Curse of Remorse

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  After she had sat down, Peter said, “Candice how would you like to meet a real witch this morning?”

  Candice gave him a perplexed look and then recovered saying, “I am ready anytime you are. This would be a first and I hope last time I have a chance to meet a real live witch.”

  “Right after we eat we will take a ride with Sam. I would suggest you keep an open eye and ear as this will prove to be quite the experience for both of us,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

  On the way out to see Ralph, Candice asked if they were expected. Peter told her yes he probably was, knowing him. Peter said, “He seems to know what is going on around town and no doubt he has a crystal ball and can see us coming.” The snow had begun to fall again and like a cloud, hung over them as they approached Ralph’s farm. Peter noticed smoke coming out of the chimney as they pulled up to the walkway.

  Sam reluctantly led the way to the front door. He reached up to knock and the door swung open, but upon waiting to see someone opening the door, no one was on the other side of it. Peter brushed by Sam and walked in taking off his boots in the entryway. The rest followed and Candice was more than a little bit frightened. She was the last to come in and then kicking off her boots, followed Sam into the living room. She noticed how quiet it was and heard only the ticking of a clock. The first thing she saw was an old man sitting in a rocker stroking a black cat. He had a small grin on his face and was dressed in a red robe with Oriental marking on it. A warm fire was coming from the wood stove and he nodded to her and with his eyes telling her to sit down.

  Peter sat at the end of the sofa, James T next to him and Candice on the end. Sam took a small chair and sat off to the side of the stove out of direct eye sight. Ralph scared the hell out of Sam and he didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. And it would seem the black cat kept starring at Sam and when Sam looked up at the man petting the cat, his eyes were orange too. Sam blinked a time or two and then looked again with all being normal, or so he thought.

  Ralph didn’t beat around the bush he said, “Did you like my little demonstration last night?”

  Peter took the question in stride and said, “What is it you want Ralph? We accept the fact you have some magic powers and why do you persist in these actions that are only meant to hurt innocent folks?”

  Ralph glared at first Peter and then one by one gave each a look that would make anyone shake in their boots. He retorted, “This stupid town and its people did my family great harm and now it is time for them to suffer the consequences of their past actions.” He let that sink in and as if on queue, the old lady came around the corner of the living room with a tray full of drinks. She sat the tray down and set out four mugs. Candice could smell the hot cider and hopefully it wasn’t laced with some magic potion. As if Ralph read her mind he said, “No the cider is pure and we hope you can enjoy it on this cold day.”

  Peter with a look of contempt said, “Ralph, we acknowledge your power and what is it going to take to reverse the curse you have put on the town’s old people and young people?”

  Ralph continued to stare at each one in turn and after a few minutes, as his so called wife left, said, “My family lost three members due to the witch hunts and subsequent events so I am going to let you chose three people from your town to suffer the same happenings as my family did. Let me make it simple, I want three of the blind kids to become family members with me and my wife. We will take very good care of them and you can be assured we will educate them as if they were our own.”

  Sam, upon hearing this rose to his feet and began protesting in a high vocal voice. Suddenly, as fast as he rose to complain, his voice ceased. His mouth was forming the words, but nothing came out. The black cat let out a low throated growl and then settled back down again to receive his masters’ strokes. Sam quickly recovered and sat down again and later when asked about it, Sam wrote on paper that he couldn’t remember anything after he stood up but a noise low in his ears.

  Peter realized that they were at a disadvantage and must tread carefully. What he and James T needed were facts and not flashy displays of witchcraft. How to do this was the real question so he asked, “Ralph, be reasonable, none of the parents are going to give you their kids and as you know negotiating with them is out of the question. You offered once to take us to the place where the Native Americans lived. We would very much like to experience the feeling and the special power that the black couple and the medicine man made that fateful day or night.”

  Ralph gave that some thought and then he said, “Yes, I did promise and how about tomorrow we make our way out there. We will need snowmobiles and only you Peter and James T along with Candice from the Times are allowed to go with me. Be here at eleven am sharp and don’t be late. And now it is time for me to take a nap as this witchcraft takes a lot of energy out of me.” Candice thought after that little speech, a look of the real devil crossed his face. God, she thought, what power does this guy possess? And what about that old woman, she smelled like some herb factory, but the cider was nice.

  Back in the car with a voiceless Sam at the wheel, Candice thought she had never in her life been so scared. She really would rather be home in her own apartment and fighting the people for a place to sit on the subway. It’s ironic she thought, that normal is a hovel to live in and fighting for place to sit to get to work where nothing was relaxing and always hectic times prevailed. She noticed how quiet James T and Peter were as they bounced their way back to town amid a snow storm.

  Peter was more than a little upset and vowed to take on this guy and show him good rises like cream and bad settles to the bottom to be discarded as waste. He knew it was time to dig out of his trunk his own form of magic.

  Sam parked in front on the City Hall and as everyone got out, he sat behind the wheel as if not knowing what to do next. Finally after all had entered the building, he shut of the motor and followed like a hang dog puppy. Sam saw the mayor talking to the returnees’ and made his way to his office. He looked at his watch and noticed it was lunch time, but he wasn’t hungry. He flopped down in his swivel chair and reached for the phone. After punching in a couple numbers, he realized he couldn’t talk and hung up the phone. He turned his chair and looked out his window which gave him a view of the side of City Hall where a giant oak tree stood like a sentinel proclaiming its superiority over anything around it. In the spring time, he thought, what a nice shade tree where many seniors would sit around the tree on benches donated by the Rotary Club and Lions Club. Those were happy days and now he felt like the rug had been torn from under him and life would never be what it was just a few weeks ago. Sam was not used to being drowned in self pity, but today he felt so helpless and more than that, worthless. How can a police chief be effective without a voice? While watching the snowflakes drift down, he felt his heart rate come back to normal. Sam took a deep breath and as he let the air out, the mayor stuck her head through the door and said, “Sam, let’s go to lunch.”

  Sam swung around to face her and opened his mouth to say yes, that would be nice, but nothing came out. He saw pity on her face, but decided to not hide his head in the sand and go with her to lunch.

  Sam, Peter, James T and Veronica sat at one table and had the daily special: spaghetti and meat balls which was one of Sam’s favorites. Sam was listening to Peter tell Veronica about the field trip on the morrow. Sam tried to say he knew where to get the snowmobiles, but only a squeak came out. Peter looked up and said, “Sam can you get the snowmobiles and I would need someone to drive for me and for James T too.” Sam nodded his head and then he turned his attention to his growling stomach as lunch arrived.

  Veronica hadn’t touched her lunch yet and said, “Peter do you have something in mind when you go there to combat or have any way to slow down or stop this witchcraft?”

  Peter finished what he was chewing on, which was some fresh garlic bread and then he replied, “We are not without some power as James T and I have been studying witchcraft for many
years now. Ralph is using a form of witchcraft that is hundreds of years old and no one really knows how it works, but as we’ve seen, it is effective when applied in such a way as to do harm to living animals, such as ourselves.”

  “I see,” she said, “But how in the world will you fight this curse?”

  “It’s hard to explain but if you called Ralph and asked to go with us, that would be fine with me.”

  “I’ll do better than that. I will have Sam drive me out there and meet him face to face. Don’t be nervous as I will be polite and respectful. I don’t need to wind up like Sam and be voiceless.”

  Lunch over and everyone went their separate ways to dwell on tomorrow’s task. Peter and James T went to their room and opened up the trunk for inspection. James T already had a check list and as Peter took each item out, he checked if off the list. The one thing they needed fresh was a chicken and Peter made a note to ask Sam for a chicken. Each item was in a plastic sealed baggie and had the contents written on the outside. Most were herbs and such things, but a box was taken out and opened. This would be the first time they had used the contents of the box and Peter wanted to look again to see if all was well. He opened the box and starred inside where bits of bone filled half the small box. He closed it and put it aside with the rest of the stuff. Peter looked up at James T and said, “Well, old friend, are we ready for this undertaking?”

  James T said in a voice barely above a whisper, “To tell you the truth Peter, I’d say we stand a fifty - fifty chance of breaking the curse. If we don’t succeed tomorrow, we may need to go back with the kids and use their energy to help us.”

  “I think you are right on the button and let’s pack this stuff up in a back pack and go over again what we must do step by step tomorrow.”

  Chapter 19

  Candice could not believe what she was seeing outside her motel window. She saw a solid stream of vehicles coming and going as what few police were here and what state police that they had requested kept the cars moving in and out of town. She felt that the end was near or was it just the beginning? Could it be this witchcraft thing was just getting started as first there were the kids going blind, then the power went out, after that the old folks lost their voices and the latest with Sam, simply more than frightened her? What if this curse spread outside of this town or state? The consequences were unspeakable and what if someone in town decided to end it all with some kind of attack on Ralph and that weird old lady. For her own sake, she really thought about leaving town and finding some safe haven back in New York. She walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror and said to her, no way am I leaving and this could be the start of my career. Buck up Candice and get to work. One problem was she couldn’t take her camera man with her so she must learn how to use the video camera. With that in mind, she brushed her hair, went out and got dressed to see what was going on around town.

  ***

  The mayor had just gotten off the phone with the governor and she had told the mayor what the plan was for tomorrow. Veronica had been given permission by Ralph to go on the expedition. The governor thought that was a bit risky but never the less, she was more concerned about the general population being in danger of any more spells or curses and of course the volume of traffic. She had decided, along with the state police to road block the highway in and out. The governor also said that she had a call from the New York Times and she gave them an update on what the state planned for Remorse. The mayor told her thanks and hung up exhausted from the day’s excitement and what tomorrow would bring her and the town.

  Sam came in and with pencil and paper said the snowmobiles would be here later this afternoon and the owners would drive for all of them. Sam added a note saying he was going home for a few hours and would be back later. The mayor nodded and Sam left with a hang dog look into the snow storm that was in full force, whipping the snow in drifts around town.

  ***

  School had just let out and Ann had invited her fellow stuck eyelid friends to her home for a snack. It had been her mother’s idea and mother had made some warm hot chocolate drinks with homemade oatmeal cookies with raisins. Joan heard the front door open and house filled up with kids and their high voices made her feel warm all over. She thought, kids are adaptable and adults refrain from trying to adapt to a new thing. Why is that she wondered? Glen led Ann to the kitchen and then he ran upstairs to do some more surfing about witchcraft.

  Joan told the kids to go downstairs and she would bring the drinks and cookies down to them in a few minutes. After the kids went downstairs, Roy came into the kitchen to help her carry the hot drinks down to the kids. He wanted to talk to them about their dreams, he told his wife, as they both walked down the stairs. The kids were all either sitting on the floor or on the giant sofa in voices just below a roar, Roy thought, as he sat the tray down on the coffee table. Roy didn’t want to tower over them as an adult so he sat on the floor next to his daughter and watched the kids help the blind ones to their snacks.

  Once they were well into the snacks he asked his daughter if they could tell him more about the dreams. She looked around as if to get their approval, but knowing she was not able to see she said, “When last we spoke of our dreams we were able to see a light flashing and a voice from the distance. My latest dream has us all drifting a lot faster than before and the light is becoming brighter and brighter. The voice is weird as it sounds like a desperate call for help from a female and not a male. It feels like we are headed for somewhere in particular, but have no idea what or where. It is not scary and I don’t feel scared or anything likes that. Brian might have a few things to add.” and she tossed the talk like a ball to Brian.

  Brian said hello to Mr. Blades, “My story is the same as Ann’s but I have a feeling we are going to meet someone or something very soon. I see the light clearly now and the voice appears to be coming to meet us. That’s if the voice is near the light to begin with. Let’s see what happens tonight. That’s all I can tell you.”

  “Thanks kids and maybe soon this will be all over and we can return to some normalcy with our lives. Undoubtedly this chapter in the history of our town will be remembered for generations to come.”

  Ann said, “Dad, you know we are not unhappy with our lives, but truly we understand we are a burden with our handicap, but if we have to we can live with this just fine. For me it’s been a real learning process about friends and family. I’ll never forget the help and the nice things everyone has done for us.” Roy thought that was very mature for a thirteen year old to say and he couldn’t have been prouder of all the kids and especially his daughter.

  ***

  Out at Ralph’s farm, if it was seen, but couldn’t because of the snow storm in progress, an eerie glow circled his house. When the snowflakes came through the blue – green light that rose above his house, the flakes turned to water and water could be seen dripping off the roof to the bare ground devoid of snow which formed a perfect circle around his house.

  Inside Ralph was in his usual position sitting in his rocking chair stroking his cat. Once again the only sound was the wall clock tick ticking away the time. His mother was in the kitchen making a brew that filled the house with a mushroom smell mixed with a smell that couldn’t be described. To Ralph it smelled like something good to eat and he looked forward to dinner coming. One of his favorite soups was rabbit and mushrooms and mother was always happy to make her son happy. Mother came into the living room with a cup of hot tea and sat down after she gave her son his cup. She settled in and Ralph never loved anyone more than his mother. She looked at him while he stroked his cat. After a few seconds the telepathic message was received and he said back to her, “Mother, tomorrow will be touch and go with Peter who has more power than he realizes. It’ll be a formidable duel and I expect we’ll show them who has the real power. What they don’t have is what lies in my lap. They will get a taste of black magic and the forest will tremble and the ground will shake all the way to the capital.”
r />   ***

  Back at the local eatery, Peter and James T were enjoying some pie and coffee. The café was still void of customers who were the locals, but now was filled with curiosity seekers. They were lucky as Rex the owner had placed a ‘reserved’ on one table next to the window for Peter and et al. Candice walked in and joined them shaking off her snow covered hat and coat. She sat down and bade them a good afternoon. Peter smiled and told her they were just discussing how to meet the challenge of the get together tomorrow. Candice said, “What do you expect Peter, she asked.

  “I expect all hell to break loose tomorrow. They have power with his so called wife and we would be neglecting to underestimate the power of that black cat. We are not sure how it all fits together, but apparently he was taught by the original magic person. On the other hand, we are not without some power of our own. However, being able to use it might be another story. With him showing us the location will be most revealing and he knows it. Contrary to popular belief, evil sometimes wins out over good. We must be prepared to accept what happens and then go from there.” Candice noticed he went back to his pie and coffee realizing that there was no response coming.

  Candice looked at James T with longing eyes searching for what looked like some reassurance to tomorrow’s event.

  While they ate their pie and drank their coffee, the seniors at the school gym sat around some tables drinking coffee, tea or fruit juice served by the kitchen staff. Most were very tired of sitting on hard chairs and some were walking out to go home regardless of what happened later. Mrs. Gorn was the first to depart and now without a voice to lead her group or to talk to anyone, she felt her life was about over. At the door she found her old galoshes and dug through the coats until she found her old dark brown wool coat that she had picked up at the Salvation Army store many years ago. A stocking hat stuck out of her coat pocket and she pulled that on and now she was ready for the walk home.