The Burning Read online

  Tattered, brown-stained pages held the scrawled handwriting of his ancestors. Daniel’s eyes eagerly rolled over names and dates, births and deaths.

  He saw the date 1692 and read the names Matthew and Benjamin Fier. Wickham, Massachusetts Colony.

  Our name was spelled differently then, Daniel realized. I wonder when the change was made— and why.

  His eyes eagerly searched the page, reading about other Fiers. So many early deaths, Daniel realized, narrowing his eyes and lowering the candle as he struggled to make out the dates. So many deaths, sometimes two or three at a time.

  Bent over the old volume, he turned the page excitedly, his eyes running down the names and dates. Suddenly the candle flickered.

  Strange, Daniel thought. There is no breeze in this tiny room.

  The candle flickered again.

  Had someone else entered the room?

  Daniel started to turn as a cold hand was tightly clamped over his mouth.

  Chapter 27

  Daniel 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.

  Chapter 28

  Daniel staggered back, nearly toppling over. “Where is she?” he cried, staring
in horror at the boarded-up store. “Where has she gone?”

  He stood, trying to make sense of his frantic, rambling thoughts, trying to decide what to do next.

  How could she disappear overnight? Vanish into thin air?

  As he stood in shock and dismay, a voice floated toward him, calling him, “Daniel! Daniel!” Nora’s voice!

  He uttered a low cry of surprise, then held his breath, listening hard.

  Again he heard her voice. Again he heard her calling his name from far away, so far away. So faint and far away that it could be the wind. Or his imagination.

  “Daniel! Daniel!”

  “Nora, I hear you!” he cried frantically. “Where are you? Where?”

  He listened again. It is my imagination, he decided miserably.

  His shoulders slumped forward. The sky darkened. He felt like collapsing into the dirt.

  “Daniel! Daniel!”

  The faint, faraway cries were going to drive him mad.

  “Daniel! Daniel!”

  Desperately Nora called to him, pounding on the frame of her bedroom window above the store until her fists throbbed with pain.

  “Look up! Why won’t you look up?” she pleaded, watching Daniel, his face darkened by shock and grief.

  “Daniel! Daniel! Up here!” she screamed.

  Finally he glanced up. Finally he saw her. “Nora!” She could hear his happy cry through the glass.

  Wiping away her tears, she pointed frantically to the narrow balcony outside her second-floor window. It took him only a few seconds to realize she wanted him to climb the drainpipe to the balcony.

  She watched as he tossed his heavy coat to the ground, grabbed the pipe with both hands, and began to pull himself up.

  Behind him, she saw, the village square stood empty, except for a large yellow hound dog sleeping in the middle of the street. “Hurry! Please hurry!” Nora begged, her hands pressed against the thick windowpane.

  A short while later he was standing outside her window, breathing hard. He stared in at her tearstained face. “Nora, what has happened?” he demanded. ‘Open the window!”

  “I cannot!” she called out to him. “My father has locked it! I am locked in my room!”

  She watched him grip the frame and struggle to pry the window up. It wouldn’t budge.

  With a loud groan he pressed his shoulder against the glass and leaned with all his weight. The pane remained in place.

  Nora leapt back as Daniel heaved his shoulder into the pane again. She cried out as the glass fell into her room. It landed flat at her feet without shattering.

  With a happy cry Daniel burst through the popening and swept Nora into his arms.

  “Daniel! Daniel, I thought I would never see you again!” Nora cried, pressing her damp cheek against his.

  He hugged her tight. “Nora, what has happened? Why has your father locked you in here?”

  She held on to him for a moment, as if proving to herself that he was solid, that he was real. “Father locked me in to make sure I would never see you again. He has gone to the next town to make arrangements. He is taking us far away, Daniel. Far away.”

  Daniel uttered a cry of surprise. “But why, Nora?”

  “He found out that you are a Fear,” Nora replied, her body trembling, tears rolling down her flushed cheeks.

  “So you know!” Daniel said, feeling his pulse throb at his temples. “You know I am a member of that cursed family!”

  “I know, and I do not care!” Nora declared. “I love you, Daniel! I do not care anything about your family or its past!”

  “I love you, too, Nora!” Daniel cried, and they embraced again. “But you must know the story of our families. You must know all about the curse.”

  “No! Take me away from here!” Nora pleaded, her voice trembling. “For Father will never allow us to be together. He will be back in an hour or two. And then—”

  “That is time enough for me to tell the story,” Daniel insisted. “And then we will be married!”

  “Yes!” Nora agreed, squeezing his hand. “Oh, yes, Daniel!” They kissed.

  Holding her hands tightly, Daniel revealed to Nora the tragic history of the Fears and the Goodes. She listened in horrified silence, leaning her head against his shoulder.

  “So many deaths, so much murder and betrayal,” she murmured when Daniel had finished.

  “Does this mean that you will not marry me?” he asked, his eyes burning into hers.

  “We must be married at once,” she replied breathlessly. “We must end the curse forever.”

  Daniel cried out in happiness. “I passed by the house of the town justice on my way here. I know he will marry us now!”

  Nora’s smile faded. She gazed at him uncertainly. “But, Daniel, we have no ring to bind the ceremony.”

  Daniel let go of her hand. His expression turned thoughtful. “No ring …” he muttered, frowning. “Oh. Wait!” He reached behind his neck and pulled off the silver three-clawed pendant. “This will serve as a ring, Nora!” he proclaimed excitedly.

  “What a strange object!” Nora cried, staring at it. “Where did you get it?”

  “It is of no concern,” Daniel replied excitedly. “It will serve as a ring.” He raised the silver disk to slip the chain around her neck.

  As she arranged the pendant, Nora felt a sudden surge of heat at her chest and thought she saw flames rising up around the room. The strange image lasted only a few seconds. When it cleared, Daniel was pulling her by the hand toward the window to make their escape.

  “Tonight is my grandfather Simon’s seventy-fifth birthday party,” Daniel told her, helping her onto the tiny balcony outside the window. “We will announce our marriage at the party!”

  “Oh, Daniel!” Nora cried, lingering at the window. “What will your grandfather say? What if our announcement angers him or makes him unhappy?”

  “He can only be joyful that a centuries-old curse has ended,” Daniel replied, smiling, his dark eyes flashing excitedly. “Come, Nora. Hurry! Tonight will be a night we will long remember!”

  Chapter 29

  That night Daniel walked with his new bride through the gloomy halls of his grandfather’s mansion.

  “Daniel, this house … it frightens me,” Nora whispered.

  “We shall not stay long, dear wife,” Daniel told her, squeezing her hand. “We will leave after the birthday party. I promise. We will not even stay the night.”

  Nora stayed close by his side as he led her through the dark corridors of Simon Fear’s house. “The house is so dark, so cold,” she whispered.

  “Try not to think gloomy thoughts,” he urged as the pantry came into view. “After all, we are married. And after a few hours we never need return to this dreary place again.”

  Mrs. MacKenzie and more than a dozen helpers, hired from another town for the evening, were bustling about the kitchen, preparing the food and drink for the birthday party. But the old housekeeper stopped to stare as Daniel led Nora into the room.

  “Mrs. MacKenzie, this is my wife, Nora,” Daniel announced, unable to keep a wide, excited grin from his face.

  “Nora Goode,” the old woman muttered, studying Nora intently with her one good eye. Then she smiled, too. “I wish you both joy,” she said.

  “Please take care of Nora while I attend to my grandparents,” Daniel asked, still holding his bride’s hand. “When the time is right, I plan to announce our marriage.”

  He turned before the housekeeper could react and hurried to greet Simon and Angelica in the ballroom.

  Daniel stopped in surprise at one entrance to the ballroom.

  Where are the guests? he asked himself.

  The enormous room was empty. Hundreds of glimmering candles sent a wash of pale light over the walls, festooned with white and yellow flowers.

  Daniel’s footsteps echoed loudly in the vast emptiness as he crossed the room to greet his grandparents.

  The party was scheduled to have begun more than an h
our ago, he remembered. Was it possible that no one had come?

  As far as Daniel had been able to tell during the weeks of his visit, his grandparents had no friends. The Fear mansion had been closed to all visitors for thirty-five years.

  Did Simon and Angelica expect people to come? Had they invited anyone? Anyone besides Daniel?

  Daniel felt a chill of horror.

  Am I really the only guest at this eerie party?

  “Hello!” he called, trying to sound cheerful. But his voice echoed mournfully in the enormous empty space.

  His grandparents hovered near the door.

  Angelica wore a solemn-looking black dress more suited to a funeral than a birthday party. Her long white hair was tied behind her head with a black ribbon.

  Daniel hesitated and gaped at his grandmother.

  Angelica was going through the motions of welcoming guests. “So good to see you,” she repeated with a smile, nodding her head at empty air. “So nice of you to come.”

  Daniel swallowed hard. She has entirely lost her senses! he told himself, watching her smiling and carrying on a conversation with no one at all.

  Simon, his dark eyes glowing excitedly behind his spectacles, his face flushed in the candlelight, stared eagerly at the open doorway. He leaned forward in his wheelchair, an expectant smile frozen on his face, as if eager to see who would arrive next.

  Daniel took a deep breath. I guess I had better go along with the charade, he told himself with a shudder. “Happy birthday, Grandfather,” he called warmly, rushing up to the wheelchair and shaking Simon’s hand.

  Simon’s hand was as cold as ice. “Thank you, my boy,” he replied. “I am happy that at least one member of my family saw fit to attend this occasion,” he added with some bitterness.

  Daniel moved over to greet Angelica. “Did you come with the Bridgers?” she asked. She stared at him as if she had never seen him before.

  “You … uh … look lovely tonight, Grandmother,” Daniel managed to say.

  “Don’t just stand there. Why don’t you mingle with our guests?” Angelica demanded. She turned away from him and stuck out her gloved hand. “So good of you to come,” she gushed to no one at all. “And how are your lovely daughters?”