Exploring The Betrayal (Part 13)

Well...I guess I missed out on releasing this part for Halloween. So...consider this a belated Halloween gift from me to you.

Now let's get back to The Betrayal by R.L.Stine!

Village of Shadyside 1900

So we have reached an interlude. I've been so caught up with the the Goode family that I nearly forgot about Nora. Who cares about Nora when innocent women were blamed of being witches? And the Fier brothers were misogynists who didn't bother looking for actual dark magic practitioners!

Ah, it seems as if Nora Goode has been recounting this story for an unknown audience. The effect, of course, is that it appears like she's speaking directly to the reader. Which is honestly downright creepy.

Nora doesn't remember how long she has been writing the story of her ancestors down. All that she knows is it has been a long time. The melted candle wax is one clue that she has been writing for quite some time. Besides the question of time, I'm wondering how she got there. The last time we saw her she was rushing towards a house being consumed by flames.

I guess how she got to her current location is a little more complicated than she waited until the fire died and then came here. This theory is formed by the fact that Nora questions how she had managed to escape the fire. She looks at the candle as if it will give her any answers.

Nora theorizes that someone brought her from the fire to where she is now. And now that she has been rescued, she must write down her family history. It isn't like her family is normal as not every family curses an entire bloodline.

Just because she has to write down the history of the Goode family doesn't mean she is freed from feeling nervous. Her hands shake as she prepares to continue writing down the story. It turns out that she must finish writing the story by the time the sun rises.

Nora recounts that both Susannah and Marthe Goode burned at the stakes in 1692. She then skips ahead eighteen years. Benjamin and Matthew Fier are once again successful farmers. Matthew's wife Constance has born him a daughter. Edward ended up never marrying Annie Ward for some reason. Instead he married Rebecca and had a son named Ezra with her.

Nora seems nearly taken away with how much there still is to tell about the Goode/Fier family rivalry. After taking a breath, she resumes writing her family's history.