Winter's End by Clarissa Cartharn Read Free Book Online

lobby of a run-down motel. Apparently the girl’s brother had
caught up with the run-away couple. George got into a fight with the brother.
He received a fatal blow to his head and died immediately. There was nothing
anyone could do to save him.
    Unfortunately, this
was the final straw that put poor Mr.Kinnaird into
his grave. He suffered a heart attack and died a day after he received news of
his son’s passing.
    The blow was so severe
on Mrs. Kinnaird, now that she had lost almost her entire family. It changed
her dramatically. She became cynical, harsh with life. She hated joyous
occasions like Christmases. I remember she carried a ghastly scowl whenever she
visited the stores. We were so afraid of her that we crossed the streets a good
distance if we ever saw her in our path.
    But Mrs. Kinnaird was
no less shrewd than her husband. In fact she had a greater knack for business
than her husband ever did. It was how she got herself out of the hundred pounds
of debt that her husband and son owed. She began buying out properties in Skye,
London and America. She bought shares and made better investments. Currently, she
is the primary landlord on most of the businesses in Skye and a major
contributor to local charities. It is the sole reason why everyone keeps a
tight-lip on saying anything about Mrs. Kinnaird. I think she was smart to
figure that it was the one way to prevent people talking about the ill-luck
that had fallen onto the family. The world outside of course soon forgot about
the Kinnaird curse and moved on with other gossip.”
    The two women fell
silent. Outside the sky had darkened. A blanket of snow covered the
ground.   
    Emma fiddled with her
empty cup in her palm, thinking of all that Lisa had told her. “What happened
to Mary?” she asked.
    Lisa sighed. “Mary
died an old maid about five years ago. She never married.”
    “And Anne’s child?
What became of him?”
    Lisa bit her lip.
    “What is it
Lisa?”   asked Emma, curiously. “There is
more to the Kinnaird curse, right?”
    “Well,” Lisa started,
nervously. “According to former employees of the Kinnaird household, it was
whispered that the gypsy witch rendered that the only way in which the curse
could be broken was if…”
    Emma waited
impatiently for her to finish. “If…” she offered.
    Lisa swallowed. “If a
Kinnaird would manage to retain the bond of marriage for three consecutive years.
Of course it would have to be a direct descendant of the current Kinnaird
bloodline and the union of marriage has to be a formal one, sworn and
sanctified by a priest.”
    “Well, has there been
one since?” asked Emma.
    “How can there be?”
said Lisa, shaking her head dolefully. “The last of the children, Mary died
without any issue. The only one that is left to break the curse is Anne’s son, Christopher
Cameron. And no girl in her right frame of mind will touch him with a ten foot
pole. At least when it comes to marriage,” she corrected.
    “They’re afraid of
the curse falling upon them?” said Emma.
    “Yes, that of course.
But also because he’s Chris Cameron,”   said Lisa.
    “I don’t understand,”
said Emma, shaking her head.
    “He is Chris
Cameron,” repeated Lisa tiredly. “The actor celebrity. Hollywood. He acted as John
Mascot in Matchstick Soldiers .”
    A cloud of recognition
fell upon Emma as she began to remember pieces of his media profile. Mousy
brown hair, tall, steely grey eyes, one of the top one hundred sexiest men of
the year, highly influential actor celebrity and award winning actor of the
movie Matchstick Soldiers.   She
loved that movie, she remembered. But she also remembered him as being
notorious for changing the women on his arm by the month.
    “Emma, Emma,” said
Lisa, shaking her out of her trance. “Stay away from Mrs. Kinnaird,” she
warned.

 
    *****
                                                           
    “Stay away from