▷ The Spider Cliff Mysteries
▷ Story 3: Curse of the Purple Chickaree
▷ Chapter 20: The innermost circle
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Transcript of this chapter:
barlow: Well, here we are... the innermost sanctum of the Bean family... the one room that I was never allowed to go into...barlow: ....Where the knowledge and secrets of my family are kept...
turnip: Barlow, there really isn't much of anything in here.
barlow: Yeah, I kinda noticed that.
turnip: What does this mean?
barlow: Obviously, we won't find any answers in here!
turnip: Barlow, calm down...
barlow: Calm down?! I have this... this... curse! I'm not going to calm down!
turnip: So we had a bit of a setback. This all seemed like a good idea, though...
barlow: There SHOULD be stuff in here... artifacts, books, Bean family trappings...
turnip: Maybe someone got here before us...
barlow: I doubt it. You saw how hard it was for US to get in here.
barlow: Well, it's certainly a bit disappointing... yep, that's what it is...
turnip: So you're not too upset about this...
barlow: About finally getting in here and finding the place empty... I'll get over it...
barlow: Yes, indeed... I'm not really all that upset at all...
barlow: We'll just wait around a bit... just to make sure this trip was an entire waste...
barlow: I'm not going to let this ruin my day...
barlow: Okay, I'm upset!
barlow: I can't believe we went through all this trouble, and there's nothing here!
barlow: I always expected this room to hold so much knowledge that it was downright perilous to even come into this room! This just isn't fair! Vedalia always let on that this room was full of great wisdom!
turnip: And yet you never think to actually come here until you're desperate for whatever knowledge Vedalia wrote down. Shame on you, barlow... if you really wanted the secrets of the Bean family, you'd have come here sooner.
turnip: After all, you've technically owned this house for years!
barlow: I don't want to hear any more of that from you!
turnip: So what're you going to do?
barlow: I... I don't know... I'm all out of ideas...
turnip: Come on, Barlow, be resourceful for once!
barlow: I can't BE resourceful! There aren't any resources here!
turnip: Well... regardless of that, there's gotta be something...
barlow: Not unless you want to count some old paintings, empty bookcases, and an old genealogy chart.
turnip: There could be a clue there.
barlow: It's a chart of the Bean family lineage. There I am way at the bottom...
barlow: Maybe there's more to this place than is readily perceptible... Let's search the place...
turnip: Hey, Barlow, what's in that photo up there?
barlow: Oh, it's just an old picture of my aunt Vedalia with a paper mammal. It looks pretty old...
barlow: There's some writing in the corner... "Vedalia and Kibbles, 1947"... Not really anything important...
barlow: And here's the Bean family tree. My, what a dismal family line we turned out to be. I'm the last one left, and I'm not doing so well myself.
barlow: I think we're on the wrong track...
turnip: So you're just going to give up? Let the curse kill you?
barlow: What other choice do I have? It's not like this thing is going to clear up on its own... *hic*
barlow: Look at this... here's the Bean family lineage. To think that it'll end with me...
barlow: This old family tree isn't even up to date. The date of Vedalia's death isn't even marked on it.
turnip: Well, who's been in here since she died? No one.
turnip: Barlow, there's got to be SOMETHING in here that'll help us.
barlow: Yeah, sure. We've got rows of empty bookcases... old paintings that don't remotely relate to anything... this stupid Bean family tree...
barlow: Hey, I think there's something behind it.
barlow: Let's see what's behind this thing... looks like it might be an old newspaper clipping...
turnip: Well, what does it say?
barlow: It says, "Mr. and Mrs. Harrington Bean of 16 Bean Row, Spider Cliff, are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter Vedalia Bean on January 27th, 1904."
barlow: Not exactly what I'd call useful... I knew she lied about her age, but I didn't know she lied THAT much.
turnip: barlow, according to that old sheriff's journal, Vedalia was supposedly eleven years old in 1923.
barlow: Yeah, something's screwy here...
barlow: ....and I have a pretty good idea who we should talk to...