The House in the Curve: Hope’S Child

By Patricia Reed

Once again the house in the curve is involved in many frightening events. Evvie and Emma have both been kidnapped along with their dog, Duncan. Emma has even revealed new gifts that no one else in the family possesses. Pastor Jim is searching for his birth parents and learns facts about his ancestry he never would have imagined.

High on a hill above Coopersville is the old Anderson mansion where ghosts abound and humans are trying to co-exist. With help from Evvie and her friend Chief Haynes most of the confl ict is exposed and a killer is unmasked. Even Grandma Duncan is trying to set a trap for a murderer using her feminine wiles. There are also some new children coming into the family and at least one has an extraordinary power to share with the McDougal clan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477146859

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Reed.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2012913196

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4771-4684-2

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4771-4683-5

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4771-4685-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Front cover photo painting by Sophie Anderson

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Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

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This book is dedicated to my mother’s sister, Beatrice Kenney

and her cousin Letha Queen.

Thank you for your encouragement and support.

I love you.

Chapter

1

Sometimes the life we live today depends upon the past

So we never should forget

That our future is set by the lines we cast

This is a story about secrets. Everyone has secrets, but some are more dangerous than others. When some secrets are revealed they bring wealth and happiness. Other secrets bring poverty and untold grief. Some even bring anger and retaliation. You will have to be the judge who decides what types of secrets are being revealed.

Nestled between the West Virginia hills and the Guyan River is the quaint town of Coopersville. I have lived here all of my life, and so have most of my friends and family members. My parents are Grace and John McDougal. My father was born a Ryan, but he was adopted by the McDougal family when he was eleven. He has used the McDougal name ever since. I think Dad considered changing it back to Ryan when he purchased the old Ryan home, but so many of them were tainted with evil he decided to keep the name McDougal.

My name is Evangeline, but everyone calls me Evvie. I will be fifteen this fall on October 18th. I am starting tenth grade at Coopersville High School in September. My brother Sam is sixteen and will be in the eleventh grade at the high school. My oldest brother Bobby is eighteen, and will be starting college at Marshall College this fall. He is planning to live in the dorm and play College Football. He even got a full football scholarship. Coopersville is a town devoted to football, so we are all very proud of him.

I also have a sister named Emma, she is only eight, but is getting ready to start sixth grade. I think she is most likely a genius, but we never say that at home because she already tries to act like she’s thirty-five. She is as cute as a button. She has long brown hair streaked with blonde, like my mother’s. In fact she looks so much like my mother no one ever suspects she’s adopted. Of course the fact that she is the daughter of my mother’s deceased sister, Hope, explains their likeness.

Beyond my immediate family, there is my maternal Grandma Audry Duncan. When my dad’s twin brother Joseph was shot in our basement by the Coopersville Police Force, his house was left to my dad. Dad gave it to Grandma Audry, so she lives very close to us now. My dad’s sister, Maggie, married our pastor, Jim Harkins, three years ago in March, and they have eighteen month old twin girls, Victoria and Veronica. Maggie and Jim are hoping to have a whole house full of kids, but they especially want a little boy.

During my years at the junior high, I have been on the Cheerleader squad and enjoyed cheering at our basketball games. The thing I enjoyed most, however, was spending time with Isaac Brooks. In seventh grade we had several adventures together. We helped some kidnapped and abused children get back to their parents. We rescued Aunt Maggie from her Uncle Aubrey. We pulled a little boy out of a well, and we helped the police find two murderers. We even located a girl being held for ransom. On a sadder note we learned that my second cousin Melissa Ryan killed about ten people, including her own two children. Melissa is still wanted by the police, but I have not turned her in because she had such a horrible childhood.

During the last two years Isaac has given me his ring and we have attended two dances together. I thought we might even be in love, he said he thought so too. But when he went to the high school and I was still at the junior high a lot of things changed.

Isaac started to get a lot of pressure from the guys at the high school and he started eating lunch with Lynn Adkins. I invited him to our ninth grade party, but he made up an excuse not to go. Then I found out that my brother Sam had broken up with my best friend and next door neighbor Liz Bellini. When she came to Cheerleader practice last Saturday I asked her what had happened between her and Sam. She told me they had just decided to see other people. That was when someone told me Isaac was spending all of his time with Lynn Adkins. That afternoon I concentrated on Isaac and got a vision of him with Lynn. They were sitting on the sofa at Isaac’s house and they were kissing. I forgot to mention my visions. Some times I see things that happened in the past and other times I see things that have not yet happened. Sometimes I have dreams about the past and the future. These are gifts I have been given because I am a Fae. Fae is another name for Fairies. Yes, I am a fairy. I don’t fly. I don’t have wings. I do see visions and so do my Grandma Duncan, my mother, Grace, my sister, Emma, my Aunt Maggie, and sometimes my boyfriend, Isaac. After death or when we choose if we have helped our fellow man, we have the privilege of going to a special part of Heaven called the Otherworld. I have visited there and it is very beautiful and more important, it is peaceful. It is always spring and the flowers are always in bloom. The skies and ponds are azure blue and the grass is always a verdant green like a lush pasture. The homes provided for the Fae are unique to their personal needs and desires. Many of my ancestors reside there. My Grandpa Duncan is there as well as my mother’s sister, Hope. Hope is also Emma’s mother. It can get complicated in a hurry when we talk about our family. However, I really want to get back to the current drama in my life.

It started after school today when Sam brought me a note from Isaac. After I read that, I knew why he had quit calling and coming over. I was very angry, but I was hurt too. I cried for more than an hour. Then I got out Isaac’s ring and the little silver megaphone on a chain he had given me because I made Cheer Leader. I also got out the opal earrings and the opal bracelet he gave me for my birthday. I put everything in a box and wrapped them in a grocery bag. I got on my bike and went over to Aunt Maggie’s.

Aunt Maggie and Uncle Jim had just given the girls a bath, and put them down for a nap. Aunt Maggie took one look at me and told Uncle Jim she needed to talk to me in private. When I told her about Isaac and Lynn, she put her arm around me and asked, What do you want to do? I said, I got all of his gifts together and put them in a box with his ring. I want to give them all back to him. If people at school know we have broken up maybe I can act like I don’t care and someone else might ask me to the Ninth Grade Dance. Aunt Maggie said, Did you ask Isaac about going to the dance? I said, Yes, I sent him a note by Sam and asked him if he would like to go. He made up a dumb excuse, but I knew he had plans with Lynn. Aunt Maggie said, Wait just a minute while I tell Jim, and I’ll take you over to his house so you can give him back his things.

All the way to Isaac’s house I kept trying to figure out why nobody told me what was going on. Sam was my brother, why didn’t he tell me? Aunt Maggie talked about dating Jim, and how bad she would have felt if he had done something like this. She pulled into Isaac’s driveway and I jumped out of the car and went to the door. I knocked on the front door and I heard the dogs barking inside. I heard someone coming to the door and waited to see who it would be. Mrs. Brooks opened the door. She said, Hi Evvie. Did Isaac know you were coming? I said, No ma’am. I just wanted to bring him these things since he has a new girlfriend, I didn’t think I should keep them. She opened the box and said, Evvie the only thing in this box that belongs to him is this ring. The other things were gifts to you. You should keep them. I looked up at her with tears streaming down my face and said, I don’t think I could wear them, it would hurt too much. Please tell him that he can keep the things I gave him. It would be too painful to look at them too. I don’t know what I did to upset him, but it wasn’t intentional. Mrs. Brooks was looking weepy too. She said, I’m sorry it worked out this way. I said, I’m sorry too. I turned around and ran back to Aunt Maggie’s car.

Aunt Maggie asked, Do you think there is someone else you could go to the dance with? I said, I don’t know. If word gets around that I broke up with Isaac someone might be interested. Of course I could ask someone. Aunt Maggie said, What about that guy named Eddie? Didn’t he ask you once before? I said, Yes he asked me in seventh grade. Maggie said, Well why don’t you ask Eddie? I said, Oh man, Isaac would really hate that. I can’t think of anything better.

Aunt Maggie let me out in front of the house. It was starting to rain so I told her good-bye and ran to the door. I remembered suddenly that my bike was still over at Maggie’s house. I made a note to myself that I’d go get it tomorrow. When I got into the house, the rain really started to pour. Emma was in the living room watching TV. I stopped by the door to say, Hello. She jumped up and ran to me. She threw her arms around me, and she was crying. I said, Emma what is wrong? She said, Evvie, I took Duncan for a walk after school today. We had just gone under the railroad bridge on the other side of the elementary school. There wasn’t much traffic on Main Street, but all of a sudden a car pulled up to the curb and a man jumped out. He got out very quickly and tried to grab Duncan’s leash out of my hand. I said, What happened next? Did he get the leash? Emma said, No I did something I’m not supposed to do. I was baffled. I asked, What did you do? She said, I burned him. I asked, What do you mean? Emma said, You know, when you go into protection mode, and you zap the bad guy. I was really puzzled. I had never heard of protection mode. I said, Is this something connected to your Fae gifts? She shook her head and said, I don’t know. I just started doing it when my father tried to hurt me. I asked her if she could show me what she did. She said we would have to do it outside so we walked out to the back yard. There is an old dead tree in the back yard so I asked her if she could make a burn on the tree like the one she made on the man. She said, I never did this when I wasn’t angry or scared. I convinced her to think about the man trying to take Duncan. She turned slightly to the left and put out her left arm. She pointed the index finger on her left hand at the dead tree. She moved her arm slightly, like she was making a mark on the tree. I watched as a burn line suddenly appeared on the tree. She asked, Does Daddy want to get rid of that old tree? I said, Yes, he talked about cutting it down. Emma asked if she would get into trouble for making a burn mark on it. I assured her it would be alright. I told her Dad wouldn’t be upset with her. I was thinking about what she had done and all I could say to myself was, Wow! I thought about her saying she used the protection mode when her father tried to hurt her and I asked, What did your father do to hurt you? Emma said, If I asked him something and he didn’t want to answer me, he would yell at me to shut up. Then if I tried to bring it up again he would hit me; usually across my face. After I learned to burn people who hurt me, he quit hitting me. I said, What kind of things did you ask him that he refused to talk about? Emma said, It was usually about my mom. I asked, Was it after she died or before? Emma said, It was before. She had been sick and he wouldn’t let me see her. I know he killed her later, but there was something going on before that. I wanted to know what was happening. He was keeping a secret of some kind. It was something he didn’t want me or my mom to know. After my mom died I didn’t try to talk to him anymore. Later that evening I walked over to Grandma Duncan’s. I knocked on her back door and she came almost immediately. When she opened the door I asked, Do you know what protection mode means? She said, Yes, I know what it means. I just have to wonder what you think it means. I said, Grandma, a man tried to grab Duncan’s leash out of Emma’s hand today and she said she went into protection mode and burned him. She was upset because she had been told not to use it on anyone. Grandma said, I hope you told her it was all right for her to protect herself and Duncan. I said, She showed me on the old tree in the backyard just how powerful that burn can be. Grandma said, She probably found out about that gift from her mother. Hope knew she wasn’t always going to be there to protect Emma from her father. I asked, Grandma could I do that if I needed to protect myself? Grandma said, I don’t know. I’ve only known a few Faes who had that particular power. If you want to check it out, try it on the old tree like Emma did. In the meantime, keep an eye on Duncan. The guy Emma burned might try to get even. On the other hand, he might be part of the bunch of guys taking people’s pets to make them fight to the death in a ring. It’s a terrible thing, but they make big money doing that.

After I got home I decided to call Chief Haynes and talk to him about the dog nappers. He admitted that there had been several reports about missing pets. They had come from all around the area. Huntington, Kenova, Coopersville and Millburg had all reported missing dogs. They didn’t seem to be taking cats or birds so they surmised it was for fights. The missing dogs were all sizes. The medium sized dogs were taken most frequently, but there were also big dogs like Duncan. The small dogs were often used as bait to get the big dogs to fight, although some small breeds were fighters themselves. Grandma mentioned that her friend Kaye had a little Chihuahua that disappeared. They don’t come much smaller than that. I asked if Grandma had tried to see a vision about her friend’s dog. She said she had tried but didn’t really get any information. She was concerned that these guys might actually hurt children too. Emma obviously could take care of herself, but Emma wasn’t your average child. If a man had approached an average child and tried to take her dog; he would have succeeded. He might even have hurt the child as well.

I asked Grandma if I should tell Mom about Emma’s burn power. She said, "Yes, and I think you should tell Sam as well. She can’t just take the dog out anytime she takes a notion. We have to alert her to the danger. I gave Grandma a hug, and told her I would see her later. I walked back to the house and stopped by the old tree. I tried thinking about the guy who tried to take Duncan. I worked up some anger and pointed my finger at the tree. Nothing happened. I tried again, but I still got no results. Maybe I would have to talk to Emma some more. Maybe there was something she forgot to tell me, or maybe this is a gift I will never have.

I went into the house, thinking about telling Mom about the dog nappers, and about Emma having this burning power. There was a note on the kitchen island. It said, I took Emma to get some new shoes. It was signed, Love, Mom.

*     *     *

I said, Kurt, Get this buggy outta here. Kurt said, Walt, what the hell happened out there? I had to get myself calmed down, before I could answer. I finally said. Did you see what that kid did to me? Kurt said, Well not really. I was drivin and I couldn’t just watch what you were doin. I said, She could have set me on fire and you would have just kept right on goin. Kurt said, What do ya mean? That kid was just an ordinary kid. She wasn’t anymore than eight or nine. It’s not like she was a midget with a machine gun I said, Oh yeah, ya big jerk. Have you seen my arm; how about my jacket? Kurt said, Who are you callin a jerk? You know that was the kind of dog Mel wanted to go up against the Shepherd. I grabbed Kurt’s arm and yelled, Pull this hunk of junk over; I need a doctor! Kurt pulled into a parking space at the Corner Diner and turned around to look at Walt’s arm.

Kurt was prepared to give me a hard time and call me a big baby, but when I turned around in my seat, Kurt could see it was quite a wound. He got out of the car and walked around to my side. He opened the door and looked closely at my right arm. It looked like someone had used an acetylene torch on the jacket and burned right on into the flesh beneath. He said, Can we get that jacket off so we can see how deep it is? I said, You can’t believe how bad the pain is. What did that rotten kid do to me? Kurt carefully removed the light wind breaker from my left arm, and then he kind of rolled the right arm down until he got it off. My jacket was burned, but my arm underneath looked more cut than burned. Kurt believed it needed stitches, so he got back in the car and drove down to Doc Miller’s little clinic on Rt. 60. The clinic was just a square stucco one story building painted light beige. There was a small sign with the doctor’s name, but it was nothing that would attract attention. He wasn’t the best doctor in town, but he would fix anything with no questions asked. It seemed that I never wanted anybody to ask questions,

We were lucky no one was in the waiting room. Kurt walked up to the window and asked Doc’s receptionist if the Doc was available. She said he was in his office and she would let him know we were there. It was only a few minutes before she told us to go to room #2. The doctor came out of his office just as we got to room #2. We walked in and sat down. I told Dr. Miller, A little girl pointed her finger at my arm and burned a hole in my jacket. The doctor asked, How did you get this cut on your arm? I said, That’s not a cut, that’s where I got burned through my jacket. Dr, Miller said, Walt, this doesn’t look like any burn I’ve ever seen. It looks like a sharp clean cut made with a very well honed knife. I said, Here’s my jacket. See where the burn is? The doctor said, Well I do have to admit that the burn and the cut line up. I just can’t imagine what kind of instrument could make such an obvious burn in your jacket and a deep cut in your arm. I said, There was no instrument. The little girl raked her index finger across my arm. Dr. Miller said, Look Walt, I know you guys never tell me what really happened. I don’t know what happened this time either, but I am going to numb it up and put some stitches in there. You don’t want to lose the use of the muscle in your upper arm. I would advise you, however, to stay out of fights with little girls. Kurt said, Doc, I know you don’t buy our story, but I swear it’s true. There was nobody there but an adorable little girl. Doc said, Kurt, there are two big holes in your story. Kurt said, What big holes? Doc said, The first one is why did Walt get out of the car? The second one is why did the little girl feel the need to attack him? Kurt said, We are not allowed to talk about them things. I said, Shut up dummy. Pay the man and let’s go."

After we were back in the car I said, Be sure you don’t mention this burn or the little girl to anyone except Mel. I don’t want it to get around that I’m losing fights with kids. Kurt said, I’m not totally stupid Walt. I ain’t gonna mention this to anybody.

CHAPTER

2

I woke up about 3:00 A.M. and heard the rain beating on the bay windows in the front wall of my bedroom. Lightening flashed across the sky outside with such intensity that it lit up my room like the overhead chandelier hanging from my ceiling. Of course the other sound was the thunder. It was the type that sounded like a huge old tree had been ripped out of the ground and snapped in two by some huge giant. I got out of bed and walked over to the window. I looked out at Central Avenue and noticed that there were several cars passing the house. I wondered where people went at 3:00 A.M., but I wasn’t expecting that bit of curiosity to bring on one of my visions. Somebody who went by was thinking about two small children who had disappeared in this town some twenty years ago. They had never been found, but the person in the car had gotten revenge for one of them and was planning to get revenge for the other one. I didn’t get any names so I didn’t know of anything I could do to help anyone. I felt let down and I crawled back into bed. I thought about the missing children for a while, but I soon was back asleep. It was then that I dreamed about another missing child. This one was just a baby. The kidnapper had taken the child from his home and had delivered it to a third party. The third person was given money to take the child and the kidnapper just went back to his own home like nothing ever happened. What a peculiar bunch of events. Kidnappers are usually trying to make money from the kidnapping. They are not paying someone else to take the child from them. This is really a bizarre dream. Maybe that is all it is; just a plain old ordinary dream. I somehow didn’t believe there was anything ordinary about this dream. I had a feeling it was very significant. I was still thinking about the two children and I was reminded of my dad’s cousin Melissa. She was living in Lexington, Kentucky and pretending to be her own mother. Her mother’s name was Leah and she was my grandfather’s sister on my dad’s side of the family. Melissa’s past was very bad and she was still wanted by the police for murder. I was watching her through my visions to be sure she didn’t harm anyone else. So far she was doing good deeds for others and I hoped she would continue.

*     *     *

Well it’s now 8:00 A.M. and it’s time to go to school. Even now the rain is still coming down so hard I can barely see Liz’s big yellow house next door. Mom volunteered to give us a ride. Emma has on her little yellow rain coat with the hood and the little yellow boots. She had to have a black umbrella to use with the coat and boots. I don’t know why, but she said it made her look more grown up. Sam has on his rain jacket with his blue jeans and leather boots. He doesn’t worry about fashion statements or looking more grown up. Comfort is his main goal. I am wearing my new white raincoat, with my knee-high white leather boots. I am carrying my bright red umbrella. I thought I was for sure very fashionable. Emma of course thought she looked the best and told us so in several different ways. Sam and I were used to Emma’s need to look the best and be the best. She never had gotten a chance to interact or compete with family members before she came to live with us. We didn’t mind that she always wanted to compete. We loved her so much we would let her be the winner of any contest. I took a minute to call Liz before we left. I thought she might want a ride. Her father