BREAKING CURSED BONDS

by Elisabeth Zguta

  He paused. “Wait a minute, look, Emilie. There, in the corner. Shine the torch down there to see what it is.”

  Emilie placed the heirloom into the backpack and grabbed the flashlight, turned the beam on, and pointed it into the crypt.

  “Okay, there it is. See it? Something is wrapped up and pushed into the far corner.”

  Jeremy stretched his arm into the depths of the tomb and began pulling on the cloth wrapping, slowly inching it forward with his fingers. When it was finally within reach, Emilie picked it up to examine it under the flashlight’s beam.

  “It’s heavy,” she said.

  She placed it on top of the corpse and gingerly pulled the cloth away, exposing the artifact. They both gasped.

  Relief rushed through Emilie. Her voice trembled softly when she spoke, shocked as the truth sank in.

  “Oh, my God! Jeremy, it’s here. It’s really here, look. It’s the wooden owl. I honestly thought it wouldn’t be here after all this time, but it is. I can’t believe it.”

  “We’ve done it,” Jeremy said. He met her eye, his smile matching her own. “Emilie, I’m so happy for you. The curse will end. You’ve saved your family.”

  Jeremy leaned back against the dark marble wall, resting his head against the cool stone. He closed his eyes. Emilie understood, he was weak with relief after all the stress this quest had caused. This venture had affected him, too.

  “We should do as Father Eddie said and get rid of it all. Let’s finish this right now, get it done and behind us,” he said.

  “Yes, let’s do it now,” she agreed. “I want to be done with this all. I want things to be normal.”

  “Yeah, whatever normal is supposed to be.” He laughed.

  Motivated once more, Jeremy covered the inside of the tomb drawer with a lighter fluid they’d made from acetone and hydrogen peroxide, making due with ingredients they’d purchased in a drugstore. He squeezed the bottle until every drop was gone. He checked that the owl effigy was soaked along with the bones.

  Emilie snatched a small box of matches from Jeremy’s backpack, and took out two sticks. “One for you, one for me.”

  “Wait, I think we need to step back. Get behind the door just in case,” he said.

  “Really, don’t you think you’re being overly cautious? Just light the damn thing.”

  He stepped back, moving just a foot away from the door, then took the box from her. “I don’t think this will work,” he said, and threw the matches aside. He took out a silver lighter, opened it, and clicked. The small flame brightened the dark vault.

  “Please, you do the honors for us both,” she said.

  Jeremy threw the burning lighter about ten feet into the grave’s drawer, a perfect throw. The contents instantly ignited. A loud puff exploded in the confined space. They jumped back as a sudden burst of flame erupted. Jeremy grabbed Emilie’s hand and yanked her through the doorway and away from the tomb.

  “Thank God we were close to the door, you were right,” Emilie choked out.

  They brushed themselves off, making sure there were no sparks left on their clothes.

  “Emilie, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. I figured we were far enough away.” He coughed. “Are you burnt?”

  “No, no burns, but I smell singed hair. You’re covered with soot.” She brushed his clothes and they both hacked a few more seconds while a thick smoke poured from the mausoleum. “What was in that concoction you made?”

  “I’m so sorry. I had to make it with a flashpoint high enough to burn bones. I guess being enclosed, well, I didn’t calculate it right. I am very sorry.”

  “Don’t feel so bad.” Emilie coughed, her lungs aching. “The worst is over.”

  As she calmed down, Emilie became aware of the same feeling that had haunted her these past few days, the shadow that seemed forever behind her. She looked up and saw the man again, the same person she’d seen on the New Orleans streetcar and so many times since. There was no doubt in her mind now that he was following her. She turned and looked at Jeremy. He looked back at her with questioning eyes.

  “Over there,” she said. She twitched her head in the direction of the man. Jeremy turned. This time, he saw the man too. The stranger had a camera pointed in their direction, the shutter snapping in quick pulses as he took photo after photo.

  “Bloody hell! Who’s that?” Jeremy said.

  Before Emilie could reply, Jeremy bolted toward him. The man turned and ran, and then stopped just long enough to pull a small motorbike from behind a tree. He fled. After a few yards, Jeremy gave up the chase. He stopped and leaned over, grabbing his knees, and drew in deep breaths. Emily ran to his side.

  “Who the hell was that?” he gasped.

  “I’m not sure. I’ve noticed him a few times, following us.”

  “Why didn’t you say something? Who is he?”

  “I’m not sure. I wasn’t even positive he was following us, until now. I wonder what his game is. Why did he follow me to New Orleans and now here?”

  “He was in New Orleans, too?”

  “Yes, and Michelle spotted another man, too. She assumed Robert had them follow us.”

  “Well, I agree with your sister. We need to figure out your brother’s game.”

  “I asked Robert if he had us followed and he seemed genuinely surprised. But maybe it has something to do with Mr. Bennett’s appearance yesterday.”

  “Well, let’s get this completed so we can get the hell out of here.” Jeremy straightened and turned to go back to the gravesite, clearly agitated. The fire was burning hot, scorching the marble tiles with a thick black residue. The flames filled the mausoleum with a dense suffocating smoke, forcing them to stay outside the tomb. They waited until the fire died down, hoping no one would come to investigate the smoke.

  Emilie dropped to the ground, her body too tired to stand any longer. She sat on the grass and watched the fire burn. Jeremy settled beside her with his arm around her shoulders. They leaned on each other as they watched the fire do its work. It burned hot and fast. Once the smoke dissipated, the flames burned bright with orange, yellow, and blue hues, like the fire that had consumed the bones in the Florida midden.

  “What a show,” Jeremy said. Emilie nodded in agreement, but stayed quiet. They sat without talking until the fire died down completely. It took hours.

  Emilie finally allowed herself to feel relief. All her fears caused by this curse could hopefully be replaced with a promising future. If Father Eddie was correct, this would free her father and brother from the curse forever; the family legacy was saved. She only hoped that they’d finally make peace with each other, too.

  Jeremy held her more tightly. She felt accepted, her gift and all. He knew it was sometimes a burden, but Jeremy still freely offered his help to her. Emilie appreciated his support more than she could possible show.

  Jeremy gently brushed some soot off Emilie’s clothes.

  “Give it up, Jeremy. We’re both so dirty there’s no help for us except a long bath.”

  “Sounds about right. How about a shower with a friend?” he said.

  She laughed, drawn in by his sparkling eyes. The cloud that hovered over them lifted.

  Hours later, the fire was extinguished, and the embers finally cooled. Jeremy brushed the warm ashes into a metal container, and would send them back to Tennessee as Father Eddie requested, just as he had with the chief’s ashes. They were ready for that shower, both covered in dirt and sweat.

  It was dark when they returned to the hotel, so they snuck in through the back entrance to avoid having to invent lame excuses for their appearance. They wasted no time getting cleaned up, then booked a flight from Bordeaux to Boston. Emilie insisted on stopping to visit her sister before going back to Memphis. She wanted to explain these events, even if Michelle most likely wouldn’t recognize the truth about the curse. Besides, something was up with Robert, and Emilie had a feeling that Michelle knew more than she had shared. Once it was all explai
ned and things were out in the open, they’d go back to the estate and let everyone else know the curse had been lifted.

  They took the red-eye from Paris. As they sat side by side during the flight back to the States, Emilie reached into her bag and felt for the small shell. She pulled it out and admired the red spiral design on the small memento. Of all the treasures in the world, this small shell made her the happiest. It reminded her of the most peaceful day she had ever experienced in her life: the day she spent with her love, on the warm sunny shoreline.

  Now that the curse was wiped away, everything could begin with a clean slate. So why do I still feel some kind of peril waiting in the shadows? she wondered. Something was still wrong, not finished. Uneasiness lingered, but she refused to listen. She wanted to be happy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The plane landed at terminal E in Logan Airport early in the morning. Emilie sent a text message to her sister checking to see if she was awake. Michelle replied, telling them she was awake and on her way to pick them up.

  Emilie and Jeremy walked blindly through customs, retrieved their bags, and then waited a few minutes on the sidewalk until a shiny black BMW pulled up. Her sister was behind the wheel, a beautiful young woman with long legs, short spikey hair, and a mischievous face. She jumped out of her car, ran to Emilie, and hugged her excitedly.

  “Em, I am so happy to see you.” Michelle let go and looked her sister up and down. “You look terrible.”

  Emilie side glanced at Jeremy. “Thanks, Michelle. This is Jeremy. Jeremy, my crazy sister Michelle.”

  “Wow, look at the two of you. You look exhausted, but you still make a handsome couple,” Michelle said, brimming with too much energy. “Let’s go out for breakfast and get some much-needed coffee.”

  She drove them to a small cafe near her condo, which was an old factory transformed into up-market housing in East Cambridge. “This cafe serves an excellent breakfast,” she told them.

  Emilie smelled the coffee as soon as they stepped through the doorway, and began to wake up a bit. They all slid into a booth and looked over the menu, sorting out what they were going to eat. The waitress walked over. “What can I get you?”

  “Coffee all around,” Michelle said.

  The waitress scribbled on a pad, as they all gave her their food order. When she walked away, Michelle dug right in with questions.

  “Okay – I am really glad to see you, but I need answers. And I don’t want to pry but, Em, you have to tell me what the hell you’re doing here. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving Memphis this morning to have breakfast here in Boston? We need to plan better.”

  Emilie smiled for a moment, and gave Jeremy an all-knowing grin. He was being a good sport.

  “We’re not arriving from Memphis, we just flew in from France,” Emilie said.

  “France. Get out! What the hell were you doing there? Did you two have a romantic fling? Tell me you didn’t elope. Oh my God! And you didn’t even let me in on the plan, your only sister. How could you do this to me?”

  “Whoa, hold up there, Michelle. We didn’t get married, and I have no idea why you jumped to that conclusion. I’d never do something major like that and not tell you.”

  Emilie hung her head, embarrassed. She wondered what Jeremy would think of that leap. “We needed to go to France last minute. It was business, family business.”

  “Well, thank you for that. Did you hear her, Jeremy? I need to know before you do anything like steal my sister away.”

  Jeremy held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I heard. Don’t even put me in the middle of this one. You’ll be the first to know, once we decide anything. Satisfied?”

  “Well, then why were you two in France?” Michelle gave Emilie that look, pleading with her blue eyes for more information. Emilie pulled her hair behind her ears, tugging a bit, as she tried to find the words.

  “Okay, Michelle, here’s the story. Just be forewarned, you’re not going to like it.”

  “Wow, don’t oversell it, Emilie,” Michelle quipped.

  “Well, remember the curse I told you about, the one we were asking Miss Boniverre about?”

  Michelle nodded, her eyes intent. Emilie knew her sister wasn’t going to believe her, but she had decided a while ago that she was always going to tell the truth.

  “Well turns out…” she stammered, “well it appears the curse is real after all. So Jeremy and I went to Florida and then to France to end it.”

  “Excuse me?” Michelle said.

  “Well, we found out that the best way to end the curse was to burn the remains of the two men who actually made that pledge ages ago. You remember, Miss Boniverre talked about the chief and the sea warrior. The sea warrior turned out to be one of our ancestors, Captain Dominique de Gourgues. Father Eddie said we should cremate every last bone, and the effigies used in the ceremonies, too. To end the curse.”

  Michelle sat quietly and listened, blinking as she seemingly tried to make sense of Emilie’s words.

  “We went to Florida first, found the burial midden, and burned the chief’s bones. Then we went to France, found the remains of our ancestor, the captain, and burned his bones, too. So, now the curse should be broken, and lifted off our family. No one will ever die from it again, like Mother did. Robert can get married without worrying about having his wife die on him. Father can stop obsessing over it all, and we can all go back to normal.”

  Emilie finished and sipped her coffee. They sat quiet a minute, as Michelle tried to absorb the story. She appeared to be having a hard time swallowing any of it; in fact, she looked stunned.

  “You realize this is the most bizarre tale, like, ever. You two must be crazy, to go to such extreme lengths.” She shook her head. “My sister and her boyfriend are out of their minds.”

  “Well,” Emilie said, searching for some way to convince her. “Here’s something you might like. Maybe this will help you believe.”

  Emilie pulled the antique brooch from her purse and unwrapped it. “This was in the mausoleum, on the captain’s cloak.”

  “You took this off a dead guy?! You can’t really believe in all this stuff? Guys, there’s no such thing as curses. Listen, I’m glad you had some fun during this treasure hunt of yours, but really you can’t believe that a curse existed in the first place, or that it was the reason for Mother’s death.”

  She took a deep breath and looked as if she was trying to piece things together, frustrated by an idea she couldn’t fathom.

  “You two are lucky you weren’t arrested with all the fires you started. Emilie, I think you need some serious help – you’re out of your mind.”

  Expecting her sister to say something like this, Emilie didn’t blame her for doubting, but she was determined to get her to understand somehow. “Yes, I do believe it. And so does Father, and Father Eddie, and Steve, too.”

  “Steve? That old anthropologist friend of yours?” Michelle asked.

  “It doesn’t matter. The only important thing to know is that we took care of it, finis! It is over, so no harm done,” Emilie said. She waved her hand in the air as if she’d just finished a magic trick. Jeremy cleared his throat, ducking his head a tad as he mumbled a comment.

  “Uh, no harm except that we destroyed some priceless anthropological relics and disrupted people’s graves.”

  “Yeah, yeah, well, besides that. Whose side are you on, anyway?” she said.

  Emilie smirked at Jeremy, and he smiled back. She loved it when he smiled at her like that. Her mind began wandering, dazed by his grin. Michelle just shook her head, noticing her sister’s obvious infatuation. She snapped her fingers in front of her sister’s face.

  “Snap out of it, girl!” Michelle said.

  “Sorry. I guess we’re punchy from sleep deprivation.”

  “Okay then, you two will crash at my place the rest of the day while moi finishes a project at work.”

  “Sounds good, but we need to fly to Memphis this evening. I need to talk
with Father,” Emilie said.

  “No problem. I’ll arrange for the family jet to be ready, and will call Evans to have the car pick us up later.”

  “You’re coming home?”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” Michelle laughed. “A good show is about to go down.”

  An hour later, Emilie settled into Michelle’s spare bedroom for a well-deserved rest, snuggled up next to Jeremy. They slept soundly. Sleeping a good part of the day, she was exhausted by the constant flux between anxiety and relief. She woke just as Michelle returned home.

  “Get dressed. We need to leave in thirty minutes,” Michelle barked.

  Emilie hurried and showered, feeling human again. With the heavy burden of the curse gone, she was in a wonderful mood. Jeremy and Michelle were packed and ready to go when she emerged from the bathroom. They drove to the airport and flew to Memphis, landing in time for supper. Emilie couldn’t wait to tell her father the news, sure that he’d be relieved, too.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  They landed at the Memphis airport, where a car awaited. Twenty minutes later, the limo pulled up the driveway of the de Gourgues estate. Evans and Nina appeared from the porch and pulled the bags out of the trunk before Emilie, Michelle, and Jeremy were even out of the car. Emilie was glad to be home.

  They heard shouting when they stepped onto the porch. The three of them went through the foyer and into the front parlor, where they found Robert and Father arguing. The two men went silent as soon as the three of them entered the room.

  “Wow! I sure know how to make a room go quiet,” Michelle said. She walked over to her brother and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Hello, big brother!”

  Then she turned to Father and gave him a quick hug. “Hello, Father. It’s nice to see you.” She seemed nervous, and Emilie wondered if more was going on with her sister than she was letting on.