Chapter 3 - The Third Eye

Foggy Bottom Road was a gurgling river of mud, and the sky looked like it had gone through a cheese shredder. Lighting speared through the ragged clouds followed by loud thumps of thunder. It was a night of swirling thick mist, so the fork in the road came upon them without warning.

“Whoa a second!” Chip shouted staggering to a stop.

Hearing only the metallic clatter of thunder in her ears, Evvie marched blindly ahead, slamming right into Chip.

“For the love of figs!” he exclaimed picking up his Dad’s favorite curse. “I said Whoa!”

Evvie looked down at Chip who was now sprawled in road muck.

“Whoa only works on horses, not people.”
He cleared the mud from his eyes and saw a small smirk lift Evvie’s lips.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warned.
“You have to admit it’s kind of funny.”

“No I don’t,” he grumped. Wriggling his toes, mud oozed from one side of his foot to the other. “Great. Now the mud’s inside and out.”

“What did you expect?” Evvie crouched down until they were face to face. “It’s raining, lightening and the road’s a foot deep in mud.” She raised her voice to be heard above a barrel roll of thunder. “We’ve got to find someplace dry until the storm breaks! We need a Plan B.”

Chip looked at Evvie, clean and pristine under her yellow umbrella. They were in the biggest storm ever to hit Mariposa Grove, and she didn’t have one speck of mud on her. That thought spawned another, and a wicked grin played around the edges of his mouth.

“What?” she asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, he sighed heavily. “All right, we’ll do it your way. Give me a hand?”

“Finally,” Evvie exhaled, grasping his hand firmly with her own. In the next instant, she was sprawled right there beside him.

“Well whaddaya know?” he said as the mud puddled around her waist. “You were right. It is about a foot deep.”

“Chip Cooley!” she yelped. “Look what you’ve done!”

“Welcome to my world.” Chip laughed feeling a proud sense of accomplishment. “You were right. It is kind of funny.”

“No, it’s not,” she snapped. “Now everything is ruined!” Pulling out the waterlogged beef jerky from her pocket, Evvie exposed a glimmer of silver that nearly made Chip’s heart stop.

“What about the… the chocolate?” he stammered, pointing to the rectangle of foil.

Evvie pulled it out and made a face.
“It’s a goner,” she said flatly and threw it over her shoulder.

“No!” Chip lunged behind her and caught it before it crash-landed into the pool of muck. Protectively, he cupped his hand around the bar, bringing it close to his face. “It’s okay,” he breathed with relief. A whiff of cocoa seeped up his nose. Sparks exploded all around him, sprinkling the wet leaves and tree branches with brilliant shards of color. He reached out, mesmerized as a rainbow of raindrops crash-landed into Earth, leaving a landscape littered with insect-sized craters. Chocolate was beautiful. Chocolate was magical. Chocolate was forbidden.

“Did you see that?” he asked amazed.

“Geez Chip, get a grip. It’s just a candy bar!” When silence greeted her, Evvie peered closer at him. “What’s the deal with you Cooleys and chocolate anyway?”

“We’re not allowed to eat it,” he answered simply, wondering why she sounded so far away. A strange buzz was humming in his ears and his body was tingling all over.

“Um, I feel weird…” he said faintly.

Brown mud caked his face, and Evvie could barely see the blue of Chip’s eyes. His pupils were huge and black.

“What do you mean, weird?” she asked slowly inching away from him.

“Kinda floaty,” he slurred, trying to focus on her face, which kept drifting in and out of view. Then she was gone. His head was filled with a vision of a cabin. Surrounded by eucalyptus trees, it was old and rundown on the outside and warm and dry inside. Evvie was there, dozing by a fire. Strange, he thought dreamily. How could she be here and there at the same time? Unless…

“Hey!” Chip was rudely pulled out of his dream state back into the real, wet night. “What are you doing?!”

Evvie stood before him, holding the chocolate bar between two fingers like it was some dead animal she’d found in the road.

“Okay, THAT was creepy Chip Cooley,” she announced looking strangely impressed. “What happened? You went all ragdoll and were mumbling words that didn’t make any sense!”
Chip shrugged and reached for the chocolate.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said drawing back and pocketing the silver foil in her coat. “This stays with me.” She studied him curiously. “I think your Mom does know best. You and chocolate do not mix.”
Chip couldn’t have disagreed more, but he remained silent. His blue eyes were back to normal, but he now knew he was anything but normal. He had IT!
People in Mariposa Grove talked about it in whispers. Some called it Second Sight. Others used scientific names like Extra Sensory Perception. The Cooley clan called it the Third Eye, but most everyone just called it the Cooley Curse. What they all agree on was one thing—it wasn’t normal. Chip recalled one of the few times his Momma had spoken of it when he was just a tot:
“The Third Eye is not a curse Chip,” she explained patiently after two ladies in the market whispered and pointed at his mother. He stuck out his tongue, and the women scurried around the corner to another aisle. His mother ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his blonde head. “It’s a gift. You’ll want to remember that.”
“But how’d you get it?” he asked wrinkling his five-year old nose.
She laughed.
“You don’t have to worry love. It’s not a disease. Just something special my father passed on to me, and one I’ll pass on to one of you kids.”
“But what is it?” he asked impatiently. It had to be bad or why would those ladies whisper about them?
She looked down, pausing a long moment as if deciding on something important. Finally, she spoke.
“I see what others can’t and that makes people afraid.” When he scrunched up his forehead, she leaned down and whispered the magic words in his ear. “I can see the future.”

He looked at his mother with wonder in his ocean blue eyes.

“Momma, can you please pass the Third Eye on to me?”

She smiled.

“The Third Eye decides who to choose.”

Ever since that day, he’d hoped and prayed he’d get the Third Eye. Instead, life just turned out one ordinary day after the next. The only thing that made him special was being the oldest kid in the Cooley clan. All of his brothers and sisters were nutty for figs except him. He just craved chocolate all the time. Now he knew why. Chocolate triggered the Third Eye. He had the Cooley Curse.

“Evvie,” he asked faintly. “What time is it?”
“So the boy decides to talk,” she cracked. “It’s after midnight. Why?”
His smile lit up the night like a beacon. Momma had been right. The Third Eye WAS a gift.
“I just turned 14-years old.”
“Happy birthday,” she said stifling a sneeze. “Not to be rude, but can we move on now please?”
“Oh, right.” Chip realized he was still lying in the mud. “Sorry about that.”
“What were you doing down there anyway?” she asked suspiciously. “You looked like you had some kind of revelation.”
“I did,” he said glancing at the silver bar jutting out of her coat. “Plan B.”
“Good, “she said through chattering teeth. “Cause I’m turning into an ice cube.”
“Come on,” he said with determination. “I know exactly where we need to go.”

Copyright © 2000 by Nina Martin.  All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For information, address: info@cooleyscurse.com