A Small Town

Chapter Twenty-Seven\ Family

           

The ancient wooden door stood at the end of the tunnel like something out of a fifties horror movie.  The effect was enhanced to almost comic proportions by the uneven glow cast by the match Sarah was holding. It was the last one, but they had made it to wherever the square markings were, leading.

After his amazement at finding he was at the bottom of the well, Bax had reluctantly allowed himself to be led away from the small beckoning circle of sky high above, and they had traipsed on for another hour or so still following the square path.  Twice he had heard Teddy somewhere behind them. First just the thumping of footfalls in the distance and then the echoing call of his own name.

"Baaaaaxxxxx-sssshhhh!"

Now Sarah grasped the huge door handle, gave him a wan smile and heaved it opened. The hinges creaked loudly and Bax had to suppress a nervous laugh. He half expected Vincent Price or Bela Lugosi to be standing on the other dressed as Dracula or the Wolfman.

"Move!" Sarah cried, and suddenly she pushed past him, jostling Lisa who gave a small groan. A moment later he heard a familiar metallic sound.

"Sugar!" Sarah cried, but then a strong bright light blossomed inside the room.

Lisa made another small sound, as Bax shifted her weight on his shoulder and he stepped through the doorway.

Sarah was standing by a table to his right with her fingers to her mouth, looking pained. On the table was a lantern, the same kind as the one that had stood on the bedside table in his room at the hotel. 

Sarah took her fingers out of her mouth and inspected them.

"Sorry about that," She said, "the match was almost finished and I had to get the lantern lit."

"It's okay... did you burn yourself?"

"A little..."

Bax took her hand and brought it into the light. The ends of her fingers were red and blistered.

"Shit..." He said, she must have been holding every match to the very end to be burned this badly.

Guilt washed over him in a huge wave. What kind of a man am I? He thought.  He had the urge to hold her then, to kiss the tips of her fingers and take the hurt away. As soon as the image came he saw the absurdity of it... sanding with Lisa slung over one shoulder kissing Sarah's fingertips in the dark. Nor would Sarah accept such a gesture, no matter how innocent his intention.

The awkwardness of the moment was not lost on Sarah who gently pulled her hand out of his and picked up the lantern. She raised it up over her head to show him where they were.

The room was at least twenty feet square with brick walls and a rough stone floor. Lining most of the walls were shelves covered in cobwebs and years of dust.

Sarah walked closer to the right wall and, with a start, Bax realized what he thought were shelves were actually wine racks. They were mostly empty but Sarah crouched down and retrieved a dust-covered bottle and handed it to him.

He wiped it off and stared dumbfounded at the handwritten label, 'LeTourneau 1879'

He turned to Sarah, "We're in Agathe's house?"

She nodded. "We should be safe here, Teddy can't get in..."

"I dunno... that door's pretty old..."

Sarah had sat down on the floor with her back against the wall and the lantern beside her. Her eyes were closed.

"I gotta tell you, in a way I'm relieved," Bax said, smiling crookedly. "I'd convinced myself this was something supernatural... the LeTourneau Witch or at least her ghost, taking vengeance on the town... but it was Teddy. Poor fucked up Teddy. It makes sense too, I mean look at the guy with his face all screwed up. I'd be pissed off at the world if I was him..."

Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at him as if he were the stupidest man on earth.

"You don't believe that," she snarled, "you saw the same thing I saw. That tree, a tree with a... well you know... and your, what do you call her, your barn owl ready to... with that branch!  Oh, Teddy is part of this, a big part, but not because he's just some nut with half a face and bad case of the why me's. There's a face on that tree and it's teddy's face. That gash on the tree is old, as old as Agathe Letourneau and we both know why its there. The townspeople stopped her before she could... finish... and they killed her. Now Lisa's here a blood relative of Agathe... and your here... her lover, but also a long lost LeTourneau. That seems like a pretty big coincidence don't you think?"

Bax stared at her in disbelief. His mind was racing. "How... how do you know all of this? Even I didn't know I was related to Agathe until I saw Leo Hennessey's notes..."

"I left the envelope in your room, Bax! That detective stayed at the hotel and when he disappeared I found the papers. Didn't you read them? It's all there..."

Bax opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. He hadn't read them... had only really looked at the family tree and been horrified to learn that he and Lisa were related. He was the great-grandson of Agathe's sister Marriett and Lisa was Pastor Black's daughter. They were cousins, second or third cousins but still... Suddenly it all made sense. Sarah had never been jealous of his relationship with Lisa. She knew they were related, that they were guilty of incest, and she was disgusted.

"And now the last piece of the puzzle Mr Baxter," she said his name as though it was covered with filth. 

"120 years ago Agathe LeTourneau was pregnant... how much do you want to bet me that your precious barn owl is too? I'd be willing to bet the farm on that and I would win, don't you think, Jeffrey?"