title: Finding Home: The Orphan's Journey
author:  Lydia Hill 
description: Lydia Hill grew up in Austin, TX always with a good book in her hand. She began writing short stories in Middle School and began her first full length novel in High School. After attending and graduating from Texas Lutheran University with a degree in Art and English Studies, she decided to finish her novel. Finding Home: The Orphan's Journey is the first book in her Finding Home Series. She intends to continue writing and illustrating youth fiction books in hopes that more kids will discover the joy of reading through her work.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  TO MY DEAR NIECE
  
  Hilda Nickson
  
  Strong-willed and imaginative, Vanessa had no problem deciding what to do with
  Puck’s Hill, the rambling country house she’d inherited from her eccentric
  great-aunt.
  
  She was so busy reclaiming the gardens and setting up a gardening center that
  she forgot to worry about the conditions attached to the
  inheritance—conditions known only to the trustees.
  
  And she refused to admit to herself that she was in love with her next-door
  neighbor, Ian Hamilton, who was obviously helping her because he wanted to buy
  Puck’s Hill! The house became just like a millstone, keeping Vanessa from her
  love.
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CHAPTER ONE
  
  The letter from Aunt Maud arrived on one of those rare, still misty mornings
  in early summer that give promise of a fine, warm day. The dew was wet on the
  grass, the distant trees mysterious and aloof, the world silent, ethereal, and
  unspeakably beautiful.
  
  Coming in from an hour’s weeding for breakfast, Vanessa picked up the 