Emma had been sitting in the queue for nearly two hours, waiting for her turn with Old Nell. The local wise woman was her last hope. For years, Emma had tried to conceive, but somehow, it never happened. “Honestly, I dont know what to tell you Your tests are perfect, no issues at all,” the doctor had said, shrugging. “But there must be *some* reason,” Emma pleaded. “If Im healthy, why cant I have a baby?” The doctor sighed. “Medicine cant explain everything. Maybe try a church? Or well, someone else.”
Emma and James had been married five years. By all accounts, they had it alla comfortable home in the Cotswolds, financial security, love, and understanding. The only thing missing was the sound of childrens laughter echoing through their spacious house.
Emma had long suspected a curse hung over them, and after the doctors words, she was convinced. “A church is all well and good,” her best friend Sophie had said, scribbling an address on a napkin, “but you need someone who *really* knows about these things. Go. Dont overthink it.”
Finally, it was Emmas turn. She stepped nervously into the tiny cottage, half-expecting a wizened crone with a black cat perched on her shoulder. Instead, she found a sweet-faced old woman in a floral dress and a white headscarf, smiling warmly. “Hello, dear. Sit here, by the icon,” Nell said in a voice like honey.
Emma burst into tears. “II dont know whats wrong with me”
“I know, love. And Ill help as best I can.”
For twenty minutes, Nell moved a candle around Emma, murmuring prayers. Then she sat across from her, clasping her hands. “You cant have children yet. Theres a curse on youone from your mothers past. It must be lifted.”
“A *curse*? But Ive never hurt anyone!”
“Not you, dear. Your mother did, and now you bear the weight of it.”
Emmas stomach dropped. “Thats not fair! Shes gonewhy should *I* pay for her mistakes?”
“Thats just how the world works, pet. Some debts pass down.”
“Can you help me?”
Nell shook her head. “Not this. If it were a simple hex, maybe. But this? Youll need to make amends for what your mother did. And praynot just for yourself, but for those whove wronged you too.”
Emma left in a daze. She called James from the car. “I wont be home tonight. Need to visit Aunt Margaret. Ill explain later.”
Aunt Margaret was baffled when Emma showed up unannounced. “Whats brought you here in such a state?”
“I need the truth. What did my mother do? Why am I paying for her sins?”
After Emma explained, Margaret sighed. “Your mother, Elizabeth she was the beauty of the village. Men flocked to her. But she fell for a married manWilliam. Stole him right from his wife, Alice, who was left with a baby boy. Alice begged Elizabeth to let him go, even got on her knees. But your mother laughed in her face. As Alice left, she cursed Elizabethand any children shed ever have.”
Emmas blood ran cold. “What happened after?”
“Your mother married William, had you. But neither lived long. Died one after the other, like clockwork. And now you cant have children. The curse took root.”
“Wheres Alice now?”
“Lost her mind years ago. Ended up in an asylum. Her son, Leo, grew up in care. Came back to the village later, but well. Drink got him. Then he lost his legs in an accident. Lives in a tumbledown cottage now, with only a white cat for company.”
Emmas heart ached. “Take me to him.”
Margaret hesitated. “Hes not right in the head, pet. Best leave it.”
“No. Hes my brother. I *have* to see him.”
The cottage was a wreckholes in the roof, no electricity. Inside, the air reeked of cheap whisky and tobacco. Leo, unshaven and hollow-eyed, sat in a wheelchair. A pristine white cat dozed on the table.
“You with social services?” he grunted.
Emma swallowed. “No. Im your sister.”
Leo barked a laugh. “Come to beg forgiveness?”
“I have. And I want to help.”
“Got fifty quid?”
She laid two hundred pounds on the table.
Leo smirked. “Cheers. Now piss off.”
But Emma didnt give up. A week later, she returned. “Pack your things. Youre coming with me.”
Leo scowled. “Why?”
“Because youre family. And I wont leave you like this.”
After a long pause, he muttered, “The cat comes too.”
Six months later, Leo was sober, studying coding, and fitted with prosthetic legs. And when Emma gave birth to twins, he and James stood outside the hospital window, grinning as she held up the newborns.
“Ready for chaos, Uncle Leo?” James teased.
Leo laughed. “Bring it on.”
