"She's home," Ellie told Grant. They stood outside her practice, waiting for Poppy. He was meeting them for dinner.

"Who?" Grant asked.

"You know who. Runa," Ellie told him. "She's been home awhile now. Why haven't you gone to visit her?"

"She doesn't want to see me," he said.

"But you want to see her," she said looking at him.

He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"You can't let the grass grow under you, Grant."

"There's nothing I can do right now. Besides, they say she's really down."

"That's the perfect time for an enterprising young man to sweep in," Ellie said.

"I beat the hell out of her boyfriend. He's in that chair because of me."

"Well, at least next time when someone comes after her, you'll be able to use restraint."

"Next time?" Grant asked. "You really think I should go see her?"

"At least, do me a favor, okay?"

"What Grandma?"

"I want to keep an eye on her and I can't do it myself," Ellie said.

"You want me to follow her?" Grant asked, surprised.

"Not follow her, per say; just help me keep an eye on her. She's important; somehow."

"What do you mean, important?" he asked.

"I want to tell you about something but you cannot repeat it, especially not to your father," Ellie told him.

"You know me Grandma," he said.

"Yes," she admitted, "discretion is your talent, even if keeping your temper is not." She looked around for a few seconds and spoke lowly. "That girl is Michael Walker's daughter."

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"Michael Walker was no ordinary traveling salesman. He was something more. Remember when you would come spend the night at my house when you were little and I told you all those stories?"

"Fairy tales," Grant said.

"Some of them were," she admitted, "but some of them were about this town."

"About the founders?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. She looked at him intently. "Grant the founders, were your ancestors."

"The Smiths?"

"Yes," she told him, "and the markers and some of the old buildings and the pathway in the park..."

"The path of the Rose," Grant said.

"Yes. The path of the rose; all of it are part of our family heritage. That family split years ago into other families and spread out over the world. But before that, they weren't the Smiths. They were the descendants of a group of families, hunted down and in hiding."

"In hiding?" Grant asked, shocked.

"Yes. Our original families have been hunted down for years by those with an evil purpose, to destroy us."

"What? Why? Who are we?"