Chapter 7

By the time Christina wakes up it is a day and a half later. Even then she had the Blue Diamond held in one hand while the other rested on the book. If it wasn't for the fact that it is also her brilliant mind that makes her so damn irresistible Alex might have been jealous.

"Sleep well?" Asks Alex.

Christina smiles adorably with her bedraggled brunette hair and says, "Mmm hmm." She stretches and yawns mightily. "What time is it?"

"It is 3:00 PM of the next day."

Christina's brown eyes go big as she gets a sheepish grin on her face and says, "Wow, I must have been exhausted. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. When I wasn't watching you sleep, the crew and I were exploring the neighborhood."

"What do you think?"

"Absolutely sublime. Mary seems to think that every single mansion on the block is haunted."

"Really?"

"She doesn't sense anything truly malevolent, but the house directly across the street does seem to have a ghost that is a bit mischievous. Casper and Mary are over there as we speak trying to discern its true intent. Hey, at least Chrissy has found a playmate. Another little girl ghost."

"From which home?"

"Right next door. The one on the north side."

"Wow, I wonder if I know her because that home used to also belong to my family. I think it was my great grandpa's brother."

"This is one fantastic neighborhood."

And this is what an explorer's heart found to see.

By far Alex has never seen a neighborhood like this in New York. It is tucked away in a remote part of Brooklyn. At least as remote as you can get while being surrounded by one of the largest cities in the world in 1945.

The dead end block has eight homes on it. Christina's is the third one on the right. As there are four on the right and four on the left. The walls go almost right up to the road and the red brick is only barely visible through the decades of growth from the vines.

The street itself is split in two with a row of cherry blossom trees all the way down the length of the road. For those people who live on the left side as you are coming in you have to go all the way down to the end of the street and come back up to get to your house as there are no breaks in the center divide.

Only through the massive iron gates with varying artistic designs on them and built into them do you see the splendor of the mansions that exist in this unique place of New York. All of them are big and white with pillars not unlike the Whitehouse in Washington. They are massive and would make either the Greeks or the Romans proud.

Every house as the owners call them or mansions as mesmerized visitors call them are three stories tall with an extra little room forcing them to call them four story homes. Heads of States, industrial businessmen, real-estate moguls and even one movie star has called this street of mansions home. Now mostly they remain to the descendants of those revolutionary path cutters.

The eight homes are majestic pieces of art in their own right. Each has a distinct flavor as the owners have adorned them with their spirit and wonder. Although there is no direct animosity between the different owners they pretty much keep to themselves.

Except for a long unused gate that is between Christina and her neighbors house that used to belong to her family, and that also just happens to have a little girl ghost, the properties are pretty well fortified.

All the front yards are similar in that they have a circular gravel driveway with one version or another of a grand statue in the center of said circular driveway. There are hedges, rose bushes and varying plants and flowers spaced about, but it is the backyards that are truly amazing. One and all they are a splendor to behold. Once one gazes upon them you first think of the world-class gardens of the South.

The backyards are works of arts themselves. With several acres of wonderland the queens would be proud. If you were to look down upon it from the second floor or higher you can see the maze of hedges and flowers, but if you are on the ground every time you turn another corner a whole new vista opens up to you and your breath is stolen away. Needless to say the fragrance envelops you and the stunning myriad of colors mesmerize your admiring eyes.

"Hello."

"Hello, Chrissy. I hear you have a new friend." Says Christina smiling.

"Yes, her name is Katie."

"Hmm, I had an aunt Kate that died when she was a little girl."

"Yes, that is she. She said to say hello and that she thinks you are very pretty, but that you look lonely sometimes. I told not anymore though because you have all of us. I think she is lonely too."

"Maybe she would like to come live over here with us." Offers Alex.

"Really!"