Beep beep beep. I clenched my eyes, willing the alarm clock to turn off. Just another five minutes of pretending Betty and I were just two teenagers in love. Unfortunately time stops for no man so I was forced to get up. Betty helped me make the three of us a hardy breakfast, inspiring my dad who looked a lot better today to suggest we keep better food in the house for her and I to cook with. It didn't seem to bother him that Betty had stayed the night, again. She probably felt like as much of a permanent fixture around here to him as she was to me. It was like she has said yesterday, we were family. I smiled, genuinely smiled, at that.
"I'm taking the truck again dad. We have something we need to check out."
"You two stay safe, alright? I see those scars, however small, on your face Jug. And you keep our girl out of trouble, you hear me? I'll never here the end of it from Alice if you don't." He was just as concerned but he wasn't ready to say that out loud, I could tell.
The two of us piled into the truck and we just looked at each other, wordlessly. She nodded and we took off down the road. While Thornhill Manor was in the rich part of town, it was technically slightly out of town. Their property was huge, and covered in maple trees. We pulled over nearby and hid the truck behind a large group of bushes. They had a locked gate at the front of their property and we had no intention of wasting time trying to get through that in a big old Ford.
We peered into the driveway and noticed that the main car was gone, so we slid through the fence and walked right up, knocking on the door. It took about five minutes but finally somebody answered. It was just the lady we were looking for and her old eyes came to life upon seeing Betty.
"Polly, how wonderful of you to visit! You sure are smart, though, waiting around for Clifford and Penelope to leave. Come in child." So I guess this would have been Betty's great aunt, technically, through her marriage into the Blossom family.
She sat us down for tea and she rested her hand upon Betty's.
"Between you, me, and Cheryl, I really feel like we're the only ones who were truly heartbroken by this travesty. I really do appreciate you coming to check up on me. We're family, you and I. Sometimes I feel like I'm treated as merely a ghost here, though don't let Clifford know I said that. It's a shame. This house used to be so full of life. They're right, now it is filled with ghosts, just not the ones they think. Oh and it looks like you've brought a friend with you. Is that Chic?" I was taken back and I could only assume Betty was, too.
"No, no. We have no idea where Chic is. This is Jughead Jones. He's the one they're blaming the murder on but you have to believe me when I say it's not him."
She looked up at me with scanning eyes. "Of course not. Doesn't everybody know who killed Jason? Well it's only expected to be swept under the rug, just like last time. It's a shame. Maybe I married into the wrong family, this one is cursed. I don't know if the bloodshed will ever stop, and now I'm much too old and frail to do anything about it. I truly am sorry, Polly. I wanted nothing more than for you and Jason to be happy. The only thing left to live for is those babies." She started to cry and Betty went to console her. I wandered around the house, finding Jason's room with ease. I checked around and found an envelope under his mattress. Suddenly a bell rang, signalling that the next hour had arrived. I paled. The Blossoms could be back at any moment. I ran back into the entertaining room.
"We have to go. Now." Betty got up but turned around when we reached the door.
"It was nice seeing you. Please don't tell anyone we were here."
"Of course dear, your secret is safe with me."
We ran as fast as we could but we were too late. We dove into the barn to the left of the driveway to hide as the homeowners got back from church. Inside were barrels upon barrels of maple syrup.
"What's that smell?" I went over to a barrel and light tapped the sides. The sound didn't bounce all the way to the bottom. I twisted and barrel and underneath was a black bag. Once we opened it, I had to cover Betty's mouth the muffle the scream. There were drugs, gun, diamond, the lot of it. Right next to it was a picture of a scorpion. Betty started to dry heave. I put it back how it was before and I gently escorted her out the back. We followed the trees to the property line and crawled through the fence, eventually finding the truck. This was so much more than just a murder, and we were in a lot of trouble for finding it out.