Now Rick had a past he was keeping hidden from his new wife
and stepson Brendan.
A decade earlier Rick had been a happily married researcher
in some pretty cutting edge science,had a young wive
named Patricia and a five year old red haired daughter
named Verity.
On that fateful morning 10 years earlier Patricia was planning
to visit her parents for the long weekend and was going
to take Verity with her.
Shečd asked her husband Rick Quartermain to come
along to visit the inlaws but Rick was busy working on that
cutting edge science.
Hence whilst Patricia had been sorting out the suitcases and gifts
for her mom and dad in the familys Volvo stationwagon
Rick had been combing and trimming his daughter Veritys hair,adding ribbons and stuff so Veritys grandparents
would be impressed with their son in laws skills .
So as Rick had waved goodbye to his wife and daughter that
morning a decade earlier the kitchen floor had plenty of cut strands of red hair lying around the chairs.
Rick had gone back to the laboratory and hours later the doorbell had rung.
It was the Police and they had terrible news ,the McCurdy Bridge over the Lake had collapsed into the deep waters
far below and Ricks wife and daughter were among the
missing.
Missing and presumed dead and drowned somewhere in the
thousand foot deep cold waters of the Lake.
Theyčd never recovered the bodies,though three years earlier
a rusting smashed Volvo station wagon had been recovered
from the depths.It might have been his and Patriciačs missing
Volvo.
So when Rick concocted his potion on the serpent he had used
strands of Veritys red hair,which he had saved carefully all
these years,as the catalystic nucleon in the potion.
So it was not surprising that the serpent continued to alter and grow under the desk in the corner of the Laboratory.
She had changed into a exact physical clone ,clothed of Ricks
missing daughter Verity,down to the red hair,freckles and ribbons Verity had been sporting a decade earlier when shečd headed off with her mother Patricia.
So when Rick came back to his lab to clean up the glass and stuff
there curled up sleeping under the desk was a ghost from the
past,Ricks daughter Verity.