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As such, we use his home as a general Summit County Museum."

Amanda walked over to a large wood cabinet. As she opened the door, she found a large rock collection. Some of the stones dated back to 1696. "What's this?" she asked.

"That, my dear, is one of the mysteries of Breckenridge. Nobody knows who owned it, and who donated it." Mrs. Gelgrib stared straight at me.

"Oh my goodness," I whispered. "What?" Timothy asked.
"I'll tell you when we get out."
When we left the Carter home, I told Timothy and Amanda what my mother had said about Mariah Castle's dowry. "This keeps getting weirder," Amanda laughed.

The tour was over, but Timothy was still annoyed. He took out his phone. "Who are you calling?" I asked.
"I'm calling Linda at the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. I want to know about this Mrs. Gelgrib crackpot."

Timothy looked pale when he got off the phone. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"Linda says that there is no Mrs. Gelgrib. She called Tammy, who said that a woman named Mrs. Gelgrib had called her to say that she was doing a special tour today, and that she need not come into work."

I laughed at Timothy's imitation of Mrs. Gelgrib's speech and mannerisms. Suddenly, Amanda was excited. "Mrs. Gelgrib is an anagram!" she exclaimed.

"For what?" I asked.

"For Mrs. Briggle!"

Timothy and I groaned.

One Year Later: Mrs. Gelgrib's Story

We stood on the lawn of Mr. Ford's home, as we watched the happy bride and groom. William turned to me and smiled. "Well, my dear, are you happy now?"

"Yes I am. I went to my grave feeling guilty about Mariah and Andrew."

"But my darling Kathleen," it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. I should never have allowed Mariah to ride that horse."

"And had Jennifer been hurt on her bicycle, would I have been to blame?"

"Not at all, sweet William. You did manage to have Timothy show up just at the right time. But I dare say, I nearly died laughing when I saw you in that silly bear costume."

"But my dear, you are already dead."

"Ah yes. But nonetheless, when we go back up, I will need to thank Edwin for loaning us that bear skin."

"Speaking of which, my dear. It's time."

"Yes, I believe it is."

So we bid our farewell to the new Breckenridge, where folks now come in search of the snow we once tried so hard to avoid. How peculiar! Sometimes I wonder if what we did back then made a difference. Had Mr. Ford not fought for the colored man's right to vote, would we now have one running for president? Had Mr. Carter not put up such a fuss about all of those rather odd animals, perhaps it would have been the people, as well as the local animals, that would have had those disturbing mutations. As we went "upstairs," I looked down at the glorious mountains, and said to William:

"Behold, the Kingdom of Breckenridge!"

Learn more about this author, Lisa Marie Mercer.
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