The Curse.

Chapter one - Michael Fairchild. My mother and brother died in childbirth when I was ten years old. Dad raised me all on his own without any help from his family. As none of them had ever liked my mother, and they were dead set against their marriage. My parents had been married five years before I had ever come along. Anyway, my dad missed mum terribly. He had never drank, gambled, and I had never seen him smoke. He just concentrated on my upbringing and working the farm. He never sent me back to school, but he did manage to teach me the basics: like how to practice my reading and writing skills, how to cook basic meals, without burning the house down. I swear back then, I could burn water and the house. When I wasn't doing any of those things or chores around the house, I was out on the farm helping him out. Occasionally, he would hire farm-hands to help us, but only if he could afford it. And so that was my life, my routine for the next ten years until one afternoon when dad and I were sat on the back porch, just talking about nothing and yet everything, putting the world to right as you might say. When out of nowhere, he turns to me and says: "You have done me proud in the past years, son, learning everything I've had to teach you, but now I think it's about time you learned about life." "Ok, dad. So tell me." "I meant by living it, Michael." As dad spoke, I noticed he kept on looking up at the sky. It was as if I wasn't there, but he was talking to me. "You miss mum, don't you, dad?" "Everyday since she passed." He replied with a heavy sigh. I knew in that moment he was indecisive about something, so I asked: "What is really wrong, dad? Please just tell me." He took a deep breath and looked at me and started to tell me how he had met mum, all about a big family argument between her family and his. The end result? Him and Mum got married and were together anyway. How he came to own the farm, he told me that when Grandad had died, he had inherited it from him, being the only child so to speak, as my Grandma had also died in childbirth. The only difference is that my Dad would have had a sister. I thought he had finished speaking when he asked: "You know what has been happening here over the past few years. Don't you?" So here it was. Everything had been leading up to this moment. "Yes, Dad. I know." I had watched as men in suits had come, spoken to my Dad, taken measurements in one field or another, and left. I also noticed that Dad had stopped hiring farm-hands. But I had not asked any questions about it when I had been told not to bother ploughing that field or not put the cattle in the other field, I had also seen our livestock dwindle over these past three years, some of the cows had either been sold at market or bought straight from us by the local dairy farmers or as I didn't know Dad had sold the rest to the owners of the nearest abbatoir for slaughter. The latter of these three observations had even arrived to collect the cows/pigs or sheep in their own trucks and had even stayed to have lunch with us. "You have slowly been selling off the land and our livestock, but why Dad? "Because I'm getting old Michael, we can't afford to run such a large farm. I would also like for you to gain some sort of education. I'm sorry. I should have sent you back to school. I was a fool not to. Anyway, with the money from the land and livestock, I have been able to pay our debts and also able to set some aside for you, me and or the time i have left to see my granchildren to grow up." "You mean to say, you have sold our home and our only way to make a living so that I can get some sort of education and also for us to start all over again somewhere we don't even know? Even though farming is in your blood, it's almost all I've known. As for you not sending me back to school. Truthfully, Dad. I didn't want to go back." "Why not?" "Because I was a loner, everybody else were from the town. I always wanted to work the farm with you." "I guess you never said anything to your mum about that." "No. Do you remember how excited I became when you let me drive the tractor for the first time?" "Don't remind me. You cost me a fortune fixing the shed and the airfreshners your mum had to buy! But you should know this stubborn man has made his mind up, and I'm willing to give this new life a try if you are?" There was nothing but silence between us for the next few but brief awkward moments. Until Dad broke it. "I think you will like the house when you see it." "I only have one question, Dad." "Well. Out with it, then." "What if it all goes wrong?" I was not looking forward to his reaction. "Well then, if it all goes wrong, then we will have to try to make the best of it. Turn a bad situation into a good one." I mulled his words over for another few minutes and realised he was right. I smiled. "Okay, Dad. I'll give it go. It'll be nice to have a fresh start. I suppose." Dad nodded in agreement and smiled back at me The following day, he took me to have a look at round our new home. From the outside, it looked like any ordinary house. Front door, windowsnd a big front garden, but looks can be decieving as it took on a whole new ballgame nce you stepped through the front door. I was amazed at the sheer size of it. "You never told me it was so big! Are you sure we can afford it?" I asked in amazement. "I have paid for this house in full. Therefore, there is no mortgage, and it was quite cheap compared to the other houses I had looked at. The estate agent told me that this was actually three houses knocked into one at some point in time. So. What do you think?" "I think it is nice so far. But let me have a proper look around first, Dad." From what I had seen of the entrance so far was spectacular, a grand hallway with three doors leading into three separate rooms. In front of me there was a staircase the likes of which I have never seen untl now. It was around five feet wide, narrowing as it ascended to around four feet at the top. At the top of the stairs, the landing split off to the left and the right. 'This place is a bloody mansion compared to the farmhouse!' I thought to myself as I decided to take a look around upstairs first. When I reached the top of the stairs, I noticed a painting hanging on the wall and made a mental note to ask Dad about it. I turned to my left and walked under an archway and came onto a balcony, which I found that I could look down into one of the rooms, which led from the hall (which I assume to be the living room). The one thing I did really take notice of was the fireplace. It dominated one wall and stood around five feet high. And had decorative faces carved into it.