The Carmine house

The Carmine house wasn’t something they talked about. Throughout the entire village, not a word was whispered about it. Not since that fateful day in early January, not since the old man died. Not since the last time the pond had frozen over. It had stayed normal even in the coldest of winters after that. They had both died, the man and the daughter, but no one would say anything about her. Selina Carmine was the murderer, they said. Or thought. No one talked about the Carmine house. So when Derby Micheal Stout saw the ad in the paper, he was surprised. An unfortunate name, indeed. Especially seeming as it applied to him more than he might’ve liked. He was a short, somewhat heavyset young man, who had strong morals he never mentioned. He would never turned down a challenge, or eat shortcake, or hit a lady. He was courteous and quiet, but when he got angry, it was funny to watch. He was somewhat handsome, but his weight threw him off, and every female in the village ran when he tried to approach them, for he was very awkward to have a conversation with. He had a little sister, Mary Angelica, who was constantly drowning in the creek, or cutting her foot on rock, or tripping over something or another. This made it very difficult to live with her. So he spent as much time out of the house as he could, leaving his mother at the mercy of Mary and her other six children. But, he told himself, it was her choice to have so many children in the first place. He worked at a very boring job, carrying meal back and forth from the mill to the town. He was not married, or in any romance at all, but he had a good friend named Derrick, and a good enemy named Dan. He hated Dan for taking his first job at the mill, and he liked Derrick for numerous things that are far too long to go into. He often stubbed his toes on rocks, and his shoes were beaten down and dirty, but he always kept a respectful appearance from the ankles up. He was usually very conserved and hardly would ever show his emotions, so his surprised at the paper must have been great, for he gave a full blown gasp.

“Sellin’ the Carmine house, are they? Should know it’s bad luck.” Then he heard a little squeal of laughter from a lady near him and went red. She was standing in front of the shop nearby, her hand reaching towards the knob, but had paused when she heard him. She must have been new, for she didn’t hurry inside the shop or run away. She was dressed in a fine but old manner, her once white dress faded to gray, her elaborate hat missing some pearls. She looked about thirty or so, and her features were fine and proud.

“Do you believe in good luck, my dear? Or bad luck, for that matter?”

Derby shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t had much experience talking to women. “I guess so.”He tried valiantly to come up with something else to say and failed quite miserably.

She moved towards him, gliding across the ground. “My dear, I find in life that unfortunately, good luck seems so much more uncommon than bad.”

“Yes. Quite…. Unfortunate.”

The woman laughed again, her little tinkling laugh ringing through the air. She touched the poster. Her mouth opened and she put a hand to her heart.

“Oh dear! They shall curse this village.” She swooned dramatically against the railing. Derby put out his arms to catch her.

“Oh dear, oh dear.” She muttered, struggling to her feet. She then smiled at him and put a hand on his arm. “Thank you, my dear.”

He smiled somewhat awkwardly back at her, but she didn’t seem to mind. Derby did not know what he would have done next, because she kept staring at him, but just at that moment, the door to the shop chimed and a young man stepped out. Derby knew him, he had seen him at the mill now and then. He was tall and skinny and dressed head to toe in leather, with thick muscular arms and thin brown hair.

“Elvria!” The young man said, surprised. “Where have you been?!” He glanced at Derby and frowned slightly.

“Oh, dear, I was just looking at this poster. Look, they’re selling the old Carmine house! They should know better than that! It will bring down bad luck to us all!” She gasped and buried her face in her hands. Derby took a step forward, but so did the tall man, and he stopped. The tall man put his arms around Elvria. Derby remembered his name now, Jake Lumberground. He had never liked him much, but Derby found he didn’t like much of anyone these days.

“How about we take a walk?” Jake asked Elvira. Derby didn’t realize that he had only been talking to the woman until he said, “Yes! That’s a wonderful idea!” Jake narrowed his eyes again, but he couldn’t do much, for Elvira had lifted her head and nodded excitedly.

“Why, that sounds wonderful! Just us three on a beautiful June morning!” She was smiling again.

So with yet another frown in Derby’s general direction, Jake took her arm and the three of them marched awkwardly down the street. Well, not Elvria. She glided along like her feet weren’t even touching the ground, chatting happily to the two men.

They soon reached the lake, where they stopped to take a moments break, taking in the sunshine glittering off the bouncing water. After a minute or so, a small boat could be spotted coming towards them. Derby and Jake both knew this boat, rowed by a young man named Rick, who would take anyone on a boat ride as long as he could talk to them. If you interrupted him too much, or told him to be quiet, you may end up taking an unexpected dip in the lake. He rowed right to shore in front of them.

“Howdy here, m’lady.” He said, grinning conspiratorially at her. “Care for a boat ride?”

Jake had started to shake his head, but Elvira was already nodding.

“Oh yes. As a matter of fact, would you take us all the way ‘cross to the old Carmine house, and I know it’s ever such a long way, but us three don’t talk much, and I’d even pay.”

Maybe she isn’t as new as I thought. Derby told himself. She sure knows how to convey a man, especially the likes of Rick Corey. Jake helped her into the boat, and Derby stepped in behind them.

“Been puttin’ on some wait, eh, Stout?” Rick asked as the whole boat sank an inch when he stepped in. Derby merely scowled at him. The boat ride would have been pleasant, if not for Rick’s unending speech.

(I know this isnt done yet (Its hasn't even gotten creepy!) but I am trying to find time to finish it up. Being a teen, I'm having a hard time finding a job after recently tranfering contries, so i would love a tip or two the help me find time to work on this! Thank you for all your support, and hopefully will be out with The Carmine House, Part Two, very soon!)