Curse of Remorse

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  However, as Veronica was leaving she walked straight into Mrs. Gorn. She braced for an onslaught of words, but instead Mrs. Gorn said, “I am sorry for the way I’ve acted and want to issue you an apology. After losing my voice, I saw my life as it was and what it could have been if I hadn’t lost my ability to speak. If you need my help please let me lend it to you regardless of what it might be.”

  Veronica was so shocked she was almost speechless. Swallowing two times to moisten her throat she replied, “I accept your apology and would be glad to have your help. The first thing you can do is round up some seniors and have all stand by at the Senior Center. We may call upon them to lend some assistance later on today, but not until after lunch.”

  “Consider it done and thank you,” as she turned and walked purposefully in the direction of the Senior Center. Veronica stood and watched her and wondered what really happened to her: A new lease on life? Maybe she thought it was some punishment meant only for her and her bad attitude? Regardless, she thought, it is nice to see her with a change in life’s direction.

  Peter stayed behind and asked reverend Chris Goodfellow and his wife to stay for a few minutes to talk about an idea he had to share with him.

  While the waitress was cleaning up Peter suggested that a collection of minds interconnected would be worth an effort. He went on to explain that having the kids holding hands in a circle and the parents standing behind them placing one hand on their off spring’s head and then the other hand on the spouse or guardian head would make a parallel circuit with electrical energy. Then behind the parents, the seniors with the most powerful minds that were disease free, such as dementia, could form a third group of mind melt. Now Peter asked him, “But where could we hold this ritual is my problem. I was thinking maybe the church would suffice and wanted your ideas about this.”

  Chris never batted an eye and said yes, the church would be the logical place and that he would set it wherever Peter wanted to do the deed. He went on to say that he would move out the pews and then have a clear area in the center of the church. “Peter asked him, “As me and James T will be last in the circle, I need a conduit from the large cross with Jesus being crucified that hangs on your wall behind your pulpit.”

  Chris asked, “What kind of conduit are you thinking of?”

  “I was thinking of a copper wire incased in rubber with both ends bare of insulation.” Chris had no idea what he was talking about but said he would go to the hardware store and have what he ordered delivered to the church. Having got all of preliminaries done, Peter and James T went to see the government guys at the gym.

  Walking into the gym after sloshing through the still melting ice and snow Peter told the guard at the door who he and his associate were and what they wanted: to see the commander of the project. The guard told them to wait a minute and hurried off to report the visitors to the captain. The captain came over and smiled at Peter and James T and asked them to follow him. He led them to a corner where a plastic tarp tent had been set up with a desk and two chairs facing it. Behind the desk sat a crew cut grey haired man who looked every bit the commander he was. The captain introduced them and the colonel asked them to please sit down. An offer of coffee was turned down and Peter, without the time for small talk began his spiel. “Colonel I’m not here to step on toes or to not share what we know with you, but I think we need to be on the same page as they say. Do you think it’s possible that we can work together?”

  “I know of you Peter and of James T. My orders are to work with you and try to find a solution to the unacceptable practice of weather control and witchcraft.” With the last word, witchcraft, held the fact he didn’t much believe in such nonsense, but his lack of a better understanding of the situation, he chose to use it. He went on to say, “As it stands now, we have no idea what to do or how to do it, and that ‘it’ word has connotations beyond our scope of knowledge.”

  Peter thought that now was the time to put his cards on the table and said, “This phenomenon is bigger than the both of us put together. It dates back thousands of years and there are things in the world we don’t understand and the human brain is much more complicated than we currently know what the limits of its use are. We have neither the time nor space to use examples throughout history, but suffice to say, we need to use the same kind of things our nemesis is using: brain power. I have a plan and I will run it by you. We intend to gather our victims at one place and with the support of others make a connection using some magic to obtain a force of electricity and focus it on the magnetic field above the town. If we can make it work, we stand a good chance of destroying the force field and the person or persons who put the curse in place originally.”

  “You tell us how we can help and we are at your service. My men are experts is most all fields of endeavor and if it’s electrical knowledge, Captain Silva can be of use to you. In addition we are not without support on a large scale so if there is something or someone you request, then don’t hesitate to tell me.”

  Peter replied, “We need to know the exact location of the force field where it is the strongest and then we can zero in on it with our team and hopefully destroy it.”

  “We have that already and Captain Silva here will supply you with the coordinates and direct the force of your group’s effort accordingly.” And just like that they shook hands and Peter and James T took their leave telling Captain Silva to meet them at the church this afternoon around three pm.

  As Peter and James T walked back to City Hall, they decided to stop off at the café and have some pie and coffee. They were not surprised to find Candice there and sat down with her to give her an update. She listened carefully as Peter told her the plan to commence around three pm. She asked Peter “Is it possible we could film this event.” Peter looked at James T and he shrugged his shoulders. Peter thought about it and could find no real good reason why not. He’d hope the film would be for posterity, but knew in reality it would be viewed as something close to sensationalism rather that educational. People would rather see something full of action rather than learn something for the future of mankind. Be that as it may, he told her that it would be fine with them to record the event.

  Sam was in fine form as he ran from seeing the old folks at the Senior Center to the school to arrange transportation for the seniors, kids and parents to the church. He took the time to see his lady friend and have a quick bite to eat telling her how happy he was to have regained his voice and life. Then he did something that he hardly remembered doing and that was proposed marriage to her. He said, “Mable I would love to have you as a wife and best friend. If you need time to think about it, I will totally understand.” Now Sam was a long ways from understanding women and when she started crying her eyes out over the sink while he ate his egg salad sandwich, he sat it down and stared at her with his mouth open. The smartest thing he ever did was just sit there and try not to understand what she was crying about, or to comfort her.

  Mable dried her eyes on her apron and turned to look at Sam who still had his mouth open, but quickly closed it. She said, with red eyes and true happiness on her wrinkled face, “Sam, I have waited ten years for you to pop the question and now that you have, I want to tell you how much I love you and want to share my life with you. Of course I will marry you and do you have a date in mind?”

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead, but spring is a nice time to get married. Do you have a date in mind?” Meanwhile Sam continued to eat his sandwich and with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, she could see how happy he was.

  “Let’s do it at the end of April and that will give me enough time to contact my two sisters and brother. I know they would want to be here and now you must excuse me as I want to make a few phone calls.” Sam finished off his egg salad and on his way out the door, he stopped by where she sat at a desk in the living room talking to some member of her family. He gave her a shoulder hug and a kiss on top of her head. Walking out the door he felt like he was walkin
g on air. He was proud of himself as he never thought he had the nerve to ask Mable for her hand in marriage.

  ***

  Peter, James T and Veronica sat in her office talking. Veronica was evidently more nervous that she first appeared. Peter read her look and said, “Is there something you need to say before we embark on this project?”

  “Yes, thanks for asking Peter. I would like to give Ralph one more chance to stop this before we take the action you propose. Maybe he would back down rather than take a chance on having something drastic happen. However, I am prepared to accept what you think is best.”

  Peter thought about it and after looking at James T he said, “We could drive out and see him one more time. I can see through the window Sam just drove up so maybe we could ride out and have a chat with Ralph.”

  Just outside of town, the snow was stilled piled up alongside the road where snow plows had passed by fairly recently. Sam was quiet as he drove them to Ralph’s house. He didn’t want a repeat of the last time so he told Peter he would stay in the car if it was fine with him.

  Smoke was coming out of the chimney as they drove up to the front of his place. Both Peter and James T noticed it didn’t have the regular color of grey or black, but a reddish tint to the grey smoke was fairly evident. The door opened as they exited the car and Ralph stood there with a non-readable expression on his face as he held the black cat. Walking to the door he turned and walked in expecting them to follow suit.

  After taking off their boots, they took a seat on the sofa while Ralph took his regular place in the easy chair. He began to stroke the cat as usual and the old woman appeared with a tray of hot drinks and cookies. The hot drinks turned out to be hot chocolate and the cookies fresh oatmeal. Ralph looked at Peter and waited for him to speak about why they had come.

  Peter said, after sampling the hot drink and a bite of cookie, “Ralph, we come to ask you to remove the force field from the city and to remove the curse on the young kids. We have seen your power and now we accept it so how about withdrawing both and let’s let life continue its course here in Remorse.”

  Ralph continued stroking the cat and looking at the wood stove making crackling sounds. A tea pot sat on top emitting steam to replace the moisture on the air. Then he turned and looked at Peter and said, “I’ve given what you ask some thought and here is my reply. You’ve seen a sample of my power and I would hope you realize you and your do gooders are no match for me. I see that reinforcements have arrived and there is nothing the military can do to stop me. If they attack my house total carnage would result in the town. Even if you tried to evacuate the town, I would just redirect the effort to take out Salem.” A small smile through his thin lips gave of the smug countenance he obviously felt. He added, “I want to see what you can do to stop me without destroying the town. I know you have something planned and let’s wait and see how things turn out. I will wait right here and expect to see you sitting here ready to talk about a trade off.”

  “James T, after they were back in the car driving to town said, with a first time heard anger, “The gall of the guy. Evil just drips from his lips and that old woman are the driving force behind his power along with that damn cat.”

  “We gave it a try James T. Now let’s put our plan in action and see what happens. If we can build a mind power equal or greater than his, we can put a real dampener on his program.”

  James T replied, “I don’t know about you but I am hungry.”

  “Let’s go eat and then we can check out the church after we go get the captain.”

  Chapter 22

  In their classroom sat all the kids who had just heard the news of going to the church after school. A bus would take them and parents, guardians, brother and other folks would be there. Brian said, “I think they want us to use our brain power collectively to do something against the black magic man. I’m not sure but we’ve the dream guy to back us up if all fails. What I wonder is how are we to explain this to anyone in the future.” That last statement brought on a round of laughter including the teacher who was sitting there listening and too caught up in the events to do any kind of teaching.

  Tommy said, “I wanted to tell you guys something. Last night my dad, with I have had no much of a relationship with since my mom left us, told me he stopped drinking and is now attending AA. My brother Hank doesn’t believe him, but dad said he would be there this afternoon to be with us. I sure hope he is being honest with me.” Silence around the room and you could have heard the proverbial pin drop.

  The teacher said, “I’m not aware of your family life or home life Tommy, but if your father said he quit, then you must support him in every way possible. Alcoholism is a disease like any other malady and needs attention as if in a hospital. AA is the best source of medicine that we know of. I hope you can help him overcome his addiction.”

  The other kids all chipped in with support for Tommy and his father saying they would help in any way they could. If the parents could have heard what the kids said, they would be very proud of them. Who says at thirteen you can’t have some knowledge of life.

  * * *

  At the church things were happening quickly. The first bus load of seniors had arrived and they helped with moving the heavy pews around the perimeter under the direction of Reverend Chris. The next bus would be the school kids and their parents. Peter looked at his watch and saw it was getting on close to three pm. The weather was clear and the temperature was balmy with no breeze or wind blowing.

  Meanwhile the captain and his team were assembling the power hook up to channel the human electricity up and through the wall crucifix and on up to the iron cross on the steeple. They were using a heavy gauge flexible electrical cord. On the steeple one of the Army guys was placing a GPS to pin point the electrical charge when ready. Downstairs the second bus had just arrived and in the center of the church folding chairs sat in a circle for the kids. Behind the kids would stand the parents and or guardians as the case may be? Directly behind the parents would stand the strongest of the seniors who possessed the most active minds.

  Peter and James T were directing traffic setting up the participants. Once it appeared that all was going well, Peter and James T set up their stand of steel bowl, but this time instead of wood fire, they were using gas stove provided by the hardware store. Next to the stand sat Peter’s trunk of items for his magic. While Peter and James T were busy, Sam rushed in and spoke to Peter saying, “You must come outside and look at the weather Peter. Something really strange is happening.” Peter nodded to James T and they walked out of the church and looked sky ward. The mayor had followed them out sensing something was up and so did Candice.

  What they saw was very curious indeed. What was just a little while ago clear skies had now turned to heavy black clouds threatening rain or snow? If one was to surmise, it appeared the sky was angry and about to unleash a torrent of storm upon the ground. Peter stared at it and then said, “We might be getting some help from above.” James T nodded agreement and they slowly walked back into the church and for Veronica and Candice, walking back into the church gave them some comfort knowing a roof was over their heads and some power from above would protect them.

  Captain Silva was waiting for them and told Peter that all was ready to go and he would stand by for any help needed. Earlier in the day they had a land line installed and now Peter went to the phone to talk to his people down south. He was told the latest forecast and the latest GP on the source of energy and then said they would be ready in about twenty minutes. That would coincide with a satellite fly over at about that time of day. Captain Silva told them good luck and took his men off to the side to watch.

  While Peter made his brew of herbs and such things, James T positioned all the kids and other participants. Reverend Chris had moved his pulpit down to the circle and that now held the bare end of the power cord where about six inches of copper wire was bared.

  After he had made his brew, Peter walked around to check on t
he placement of hands and people. The first circle was the blind kids holding hands. Directly behind, parents and significant ones had their left hands on the kid’s heads while the right hand went to the next persons head standing next to them; behind were the seniors who had one hand on the parents head while the other was placed on the person standing next to them. A complete connected circle within a circle was evident.

  When Peter was satisfied he stepped back into the middle and addressed the participants. He said, “Thanks for being involved all of you. Now listen carefully as we need all the direct energy you each can produce. Think of this exercise as a sort of meditation. First let me explain and then I will direct you to the real performance. Once we begin you will close your eyes and then I will tell you to take a deep breath and relax three times. Then I will ask you to think deeply about some nice place you would like to visit in nature. That could be a beach, mountain stream or a meadow full of flowers. Think good thoughts and positive ones. After I’m through with my chanting I will hook up with the circle and my last words will be: energize.”

  “Ok, let’s begin,” and Peter walked them through the meditation exercise and then he moved to his steel bowl that was simmering on the stove. He began his chanting and off to the side Candice was observing the ritual. She felt contentment and peace within herself. The church itself seemed to take on a power of its own. She said later she could almost feel that some giant hand was pressing down on her head. She never could really explain it but there was almost a vibration of sorts along with a charge of electricity running through her body.

  From all reports beginning with the kids to the parents to the seniors they all felt connected by some attraction too hard to explain. But when they heard Peter say with a powerful voice: “Energize,” a powerful force ran through each and every one of them to exit Peter’s hand which was holding the bare end of the power cord.