Previous chapters of the River Road story:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

How should the story continue? Voting is open on the current chapter!

Last time, Eben was looking for Mia Duomo (who was being held captive in the basement of the museum by her former friend, Winston Chagall) and ended up running into Margaret Pipkin. Margaret was clearly trying to distract Eben who wasn’t being fooled by her sudden false politeness. Eben realized that if he kept Margaret talking, she might accidentally reveal a clue. Margaret contradicted herself as she rambled—mysteriously stating that she had hoped one day to be a model and letting it slip that she knew who Mia Duomo was. Margaret seemed to not want Eben to go toward the basement stairs. Suddenly, she screamed and pointed to the end of the hallway. What was wrong with her? At that very moment, Mr. and Mrs. DeLorca concluded that they needed to find Mia. But, first, Mrs. DeLorca wanted to study the paintings that Vivian Crane had brought to the museum. At that very moment, Vivian Crane was hurrying through the museum’s beautiful reception hall when she was noticed by Mrs. Conn who seemed to recognize the woman. Mrs. Conn referred to Vivian as “Rebecca Anderson.” Shouting, “Stay back,” Vivian clearly didn’t want to talk to Mrs. Conn. What happened next? Here’s what you decided.

Chapter 12: Stair Scare
by Joseph Crisalli

Meanwhile, Vivian Crane was hurrying into the reception hall where the party for Sam and Jenny Colbert was continuing. She looked upset, and as she walked, she was muttering under her breath about something.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Mrs. Conn sitting with the four kids.

Mrs. Conn spotted Vivian Crane immediately and quickly stood up.

“Rebecca?” Mrs. Conn said as she walked over to Vivian. “Rebecca Anderson? Is that you?”

“Stay back!” Vivian Crane shouted.

Mrs. Conn paused. “I’m sorry.”

Vivian began to look around and noticed that several people were staring at her. “No, I’m sorry,” Vivian said, forcing herself to smile. “I…I thought you were…”

“You thought I was what?” Mrs. Conn asked, stepping closer to Vivian.

“I don’t know.” Vivian shook her head, still smiling a large, fake smile. “Large groups of people overwhelm me. I suppose I was just reacting badly. Forgive me.” She extended her hand. “I’m Vivian Crane. I’m an artist. I was here to meet with Mrs. DeLorca about an upcoming exhibit of my paintings.”

“I see.” Mrs. Conn nodded. “When I saw you come in, I could have sworn you were someone that I knew.”

“Rebecca Anderson?” Vivian asked.

“Yes.” Mrs. Conn nodded.

“Well, as you can see, I’m not Rebecca Anderson—whoever she is.” Vivian said slowly.

“I suppose not.” Mrs. Conn nodded again. “You do look a lot like her. Of course, I haven’t seen Rebecca in years—not since she was a teenager. I knew Rebecca before I moved to Vista Falls. My late husband, Moss, and I were friends of her parents. Moss and I used to babysit her. I always wondered what happened to her. I lost touch with her family years ago.”

“That’s very touching.” Vivian said weakly.

“She was a beautiful girl—so smart and sweet.” Mrs. Conn grinned. “Ah, well. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

“Not at all,” Vivian shook her head. “It’s just I am clearly not the person you thought I was. I hope that one day you find her again. I am not, however, this Rebecca. I’ve never even been to New Orleans. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going.”

With that, Vivian Crane hurried across the reception hall.

Mrs. Conn frowned and muttered to herself. “I didn’t mention that we knew Rebecca when we lived in New Orleans.”

Meanwhile, in the upstairs gallery, Mr. DeLorca let out a low moan.

“Oh, dear…” He sighed.

“What is it, darling?” Mrs. DeLorca asked. “Are you worried about Mia?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Mr. DeLorca nodded. “I’m not even thinking about how hungry I am or how much I would enjoy a warm turkey sandwich with Swiss cheese and honey mustard dressing right now. And, that’s saying something because as far as mustards go, honey mustard is the king. Yes, it’s the veritable King of Mustards—horse radish mustard being the duke, you know. But, no, I’m not thinking about any of that, and especially not how that sandwich would go nicely with a large order of sweet potato fries and a delicious side dish of chocolate covered raisins. That’s how worried I am about Mia.”

“I can see that you’re beside yourself.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded.

“No, dear, I’m not. That’s just my jacket.” Mr. DeLorca smiled.

“Of course,” Mrs. DeLorca responded. “We’ll help Eben look for Mia in just a moment. But, first, there’s something I want to see about Vivian’s paintings.”

They arrived at the storage area where Vivian Crane’s artwork had been taken.

“Ah, here they are.” Mrs. DeLorca said. She took out several of the canvases and studied them.

“I knew it!” Mrs. DeLorca shouted.

“I say, what’s that, dear?” Mr. DeLorca asked.

“Right here.” Mrs. DeLorca pointed to one of the paintings. “Look at the background.”

The painting was a portrait of a woman. The background of the painting was stylized faces like those that had been painted behind Vera and the Colberts. These faces, however, were smiling, happy faces—not the miserable and pained faces of the two frightening portraits.

“It’s very similar.” Mr. DeLorca said.

“Too similar.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded. “We have to find Mia!”

At that very moment, Eben was staring at Margaret Pipkin.

“I don’t know why you’re screaming,” Eben squinted.

“Didn’t you see it?” Margaret shouted. “Didn’t you see that shadow over there by the door to the basement stairs? The door that we’re about to open?”

“No.” Eben shook his head. “Why are you shouting?”

“It startled me!” Margaret said loudly. “Maybe we shouldn’t open the door to the basement stairs!”

Eben squinted again.

Meanwhile, in the basement, both Winston Chagall and Mia Duomo heard Margaret’s obvious noise-making.

Mia recognized Eben’s voice. She realized that that was her chance to get help! However, she also realized that Winston was watching her closely. She didn’t know how he would react if she tried to escape. Fearful, Mia wondered what to do next!

What should Mia do?
Call out to Eben?
Try to run to the door?
Keep quiet, and hope they find her.

Email your thoughts.

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