The Andreasson Affair

CHAPTER 1Prologue to the Incredible

In retrospect, Betty Ann Andreasson considered herself something of a tomboy. The minute she arrived home from school, she’d change clothes and head for pond or brook, field or wood, of rural Massachusetts. “I’d stick my feet in the pond edge or walk through the brook’s thick mud. Every season felt so alive to me. I felt as if I was part of it. Even now, I feel total recall. The joy of standing by the cool rushing stream, with soft white dew-covered flowers, and skunk cabbage clustered in the swamp close-by.” Betty loved to feast on wild blackberries, blueberries, plums, hazelnuts, and elderberries. “I used to climb large hemlock trees and pick lady’s slippers, jack-in-the-pulpit, trilliums, mountain laurel. ...