Knowing she focused on happier times gave me a sense of peace. However, I couldn’t help but think of how the story shifted. After a few years, I’d be in high school, and those trips would become a thing I’d avoid. It stung to think I had missed hundreds of opportunities with Pops. As Mum smiled, a mischievous glimmer in her eye, I tried to focus on the good.
“They were camping, and Pops sent him to gather firewood.”
“Don’t do it,” I warned.
“Going about his business, he must not have heard the gobble of ‘She Who Shall Not Be Named.’ A second later, wings flapping, she descended from a branch. Charles screamed.”
“Poor guy,” Nick said. I made a note of the sarcasm.
“That’s not the best part,” she chuckled.
“Beatrice,” she shouted. Her arms flailed, her feet stomping against the floor. “She’s real!” It turned into a full-body shake. “He ran back to camp. Of course, he thought he was safe.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I’m loving it,” Lacie said. “What next?”
“The dreaded ghost turkey wasn’t done with him.” Mum slapped the table hard enough that we all jumped. “She came charging into camp like a bull in a china shop.” I remembered it too well. I didn’t stop running. “Pops had to run after him. He’d never admit it, but he feared the myth, too.”
Everybody laughed at the outlandishness of her tale.
“And that’s why Pops always packed an extra pair of skivvies for this one.”
“Oh,” Lacie said. “Somebody had an accident?”
My face had gone from warm to thermonuclear. “No!”
“Get a little scared?” Lacie batted her eyelashes.
I crossed my arms over my chest, settling into my chair like an angry toddler. Thankfully, Mum didn’t include the deafening screeching as I fled the campsite. I always thought Pops hadcome running after me. It made me chuckle knowing that Pops had fallen victim to a territorial Beatrice.
“Let’s just say I had a lot of laundry to do when they got back.”
Something poked at my thigh. I reached down to swat it away and found Nick giving me gentle jobs under the table. I grabbed his finger, giving it a squeeze.
“Sounds like the woods are terrifying.”
I shook my head. “Not if you know what you’re doing.” Mum’s eyes focused on me. I realized I had quoted Pops. My fingers squeezed tighter as my heart raged against my ribcage. “Surviving is learning to co-exist with nature.” Her lips turned up as I finished his mantra.
“Come Thanksgiving, he was scared to eat turkey.”
Everybody grinned as Mum continued her tale. However, my mind wandered to a scared boy huffing and puffing behind a tree. It had taken weeks for Pops to convince me to go out again. I was convinced that Beatrice would be there waiting. Our next trip was on the other side of the mountain, where Pops promised she couldn’t follow.
I had been terrified when he finally said, “Being scared will keep you alive.” I had uttered the same words to Matt. My heart sank as I thought back to the conversations and text messages. The kid had been terrified, and I thought a quick speech would brush aside his fears.
Johnny hadn’t pulled his son for revenge. It had nothing to do with me. While Mum continued telling stories, I let go of Nick’s finger and reached into my pocket.
“No phones at the table,” Lacie said as if Mum had given her a list of rules.
I ignored them as Mum carried on.
As I thought of that boy hiding from a turkey, I imagined Matt doing the same the first time he heard a tree groan. Ithought I had squashed his fears, but it seemed I hadn’t. Johnny protected his son. Now Matt thought it was his fault the trip had been called off. Just like when Beatrice tried to kill me, I ran.
It was time to stop running and confront my fears. Nick’s hand rested on my thigh, reminding me what was possible when I got out of my own way. I kept saying I didn’t know how I’d fix things, and there were a lot of things that needed fixing. This, however, I could make right. I punched in the message and hovered over the send button.
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t about making Pops proud. If I were going to take the next step, I needed closure. Looking down at Nick’s hand, fingers firmly kneading my thighs. If he could face his curse, I could do the same.
Send.
