Curse of the Fountain -16- by Melanie Brown

The Curse of the Fountain

By

Melanie Brown

Copyright © 2025

Part 16

I knew he’d call, I thought to myself, looking at the caller ID on my phone. I just hoped Jeff would have waited a bit. Mom is expecting me to help with dinner. Thankfully, Bea wasn’t staying for dinner.

“Babe! Are you okay?” Jeff asked earnestly before I could even say hello.

“Jeff, slow down. I’m okay. I promise.” I said evenly.

“But who were those guys?” demanded Jeff. “What did they want?”

“I told you already.”

“Seriously, Nell,” exclaimed Jeff. “I’m not buying that they were your grandfather’s friends. What’s really going on?”

It’s not like I can tell him the truth.  Maybe I can tell him just enough. “Seriously? They’re my grandfather’s competitors. My grandfather was searching for the lost city of Z when the jungle finally killed him. My guess is they think my grandfather found it before he died and, for some reason told me.”

“The…the lost city of…of Z?”

I laughed. “Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? When I was with him in South America, he mentioned those guys because he was worried they were on his trail. He said they’re a bunch of glory hounds who have stolen some of his credit on discoveries.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Jeff. “I mean, like who cares who discovers what?”

I frowned at the phone. “Well, there is money involved. It’s wrong for them to steal credit.”

“Honey,” said Mom from the doorway. “I need you in the kitchen.”

“Just a minute, Mom!” Into the phone, I said, “I have to go, babe. We can talk about this later.”

“See ya.”

                    *

Mom squinted out the windshield as we approached the school. Several squad cars were in the parking lot, their service lights flashing red and blue.

“I wonder what’s going on at your school?” asked Mom as a cop redirected her.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I hope they’re here to arrest the lunch food chef.”

As she stopped the car by the curb so I could get out, Mom asked, “You don’t suppose it has anything to do with your attack?”

I sighed deeply. “I hope not.  I want that story to disappear as quickly as possible.”

Mom smiled at me. “Be good. I’ll pick you up after cheer practice.”

I wrinkled my brow. “Don’t you remember? Jeff is taking me home.”

“You sure?”  Dad had wanted to hire a security team until I raised a fit, and he agreed we couldn’t afford it anyway.

I nodded.

I opened my car door and walked with some trepidation toward the school. As I neared the school, a police officer and a man in a suit approached me. Terrific.

The cop in the suit looked at me and asked, “Miss Nell Fenwick?”

I so wanted to give a smart-ass reply, but I simply said, “Yes.”

The suit guy said, “I’m Lieutenant Drebin. I just need a few moments of your time.”

Annoyed, I said, “Hey, I got to get to class. I’ve already given my statement.”

Looking smug, the lieutenant said, “I won’t keep you but a moment. Just a few questions.”

I sighed. “Okay, shoot.”

Pulling a small notebook from his coat pocket, he asked, “What do you know about this lost city of Zed?”

I grinned slightly. “My grandfather just said ‘Z.’ Anyway, it’s supposedly an ancient city lost in the rainforests of Brazil.”

He glanced at his notebook. “And what’s the significance of this city? Why was your grandfather searching for it?”

I let my mouth fall open as I stared dumbfounded by the detective. “Because it’s lost. My grandfather wanted to bring it back into history.  Think of what we could learn from it.”  I just found a bigger douche nozzle than my Dad.

Shifting his feet, the lieutenant asked, “Yes, but aside from being lost, is there anything special about this Zed city?”

I laughed. “Are you referring to the fabled fountain of youth?”

The detective’s face brightened. “Yes. Exactly. Was your grandfather searching for that?”

I laughed again. “Are you for real? Does the tooth fairy still visit you?”

Lieutenant Drebin chuckled. “That does seem a bit preposterous. So your grandfather and Foster and his team are just looking for a city? Seems much ado about nothing.”

Shaking my head said, “Don’t discount making a discovery like that, Mr. Detective.  Discovery not only gets your name in the news, but research grants start rolling in, and investors willing to fund other adventures.  It’s very lucrative.”

“I see.” The detective scribbled something in his notebook. “So your grandfather’s search was strictly for scientific knowledge?”

“If he wasn’t dead, you could ask him,” I smirked.

The lieutenant nodded to me. “Thank you, miss.” He turned to the uniformed cop and said, “Let’s go.”

I watched them walk away for a moment. I so wanted to shout, “Yes! I found the fountain of youth! It is I, Dr. Neil Forscher!  Well, nobody would believe me.  And it might hurt my relationship with Jeff.  I smiled at the thought of Jeff.

                    *

“Are you okay?” exclaimed Trudy as I set my tray down on the lunchroom table. “Why were you attacked? Did you know them?”

“Yeah, what’s the deal?” demanded JD.

I sighed as I looked at my friend’s earnest faces.  “Yes. I’m fine. No, I don’t know them. They thought I knew something about my grandfather. I think I know who they might be, but the police say there’s no credible link between them and my attacker. Which is stupid.”

Jeff put his arm around me. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

I smiled at Jeff. “I am because of you, baby. That was so heroic of you.”

Trudy punched Connor’s shoulder. “Would you tackle a bad guy for me?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Connor said, “Of course I would, baby.”

Sam giggled. “You don’t sound so sure.”

Connor smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand. “I would have pulverized him!”

Jeff smirked. “Well, the dude ran away before I could pulverize him.”

I put my head on Jeff’s shoulder. “You chased them away. I’m just glad they didn’t shoot you.”

The banter about my attack continued for several minutes. It only increased my discomfort. The whole episode has only increased Bea’s desire to fly back down to Brazil to secure ownership of that area. And maybe she’s right. Foster can’t be allowed to get control of that fountain. I mean, if the fountain is going to make someone rich, it should be me.

                    *

Friday finally arrived.  My attack had fallen into being old news, and thankfully, nobody talked about it. Bea, on the other hand, did put my legal team to work on creating travel documents for us in case we need to make a quick trip to Brazil. The stuff my legal team is capable of is actually starting to frighten me.

Being Friday also meant another pep rally. True to her word, Coach got me involved in the skit. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I mostly just stand there and stare at Jeff. Not a bad gig, huh? 

The coach had this idea that required using the football players who had cheerleader girlfriends, which, of course, would include yours truly. I had to let that sink in.  I’m somebody’s girlfriend. Which means I have a boyfriend. And that’s just insane.

Anyway, the coach asked the football players to learn the song Little Darling by the Diamonds.  Sissy and I were the only ones who had heard the song before. The cheerleaders, minus Katrina, whose boyfriend isn’t on the team, would be serenaded by the players. Anyway, the boys were to stand in a line and sing the song while the girls just stood looking at them with dreamy eyes. Conner sang the funny lines of the song.  Jeff held my hand and sang the part of holding my little hands in his.  Until the song, I hadn’t realized that my hands were smaller than his. The skit was a hit, Connor got a big laugh, and I got to have Jeff hold my hand and be sung to.  It was definitely the beginning of a perfect day.

That perfect day continued through lunch and into the Friday night game when my Jeff scored the first goal just before halftime. 

“Nell!” shouted Coach. “Your parents have to talk to you. They’re waiting in the stands at our area.”

“Can it wait?” I asked.  Coach almost never let us talk to anyone outside the field during a game. “It’s almost half-time.”

Coach just frowned at me. “Just go. I think it’s important.” I nodded and run back up into the stands.

As I approached Mom and Dad, I got a bad feeling. Mom had been crying. Before I said a word, Mom said, “Honey, your Aunt Bea has been attacked.”

                    *

End of Part 16