The Curse of Montgomery

Prologue

It was cold and rainy outside the old and infamous Montgomery Castle. Situated on the very north of Scotland. It had been at least fifty years since the house had been inhabited but now, this night of June 30th, 1900 it seemed that at long last someone would be occupying it.

The Davenport family had just been transferred from England to live in Scotland after Mr. Davenport, a very important manager at a construction company, had been asked to create a new division in the area. Originally, they had thought of looking for a place in Inverness, seeing as the headquarters of the new division would be settled there. But Mrs. Davenport, overtaken by her passion for history, and especially for smaller villages that were associated with grand mansions, or castles, had pushed her husband to see the possibility of getting a home at such a place.

And that is how Mr. Davenport, wishing to grant this small wish of his wife, ended up at a very small real estate firm and met Mr. Duncan Gibson, who, seeing this opportunity as a golden one for his own dark personal reasons, immediately invited the entire family to see the small village of Montgomery and its castle, which, conveniently enough, was being let. And so, on June 30th, the entire family: Mr. and Mrs. Davenport and their three children: Amy, Laurie and Dave, happily went on a tour of this magical place and prepared to stay at least one night there, as was proposed by Mr. Gibson. What they were not informed of before, as they started on their journey, was the very dark, and also very dangerous reality that surrounded this historical ancient place and which would soon also involve them.

At the end of the tour, when the night had descended and the rain had begun to fall in earnest, without much light to guide them except for the small lanterns that were left on in the entrance steps to the castle, Mr. Gibson finally invited them into the darkened main entrance.

Although the family felt a little frightened by the huge interior and the pitch darkness, as well as the immensity of the place, they could not shake off the otherworldly charm that enveloped and enchanted them. And when Mr. Gibson finally found a light switch near the main staircase and the place was filled with a soft golden glow that emanated from a ceiling-hanging ancient chandelier, it was awe, rather than fear and caution, that drove them to decide to continue with their plans.

As they scouted the house with the realtor, the Davenports took in the disrepair of the house but also the magnificence of the whole setting: the high stone walls covered with tapestries and banners, weapons crossed in a sign of constant readiness for battle, the stone hearths, the stone floors covered with thick rugs and carpet, the huge polished oak staircase that led from the hall to the second floor landing, and then upwards, the halls that led off to the kitchens and some entertainment rooms. Everything spoke of wealth, nobility and also ancient times.

According to Mr. Gibson, this very castle and the enormously extensive grounds had once belonged to one of the greatest lords in Scottish history: the Earl of Montgomery, a peer of the realm and defender of the Scottish crown. It was also a place filled with tragedy and grief for it had been the scenario of one of the saddest events in that region.

And so Mr. Gibson began to tell the story: "The Earl of Montgomery married, in secret, one of the wealthiest and most beautiful English ladies in all of the British Isles. They had two sons and Lady Montgomery was pregnant with her third child when her family finally decided to take action against the defiling of their noble name by their daughter becoming entangled with a Scottish barbarian. They left for the highlands and arrived at MontgomeryCastle when neither Lord Montgomery nor his eldest son were at home.

However, when Lady Montgomery found out what her father and two brothers intended to do, she sent servants to search for Lord Montgomery and let him know what was happening. When Lord Montgomery found out and returned to the castle with his eldest son, a terrible fight ensued and Lady Montgomery died from a wound inflicted by accident by one of her brothers. The two brothers died as well killed by Lord Montgomery.