The Tree Goddess (The Mapleview Series Book 2)

Book summary

In the enigmatic town of Mapleview, where tales of the paranormal abound, Mary inherits the historic Trivelli House with its long-standing legend. Eager to erase its ominous reputation, she moves in with a temporary guest. But when the guest vanishes without a trace, a baffling series of disappearances grips the town, baffling even the seasoned Mapleview detectives. Are these unsettling events connected to the town's ancient, eerie history? "The Tree Goddess" unravels the mystery, delving deep into Mapleview's secrets.

Excerpt from The Tree Goddess (The Mapleview Series Book 2)

You pass through them while driving on vacation; the peaceful, historic towns surrounded by miles of forests, lakes, mountains and untouched wilderness. And yet some of them appear to be thriving communities complete with every convenience and luxury one would expect to find in the city or suburbs. Such towns have been known to generate income from a yearly flow of tourists. Or they can be occupied by individuals such as artists, writers or people who travel much in their jobs. This is the sort of town Mapleview is.

Founded in the early 1800s, it offers a place for people to get away from it all and finally live in an area that values peace, quiet and communion with nature. But there's an unknown, dark side to that wonderful town where most people would only dream of living. Some attribute it to a mysterious sentience that blankets the town in a wilderness deep in unknown history. Some explain that the legendary Trivelli house continues to curse the area since the well known tragedy that took place in the 1830s. Other residents adopt a more sensible theory and state that many of the people in that town are simply crazy.

There's a private section of forest near the Hidden Lake Forest Preserve in Mapleview that has been owned by the Trivelli family since 1832. One must travel uphill on a half-block driveway to get to the historical house. The house overlooks the actual lake that is in Hidden Lake Forest Preserve, and has become an icon to residents of Mapleview who gaze up to the old house on the hill. As mentioned before, the house has a terrible legend that really seems to be fed by those who continue to tell the story.

Although the story in this book is focused on the time when Mary owned the Trivelli house, it is probably best to give a very, brief account of the last person’s experiences who resided there, just to understand what Mary had walked into.

It was two years before the sale of the legendary, historic house of Mapleview, and two years before the series of mysterious disappearances. Terri was the last tenant of Loraine Trivelli. Loraine inherited the historic house that had been passed down for generations.

Terri drove on a Saturday morning through the heavily forested highways with nothing but miles of wilderness and seclusion to surround her. Finally reaching Mapleview Road, she soon found the oversized, historic house and ascended the half-block driveway where Loraine Trivelli had greeted her.

Loraine was a friendly, older woman; perhaps in her early 60s with an air of grace and of following all things that were proper. She led Terri into the home and provided a tour of the place which most people only dream of.

“It’s a house that was built in the 1830s and has been passed down through the generations. As you can see it’s fully furnished, many of the pieces antiques. If you decide to stay, I only ask that you make no changes to the decorating and structure as this is a historic landmark to the town of Mapleview.”

It was a beautiful home in a quiet town, and just the place for Terri to rediscover her talent for art. How could she turn down such a place?

“So what brings you to Mapleview, if you don’t mind me asking?” Loraine was always curious of her potential tenants.

“I’m an artist, just looking for a quiet place and some inspiration.” Peace and quiet was something that Terri most certainly needed, considering the stress and near nervous breakdown experienced at the company just outside of Chicago that specialized in biomedical manufacturing. The wirey-thin, middle-aged blonde who served as a punching bag to management and the FDA alike could no longer take the damage. Threats of being fired because of production mishaps, and threats of heavy fines from the FDA inspectors were squeezing the very life out of her. There was no reason to stay as she had other talents and plenty of finances saved up. Many people left the company under similar circumstances. It was just Terri’s turn.

“Oh, I get plenty of artists and writers who stay here for a year or more so they can complete a work.” It seemed to Loraine that her historic house was the ideal place for people like Terri to live, offering peace and quiet in the communion of nature.

But then Terri hinted towards a question, hoping not to offend Loraine. “It’s so nice here and peaceful. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to leave after a year or so.”

Loraine wasn’t going to take Terri’s curiosity personal. Although she desired to keep renters for longer periods, the legend and stigmatism of the house eventually pushed tenants away. She was lucky to have a renter like Terri who needed a quiet place to stay. Loraine very calmly speculated, “Oh, I suppose people want to move on. Not much happens here in Mapleview. I’m sure after a couple of years; you might want a new environment for inspiration as well.”

Again, the historic house was beautiful and sat in a quiet town. It was just the place for Terri to rediscover her talent for art. How could she turn down such a place? The rental agreement was filled out that very day.

***

Certainly not expecting inspiration to immediately hit her, Terri spent some time getting acquainted with the historic house and the small, charming town of Mapleview. As a gentle reminder to creativity's subconscious, Terri did set up her oil canvass in the living room, just in front of the old piano with antique vase seated on top. The vase was certainly in need of fresh flowers, and her oil canvass was in need of inspiration.

The Trivelli house overlooks the Hidden Lake Forest Preserve and backs into a narrow, wooded path that descends to the bottom of the forest. Returning from her first nature hike one morning, Terri took sight of the historic house from a distance and realized that it had been built on throughout the 150 years or more since its original construction. She could see the very center of the building which revealed the possible appearance of the home as it would have looked in the 1830s. That was the moment of initial inspiration. The canvass was brought outside, some distance from the house, and the brush strokes began to take form.

It was an interesting painting as seen on the cover of this book. The exclusive colors were blue and light-gray, ignoring the lush greens and browns of the forest world. Terri was unable to create a clear, discernable image of the house and attributed the stymie to the fact that she was painting the building as it looked 150 or more years ago. The end product was eerie, dark-toned and suggested a haunted environment. Maybe the inspiration was a bad idea. Terri decided to bring the painting inside and work on it after dinner that night. But the house, itself, seemed to welcome the painting. It almost complimented Terri and congratulated her on the fine work!

Terri became obsessed with the imagined presence that adored her artwork. It was necessary to personify the presence that was drawn as tall and dark, wearing a suit and seated at the piano bench. Just like the painting of the house, his face was made barely discernable; but there were subtle characteristics of being handsome.

One could almost consider Terri's art as a medium that attempted to understand the paranormal presence in the home. All paintings created after the attempted personification became increasingly horrific; which illustrated various rooms with walls to include bodies trapped behind them, along with ghostly people who pounded to escape.

Terri suffered from a lack of sleep, lost her appetite and remained obsessed with the horrific paintings. The final two were much too disturbing to mention; but it can be said that they reflected her pain and loss of life that had been brought on by the legendary, historic house. With her realization, she escaped and never returned to the town of Mapleview.

As for Loraine Trivelli, it was just one of many tenants lost. For years she rented the house out to people, needing a quiet place to do their art or write their novels. These were usually people from out of state and unaware of the terrible legend of the Trivelli house. After some time, these renters would become outraged that they rented a stigmatized property and terminated their rental agreement with Loraine.

Upon inheriting the home to herself at the death of her father, Loraine thought that using the house as a pricey rental property would be an excellent source of income. But since the renters were far and few between, the house was more of a burden, so she decided to sell.

***

Loraine's niece, Mary, heard word of her aunt’s plan to sell and immediately offered to purchase before it went on the market. She cashed in on some investments and paid for the house in full, as she did not want to lose the home she always wanted since a little girl. This, of course, disappointed the local Realtors who had already been talking to Loraine.

Mary didn't care about the legend of the house. It was a beautiful, historic house and the perfect place to enjoy her soon-to-be husband and raise a family. Her wedding was two months away and she and her fiancé, Daren, decided that taking up residence in Mapleview would be a great idea. Daren traveled the country; demonstrating innovative, new medical equipment and could set up residence anywhere. His job only required quick access to the airport. Mary planned on getting her old job back at the flower shop in town.

"Are you sure you're going to be happy here?" Loraine and her niece, Mary, came back to the Trivelli house after their closing in town. Mary now had full-ownership, and Loraine accompanied her niece back to her new home just to make sure she was happy. The house was fully furnished with beautiful, antique furniture that had been accumulated in the Trivelli family for over 150 years. It was a sweet deal for Mary; simply buy the house, settle in and get married.

"Why wouldn't I be happy here? This has been my house ever since I could remember. I've always wanted this house."

"Well, it's stigmatized and might have some sort of curse. I'm actually glad to get it off my hands."

"It's a legend! And really it shouldn't be a legend. It was just a tragic accident!" For years, Mary believed her aunt had a neurotic obsession with the supposed curse of what was now Mary's beautiful home. And the last thing she wanted to hear on the day of the closing was that her dream home had such a stigmatism.

But Loraine continued, feeling she needed to set her niece straight of the supposed legend of the Trivelli House. "Just a legend? I'm well aware of the legend. Grandma and Grandpa Trivelli built this house and lived here when Mapleview was just a half-block of stores about a mile away from here.”

Considering that people of previous generations had married at 18 (or younger) and immediately had children, it was very possible to have five generations within a span of 100 years. For that matter, a long list of “greats” could prefix Grandma and Grandpa which could be redundant when mentioning them. To remedy this, Loraine, and anyone else who spoke of the tragedy, simply called the original owners of the Trivelli house from 1830, Grandma and Grandpa Trivelli.