Morning walk in winter has always been very difficult for Tina as she never

seemed to enjoy it. Its like the sun has also been as lazy as her and very
reluctant to spread the warmth to make her feel cozy. she has to warm
herself to beat the chilly winter morning.
Tina never understood the necessity for such a walk, especially in winter.
But her father, Mr. Roy, made it a compulsory to stay fit. For a retired army
officer like him, it might be important but definitely not for a History student
like her. Moreover, it has been just a day since her return to home from the
college hostel and she has to wake early despite being on vacation.
So cold and such a long walk, thought Tina. It has'nt been an hour but she was
already feeling very tired. She decided to take a shortcut and changed her
path to a less busy and narrow road. It seemed like no one uses this road
anymore. "Tina", cried Mr. Ben Stewart, " out on a walk?. What else I would do
in this freezing morning! thought Tina and looked at him angrily. " offcourse
uncle Ben, after all its such a beautiful morning." she said. " On a vacation I
guess. Well lets a have a walk together then." said Mr. Ben. Why he always
bothers me, She wondered. Uncle Ben I am sorry but I have to go to the
market so I will catch up with you later." Tina quickly changed her path and
started walking towards the market. Mr. Ben perhaps realized she was
avoiding her as the market was a quite far and so he left.
Tina never liked Mr. Ben that much as he has always been very arrogant of
being a successful doctor. Yet for her the name has its own significance as
her boyfriend's name is also Ben. Tina kept on walking wondering how the
nature of two people sharing the same name could be so varied. She was so
consumed in her thoughts that she did not even realize that she had taken a
detour unintentionally and had walked too far from her home as well as the
market.
All of a sudden she realized that it was getting a little dark and looked around
her. To her surprise she noticed that she was surrounded by some dense
bushes and tall trees. She has the wrong way or perhaps somewhere she was
not aware of. The road had become narrow and was leading to a dark forest
Where she saw a house coloured in blue amidst the dense bushes and trees.
She remembered that it was the Rogers house and she had been there only
twice or thrice as a child.
She began moving towards the house, when suddenly she saw an old man
standing near the main gate. The house was very unique in its style. It was
big and old yet elegant With beautifully decorated doors and windows. A

beautiful and green garden added colour to the house and there was also
this huge entrance iron gate. Tina had no idea what the old man was doing
near the gate. He was only starring at the house.
Tina hesitantly approached him out of curiosity. "Sir,are you looking for
someone?" she asked. The man didn't answer. He didn't even look at
her.Tina was very surprised at this. She asked him again, this time a little
loudly. Though it seemed to her that he wasn't that old yet his appearance
made her realize that he wasn't well. He was wearing an old brown coat,
black trouser and black shoes. The man looked tired,ill and poor.
"Sir are you alright?" Tina asked a little loudly this time. Still no answer. It
seemed like she was invisible for him. Tina got furious and decided to turn
back. She began walking towards the other end where she came from, when
all of a sudden she heard someone calling her, " excuse me". She turned to
see that it was the old man who has finally decides to talk. " Would you mind
giving me some information about this house?" he asked politely. "Sure, why
not". Said Tina. She thought he might be new here or else doing any survey
but was not at all sure. She couldn't even guess his intentions. He looked
normal though his eyes were weary and somewhat red as if he has been
crying.
"It belongs to the Rogers family". She said. "They are among the wealthy
people living in this town and are involved in garments manufacturing.I have
never been to their house sir and have little knowledge about them but I
might ask my father if you need more information." He looked at her and
nodded his head. "Perhaps sometime later young lady". His eyes were almost
filled with water and Tina looked at him quiet surprised. Suddenly she bagan
to feel a cool breeze blowing all around her and she started to feel very cold.
" I have to go sir. My parents must be waiting for me. Goodbye". She said
and headed her home.
"Father may I know about the Rogers living in the woods?" asked Tina after
finishing her breakfast. " The Rogers?" cried Mr. Roy. " And may I know why?"
he asked. " I took the wrong path by mistake and reached their house today"
she said. Mr. Roy was very furious and looked at her angrily. " I think it would
be better for you to be more careful and stop loittering" he said. " As for the
Rogers", he continued "they don't live there any more. They have sold their
house last week to some investor and no one lives there right now". He
looked at her while folding the newspaper, " its better if you stay away from
that house". Tina became more curious.

The next day Tina went out a little earlier for her walk which surprised her
parents. She was very eger to know more about the house and the family but
her parents wouldn't talk. She was wondering how she could gather such
information when suddenly she saw uncle Ben approaching her. " Morning
uncle Ben. How are you?" asked Tina with a smile. Mr. Ben looked at her with
surprise. " I am quite well and thank you for asking". " Uncle Ben can you tell
me something about the Rogers living in the woods?" asked Tina without
wasting time. " The Rogers?" Mr. Ben starred at her horridly. He had no idea
why she wanted to know about the Rogers . " Don't you know them or about
how Steve Rogers?". She shook her head and realized she had no knowledge
about the family except their existence. " Well I am always away from home
and never had any chance of exploring the town, so I guess I am quite
unaware of the Rogers."
"Well, Steve Rogers used to live near the market and was a tailor. Initially he
started with a tiny shop and small amount of customers but later he grew
into a fabulous designer of beautiful and modern dresses especially for
women. And gradually he became rich." Mr. Ben started walking along with
Tina. "He was also able to move into a beautiful manson in the midst of
nature." Ben smiled and continued." He was a very hard working and
optimistic person. Everything was so perfect for the Rogers that Mr. Rogers
started to feel very lucky. He got his only son Jacob admitted to the best
school in the town and started exporting his products."
Ben stopped, took a deep breath and started again. " He was a very kind
man and never forgot how he used to be. He always tried to help the poor
and at times used to recruit some to work for him. He never refused to help."
Ben looked around, "isn't it beautiful?" said he pointing to the rising sun. Tina
had no interest in sceneric beauties at least for now , "so what went wrong?"
she asked. Ben realized she was very curious and continued. " Mr. Rogers
suddenly fell ill one day. He came to visit my father for a checkup. Later he
was diagnosed with cancer. From that moment on everything started to fall
apart. And by the time Mr. Rogers took to his bed because of severe illness,
Jacob Rogers had become a notorious thief and a famous gambler, borrowing
money even from his father's employees.
"Rogers' business was no longer the same. Mr. Rogers tried his best but
everything went wrong especially when Jacob started to manage the
business. But then came Jeff, Jacob's cousin and things began to improve."
Uncle Ben paused for a moment and took a deep breath. He looked
somewhat pale and weak which Tina didn't notice the other day. " Jeff," he

continued, " was one brilliant guy, and he never made any mistake. Mr.
Rogers had asked him to join his company as he could see the condition of
Jacob. At first Jeff used to assist Jacob but later Jeff's efficiency and
performance made him Jacob's partner. In fact it appeared to Mr. Rogers that
he had found the next best employee of the company after him and was
planning to make Jeff the rightful owner of his company whereas Jacob might
become a sleeping partner.
Jacob wasn't happy at all and felt very
dissatisfied. He became furious and was kept on drowning into the world of
alcohol,drugs and gambling. He became ill with his eyes so red and swollen
that his children were always afraid of him. No one including his beloved
wife, was able to help him. His existence in the company began to fade and
so also for his father at home. The only hope was now with Jeff. "
Uncle Ben looked a little confused yet continued. " Jeff was a poor orphan
with high ambition. He was from some village where he used to live with his
uncle but he was very clever. It was he who saved the company from
liquidation for the last time. But things never stay the same. Jeff began to fall
sick all of a sudden and was unable to work properly. He was always feeling
drowsy and could barely stand. No one knew what happened, not even the
doctor." Uncle Ben stopped and looked away from Tina. Tina realized he was
sobbing but couldn't guess the reason. " Are you alright uncle?" asked Tina. "
Yes offcourse dear" he continued. " Jeff's condition worsened day by day and
Mr. Rogers became very frustrated. Mr. Rogers knew that his death was
approaching, so he summoned his son and informed him that he would
divide his property equally between Jacob and Jeff and they would become
partners. Jacob was very disappointed but didn't protest. Instead walked out
of the room. That night, Jeff took his last breath and left everyone forever.
Everyone was shocked. Mr. Rogers felt so much lonely and disheartened
that he could barely speak. Jacob became the only hier and regained the
company after his father's death a couple of days later. But the company
began to drown and Jacob had failed as an owner. Jacob barely utilized his
time properly in his business. Instead he used to be very busy with alcohol
and gambling as usual. He wasted all the inherited money till bankruptcy. His
amount of debt raised so high that he started to sell his inherited assets one
after the other. Finally, nothing was left except the Manson which was the
last asset sold to an investor. After that he along with his family left the town
and never came back. " Uncle Ben looked somewhat furious and his eyes
were glowing. Tina was surprised not only to hear the entire tragic story but
also watching Mr. Stewart's strange reactions.

"I feel so sorry for everything" said Tina. " I never thought that the Rogers
had suffered so much". "Indeed." said Stewart. " But it was Jeff who suffered.
Jeff was innocent. I really wished he wouldn't have come", sobbed Stewart. "
Tina I have to go now I am really late. In fact I have stayed with you longer
than I am supposed to. I am leaving now. We will meet tomorrow." Mr.
Stewart almost ran and vanished without even letting Tina utter any word.
Tina returned home and searched for her father. " You are late today Tina.
What took you so long?" asked Mr. Roy. " I stoped by the Rogers house father
and learned their tragic story today." she said. "Why, didn't I tell you to stay
away from there?" shouted Mr. Roy. "I was a little curious and I came across
to know so much. Father, they were really unfortunate." said Tina. " Yes
indeed." nodded her father. " When I looked at the Manson, I didn't expect its
story to be so tragic. I guess the old man would also be surprised if he
hearing it." she said. "Who is this old man?" asked Mr. Roy. " Well, yesterday
while coming across the Manson I saw this old man staring constantly at it
and when I approached him, he began enquiring about the house. He
appeared weary and somewhat sick and poor, wearing a brown coat and
black shoes." she said. " Are seeing ghost of Mr. Rogers dear?" inquired Mr.
Roy curiously with a smile. " Offcourse not!" cried Tina. Or was it.? She
thought. Suddenly she began to tremble out of fear. What if it was Mr. Rogers
ghost.! She looked nervously at her father who was starring at her as if trying
to figure out whether she has really seen a ghost or not. " Father what if it
is?" asked Tina with trembling voice. Mr. Roy was really surprised to see her
shake with fear.
The bell rang. Tina felt a sudden shake of fear. Mr. Roy went to see who it
was. Tina was so scared that even she followed him. Mr. Roy opened the door
and Tina started screaming. It was the old man standing outside their house.
" What is it Tina?" asked her father . She was only starring at him as if she
had seen a ghost. Before Mr. Roy anything else, she had fainted.
She came around after sometime. "Father..its..him." she gasped. It took some
time for Mr. Roy to understand that the old man she had been talking about
was this very person whom she had seen couple of minutes age outside the
door. " Tina, its not what you are thinking. This old man is our new gardener
from the village." Hearing this, she got up and saw the old man. " This is Mr.
Stu and he is going to look after my precious and beautiful garden" explained
Mr. Roy.

Tina felt little relieved. But something seemed to bother her. " Mr.Stu, what
were you doing near the Rogers Manson the other day?" she asked. "Well
miss, my older brother used to work for Mr. Rogers. I heard a lot about his
generosity and decided to take a look at his Manson. " he said. Tina was now
feeling much better. "Its really a tragedy sir, the way Mr. Parker was killed."
said Stu. Tina looked at him with surprise. " Who is Mr. Parker?" she asked. "
It was Mr. Rogers nephew, cousin to Mr. Jacob, Mr. Jeff Parker. He was a very
kind and talented but died so young." he said. Tina did recognize Mr. Parker
yet things became more complex. " What do you mean by killed?" she asked.
" Well Mr. Jeff suffered a lot but according to the rumors he didn't die but was
killed. In fact this was no rumor but truth. I heard my brother say, how the
doctor and Mr. Jacob planned together and killed him out of jealousy. The
doctor was Mr. Jacob's best friend and did everything for Mr. Jacob. " said he.
" Actually, doctor wanted his best friend to live a prestigious life and thought
that he might become responsible once he is made the owner instead of Jeff.
" continued Mr. Roy. " So they planned together and started poisoning Jeff
and made him weak and feel drowsy all the time using tranquilizer. No one
suspected because of the doctor's reputation. But things went out of hand
and Jeff died. Due to lack of evidence, no one could be found guilty. But later,
things came out as you can never suppress the truth. Different types of
medicines, tranquilizer, and harmful chemicals were found from Mr. Jacob's
room one day. Yet it was too late. It is said that doctors are like the helpers of
God trying to fix his creation. " claimed Mr. Roy. " But sir, the doctor was
virtuous and he later accepted his guilt to his father." explained Mr. Stu.
Tina was speechless. She didn't know what to say. Everything became more
tragic to her. At first she realized how unfortunate Mr. Rogers had been but
now its seemed to her that Mr. Jeff was the most unfortunate. " Uncle Ben
was right, Jeff was the one who suffered the most" sighed Tina. "Uncle Jeff??"
cried out Mr. Roy. " What do you Tina?" he asked curiously. " I meant uncle
Ben. Dr. Ben Stewart,living on the other side of the lake. Don't you
remember? I met him yesterday as well as this morning.It was he who
informed me about the tragic story of the Rogers". Mr. Roy felt like he has
been frozen and couldn't utter a single word. " Tina" finally he managed to
speak, " the doctor we were talking about, after accepting his guilt went out
on a morning walk and never came back. Later his dead body was found
floating in the lake. It was again a huge loss to this town as he was one of the
best doctors here. His tragic death made his family believe that the town has
cursed them and so they left and never came back." he said. "Father, I don't

understand any of this Who,is this doctor?" asked Tina with eyes wide open.
" The doctor was Mr. Ben Stewart."