I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping with countless research for this story and a lot of laughs.
Rebel Yell
Claudia turned off her camera and decided to head over to the dining car for some lunch. She hated that she was by herself on the train, but had kept busy filming footage for her Youtube channel. She had originally been a make-up guru after one of the tutorials went viral. It got so big, practically overnight, that she quit her web design job. She had expanded to making appearances and booking jobs for special nights at local clubs. She also had a merch shop that sold her art, jewelry, clothes she designed, and she also sold Mallory's book series and Nancy Drew books.
She was really glad she had chosen to take a train from Austin, TX to Stoneybrook. There was so much to see with the train stopping from time to time in towns along the way. She had already sent her main luggage over to Watson's. She was going to stay there until her Air B and B opened up for the summer. At first, she was just going to stay for Watson's BBQ. But she had been in touch with Mallory about the Stoneybrooke project. It inspired her and made her want to make her documentary film on her channel about the history of Stoneybrook.
Claudia ordered a cheeseburger and fries and looked out the window. She hadn't been back much except for Christmas visits. She loved her parents, it just got on her nerves hearing about how successful Janine was. Like she was successful at what she does. She knew it would be fun. Everyone hadn't been back together in a while especially Dawn.
Mallory had been keeping in touch with her since arriving. She had texted saying that Dawn had found uranium in the park and Morbidda was being weird. She had a certain sense of urgency to get back. But she also had a touch of nerves. She and Stacey were ok with each other but not best friends like they used to be. She didn't know how she felt about it. But Stacey and Sam were in Europe for the time being so she didn't have to think about it.
Mallory sat down in the garden. She had the Stoneybrooke book in hand and began thumbing through it.
On one of the pages, a photo caught her eye. During the Civil War an abolitionist named Abigail Grey, a Quaker, had lived there at the time. It said she was suspected of being a station master, which seemed odd to Mallory, even if it was wartime and all the men were gone to fight the war. She decided to see if she could also find her in the Who's Who.
She found her in the Who's Who but not much more information than before. She decided to start connecting relatives to her family tree. She didn't get very far when she decided to go back to Watson's library and look for any other historical books or records he had relating to people or places in Stoneybrook during the Civil War. She found a few and took them up to her room where she could relax while she did research.
She turned on her playlist of Ben's band, Junk Bucket, and a cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" came blasting from the speakers.
Just then a text message sounded on her phone. It was from Dawn:
"Meeting tomorrow @ noon @ Mary Anne's. Bring Ben and Claudia. Discussing a great idea and Morbidda Destiny."
"Ok"
Then she texted Ben:
"Dawn called a meeting @ Mary Anne's @ noon. Discussing an idea and Morbidda Destiny"
"I'll be there"
She was just about to text Claudia when the doorbell rang.
After Mal and Claudia did a lot of screaming and jumping up and down they started discussing the meeting and Morbidda and the uranium. Then they went down to eat dinner with Watson and Liz.
"Claudia let me look at you!" Liz shouted. Claudia was wearing a scoop-neck oversized t-shirt dress with a ruffle hem. It had a girl with a cartoon face with cupcakes for eyes on it. Her hair was dyed in rainbow streaks for a peek-a-boo effect. "You look fabulous!'
" Claudia! I'm so glad you're here! I hope your train ride was comfortable. Mallory has already started on the Stoneybrook project. Mallory, do you care to fill us in?" said Watson.
Mallory told them all about Abigail Grey. She suggested she and Claudia go to the library the next day after Dawn's meeting.
After dinner, Claudia and Mallory went back up to Mallory's room to look through the history books together. Claudia threw Mallory a pack of gum from her purse and she took out some skittles for herself.
"Isn't this just like old times," Claudia asked.
"Yeah, it kinda is. Here, let me put some music on." Mal turned on The Junk Bucket and once again "Rebel Yell" came through the speakers.
"Is this Ben's band," Claudia asked.
Mallory blushed. "Yes, they're called The Junk Bucket." And for some reason, they burst into a fit of laughter.
Claudia rolled over and right onto a book. She picked it up. It looked familiar.
"Hey, Mal do you know what this is?!"
Mallory put down her iPad and came over to look. "Jeremy Brewer's diary! I forgot about this! He was Ben Brewer's son, right?"
"Right! We should look into this. I'm sure we find something for the Stoneybrook project even if it wasn't about Abigail Grey."
"Ok, Claudia. I will let you be in charge of that since you found the book. Write down any historical information you can find."
"Gotcha."
Mallory turned back around and continued to follow the ancestry of Abigail Grey from the online site she found. They worked for nearly an hour or more until Claudia couldn't stand it anymore. She started singing along with the music and the book in her hand when a paper came flying out. Mallory didn't even notice she was too busy with her discovery.
At the same time they said:
"You've got to see this!"
Claudia grabbed Mallory's hand and pulled her up. She gave Mallory the paper and watched her look at it."Claudia do you know what this is?! It's a map of Morbidda Destiny's house! Like a floorplan!"
"I know isn't it cool? And look. I'm not sure but I think that's a secret passage."
"The only way we could find out is if we were in her house."
They looked at each other wide-eyed for a minute.
Then Mallory grabbed Claudia's arm and dragged her over to her iPad. "Read this!"
Claudia quickly read mumbling to herself words as she went:" Abigail....McLelland Road...changed the spelling of the family name after the Civil War...Mallory! Do you know what this means?!"
"That Abigail Grey lived in Morbidda Destiny's house door!"
"Yes! But not only that! Don't you get it? She changed the spelling of her name after the Civil War from Grey to Gray. Gray, Mallory. As in..."
"Alan Gray?!"
"Looks like we're going to have to talk to Alan Gray..."
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