Tara Trott and the cursed ring

Tara trott and the cursed ring Chapter 1

He was tall and dark, with a short cropped beard which made him look older than he actually was. He was smoking a pungent smelling pipe and was smiling.

"Hello. Are you a friend of the Bungards?"

"Nancy, Nancy Parker; I wouldn't say I'm a friend of theirs, no."

"I'm a friend of theirs, I'm...."

"Nancy! Stop bothering Sir Laxton Quindell! He's had a very traumatic time of it on the cruise and now he's lost his luggage too. He really doesn't want to be involved in pointless conversation with you!" shouted Valerie, squeezing the bulging suitcase shut by sitting on it.

"On the contrary Mrs Bungard, I would very much like to have a chat with the delightful Nancy here."

He held out his hand and took Nancy's hand into his own. She noticed the ring immediately. It was huge. It was a square signet ring which had an unusual stone set in it which had an engraved symbol of the Ouroboros and strange swirling symbols. The stone itself was very dark green, almost black, and had flecks of red, which looked like spots of blood on it. There seemed to be some damage to the stone. Nancy was mesmerised by it and couldn't stop staring at it.

"You like my ring?" he asked, smiling.

"It's unusual. It looks like its got blood on it."

"There's a story behind it. The stone is called a 'blood stone', and yes, those flecks of red do look like blood which is where it gets its name. But the story, if you believe it, says these flecks are real blood. It's said to be cursed this ring; it brings bad luck and misfortune to anyone wearing it or within a close distance to it. All nonsense of course. Superstition. A past owner was shot, which is what people say damaged the stone. He was shot in a duel, but before he died of his wounds, he cursed the ring and all who would ever wear it or have it in their possession. My wife died on our Honeymoon. She fell off our Hotel balcony. Of course, people were quick to blame the ring, but I'm still here. It's just superstition and stories," he threw his head back and laughed.

"How did you get the ring?" asked Nancy, now looking at it warily and taking a step back.

"I inherited it. It's been in my family for generations and all have lived to a ripe old age. Now Nancy, what do you do for a living?"

"She's the Village gossip! She does nothing but spread all manner of gossip right round the Village under the guise of cleaning! She'll tell everyone about the ring now and no doubt add her own bits to it to make it more interesting! She can't keep her mouth shut, she's a trouble maker."

Sir Laxton Quindell's face grew noticeably darker.

"Surely you wouldn't gossip about the ring? I wouldn't want you to draw attention to it. I've already lost my wife and my luggage. I wouldn't want someone to steal my ring on top of everything; it's very valuable you see. Will you keep it to yourself?" his almost black eyes bored into Nancy's and she actually felt quite afraid of him and the ring.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Valerie smirked "We've heard that before! I don't know how many..."

"Excuse me? Geoffrey? I really must say something about all this....laundry....littering our lane!" said Professor Rummage, walking towards them.

"Oh, welcome home Valerie! This is ridiculous! You don't think we've done it on purpose do you? Our suitcases just burst, but it's not even our luggage!"