Isabel and the Cursed Hampshire House | ✎

Chapter 1

Tony coughed. Sweat covered his brow and dampened his hair. Isabel wiped his forehead with a damp cloth. The doctor had been by 3 times this week but his health continued to decline.

Isabel excused herself from the room, which was silly since he was the only other person there and he was undeniably unconscious. It was supposed to have been a weekend trip to visit Tony's family for Easter. It'd been years since they'd last been back. Then the night they arrived, Tony had fallen over in his chair and hadn't woken since.

Over the years, Isabel had attempted to organize other visits but Tony had always brushed them off. She'd assumed there was some family drama he'd been avoiding but upon their arrival, Tony had seemed genuinely pleased to see everyone. She guessed it was possible that he was putting on a show, but he never did have much of a poker face.

She stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She looked awful. Her dark brown hair was almost as greasy as Tony's and dark circles painted a half moon beneath each eye. She splashed water on her face. Her wedding band had gotten so loose on her finger that it had nearly fallen off when she wet her hands. Her superstitious half told her it was a portend of things to come, her rational half told her to eat a gosh darn meal today. But it was when she nearly fell asleep on the toilet that she admitted she needed a nap.

As she exited the restroom, she heard hushed voices around the corner. Isabel silently padded forward until she could hear her mother-in-law, Anna Grace, and her daughter, Becca, in a whispered argument.

Anna Grace said, "no it isn't. Don't talk like that. He'll be fine. He just needs some rest."

"Momma, stop it. You know this isn't some common cold. The doctor's throwing darts in the dark. He can't fix this."

Anna Grace raised her voice slightly, "what do you want me to do? Tell the doctor it's a curse?! What's that gonna help?"

There was silence for a moment.

"No... I just thought maybe..." Becca's voice broke. "maybe you knew something we could try." Muffled sobs drifted from the kitchen to Isabel.

Isabel left them to their sorrow, she had enough on her own. She trudged groggily off to her room. She currently shared a bedroom with Tony's youngest brother, Harvey, given that Tony might be contagious according to the doctor. She hadn't used the extra mattress in there yet, she'd been at Tony's side every hour of every day. Part of her hoped he was contagious, she wasn't ready to face a world without him.

Isabel gazed longingly at her bed but decided the sheets might make a run for it if she tried to lie down in her current state, she grabbed a pair of pajamas and made her way back to the bathroom.

Isabel flipped the fork shaped latch closed on the bathroom door. She found the eccentric touches around the house endearing. Tony's Great Grandpa Fernsby was a well known blacksmith. Almost all the gates and fences 'round these parts had been made by him. Exquisite gates, elaborate door knockers, unbreakable chains, ornate keys, sewing machines, vases, faucets, knobs, you name it. He did it all. Interestingly enough when it came to his own home, he seemed keen on reusing materials. At least three of the hall sconces were made from tin cans and the doorstop in this bathroom was actually just another doorknob mounted down low. The spiral staircase that went up to the cupola looked like a patchwork assembly of medieval swords. Metal was the only theme that tied it all together.

Isabel laid back in the tub. The water rumbled soothingly as it filled up and Isabel found herself relaxing. The doctor's words from earlier flowed back into her sleep deprived brain, all we can do now is wait and pray. She'd been praying, dear God, how she'd been praying. Then the memory of Anna Grace's whispered phrase shattered her calm, tell the doctor it's a curse?!