Miss Nobody

Chapter 33

TEA & CURSES

Evening Day 18

"I can't believe you were able to bring her back." Elenora sawed at a piece of over cooked meat as she spoke to Bishop.

He was out of his uniform and looked very handsome. His light blue henley shirt brought out the slate in his eyes. His hair was combed and curled slightly at the ends. I had never noticed how handsome he was when he was in his uniform. Cops made me nervous.

He smiled. "Right place, right time. A few minutes later and we may have never seen Jane again." He chewed on his steak.

"Is that right? Fortune must be favoring us this eve. Mayhap we push our luck with some Bridge after dinner?" Elenora looked at Susan across the table.

Susan nodded in delight, bouncing a little in her chair then stilled quickly.

"Sorry, I'm late." Keiran rushed into the room before noticing me. He stopped short and hesitated briefly before moving a small marble necklace underneath his shirt and sighing. Is that what he traded me for to Maracella? He sat next to the Sheriff across the table from me.

"Mr. Zantana and Mr...Zantana have been looking for you," Keiran told me.

I blinked at him.

Keiran turned to his uncle. "You didn't tell them you knew where she was?"

Bishop smiled at me. "She's entitled to her privacy."

Elenora noticed the odd exchange and turned to me, she whispered, "flashed your kitty kat to too many, and now all the Toms want a piece?"

I was too stunned to speak.

"You should tell Jane about the town's curse, Sister," Bishop changed the subject quickly.

I watched Keiran out of the corner of my eye, my heart beating rapidly. What exactly is your plan here? I have my knife in my boot. So you're going to stab him in front of the Sheriff? I needed answers first.

"No one knows when the curse was put over the town but between the hours of midnight and three in the morning the town disintegrates. Aging hundreds of years in a matter of minutes."

"Like some apocalyptic horror game," Keiran added.

"It's best to be in bed at that point." Bishop's smile was friendly but mischievous.

Was the Sheriff flirting with me? "Chef kept me so busy, I never noticed." I caught his grey eyes but my heart pounded thinking about how I was going to get Keiran alone and if I would have to kill him quickly or if I would have time to torture him slowly. He had answers to my past and I needed to know them.

Elenora leaned back in her throne-like chair and told Susan, "Why don't you make us that tea I like, the one with the hint of Jasmine."

"Yes friend," Susan replied and left the dining room.

"The Caswell family goes back many generations, among the first settlers in this area," Elenora dabbed at her mouth with a linen napkin.

"You mean the first colonizers," Keiran said.

Elenora turned to me, ignoring Keiran. "It was a hard time for everyone back then. Our great-grandmother many generations ago fell in love with one of the men from the original tribes of this area. When the settlers started eating each other to survive the winter, they helped some of the, smarter, survivors with food and warmth."

"Our great-grandmother was one of the survivors. One of the men fell in love with her. They lived happily together with his people, until they couldn't." Bishop took a drink.

"Some say it was our great-grandmother that put the curse on the town, pregnant and alone after what the gold miners did to her husband." Elenora shook her head.

Susan came back to the table carrying a tray of tea cups.

Elenora poured the tea into the cups and passed them around the table.

We all sipped the warm tea. It tasted like watered-down plants and I set it aside.

"I think it was through pure spite the Caswells succeeded and took over the town." Elenora laughed. "Over time the Caswell's owned most of the town. We don't anymore, sadly. After our mother died and my father disappeared, our estates went into a bit of disarray." She sipped her tea. "Nothing we can't recoup. Since you've come into our lives, our luck has been on its way up."

"Is there a way to break the curse?" I asked her, my vision spinning slightly. I set my butter knife down a little rougher than I intended and it clattered loudly on the plate.

She leaned toward me. "Now why would you want to do that?" Elenora twisted and spun.

I looked across the table and Keiran and the Sheriff were both fast asleep. I was dizzy and off balance.

Elenora laughed maniacally.

I pushed away from the table and tried to make my way to the door.

Susan blocked my path. She stood at least a foot and a half taller than me and was almost as wide.

"Chef gave you this tea, didn't he?" Elenora held my face in her claws. "You've built up a tolerance to the Belladonna. He knew about you, didn't he? Did he want you to close the Portal? Is that what he was training you for?"

"Training? Portal?" I didn't know what she was talking about. My tongue was heavy and thick in my mouth.

"No matter." She shoved me to Susan, who wrapped her arms tightly around me. Elenora grabbed the USB necklace from around my neck and put it around her wrinkled, skinny one.

Susan was a strong woman and my kicks to her shins had no effect.

"Take her to the tower. A few days will settle her down. Keiran can't have all the fun."

Susan carried me awkwardly up a staircase. Every struggle, every kick made her arms tighten around me. I was gasping for breath as we neared the top of the tower from how tight she was squeezing me. She tossed me into a bedroom and locked the door quickly behind me.

This time I did cry. I wept, I sobbed. I felt absolutely helpless and hopeless. Even if I were to escape, what would be the point? I was tired of fighting, running.