The Tale of Oliver T. Horsephat -- Part 3

Good news on my book.   I have been cranking away at it the past few days.   I am actually getting close to the end.   My goal is to finish it by the end of January.   I think I can... I think I can... I think I can...

After that comes the editing... but then what?   Yes, I should try to publish it, but how and what does that entail?   I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

The Tale of Oliver T. Horsephat -- Part 3

  

That morning, Oliver opened the front door only to face Mrs. Olive Treehousen. Some guessed she was about 87 while others gambled that she was actually 103.   Regardless, her unknown age had yet to stop her from being a rival of the Horsephats.   The two families had a turbulent history greater than the Hatfields and McCoys.   Only these didn't shoot at each other.   They opted for something more devious.  They had cursed each other.  

The Treehousens had made their fortune in olive importing.   Their business had grown substantially since its beginnings.  They had purchased land for warehouses next to the Horsephats farm.  However, they lived in the neighboring county of Olive Branch and had established its county seat, Olea, in the 1864 as well.   Like the Horsephats, the Treehousens were involved in everything, receiving high respect from the community.

 

While the Horsephats had received "the none-past-47 curse," the Treehousens in return got "the no-rest-for-the-wicked curse."  Not one Treehousen had ever died before the age of 100.    No matter what happened to them, they lived to ripe old ages.  

Ada Treehousen, Olive's third cousin, had literally been whittled to nothing.  First, she lost her left hand in a mountain lion attack which in turn spread gangrene up to her shoulder.  Later, she lost a leg to run-away tractor; the remaining leg meet its fate from a large boulder.   Eventually, she was noting but a torso with a head.  Excitedly, at the age of 101, she expired.  Her grave stone read "She lost everything but her head."  Many similar tales existed for the family.  Unlike the Horsephats, the Treehousens had branched out, thus cursing several generations to long, and often painful, lives.

The families remained rivals to this day with no end in sight.