October 29, 2009

Windside



Amos Randell came to Dogwood Creek right after New Year’s Day 1919 with an old photo of a house which had written on the back Westwind. He was shell shocked, of sorts. He’d lost all memory, but he had the photo, the only item left of any personal belongings. Amos had been traveling with a Army buddy, going home for the holidays, when he took a day trip to do some fishing along Dogwood Creek. On his walk from the village along the creek bank, he came onto a large estate with a large house off across the fields. Even at that distance, Amos recognized it and ran the whole way to it. That is how he was reunited with his uncle, his only surviving relative, and came into the inheritance of the entire estate. The house is all that remains of Westwind, and it is occupied by the last member of the family, Sandra "Sandy" Randell, Amos' granddaughter. The photo Amos carried with him all those years and that was the key to his past and his future, hangs in a small black frame in the house’s main entrance hall. Sandy points it out to all the tour groups from 9am-4pm, weekdays and the first weekend of every month.