Chapter 7, Choose your Path
Nina
My mouth dropped open as they told me about Anna, Emily, and Malcolm. "We have to find out what happened!" I said immediately.
"Well how do you suggest we do that?" Patricia asked scornfully.
Fabian looked thoughtful. "Why wouldn't she remember her own murderer?"
For a moment, we were all silent. "Maybe she was poisoned?" Eddie asked.
"But then how can we hope to find out who did it?" Fabian countered. "There has to be something more going on here!"
I pressed my lips together hard in thought. "What if we ask some of the people around here?" I said tentatively.
*.*
Nina
We stood in the freezing post office, listening to the hum of voices in the bright but empty room. Patricia had told both me and Eddie to just not comment on any accents we heard, and we had complied. But, they all commented on our accents. A very Jerome-ish thought came to mind. It wasn't fair they got to tell us all about our accents when we couldn't say a word about theirs! I pushed the strange thought away, frowning. My hands were stuffed deep into the dark wool pockets of my coat, hoping to retain some warmth. Patricia was uncomfortably wearing several layers of her gothic clothing, even though it actually would have looked cooler with just a regular coat.
Eddie was snickering about something with Fabian while we stood at the edge of the queue, trying to strike a conversation up with someone. Finally, a middle aged woman came bustling down. "Well, hello." she greeted us.
"Hello miss-ma'am," Fabian stuttered.
"I'm Nina," I introduced myself.
For the first time, she didn't comment on our accents as Patricia and Eddie introduced themselves. "Alison," she told us. "Now, what are you doing standing around in the cold?"
"W-we wanted to find out a little about local history," Patricia stammered. "For a project. For school." she added.
"It's Christmas break," she eyed us suspiciously.
"We're very hardworking," Eddie put in.
I almost sighed. This woman was obviously not stupid, so we shouldn't try and treat her like she was. But to my surprise she just nodded, although she narrowed her eyes. "What did you want to know?"
"Emily Penn," Fabian blurted out all in a rush.
The woman took a step back. "Why do you want to know about her? She was murdered!"
"W-we..." This time it was me that stuttered, trying to think of a good reason. "We were... curious..." I finished lamely.
*.*
Patricia
After half an hour of coaxing, we found out a bit more about Emily Penn, and Anna too. Malcolm remained mostly a mystery.
The story drifted back to me.
Emily Penn was about to be married to Malcolm Allan, when she died unexpectedly. A group of boys found her at the bottom of a sheer side of the mountain, looking as if she had been running or had been pushed. Malcolm Allan became unstable after that. Anna Penn died of a head injury after she was found lying in a shack in the woods, near Malcolm Allan's house. It looked like someone had attacked her with a hammer. She spent the last two hours of her life not knowing what had happened, or who had attacked her. Eventually she died, leaving a murder hanging after her.
I shuddered. No wonder Anna wanted to know who murdered her.
Before I knew it, my head was pressed against the polished mahogany desk in the living room, and I was sleeping.
I stood before a shack in the woods. Looking down at myself, I realized that I had a dress on. Looking at my hair, I realized it was blonde and curly; like Anna's I realized with a shock.
"Choose your path carefully through the woods, Anna. The cat got lost a while back, choosing the wrong path." I heard a voice echoing through my head, and somehow I knew it was Emily Penn's. I heard footsteps and whirled around, seeing a dark form with a hammer emerging from the shadows.
"NO!" I screamed. "DON'T HURT ME!"
I remembered a throbbing pain through my head and the hammer swinging down, seeming as if it would crush me.
I woke with a start. "Eddie!" I called out.
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~Iceshadow~