Chapter Twenty-Two
Daisy
“Has anyone talked to Wade today?” I ask, clutching the accordion folder that was found in the safe to my chest.
It was the only thing in there, but inside of it are a lot of papers. Hopefully, there is something in here that can help us.
“He was still working on the fence,” Gus says.
“Still in a mood,” Rhett adds.
I nod, glancing at the door. “Let’s go over this in here.”
Gus closes the door as Rhett and I get comfortable on Grannie’s large bed. Gus joins us, and we sit in a circle around the folder.
I take a deep breath, looking up at them. “Are you ready for this?”
“We don’t even know what’s in there,” Rhett says.
Gus sighs. “He’s right. It could be nothing.”
Nodding, I reach for the elastic band and remove it, then open it to pull out the first slot of papers.
Gus and Rhett’s gaze is firmly on me as I flip through the papers.
“It’s stuff from my parents’ death. Report. Obituary. My mom’s birth certificate,” I say, an ache forming in my chest. I’ve never seen any of these before—other than the obituary—so it’s hitting me a little hard.
I move on to the next slot.
My birth certificate. Court papers. Custody Orders. I’ve also seen all of these multiple times.
Next is property and house information, stuff I already have from the lawyer.
There are receipts for the animals and some other large purchases—like farming equipment.
And then, in the second to last slot, I pull the few papers out and they just feel different.
Heavier. Scratchier. They make my fingers tingle.
I pause before looking at them and instead look up at the guys. Their eyes are slightly wide, and it’s like they can feel it too—that these are different. That the air around us is charged and tense.
I clear my throat, then turn the pages over.
At the top, in old script, is Curse by Naomi.
The rest of the form is in typewriter font, as if someone simply put this into an old typewriter and wrote this out.
“Is that it?” Gus says impatiently.
I give a small nod and read.
“Receipt and contract. One two-part curse with trigger words.” I scoff. “This is written like it was purchased at a store.”
“Keep going,” Rhett says firmly, staring at the binder, unable to look at me.
“This contract is a binding agreement between Agnes Magdola Merrimack and Naomi Westwitch. This contract will include one two-part lifetime curse with trigger words. The subjects of said curse shall be all current and future male parties of the Stanton, Heathrow, and Cranston families, hereafter referred to as the Bound Men—” I stop and scan the rest of the page.
“Keep going,” Rhett says, this time even more firmly. Almost angrily, though I know it isn’t at me.
“Here, just read it,” I say, offering the papers to him.
I scan the page, and it’s a lot for me to read out loud. It’s best they look it over themselves. It’s important and sort of private. They don’t need me reading it out loud.
Gus takes the papers, offering them to Rhett, when he doesn’t take them himself from me. He finally takes them, and Gus scoots closer. I watch their eyes flick back and forth over the paper.
No doubt reading about the trigger word stipulations and the secrecy clause—which I barely took a word from. This all feels very icky. I can’t believe it’s real, but beyond that… I can’t believe Grannie did this.
Rhett flips to the next page.
“There,” Gus says, pointing at it.
Rhett reads aloud. “The first part of the curse will be lifted when the cursed considers staying on the property.” He pauses, taking a shaky breath before continuing. “The second and final part of the curse will be lifted when the cursed has a reason not to leave the property.”
“So, we were right,” Gus says, looking at me. He then looks at Rhett. “I was right.”
Rhett shakes his head. “Then why can’t I leave?”
“Maybe because you want to,” Gus says.
Rhett frowns, looks at me, then toward the door. He drops the paper on the bed and hurries for it.
“Wait!” I call, going after him.
He speeds down the stairs and out the front door, jogging for the main road. By the time I catch up to him, he’s standing in the middle of it, staring towards Main Square.
I stop at the property line, and Gus is there a moment later.
He takes my hand, holding it tightly, as we watch Rhett make his decision.
Is he going to go, or is he going to stay? Will he run for it or will he turn back?
Part of him must want to stay, or he wouldn’t have been able to leave at all.
But that doesn’t mean he will. It doesn’t mean he will choose me… or this farm.
“He wanted to stay,” Gus says softly. “Enough that it broke the curse.”
I can’t say anything. There’s a lump in my throat that I can’t speak past.
Rhett takes a step forward, just one, then he stops and bows his head. I go to him, sliding my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.
“It’s okay,” I say. “If you’re scared. It’s a lot. We can go together.”
He nods, hugging me back.
“We have to tell Wade,” he whispers.
“We can’t tell Wade,” Gus says as he stops beside us. “It won’t work if we do. We know that for sure now.”
“Then how do we get him to do this?” Rhett asks. “How do we make him choose to stay?”
“Maybe… we put the idea in his head,” Gus says.
“How do we do that?” I ask.
“We tell him we aren’t going anywhere,” Gus suggests. “He cares about us enough that he may consider staying.”
I look up at Gus, who smiles down at me.
“I don’t know…” Rhett says, running a hand through his hair. “He—”
Honk! Honk!
I squeal as Gus grabs us both and pulls us out from the middle of the road.
“Get out of the road, you heathens!” the old man in the blue pick-up truck shouts as he drives past.
The three of us share a concerned look, and then we all start to laugh.
As we walk back to the house, we formulate a plan. One that will hopefully get Wade to break the curse all on his own… sort of.