The Murders of Cozy Hollow

Chapter 9 - The Girl in the Graveyard

Ed awoke disappointed. The ghost of Charlotte Beaumont had not visited him overnight. He started to think she'd been all in his head, but then again there was no playbook for undead spirits. A normal sensible person would pack up the house, grab the kids and move far away after seeing what he'd seen. Not Ed. He wasn't going anywhere. He was more determined than ever to figure out what really happened to Charlotte and her daughters. Even more importantly, he needed to find out what happened to Thaddeus Beaumont. Had he really ditched his car at the edge of town and walked into the woods to kill himself? Or had Thaddeus made it look that way but actually left Cozy Hollow behind to start a new life? Had he lived somewhere else under a different name for decades later? Was he still alive?

As usual, Will was up and cracking with Tank that morning. Ed worked on breakfast. To his utter surprise, Kurt walked into the kitchen in a good mood and before nine o'clock.

"Morning," said Ed. "You're up early. How'd you sleep?"

"Like a baby," said Kurt. "I was wrecked."

"Are you going back to the pool today?"

"Oh yes."

"Would that have anything to do with those twins you mentioned."

"Abby and Ally? Absolutely."

"Which one are you going to pick?" said Rex as he walked in.

"Why do I need to pick?"

"You can't have both of them."

"Why not?"

"Remember what I said about treating girls with respect?" said Ed.

"Treat every girl like you'd want every boy to treat your sister," said Kurt and Rex in perfect unison.

"But we don't have any sisters," said Will.

"Good point, little man," said Kurt.

"What if dad marries Amy Small?" said Rex. "Then Sophia would be our sister."

"Who said anything about me marrying Amy Small?" said Ed.

"Come on, dad," said Kurt. "She wants you. You should ask her out. She's cool."

"Who wants dad?" asked Joe, the last boy to make it to the kitchen.

"Nobody," said Ed. "Do my eyes deceive me or are all four of my sons sitting down for breakfast with me?"

"Pass the bacon," said Kurt.

Silence prevailed for at least ten minutes as the Stone men ate everything in sight. Ed enjoyed watching his boys eat. He loved his boys. Of course, he wished Olivia could have been sitting at the other end of the table. Maybe she was, he thought. With the prospect of a ghost in the house already, maybe Olivia could find a way back to him. He'd never believed in any of that stuff until now. Maybe he wanted to believe. Maybe he needed that hope to continue living. Something to hold onto.

Ed noticed Joe seemed a little off. His snarky son appeared preoccupied.

"Joe," said Ed. "You've hardly eaten a bite."

"I'm not hungry," said Joe.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I don't know, I didn't sleep too well. Can I stay home from the pool today and chill out?"

"I suppose that's okay."

"Who's gonna swim with me?" asked Will in a panic.

"Not to worry, Will, you're coming to work with me today and we're gonna walk over to the cemetery at lunch. We're gonna go look for the graves of Beaumont girls like we talked about."