Summer Curse

by Janice

Author's notes: Previously, in Summer Curse parts one and two… the Bob-Whites have celebrated the girls' high school graduation with a cruise, a mysterious stranger has sent Trixie an even more mysterious package, Helen and Peter Belden have closed ranks over the existence of some kind of skeleton in the family closet and Trixie has decided to investigate, against their wishes. Meanwhile, Brian has chosen the worst possible moment to recommence hostilities with Mart over Honey.

A big thank you to my editor, Mary N (Dianafan). I really appreciate your help, sweetie! I'd be in such a mess without you and the Bob-Whites would still be wandering around the place, totally lost.

Part Three

She Said

Helen had been in the kitchen when the argument started and had chosen to stay where she was throughout. The voices, which had been clearly audible, abruptly stopped and a moment later, Honey came through the kitchen door with tears running down her face. She stopped in surprise and tried to dry her eyes when she noticed she was not alone.

“Sweetheart,” Helen soothed, “is there anything I can do?”

“I need someone to talk to,” Honey sobbed, abandoning all pretext of composure, “and there’s no one – no one who could possibly understand!”

“I see,” Helen replied, stepping forward to put a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Can I help at all?”

Honey stopped. “Maybe you could,” she answered, with wonder in her voice. “Maybe you can help me make him see.”

Helen recognised the glimmer of hope shining in Honey’s eyes and led her to the living room, where they could be more comfortable. “Can you tell me a little about the problem?” she prompted.

“You know that Brian and Mart are arguing again, don’t you?”

Not wishing to interrupt the stream, so soon after it started, Helen simply nodded and kept her exasperation at the situation to herself. For days she had seen that her older two sons were working up to an argument. She was only surprised that it had not come sooner.

“Well, it’s kind of my fault,” Honey continued. “See, when Brian told me he wanted us to see other people, I took that to mean that I really could see whoever I liked, only apparently he meant anyone, except Mart, on the condition that I didn’t really like them, or want to actually have a continuing relationship. I really thought that Brian was finished with me. I never would have started something with someone else, especially with Mart, if I knew that Brian was going to want me back whenever it suited him. Only,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “when I did start dating Mart, I just knew that what I’d had with Brian was… well, wrong somehow. I hadn’t dated anyone before Brian, so I didn’t know, but now I do, so I couldn’t ever go back to Brian, even if things don’t work out with Mart, because now I know that it wasn’t right, but if Brian hadn’t told me to date other people, I might never have found out.”

Helen smiled, as the girl took a breath. “I don’t think you should mention that to Brian,” she advised. “His feelings are bruised enough, without rubbing it in.”

“That’s exactly what the problem is, though,” Honey wailed. “I can’t convince him that it’s over without telling him why, but he won’t believe me if I don’t. I thought I’d convinced him back when this first started, but now he seems to think that I’ve had enough time with Mart and it’s time for him to try to get me back.” Once again, she whispered. “I don’t want to be gotten back; I want to stay with Mart.”

“Let me have a word with Brian,” Helen suggested. “Maybe I can figure something out.”

“Would you?” Honey sounded as if she could barely believe her luck. “That would be wonderful!”

Helen smiled and gave the girl a half-hug. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Can we talk?” Helen asked her eldest son, as he assisted her with kitchen clean-up later that evening. He had slunk back, alone, quite late in the piece and had been headed for his own room when she apprehended him. With very little effort she assured that the two of them would be alone for a time, having delegated everyone else away from the immediate area.

A wary look settled on Brian’s face. “About?” he asked, watching his mother and neglecting the dishes he was supposed to scrape.

“Honey.” Helen came straight to the point. “I’ve noticed that you’ve recommenced the argument with your brother.”

Brian frowned. “I don’t have anything to say on that matter.”

“I have.” His mother used a sharp enough tone to cause him to drop a plate onto the counter with a clatter. “I don’t want to speak in clichés, but you need to face the fact that you set her free. She has chosen not to return to you.”

Her son continued to frown. “If Mart would let her go…”

Catching a glimpse of deep vulnerability, Helen softened her tone. “It wouldn’t make any difference.” She gently touched his shoulder. “This isn’t a mistake you can fix.”

“And that’s what makes me so angry!” he replied, loud enough to shock his mother. “I don’t like the way Mart treats her, but she won’t see that he’s wrong.”

“I can see that you’re hurting, Brian, but making things difficult for them will not help you – in fact, it will probably make things worse.”

“I don’t want to make things easy for them,” he muttered, eyes downcast.

Helen watched him for a moment. “There’s a difference between not making things difficult and making things easy,” she pointed out. “Give yourself time and the space to recover. That’s not making things easy for them; it’s making things easier for you.”

He looked up and she saw wariness in his expression. “You’re saying I should give up right now.”

Wanting nothing more than to pull her boy into her arms, Helen let him stay at arms’ length. “Sometimes, you need to recognise a lost cause,” she counselled, softly. “This time, I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

He Said

Brian stared out of the window at nothing in particular. If his mother was correct – and she often was – all of his hopes of the last few months were utterly futile. Why did I ever write that letter? he asked himself, not for the first time. Deep inside, however, he knew the answer and did not like it. While away from Honey, he had forgotten about her and had become interested in someone else. The rejection he experienced at the end of that relationship still stung, but a greater pain was caused by Honey’s apparent happiness with his own brother.

How could he do that to me? he wondered, also not for the first time. Couldn’t he respect the fact that she had been my girlfriend? Had been. The words echoed around his head, until he was forced to admit to himself that this really was all his own fault, and actually nothing to do with Mart. That done, he could see all too clearly what was making him so angry: Honey seemed far happier with Mart than she had ever been with himself. With him, she had been in a constant state of mild disappointment.

Heaving a sigh, Brian rose and left the room. His heavy steps took him along the familiar path towards the clubhouse. Reaching the little building, he unlocked the door and went inside to wait, knowing that his brother and ex-girlfriend would soon be there to ready the place for the group’s absence. Ten minutes dragged past before he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps and voices. The door opened and Honey stopped short on the threshold.

“Oh,” she murmured, starting to back away. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to interrupt. We’ll come back later, I guess.”

“Wait,” Brian requested. His heart seemed to freeze in his chest at the fearful look that marred his ex-girlfriend’s face when she looked at him. “I wanted to speak to both of you.”

Mart gave him a wary look and rested a possessive hand on Honey’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Brian took a small step forward. “Can we make peace?” he asked. Seeing a glimmer of acceptance in his brother’s eyes, he held out his hand. “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Suspicion still hovered around Mart. “In what respect, precisely?”

Brian heaved a sigh. “I was wrong to try to come between the two of you. I made my choice and I will have to live with it. I’m sorry, Honey, that I ever wrote you that letter, but since I did I will abide by what I wrote in it.”

“And you’ll allow us to conduct ourselves in whatever way we see fit?” Mart persisted. “Without interference?”

His brother gritted his teeth, pushing down the reply he would prefer to give. “I will.”

The couple shared a look, then Mart offered his hand and Brian shook it to seal the deal. Without another word, Brian left the clubhouse and headed off towards Ten Acres. Right now, he needed time to himself, to reconcile himself with what he had just done.

She Said

Spirits were high the following morning as the group gathered at Crabapple Farm. An enormous amount of luggage was piled near the vehicles, as Jim and Brian oversaw the packing. Despite initial fears that they’d need another car to carry everything they had, it was soon stowed.

“Have we got everything?” Jim asked in mock sternness, as they were about to leave. “I don’t want to have to turn around half a mile down the road.”

“I think so,” Honey replied, frowning. “I don’t see anything else lying around, and I thought I saw bags for each of us, and I’m pretty sure we have–”

“Of course we’ve got everything!” Trixie interrupted, opening the door to the passenger seat of one of the Wheeler vehicles, which Jim would drive. “Let’s go, gang!”

Brian hesitated at the door to the Bob-White station wagon. “Have we all remembered hiking boots?” he asked. “How about insect repellent?”

“And I hope you’ve all brought some reading material,” Di asked, in mock seriousness. “I have The Wizard of Oz, since we’re going to Kentucky.”

“I thought it was set in Kansas,” Honey pointed out with a frown.

“Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut; they all start with K.” Di waved away the objection with a wink to Trixie.

“And is that from the book, or the movie?” Mart added. “I think you’ll find that there are a number of significant differences–”

“Okay, so I admit that I really brought Little Women,” Di interrupted, to shut him up, “but I thought the other book sounded more travel-like and can we just leave already?”

“Is travel-like really a word?” he wondered, with narrowed eyes. “Did you just make that up?”

“Who cares!” cried his sister, giving him a shove. “Get in the car, Mart, before we leave you behind.”

Giving in with good grace, he did as he was bid and the others followed suit. As they travelled along Glen Road, Trixie leaned back in her seat with a sigh. Finally, they were on the road. The wait was almost over.

He Said

By the middle of the next morning, the excitement of the trip had begun to wear off. They started the second day with Jim at the wheel of one car, with Trixie and Brian as his passengers. Behind them, Dan was taking a turn driving the second vehicle. From the corner of his eye, Jim saw trouble coming and inwardly groaned.

Trixie let out a breathy sigh. “I’m bored.” She picked up the map, took the barest of glances and tossed it back onto the floor. “When can we get out and do something?”

Brian cleared his throat. “I thought you said before we left this morning that we were going to drive non-stop until lunch time?”

“If I ever say something so stupid again,” she muttered, “you’d better shoot me! Just sitting here is no fun at all!”

With a glance at the scenery flying past their windows, the mountains rising to their left and the thick forests, Jim observed, “This is a beautiful area, Trix. If you’d just look outside I’m sure you’d find something of interest.”

Once more, she sighed. “I know.” He could see her shoulders droop at the reminder of her shortcomings. “And I did enjoy all the driving yesterday, even the part where we got lost and ended up in some grimy, run-down area of town, somewhere in Pennsylvania.”

“Especially that part,” Brian interjected with a laugh. “Face it, Trixie, this part of the trip just isn’t mysterious enough for you.”

Earlier that day, they had passed to the south of Pittsburgh and entered West Virginia. As they travelled along the I-79, they passed a sign for a nearby State Park and Trixie immediately fixated on it.

“Let’s go there,” she directed, bouncing in her seat. “It’s not far out of our way and if there’s a lake, maybe we could go swimming.”

Jim shook his head in mock-seriousness. “And mess with the schedule?”

“Yes!” cried Trixie from beside him. “If I have to spend another minute just sitting here, I’m going to scream.”

“Wasn’t this road trip was your idea?” Brian asked, with a short laugh. “Did you not consider that driving requires a lot of sitting still?”

“I didn’t think it through,” she admitted, with a discontented sigh. “I want to see the places we’re going, not just drive past them all! You are stopping, aren’t you, Jim?”

“I didn’t know you wanted me to,” he teased, then immediately regretted doing so as she bounced in her seat and wailed a protest. “Okay, enough already! I’m stopping. I just needed to give Dan the signal.”

A short time later, Jim pulled into a parking space. His girlfriend was out of the car and stretching her arms before he had even turned off the engine. By the time he had also gotten out, she was some distance away, looking for an interesting area to explore.

“Come on!” she called, as the others lingered near the cars. “Let’s look over here.”

“We’re not swimming in the lake. I think there’s a swimming pool over this way,” her brother contradicted, pointing in the opposite direction, “and I think you may need to bring appropriate swimwear to change into. The locals would probably object to skinny dipping.”

Jim hid a smile as Trixie stamped her foot in frustration, but conceded the point. As he carefully sorted through the luggage, he could see her fidgeting and casting glowering looks at the row of buildings that stood a short distance away, along the shore of the lake. In a few minutes, they had retrieved everything they needed and were on their way toward the buildings and the pool beyond them. They located it without any trouble and soon they were all cooling off in the water.

Predictably, Trixie was in first, with an indecorous splash. Honey, Di, Mart and Dan followed close behind her, but at a slightly slower rate. Jim was surprised to notice that Brian still wore a shirt and seemed about to settle into a chair.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Jim asked, dropping his towel next to Trixie’s.

Brian shrugged. “Maybe in a few minutes,” he replied.

Jim remembered the wound he had dressed on his friend’s back a couple of months before and wondered if it was the reason for his reticence. With a glance at the others, he saw that they were now right in the middle of the large, lagoon-style pool. Putting the problem of Brian’s behaviour aside, he decided to join them.

Later, as they headed back to the cars to resume the trip, they ran into another delay.

“Wait!” cried Honey as they were about to leave the area. “Can we go to the gift shop before we leave, please? I just need to pick something out before we leave West Virginia and who knows whether we’ll stop again before then?”

“Why?” Dan demanded, incredulity written all over his face.

She gave him a sweet smile. “I wanted something from each state we visit along the way. I already have a key ring from New Jersey, a teaspoon from Pennsylvania and a cute little figurine from Maryland. I won’t be a minute.”

A short time later, she rejoined them, holding out the trinket she had purchased, a fridge magnet. Dan looked at it askance. “Do you even have a fridge?” he wondered.

“I can put it on something else metallic,” she explained with a smile. “It doesn’t have to go on a fridge.”

Dan shook his head in disbelief. “At least it’s your girlfriend collecting junk and not mine,” he muttered to Mart in a stage whisper. “Whatever you do, don’t give Di any ideas!”

“Give me those keys,” Mart demanded in return. “You’ve had your way long enough, Mangan.”

“I don’t think so,” Di countered with a gentle smile. “Honey and I have decided what’s happening next.”

“That’s right,” her friend agreed. “We’re going to visit the Blenko Glass Company, and watch from the observation deck while they make glassware, and I’m thinking of ordering something for Mother’s birthday in October. After that, we’ll drive to Huntington, where Di is going to do some sketching, and after that we’ll drive across one of the bridges into Ohio and check in to our motel.”

Di took up the story once more. “Then, after five, we can go back across the bridge to an amusement park – called Camden Park – that’s been there over a hundred years. They’re open until ten tonight; we checked.”

Mart heaved a rather exaggerated sigh. “Outsmarted once more,” he moaned in an aside to Dan. “Shall we accept our fate, or fight to the death?”

Dan gave him a shove and got into the driver’s seat. “Get in the back, or I’ll leave you behind,” he threatened.

She Said

The following morning arrived rather too early for at least half of the group. They had stayed at Camden Park until closing time, riding the Big Dipper and other rides, with Honey and Di supplying the obligatory squeals. Afterwards, they had been too keyed up to go back to the motel and sleep, so they had found a place that sold ice creams and ate them on the banks of the Ohio River, with the lights shining on the water.

As several of her friends yawned over their early breakfast, Trixie was raring to go. Now that the day that they would reach the scene of the mystery had arrived, the part of their road trip which she considered to be preliminary seemed to have passed in a whirl. Trixie bounced with anticipation as she climbed into the front seat of the station wagon for the day’s driving that would take them to south-eastern Kentucky.

“Easy,” Jim counselled, in a low voice, as he took the driver’s seat. “We won’t be there for hours, yet – and there’s plenty of interesting things to see along the way. Don’t let the promise of a mystery rob you of good times.”

His girlfriend let out a sigh. “I’ll try,” she promised, “but I’ve been looking forward to this almost ever since the package arrived.”

Jim smiled. “We’ll be there soon enough,” he promised. “In the meantime, though, I’m looking forward to visiting Berea College. I’d really like to see how they do things there.”

After Trixie’s boredom of the day before, Honey and Di had taken it upon themselves to plan the next leg of the trip. They had decided to set out early and spend most of the morning in Berea, Kentucky, where those so-inclined could browse the numerous art and craft establishments, and the rest could see the well-known local college, where all of the students worked rather than paid tuition.

After that, they would continue southwards. Trixie’s thoughts turned to their destination, as the urban area disappeared behind them and the landscape once more became predominantly green. The curiosity she had felt since opening the package still burned, whenever she allowed it to dwell in her mind, but the apprehension had faded. Whatever she discovered, it would not trouble her, she was quite sure.

He Said

After several hours in Berea, the group reluctantly decided to continue on their way. Jim had been particularly impressed by what he had seen at Berea College, and his mind was brimming with ideas that the visit had prompted. He allowed the others to carry a conversation on their own, while he tried to keep his attention on the road.

“Are we nearly there?” Honey wondered, as they approached the city of Corbin. “I need to stop at a store and pick up a few things.”

“I think so,” Jim replied, indicating to exit the interstate. A few minutes later, he found a place and asked his sister, “Will this store do?”

There was a pause, as she considered. “It’s a bit… strange,” she finally decided. “Can we find another?”

Jim readily agreed, and soon had passed a store that was ‘small,’ one that was ‘dirty-looking’ and one that had ‘a weird name.’ Trixie, who was supposed to be navigating, soon gave up in disgust.

“I have no clue where we are,” she announced, throwing the map on the floor. “I can’t even figure out which is north and which is south.”

“I’ll admit that I’m not certain where we are, either,” Jim added, “but we’re headed south right now. I think I see another store up ahead.”

“Pull over!” Trixie cried, without warning. As her boyfriend did so, she added, “Can you back up a little? Just look at that place!”

Behind a tall chain-wire fence topped with barbed wire stood a decrepit old house of the most sinister Victorian style. With boards nailed across the lower windows and paint long-since peeled, it was like something out of a scary movie. It needed only some long grass, overgrown bushes and the bare branches of a dead tree to complete the picture, but in fact the spacious yard was tidy and almost bare. The well-clipped grass and neat front hedge seemed at odds with the state of the building.

“Isn’t it strange?” Trixie whispered, gazing in excitement at the building. “Just look at the front door.” The shiny, new lock stood out against its background of cracked dark green paint. “It sure is m–”

“Do not say the ‘M’ word,” Mart warned, from his place in the back seat. “The owner just wants to keep out intruders. So, can we get to the store now? I’m getting hungry.”

“It is mysterious,” Trixie insisted in a low voice. “Look up there – you can see someone standing near one of the upstairs windows.”

“So?” Mart asked, without even looking. “This isn’t getting us any closer to any food, is it?”

With a sigh, his sister gave in and they reached the store Jim had seen up ahead. Honey went inside to make her purchases without anyone pointing out that it was the same store she had earlier rejected as being ‘strange.’

She Said

While Honey was inside the store, the occupants of the two cars congregated to debate their next move. From the first, it was plain that they could be divided into two camps.

“I say we should keep going,” Dan announced, keeping his eyes away from Mart. “We can have lunch when we get there.”

“Perhaps, if we hadn’t had this extended detour, with mystery interludes,” Mart grumbled, “but as it is, I think we should eat now and I know just the place: the Sanders’ Café, the original home of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I can almost taste it now.”

Her mind on this precious chance to start the next stage of her investigation, Trixie quickly added, “Mart’s right. Why don’t we get lunch there, pick up some groceries, take a look around the place a bit?”

Di frowned. “I just want to get to the place we’re staying and forget about driving for a while. Can’t we eat when we get there?”

“Why don’t we put it to a vote?” Jim suggested, before either side could add to their case. “Those in favour of lunch here? Those against?” He sighed. “Three all. I guess Honey has the casting vote, then.”

“Casting vote for what?” she asked, having arrived just in time to hear this pronouncement.

Trixie cast a pleading look at her best friend. “To decide whether we should have lunch here, in the birthplace of one of Mart’s favourite foods, or keep going and have a very late and probably not very nice lunch when we get there.”

Even while three of the group protested this unfair summation, Honey gave Trixie a covert wink. “I am feeling rather hungry,” she mused. “I vote to stay and eat.”

“Honey, I could kiss you,” Mart joked. “Fried chicken, here I come.”

That decided, they soon made their way to the establishment Mart had mentioned. After a short tour of the attached museum, they settled to a meal in the café. Before long, the conversation turned to their plans for the rest of the day.

“How about we take a look around town before we go?” Trixie asked. “We might pick up the ingredients for dinner while we’re there. Does anyone have an idea of what we want to eat?”

As the debate turned to menus, Trixie began to plan for the next stage of her investigation. She needed to get away from most of the group, she knew, and it would not be easy. Before she had come up with a good enough plan, Honey gently pulled her aside.

“Are you going to do some investigating?” she whispered. When Trixie nodded, she continued, “When we start running errands, I’ll try to work it so that you’re alone with Jim.”

“Thanks, Hon,” Trixie replied. “That’s a big help.”

By mid-afternoon, the group had explored the city to their hearts’ content and were ready to pick up their groceries and return to the cottage. Once or twice in their travels, Trixie had caught sight of a suspicious figure. To her frustration, none of the others ever seemed to see the man, even if she pointed him out.

When it came time to split up to run errands, Trixie began to get anxious about being able to get some investigating done. She was soon relieved, however. As she had promised, Honey made sure that Trixie and Jim were alone together and with the simplest of tasks to perform. In a few minutes, the pair had bought the loaf of bread needed for the next morning’s breakfast and had set out on the next stage of the investigation.

“Now, where is that street?” Trixie muttered, as she frowned at the map she carried. “I was pretty sure it wasn’t too far from here…”

Jim took it from her and gently pointed out the address in question. “Here. We walk down to the next corner, turn left, then right and it should be less than a block away.”

Taking her hand, he guided Trixie in the direction he had indicated and they soon stood before an old and small, but well-kept house. Its large and immaculate grounds stretched out of sight beyond lush shrubs, where two gardeners were working. The straight path was edged on either side by bright flowers and led to a short flight of stairs. The pair shared a glance before opening the wrought-iron gate and following the path to the front door.

The well-shone brass knocker sounded loud when Trixie used it. A moment later, they heard the sound of shuffling footsteps and the door opened to reveal an elderly man. He pushed the half-moon glasses a little further up his nose as he gazed at her, before transferring his attention to Jim.

“Beatrix Belden?” he asked, in a quiet yet clear voice. “And James Frayne?”

Trixie screwed up her nose at the use of her given name, but replied in the affirmative. “You’re Mr. Englefield? The one who sent me the package?”

“The very same,” he replied, dryly. “Now, please state your business.”

“I want to know why you sent it to me,” she told him simply.

The old man nodded. “You have a talent for investigation,” he told her. “I thought you could investigate something useful for a change. There has been a great injustice done by your family to mine. It’s time for you to do something about it. You need to reveal the truth.”

“I suppose you know this truth already?” Trixie asked, eyes narrowed.

Once more, he nodded. “It will not be difficult for you to discover, but time is short. I expected you before now. If you want to break the curse, you will need to act very quickly.”

“And what is this curse?” Trixie demanded, losing patience with the whole matter.

He gave her a condescending smile. “You will find that out tomorrow if you don’t act today.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, resisting the urge to stamp her foot in frustration.

He looked down his long nose at her with disdain. “Your great-grandfather caused my sister’s death. As a result, you well deserve to be under the curse. I am a fair man, however, so I have given you a chance to redeem yourself.”

“Caused her death? How?”

Lucius Englefield shook his head decisively. “That is what you need to reveal.”

“There’s not really such a thing as the Englefield curse, is there?” Trixie accused, her voice shaking with anger. “You made that up to tempt me to come here and do your dirty work for you.”

“It is true that I do not like dirty work, as you call it,” the old man admitted with a frown. “However, I think you will find that there is a curse, my dear. My older sister died when she was eighteen years old. To be exact, she was eighteen years, two months and three weeks to the day – that is, twenty-one days. Is it then a coincidence that to my knowledge four other young women who have touched her image and then actively discredited her history died at precisely the same age, to the very day?”

“It could be,” Trixie persisted, although her voice now had become uncertain. “Coincidences happen.” Her eyes narrowed. “What did each of them die of?”

Mr. Englefield frowned and Trixie wondered momentarily if he was disparaging her lack of grammar. “Each was struck to the heart, fell faint and never awakened. My sister was heartbroken.” He was angry, now, hurling the words at them. “Your great-grandfather destroyed her with his duplicity. You, his descendant, will pay for his actions if you are not very careful!”

“I think we’ve heard enough,” Jim announced, pulling Trixie away from the elderly man and starting down the stairs. “Good-bye, sir.”

“Heed this, young Beatrix,” the old man warned, in a low voice. “The day after tomorrow, you will be eighteen years, two months and three weeks. If you do not listen to me, you will soon die. There are two ways to escape the curse: first, you can prove your great-grandfather’s complicity in my sister’s death, or…”

Trixie turned and stared at him. “Or?”

The old man eyed her companion. “Are you certain that this one is true to you?” He did not seem to expect an answer. “I know of only one other who touched the statue, disrespected my sister’s memory and survived that fateful day to tell the tale. She married one who was true to her – unlike my sister, who married one who betrayed her and sent her to her death.”

“What are you saying?” she demanded. “You mean I’m supposed to get married by tomorrow to avoid the curse?”

“Or prove your great-grandfather’s complicity in my sister’s death,” he repeated with a firm nod. “You have until tomorrow to do one of those two things. The next day may be too late.”

Turning stiffly, the elderly man closed the door without looking back. For a long moment, Trixie stared after him. “What a loony,” she murmured, shaking her head. “He really believes this curse thing!”

“I think we should listen to what he said.” Jim’s voice was so soft that she could hardly make out the words. “I think, just maybe, there’s something in this. I don’t want to take a chance.”

“What are you saying, Jim?” she demanded, at a normal volume. To her own ear, her voice sounded loud after his soft tones. “You want us to get married because some old crack-pot says I’ve been cursed?”

Jim reddened. “Sorry. It’s silly.” He drew a breath between his teeth. “It’s just that when you’ve lost people you love, and there’s a threat to someone about whom you care deeply–”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Trixie interrupted. She took his hand and was surprised to feel that it was shaking. “It’s just the ravings of an old lunatic! Please, Jim, don’t worry about me.” She thought for a moment. “All the same,” she added slowly, “I don’t think we’ll tell the others that part of the story.”

He nodded, and said no more.

Continue to part 4.

End Notes: A big thank you to Mary N./Dianafan, for helping enormously with the geographical details. Other information came from Wikipedia, Google Maps, various books that I own and a number of websites that I've forgotten.

Another big thank you to BonnieH, Dianafan, Zeute, AprilW, Susansuth, Malficient, TonnieB, MarnHon, AutumnT for answering my question on the board about places the Bob-Whites could visit along the way. I couldn't use all of the answers (in some cases, because Mary had already told me about them and the BWGs were going already; in other cases because I just couldn't fit everything in) but I very much appreciated all of the ideas.

This story is part of a CWP Anniversary 5. A list of required elements and where they're found will appear at the end of the story.

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