Mr Kenyon was waiting by the barn as the family drove up in their large Bonneville, with

Caroline and Roger in the front and their five young girls, Andrea, Nancy, Christine,

Cynthia and April squeezed into the back. As they drew closer, the girls eyes widened

with excitement at the sheer size of the place and its illustrious grounds. Parking up a

moment later, the elderly Mr Kenyon helped the young ones from the back, before inviting

them to head off and play, laughing as one after the other, they bolted gleefully out

at the car. Caroline then got out and greeted the owner warmly before introducing him

to her husband, Roger. Ah, so this is the one we have to impress, is it? Well, let's get

to it, said Kenyon. The Grand Farmhouse, one of the original Providence

plantations, had been built in the 1730s, with nine rooms, a barn and over 200 acres of land,

including a creek running through it. It was some advance on the Peron's current home

in the suburbs of Cumberland, Rhode Island. The family had been happy there until a

series of troubling events had left the 31-year-old Caroline concerned for her children's welfare.

Not long before, the family returned from a short break to find their house had been ransacked

and one of their cats brutally killed. Though it was never proven, there was good reason

to believe the 12-year-old son of a next-door neighbour had been responsible. When a few months

later, a driver suffering from a heart attack totalled his truck on the family's lawn.

Caroline couldn't shake the distinct feeling that someone was trying to tell them something.

Though she knew in truth there was virtually no chance they could ever afford this place,

from the moment she had first seen it, having decided to view it on a whim a few weeks previously,

she hadn't been able to forget about it.

For 35-year-old Roger, there'd been no question of whether they could buy it,

...