in the stately home situated in the elite South Shore Drive neighborhood. With Attorney-at-Law tacked on the end of his name, he had married the frail Harriet, the most beautiful woman he had ever met. Soon two daughters, Molly and Sally, completed his perfect world. Unfortunately for his wife and the two darling little girls, Albert paid for his sins with his own life.
Over the next decade, it seemed the family was cursed. By the time the stock market crashed in 1929, only the daughters and two of their domestics had survived to tell the story. Even the stately brick home was reduced to rubble and ashes. Molly continued to step in one mud puddle after another as she struggled to fight off the wolves in sheep's clothing that hid around every corner and lurked behind every bush. She rationalized there must be gods and goddesses somewhere in the heavens playing games with people's lives. Sometimes you won the trophy, and sometimes you were the prize.
Her enemies often made the mistake of assuming Molly was naïve. She was young and inexperienced, but she was extremely intelligent and tenacious and would go to any length to protect the people and the things she loved. She had no equal when it came to dispersing justice and extracting revenge, that is to say, except, possibly her sisters.
When Molly looked for a quiet place to lick her wounds, she settled on the small mountain community of Brown Bear City. She quickly learned there were no walls strong enough to keep away pain and sorrow, but she had a valuable weapon--she was wealthy.
You will get caught up in Molly's colorful life and become endeared to the people she collects along life's pathway. You may well agree with her assessment; some people just deserve to die.
