“This is going to be hard to hear,” Charlie says, pulling my attention.
“Um… okay.”
I sip the water, the coldness helping to settleme a bit.
“It’s going to be hard to believe, but I promise you it’s the truth. I wish Agnes woulda told you all this before she passed. I didn’t wanna hafta be the one to do it, you know.”
“What is going on?” I ask. “Just tell me.”
He looks me in the eye and begins to explain.
“These boys here? This is Wade, Gus, and Rhett. They grew up in this town. Their families lived over by the creeks, in those big mansions.”
“The ones that are empty?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Charlie says. “You see… your Grannie was a stern woman, and well, these boys' grandparents were the ones who tried to take her land all those years ago. They were just as stubborn as she was, except they had money and they liked to use that. They wanted Grannie’s land and—”
“Oh, here we go,” Wade groans.
“Stop it, Wade. You know it’s the truth,” Gus snaps.
The other one just keeps watching.
“You wanna tell the story then?” Charlie asks, looking over his shoulder at the men standing there. They don’t answer, so he turns back to me. “Anyway… they wanted the land. Agnes wouldn’t let them have it. They pulled some strings to take it anyway, and Agnes didn’t like that. So… she cursed them.”
“Cursed them?” I question, a smile forming on my face. “Like a witchy curse?”
“Yes, Miss Daisy. Like a witchy curse,” Charlie says seriously.
But how can he be so serious? Magic isn’t real.
I start to laugh. “Good one, Charlie. Really. Great joke.”
“This isn’t a joke, Miss Daisy,” he says.
“Of course it is. Curses aren’t real.”
“They are,” Wade growls, his expression darkening even more.
My smile falls.
“It is real,” Gus says. “Agnes cursed our families. All the men turned into… well, you know… the animals you saw us as.”
“Chickens?” I blurt.
“Ba-cawk!” Gus screeches, slapping a hand over his mouth and groaning.
“Sorry,” I say, cringing. “I have to get used to that.”
Used to that? Why would I get used to it? This is obviously a big joke. It can’t be real.
“Okay, so what you’re saying is that you can turn into—”
Gus waves his hands, slashing them through the air.
“Uh… those birds that lay eggs?”
“Ba-cawk!”
