"Amos was convinced that Wendy would remember being Genevieve" Danny sighed "there was no arguing with him"
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"See, she recognized some of the things that were left. She commented as to why they were so worn out, how the colors were faded… she remembered the bright colors. She is remembering, Danny. I am convinced that she IS Genevieve come back to me."
"They are looking for Wendy. She is a kidnap victim. That means trouble…"
"When she remembers, she can reappear and explain… she is remembering. I talk to her in French, and she answers… she is not sure, but she remembers"
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"Of course, Wendy had had some French in High School, so she could answer simple questions… But Amos so wanted to believe…"
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"I only hope that she does not remember certain things too soon."
"What certain things?"
"That I killed her husband… It was justified. He was beating her accusing her of the most awful things and she was innocent… yes, she loved me, but she was faithful to him… But she saw me, all covered with blood"
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"He said it, and I saw his expression changed. No longer hopeful, no longer smiling. He was prey to dark memories…"
"And while this was going on, I got to take over Cole's investigation." Beverly interrupted , a bit irritated after all, it was HER story "He had carried his notes on him, and when the car burned, so did the notes. Lawson and the sheriff were stumped. But I remembered his comment about names repeating, and about the picnic area…I looked at the family history. And there it was.
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"I know it is crazy. But there is a pattern. Hannah Rathbone married Jacob Benchley, and had a son, Mark, and a daughter, Keziah. She died in a fire with her daughter. Then Annicka Rakosi married Frederick Benchley and had a son, George, and a daughter Lilah, and she too died in a fire with her daughter…. And there was an Ana Ramirez that would have married Thomas Benchley, except that he died in the Civil War. All those women name Anna in different form, and their last names beginning with Ra..
"But Ann Benchley has no daughter" Lawson interjected.' But… but I just heard from the sheriff... they are looking for a missing girl."
"Call the sheriff and tell him to go to the picnic area. NOW!
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"And he did. He saw that I was serious. And when we rode to the picnic area, I kept thinking that we may be late…that it would have happened"
"But you got there in time"
"Yes. Ann had made the girl lie on top of the grills. I do not know how she made her do it. Probably had some power, and was talking to Charlie. Telling him that he had a glorious heritage, come down through generations and after this sacrifice, he would be a full-fledged phoenix"
"Phoenix?"
"Yes, they got that right in the show. She was a phoenix. But they skipped the part about sacrificing the little girl. Too much for the audience to stomach… even if it made no sense to kill off her son and end her line there"
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Lawson and Beverly came closer, trying to catch her unawares. Then the sheriff came in as Ann began chanting
"Stop there!" the sheriff ordered her.
She turned and laughed. That's when Lawson and Beverly raced to where she was. She turned towards them and shot fire from her fingertips "You cannot stop me."
The sheriff fired a warning shot, which made her turn. It was fast. Lawson got the girl, and Beverly got Charlie, and pulled them out. Ann turned to them, angrily "Stop what you are doing!" There was more fire coming from her fingertips, another shot by the sheriff. Beverly grabbed the lighter fluid and threw it at her. The next time fire came out, it caught on her clothes. And….and she went down in flames.
"A phoenix? Lawson said as they were coming back." I thought that they were mythical…"
"Maybe she was crazy..."
"Or maybe she was the real thing. Hannah Rathbone, Ana Ramirez, Annicka Rakosi. Ann Radcliff. "Ann and Ra" the constant name pattern and the death in the fire dragging a little girl with her….too much coincidence. …too much of a pattern"
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"And that was the end of it. Or so we thought. We took the girl back to her family, who could not thank us enough, then we went to the bar, the three of us to celebrate, and to wonder if she was REALLY a phoenix or just disturbed. The sheriff could not believe in the supernatural, he said. Lawson believed and not believed at the same time. And me? I just said that the clue that Cole gave me led to an answer, and Cole knew what he was talking about. We did not convince each other, but we were happy."
"And Flynn?'
"He did not show up. I found out later why"
"OK, that was your moment of glory… why do they show these things out of sequence?" Danny grumbled "According to the show I did not show up until after that, and neither did Amos…and the story of him and Wendy, they did stretch it out, and made him much more vicious. Not just befuddled."
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"She will remember, Danny, she has to!"
"Maybe there is nothing to remember, Becky said that you are making a mistake?"
"Becky is here?"
"She said that his brother is making a mistake, a serious mistake"
"She is wrong. Wendy is Genevieve. She will remember"
He turned to Wendy who was still in a trance. "You are Genevieve. Genevieve Benchley…say it…you are Genevieve…"
"I am… I am Wendy Pruitt"
"No. You are Genevieve." He grabbed her arms and shook her… you have to understand, he is much stronger being what he is and he can miscalculate his strength. He shook her too strongly and she hit her head. She fell down… and while we were trying to wake her up, to make sure she was all right, she DID remember.: