Genji and Maison du Renard Rouge's Story

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NEW PROMPT:
Imagine that your character lives in an older home with a fascinating background.
Show this house’s prior history.
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“Poppy, was the man who lived here first your daddy?” This innocent question came from Walker’s youngest child, Genji. The five-year-old looked wide-eyed up at her adoptive father, waiting for his answer.

Samantha’s body tensed upon hearing this since she knew the horrific story of the original owner. Walker and Sam were still in the honeymoon phase even after four years of marriage, but some nights she woke her husband with nightmares about their involvement with the two Edgeworth men.

Genji lost interest in any family history when Walker hesitated to answer her. She wiggled out of Walker’s comforting arms and raced to the apartment’s front door. She called out over her shoulder just before her parents heard the slamming of the door, “Never mind, Poppy. I’ll ask Joshua.” The little girl, as usual, had the utmost confidence in her older brother’s ability to know everything.

Once she was gone, Walker looked at his wife sitting on the sofa beside him, a tinge of sadness in his expression. “You know, Sam, some day she and the other two kids will learn all about the history of this building.” He took her hand in his before continuing, “One or the other of our older guests will tell them about the bodies of the women Jason Edgeworth murdered. Some of them watched while the remaining bones of those poor souls were brought out from the underground area in back of this building.”

Samantha caught her breath at the memory of Colin kidnapping and torturing her in those same limestone tombs. It was only the sudden death of Edgeworth’s grandson that saved her life. “Maybe some time years from now, but our three don’t need to know now. They’re all too young still.” Seeing her husband nod in agreement, the subject of the large mansion’s history was put off for another day.

Unknown to them, though, both 13-year-old Joshua and his other sister had already learned of their home’s bloody history. Sue Beth, younger than her brother by three years, had found the journals written in the early 20th century by the elder Edgeworth one afternoon when she had visited her father’s office. Going into that room when Walker was not there broke one of the few rules he gave his three adopted children. On this particular day, he was in San Francisco on business, while Samantha had gone with him to visit friends in the city.

Only a few hours after their parents left for the Westbrook Airport, Sue Beth found the courage to explore Walker’s inner sanctum. She tiptoed into the room where she remembered once seeing a large jar of jelly beans on the office credenza. Even as she put her hand inside to get some of the candy, she noticed a pile of old journals partially hidden behind the jar.

“Joshua,” she called out to her brother who was across the hallway in his own room. “Come look what I found.” After stuffing two of the jelly beans into her mouth, she picked up what appeared to be the oldest of the journals. Being careful not to tear the thin paper, Sue Beth opened to the first page and began reading. “This I am writing on the day of our Lord, December 15, 1912. Nancy knew where Marianne put my daughter’s body but has refused to tell me so I can give Hannah a Christian burial.”

I wonder who Nancy is, she thought, not knowing this was the second wife of the sadistic Jason Edgeworth. She called out again to her brother, “Joshua, do you remember hearing anything about someone named Nancy?”

Curious, Joshua put down the book on astronomy he was reading, crossed the hall, but hesitated at the office doorway. Seeing his sister holding something, curiosity became stronger than respecting his father’s privacy. For the next couple hours, the two children read in the slightly decaying books all the ways Jason Edgeworth killed five women. Nancy was his first and died the quickest of any of them. Many of the words of torture and degradation he used were thankfully unfamiliar to the two children. Nevertheless, that day they instinctively knew enough to never ask about their home’s history.

Only Genji’s innocent question stirred up painful memories both Walker and Samantha had tried to forget. In the future, years away, she would learn a sanitized version about her home’s original owner. When her parents felt she was old enough to understand, they would tell her of young Hannah Edgeworth’s murder by her insane mother and the orphanage Walker had built to honor this unloved child.

As far as five-year-old Genji knew or cared, she lived surrounded by the love of her parents and siblings along with dozens of elderly grandparents. She had been told her home was called Maison du Renard Rouge, which meant home of the red fox. That amusing story of the first resident of the large mansion told by her father was her favorite, and she often asked for it after he tucked her into bed at night. Sometimes that same red fox, whimsically named Zorro by Walker and now getting up in age, slept at the foot of her bed.

For as long as they could, Walker and Samantha decided to shield their children from the bloody and cruel history of this building. As both of them knew, childhood innocence lasts for such a short time.

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"The Writer's Cramp"  daily entry for 07/21/2014
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You can read more about those living at Maison du Renard Rouge in the following trilogy on Amazon.com:



http://tinyurl.com/qjgxs2f