Chapter 27

D aniel tried to cry out, but the hand gripped tighter.

“Sshhhhh. Do not make a sound,” a voice whispered.

The cold hand slipped away. Daniel turned to see Mrs. MacKenzie staring down at him, her glazed-over eye catching the light from his trembling candle. She gave him a strange smile.

“Is it the family history you are looking for?” she whispered, lowering her good eye to the Bible on the floor. “You have no need of books, young master. I will tell you all.”

“Wh-what is this room? Why is the family Bible hidden here?” Daniel stammered, climbing unsteadily to his feet.

“I thought it would be safe here,” the old housekeeper replied. “This is a secret room. Your aunts, Simon’s poor daughters, Hannah and Julia—may they rest in peace—would hide in here to whisper and giggle together. They thought I did not know about this room, but I did.”

“How—how did they die?” Daniel demanded.

The old woman raised a finger to her lips. “The curse of the Fears caught up with them.”

“Then my family is cursed?” Daniel cried. His trembling voice revealed his horror.

“Follow me,” Mrs. MacKenzie whispered. “I shall reveal all to you tonight.”

He followed her through the dark, twisting halls to her quarters. There, in her tiny, nearly bare room, she motioned with her cane. “Sit you down,” the old woman whispered, shoving him toward the high-backed armchair. “I will tell you about the Fears. More than you wish to know.”

“The family is really cursed?” Daniel asked again, obediently lowering himself to the chair, staring intently at the old lady in the flickering candlelight. “Are the stories true?”

Mrs. MacKenzie nodded, leaning on her cane. “The curse came about because of your first relatives in the New World. Their names were Matthew and Benjamin Fier.”

“I saw those names in the Bible,” Daniel told her.

“They were treacherous men. Ambitious. They did not care who they betrayed,” the old woman rasped, scowling.

“And the curse? It came about because of them?”

“They burned a young woman at the stake, the Fiers did,” Mrs. MacKenzie told him, tapping her cane on the carpet in rhythm with her words. “They burned an innocent young woman. Her heartbroken father put a curse on your family.

“From that day on,” the old woman continued, “the two families have sought vengeance on each other. Decade after decade, generation after generation, the two families have used all of the evil at their command. They have terrified and betrayed and murdered each other.”

She proceeded to tell him the stories of vengeance and betrayal. Daniel listened in chilled silence. Her croaking voice etched the scenes of terror deep into his mind.

“And my grandfather—?” Daniel asked finally, astounded by the old woman’s stories.

“Simon Fear thought he could escape the curse by changing the family name. But it followed him. It found him. His young daughters died a horrible death because of it.”

The candle trembled in Daniel’s hand. He set it down on the arm of the chair.

“Joseph, your father, watched his sister Hannah die. He knew from that moment on that he had to get away from this house, from this village. His brother, Robert, did not get away. He died of a strange fever, many said brought on by a spell from his evil daughter-in-law, Sarah Fear. The other brother, Brandon, and his son Ben—they just wandered into the woods and disappeared. The curse …

“The curse of the two families continues to this day,” the old woman said, shaking her head.

“The other family,” Daniel whispered. “What is their name?”

Mrs. MacKenzie hesitated. She coughed, leaning on her cane.

“Mrs. MacKenzie, please tell me,” Daniel urged. “What is the name of the other family, the family that has cursed mine?”

“Their name is Goode,” the old woman revealed.

Daniel gasped. “Goode? But that cannot be!” he sputtered. “Mrs. MacKenzie, I—I am in love with a Goode! Nora Goode! She cannot possibly be related to the evil family who—”

“She is a Goode,” the housekeeper replied solemnly, staring hard at Daniel, leaning into the candlelight.

“No!” Daniel cried, leaping to his feet. “No! I cannot accept this! Nora is kind and gentle. She is innocent of any evil. I am certain she knows nothing of this curse!”

“Perhaps she does not know,” Mrs. MacKenzie replied, leaning on the cane. “Perhaps you and she will be the ones to break the curse.”

“Break the curse?” Daniel asked eagerly. He grabbed the old woman, “Break the curse? How?”

“If a Fear and a Goode were to marry …” Mrs. MacKenzie said thoughtfully.

“Yes!” Daniel cried, his voice cutting through the heavy, musty air. “Yes! Thank you, Mrs. MacKenzie! That is what I shall do! And the curse will end forever!”

* * *

The next morning passed so slowly, Daniel felt as if time were standing still. Pacing his room, he repeatedly checked his pocket watch, waiting for the time when Nora finished work.

Downstairs, preparations for Simon’s birthday party were under way. The party was scheduled for that evening. Simon and Angelica had not emerged from their rooms. But a line of carts and carriages pulled up to the back entrance, carrying food and drink and flowers for the celebration.

At a little after three Daniel set off, walking toward town. It was a lengthy walk along a dirt path that led through woods, fields, then finally small houses before reaching the town square. But Daniel enjoyed the walk. It gave him a chance to think of Nora and to rehearse what he planned to say to her.

It was a warm day for autumn, almost summer-like. Daniel unbuttoned his heavy overcoat as he walked. After several minutes more he removed it and slung it over a shoulder.

When the low brick buildings of the town square came into view, Daniel’s heart began to pound. He had rehearsed his marriage proposal again and again, repeating the words in his mind.

But what, he wondered, would Nora’s reaction be?

Daniel knew that Nora liked him and cared about him. But what would happen when he revealed to her that he was a Fear? What would happen when he told her the long tragic history of their families? When he told her that their marriage would end a centuries-old curse on their families?

Would she be horrified—or overjoyed?

Taking a deep breath, he shifted the coat to his other shoulder and crossed the unpaved street, taking long strides.

The white clapboard general store came into view. Daniel felt as if his heart would burst!

He stepped onto the sidewalk—and stopped short.

The store window was boarded over with pine boards.

The door, normally open, was shut. Behind the small window in the door, the store was dark as night. And empty.

Nora is gone, Daniel realized.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20