Ruby Jean Jensen

TRUST BETRAYEDBarry was saved from having to testify when Miss Beatrice, his teacher at the nursery school, unexpectedly died. Who could feel sorry for her after what she had done? Dr. Coleman felt that Barry would soon be able to forget his painful experiences, and suggested that spending a summer in the mountains was just what he needed. PROTECTIVE FRIENDSBarry was never frightened when his friends were around, and he was not surprised when they followed him to the cabin in the mountains. No one else could see them. His friends played with him and protected him. They would do whatever he asked of them. But then his friends began to do things that he did not ask them to do ... and people started to die.

Heather was young and beautiful, but she had ongoing man trouble and had trouble accepting her daughters Ellie and Becky. When she found a new husband, the option of sending the girls to live with their Aunt Aster was irresistible. As a parting gift, she gave the girls a beautiful doll . . . Zenoa. Ellie soon took out some of her frustrations on the doll, and it was terribly defaced. Just a few days later a terrible tragedy occurred. Aster and Ellie were killed with an ice pick, and six year-old Becky, the only survivor, was assumed to be the killer. A hundred years later, Gramma Virginia bought the doll in an antique store, had it restored, and gifted it to granddaughter Kit, on her ninth birthday. Kit was almost immediately fearful of the doll, and confided her fears to her older sister Pam. Some of what she said caused Pam to believe that Kit was having mental problems. However, in the middle of one night when Kit had awakened her, Pam decided to put the doll into the attic. While up there, she lost her balance and hit her head. Upon awakening the next morning, she discovered that all of her family had been killed. Since there was no evidence of anyone else in the house, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to thirty years in prison. Twenty-four years later Pam was released from prison and returned to the house where the murders had occurred. Her sister Beth had never gone in the house, and had left everything exactly as it had been. Pam had a mission in mind, but she was diverted from it when she learned that her nephew Justin was about to be married--to a young lady named Zenoa Was this a coincidence? Pam tried to communicate her fears to other family members, but she constantly faced doubts and questions about her own sanity.

Only eighteen, Rose had a three month-old baby, born out of wedlock. Her mother Sybil, determined to protect the family reputation, had carefully concealed the baby from the entire town. This was 1910, after all. That fateful day, Sybil brought an old doll down from the attic as a present for baby Angela. Mysteriously, the next day Angela did not wake up. Just a few days later, there was more dreadful news. Several strange events in such a short period of time Sybil gave birth to Ted a few years later. Both Sybil and her unmarried daughter Gertrude doted on Ted as he grew up. However, Sybil was furious when Ted decided to marry Jenny, the maid. They were forced to elope. The couple soon had a daughter, Annie. In 1950, when Annie was eight, Sybil's deathbed wish was that Ted and Jenny would bring Annie so that she could at last lay eyes on her grand-daughter. Upon seeing Annie, Sybil said "Now she is yours", then collapsed. The family had no idea what she meant ... After Sybil passed away, Ted, Jenny and Annie moved into the old house to live with Gertrude. Unfortunately, death continued to stalk the family. Years later the neighborhood was being developed and a new family moved in next door to the old mansion. Unsurprisingly, two young girls decided to check out the abandoned house, where they found an old doll. Was it possible that the house had sat unoccupied for forty years? Sadly, the troubles in the old house were not yet at an end ...

Sybil received the baby dolly as a present, but she didn't like it. Three days later, her sister Rose Marie died a mysterious death. Later, when Sybil's daughter Rose had a baby born out of wedlock, Sybil gave orders to protect the family reputation by hiding the birth from the entire town. This was 1910, after all. When baby Angela was 3 months old, Sybil brought her old doll down from the attic as a present. Mysteriously, Angela did not wake up the next day. Sybil knew exactly what she was doing. In this manner, a chain of events was launched that would play out over much of the century. The horror at the center of it all was the old Baby Dolly.

Jessica lived with her father, mother, and brother. Her sister was away making a living as an artist. Jessica was devastated when her mother left to pursue a career. Lonely, she found comfort in the old mansion nearby, where the ancient dolls seemed to appreciate her. And it seemed there was another presence in the old house. Her father recognized that Jessica was struggling and tried to take action, but he failed to grasp the rapidly unfolding terror.

The little dolly waited in the attic to be picked up, cooed over and set free to work her will. After her father's death, Dorrie found happiness in the attic with her new-found dolly. Her family was busy doing other things. She might have been concerned when her little doll began to move on its own, if only she understood this life and death thing.