Birchwood Manor

BM24 Part 1

The Invitation

The red envelope with ornate gold trim just appeared with the rest of snail mail. There was no postage; no return address. Just the word Invite scrawled in silver ink. Inside was a brochure and a map for a Bed-N-Breakfast with a card: Come spend four days at The Birchwood Manor and walk away with $25,000. Simply follow the enclosed instructions. Vanilla sheet of paper with black writing with the instructions was attached to the card.





Doug

Doug Nichols sat in his wheelchair outside The Vested Arms Hotel with his meager luggage surrounding him. Something about having to cut up his credit cards made them no longer want him as a guest. Luckily the strange invitation had come when it did. Spend four days at a Bed-n-Breakfast and collect $25,000. Meet the van in front of the hotel at 11:00 am. He didn’t have much choice.



Angela

Angela Szabo chose to meet the van because, since her brother, Danny, had disappeared her luck had turned for the worse. Her chauffeured Mercedes dropped her and her five suitcases unceremoniously on the curb. Angela sat on the largest suitcase and removed her black spiked stiletto shoes, trying to keep her little black sequined dress from creeping too far up her thighs. She rubbed her foot and let out a huge sigh.



Carl

“Why do women torture themselves so?”

“To look good.” said Angela.

Carl Turner eyed the black-haired woman over the top rim of his sunglasses before pushing them back onto his soft featured face hiding his green eyes. He fished a ponytail holder out of his pocket and shook back his long auburn hair before pulling it up and securing it in place. You could plainly tell that Carl took care of himself the way his Tee shirt stretched across his pecs and abs. He repositioned the grey duffle bag on his back.

“Women should treat their bodies like temples, not strip malls.”

Tim

A black SUV pulled up and parked across from The Vested Arms entrance. Tim Reid got out and took a black duffle bag out of the back. He walked over and tossed the bag at Carl’s feet.

“Make sure this gets on the van,” said Tim.

Carl stepped over the bag and got face-to-face. “I’m not your caddy.”

Tim straightened his wire rim glasses on his chiseled face. He stepped back from Carl and mumbled a “sorry”. Tim didn’t need any more trouble, he had enough of his own brewing. He was hoping this weekend would give him a break.



Jodi

Jodi Summers turned the corner and saw the four people standing with their luggage. She almost turned away, but she took a deep breath, smoothed her ragged waitressing skirt and apron and tried to hold her head up as she approached, a grey van with tinted windows pulled up.



Jeff



A geeky young man with tape on his glasses got out of the van.

“I’m Jeff, your transport. Ready for your adventure?”

Jeff reached to grab Doug’s chair, but Doug pulled away. “I can do it myself.”

“Of course, Mr. Nichols.”

Jodi’s eyes lit up. “You’re Doug Nichols! I just read your book.”

“I’ve written three.”

Jeff put the three small suitcases of Angela’s on the van. “That’s all you can take.”

Angela bit her bottom lip and twisted her foot.

Doug sneered. “Leave her here with all of them.”

Angela sighed and climbed into the front passenger seat.

Jeff gunned the engine before putting it in gear.

Jeff drove the van up the hills behind The Vested Arms. He drove several miles out of the city and went several more into the countryside.

They came to a grove of trees at the base of a mountain. There was a path leading up with large elms and pines closing in on either side. Soon they came to an iron gate with an ornate B design. Jeff got out and opened the gate and drove thru. No one seen the gate shut silently behind them.

The driveway was longer than most, but they pulled up in front of the stately manor home. A fog was settling in, giving everything an eerie shimmer in the late morning dew.



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