Fic: The Wexford Wonder (1/1)
Title: The Wexford Wonder (1/1)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: George/Effie
Fandom: Murdoch Mysteries
Genres: Angst, Drama, Historical
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: For Pay The Piper (15x23) and Close Encounters (15x24).
Summary: Effie confesses to George and receives a shocking surprise.
Date Of Completion: April 19, 2022
Date Of Posting: May 19, 2022
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Shaftesbury Films and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 610
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Effie was desperate. She had to convince George about her motivations behind what was essentially a hoax. She poured out her feelings about wanting to share an adventure with him. Her father believed that the Wexford Wonder was all about aliens coming through a portal from another dimension. Pretending that her best friend Millie had been abducted by aliens had lent urgency to the whole enterprise.
Every day was truly a wonder with George, a true adventure. His sense of wonder uplifted her. The law was a fine profession and she was good at it, but she had to admit that it could be dry and dull.
George has imagination, which brightens things up considerably.
Effie could not bear to see the disappointment in his face, so she sat on a log with her back to George.
"I hope you're not too angry, George. Maybe it wasn't the best wedding gift."
Concocting the hoax might have been a very major mistake, indeed. Enlisting her best friend Millie to play abductee and the alien might have gone a little too far, as well as using a magnet to generate mysterious energy readings and their location, but she really wanted George to know, I'm not my mother!
Mona Newsome had never supported her husband's theories about aliens. She was embarrassed and humiliated by his 'crazy talk', and never passed up an opportunity to ridicule him. Sometimes Effie was tempted to tell her to shut up.
"So you see, George, I meant well." She realized that George had not said a word in several mint. Worried, she turned around. "George?"
Empty. She looked around. The only way to leave was by her or going into the well, which was still brightly-lit courtesy of Millie.
"George! I know you must be upset, but please answer me! Stay out of that well. It's dangerous. George!"
The silence dripped like water down a cave wall.
"George, please don't try and get back at me this way. Please, George!"
The barn smelled musty and the silt created a headache. Fear welled up inside her, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth. She thought she saw his silhouette in the light, and it winked out.
"George! George!"
She scrambled toward the well.
& & & & & &
THE WEXFORD COURANT
THE WEXFORD WONDER RETURNS!
CONSTABLE VANISHES!
By Ellison Chambray
March 14, 1910
Constable George Crabtree of the Toronto Constabulary was reported missing by his fiancee, Miss Effie Newsome, whose parents are Mr. Peregrine Newsome and Mrs. Mona Newsome of 9866 Oak Drive. Miss Newsome claimed Constable Crabtree vanished in a flash of light. The disappearance was ten years to the day of the disappearance of Mr. Billy Mumphries, a local farmer. Mr. Peregrine Newsome had reported Mr. Mumphries' disappearance in a flash of light that night.
Mrs. Mona Newsome declared that Constable Crabtree walked away and returned to Toronto, but he has not shown up there. The Toronto Constabulary will be sending the famous Detective William Murdoch to investigate his colleague's vanishing. Meanwhile, Wexford's citizens are joining in the search for Constable Crabtree.
& & & & & &
THE WEXFORD COURANT
THE WEXFORD WONDER
MYSTERY CONTINUES
By Ellison Chambray
March 27, 1910
The Toronto Constabulary still considers the disappearance of Constable George Crabtree an open case, but Detective William Murdoch has not yet found any clues.
Miss Effie Newsome, Constable Crabtree's fiancee, is moving back from Toronto and shutting down her law practice in the city, though she plans to open it here.
"I intend to work with my father to discover the truth about what happened to George."
We will continue to report on this case and any other future victims of the Wexford Wonder.
This entry has been cross-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment on either entry as you wish. :)
This story can also be read on AO3.