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The kids were finally settled and down for their naps. Jesse had been babysitting the Smiths for 2 years and never had so much trouble getting them to sleep.
Their morning had been more exciting than usual. They had seen a cardinal land on a nearby bush until it was chased away by a cottontail rabbit. Plenty to energize a 3 and 5 year old! Lunch had been simple: sandwiches and chips for the kids while Jesse enjoyed leftover blackened salmon with alcohol-free tiramisu for dessert.
Oh!
That was it.
The tiramisu.
They each had a bite, which would have caffeine and sugar. No wonder they hadn’t settled well. She won’t make that mistake again.
Now that they were finally asleep, Jesse had the freedom to complete her other tasks around the house: tidying up so the deeper cleaning later would be easier.
As she was putting the toys away, she noticed the office door was slightly ajar.
That was unusual.
This door was almost always locked when both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were out.
She hadn’t explicitly been told not to enter, but she never needed to be told, either.
She hesitated only for a moment before stepping closer and peeking inside.
At first, everything looked as expected: neat, orderly, unremarkable.
Until she saw the framed newspaper article on the wall.
Female Historian Discovers Document: Changes Understanding of the Past.
Jesse blinked.
Mrs. Smith!
They had learned about this in school, how a major discovery reshaped historical interpretation. A case study in how accepted truths could be overturned.
And Mrs. Smith had been the one behind it?
She sank slowly into the desk chair, trying to process this information. She had always been borderline impressed with how secretive the Smith family was about their work, but this…
This was something else entirely.
She never would have made the prediction that they were this influential in local history.
Mrs. Smith was the one who had uncovered the truth about the Londonderry Trials, where dozens were supposedly tortured and killed for being vampires. She proved it was deliberately fabricated, nothing more than a story built to draw in tourists.
A noise broke her thoughts.
Movement. Voices.
The kids were waking up.
Jesse stood quickly, casting one last glance at the article before slipping back into the hallway and gently pulling the door closed behind her.
She would have to come back to this another day.
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