Haughton drove through the rest of the town and down a long road lined with tall pines. He turned off onto a long driveway paved in blacktop that opened onto a roundabout in front of what Penny could only think of as a genuine mansion. The three-story house had to be at least three times the size of her parents’ ranch house, and the front bore double porches supported by thick, whitewashed columns. In the middle of the roundabout grew a large magnolia with pink, fleshy blossoms that attracted a profusion of bees and flies.
“Here we are,” said Haughton. “A servant will be along to get your things.”
Penny expected someone like a British butler to emerge from the massive brass-fitted front doors, but instead, a slim teenaged girl with black braids and caramel-colored skin slipped outside an
