The Good, the Bad, and the Insane

By Maria Johs

The beautiful home of Ed and Martha MacCord is the setting for a birthday party given for their niece, Jane. But the brutal murder of a guest embroils her and her friends in a case of blackmail and murder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477240311

Maria Johs

Maria Johs was born and raised in Germany. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. She now lives in Colorado.

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© 2012 by Maria Johs. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/13/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4032-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4031-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912237

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

The Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

SKU-000555144_TEXT.pdf

The Author

Maria Johs was born and raised in Germany. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. She now lives in Colorado.

SKU-000555144_TEXT.pdf

Chapter One

Jane Maccord Stood On the terrace of her aunt’s house and looked at the beautiful garden. She was convinced that no one in all of Scotland had such lovely roses nor such fine trees and hedges as Aunt Martha had. But then, not many people were such passionate gardeners as her aunt. Although Aunt Martha employed a gardener, the flowers were her domain, and he only worked on them when she asked him to. Now she wanted Jane to cut them down to make an arrangement for the dinner table.

Auntie, I would rather not have the honor of cutting down your flowers, Jane protested. Knowing how fond you are of them, it’ll make me feel like an executioner.

Nonsense, my child. That’s what they’re there for, replied Aunt Martha. What better purpose for the flowers than to decorate the house for your twenty-third birthday party? I know that you would rather forget about your birthday, but do it for me just this time.

Jane frowned. She had had a bitter experience as a child, which she had tried hard to forget. But the yearly birthday celebrations invariably brought back the painful memories of her childhood.

She looked at her aunt, and it gave her a pang to see the pain and concern in her face.

Don’t worry, said Jane, putting an arm around her aunt’s shoulders. I really look forward to my birthday party. It will be good to see some of my old school friends.

I always worry about these parties, said Aunt Martha. Perhaps it would be best for your emotional well-being if we stopped them altogether.

Not at all, replied Jane. It would be worse, I think, if we pretended that I’d never been born. If nothing else, my birthday should be celebrated because it brought you, Uncle Ed, and me together.

Jane was the second of three children and the only girl born to Martha MacCord’s older sister, Eunice. Her father, Henry Franklin, was a carpenter by trade, but he did odd jobs whenever he could get them to supplement his income, which was small, but with proper management it was adequate for his family of five. They lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of Otter’s Crossing.

Sometime in Jane’s early childhood, Eunice took it into her head that her daughter was bad. Jane had done nothing specific to cause her mother to think so. It was right after Eunice had read something in the Bible. She realized that, though God had given her two wonderful sons, her daughter was on the bottom of the scale of what was acceptable. When Jane asked why she was bad, her mother was ready with an answer.

You were born that way, she replied viciously.

But isn’t everyone born that way? Jane asked somewhat timidly.

Yes, but your wickedness at birth was not wiped out at baptism.

Why not? And why can’t I have another baptism and have it done right?

Eunice gave her daughter a hateful look. Your questions are quite shocking, she hissed. How many times do I have to tell you that every word I say to you comes from the Old Testament and therefore directly from the mouth of God? If God wanted you to be cleansed at baptism, he would have done so.

Jane had trouble accepting what her mother told her. To be branded a bad girl because, as she saw it, a priest had made a mistake during her baptism was not to be taken lightly.

Wasn’t the Old Testament written by men? she asked.

Yes. So what?

Then how can what you say come directly from the mouth of God? Isn’t it possible that someone writing this down made a mistake?

Eunice gasped and the blood rushed to her face. She looked at Jane with an expression the child could not understand. Your question is proof that you’re evil, more so because you’re only six years old. How dare you question everything I say to you? Unless you mend your ways, you will go to hell and suffer an eternity of torture. Now go to your room. You’re going to bed without supper tonight.

That wasn’t the first time Jane was sent to bed without supper, nor was it the last. Her mother spared no effort to instill in her a sense of sinfulness at any attempt to question her, which in Eunice’s view was an act of insubordination to a parent. But Eunice didn’t quite succeed in getting what she wanted. Jane had an inquisitive mind, and what she was being told didn’t make sense to her. Finding that she was being punished for wanting to know more about the mystery of her birth, she stopped asking.

Eunice was determined to destroy any sign of what she called self-will in her daughter. When she saw that her cruelty to her child was not followed by ill consequences to herself, she believed that she was pursuing the right course. She reasoned that if God was in any way displeased with what she was doing, he would surely let her know it. But when no sign from the Almighty came to let her know that what she was doing was wrong, she continued to cast a gloom over Jane’s life for many years without having to suffer herself.

Jane’s father, though he was a good man, was passive. He never seemed to see or hear anything, and Jane bitterly resented his refusal to speak out for her. It wasn’t till much later that she realized that he was afraid of confrontations, particularly with his wife. Having been a victim of severe abuse himself as a child, he was unable to deal with an abusive wife.

Her brothers, who were taught by their mother that Jane was bad, enjoyed seeing her suffer. They spared no effort to look for ways to make her life a burden to her. They called her vile names and told their mother lies about her, which got her into constant trouble. Soon Jane felt her sense of worthlessness as a dull, dead weight, which was present day and night.

But fate had not entirely forgotten about her. It had given her a love of books, and from an early age she read everything she could get her hands on. At first she read to lessen the pain of her existence. Then she gradually became more selective and actually enjoyed what she was reading.

The most important gift, however, was her Aunt Martha and Uncle Ed. They were kind and loving to her. Jane rejected them at first. She couldn’t allow herself to believe that they really cared for her. After all, her mother had made no secret of her birth and the details of her baptism.

Aunt Martha and Uncle Ed didn’t pay any attention to what Eunice said. They could easily see that Jane was unhappy. Though they had no children of their own, they knew that a child who was constantly told by her mother that she was bad and should never have been born could not grow up healthy.

Martha and Ed MacCord wanted to help Jane but didn’t quite know how to proceed. They considered talking to their sister and telling her how absurd the whole idea of wickedness at birth was but decided against it. She wouldn’t take their interference kindly and might deny them access to Jane.