Loving You (Remembrance Series, Book 2) (22 page)

I could tell he was about to argue with me. “We have dinner plans with your Grandfather, tonight. I promise I’ll try to eat better, then. I just have some nerves about meeting my great aunt for the first time.”

He pulled me into a quick embrace. “No matter what she tells us and no matter what happens on this trip, we will get through all of this together. I’ll always be here for you.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and opted to look around the shop while he got our food.

For some strange reason, one area of the shop seemed to call to me. I walked over, feeling pulled in the specific direction. I ended up at a display case looking down at a small simple wooden box that seemed familiar and had a white aura about it.

“Would you care to look at anything?” A soft voice spoke from behind the counter. I jumped, not expecting anyone to be there.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She stated. “I’ll leave you to continue looking. My name is Karma, if you need anything.”

She turned to leave. “Karma, that’s such a pretty name.” I glanced up at her and was transfixed by the white glow surrounding her golden hair and tall, thin frame.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “My parents are fans of the hippie era, so they named me by how they felt when they first met– like an act of Karma.”

How she got her name was interesting, but I felt it had deeper meaning than what it seemed. “I’d like to look at that wooden box, please.” I pointed to the one in the display.

“Are you sure you want to look at that old thing?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s just a piece of wood, nothing special really. We’ve tried taking it to different places to see if we can get the box open, since we can tell there’s something inside, but no one can figure it out. It has been in the shop for as long as I can remember.” When I looked puzzled, she continued. “This place has been in my family for over 75 years. We’ve had this box in our possession for that long and no one has ever expressed an interest in it. We have all tried to get rid of the box, but somehow it makes its way back to the store and back on display in the same area. Eventually we gave up on it and just considered that it was supposed to be part of the shop.”

I watched as she pulled the box from the display and handed it to me. The weight of it was oddly familiar. I had an instant vision of myself, as Hannah, in my bedroom, holding the same box. “How much are you asking?” I wondered, hoping she would let it go for a small price.

“I know the box is pretty old; but no one has ever expressed an interest in it, until today. How does $25 sound?”

I would have paid many times that amount to have it. I needed to know what mystery it held. “Deal.”

Karma’s eyes lit up. “Seriously?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I have to admit, I almost offered you money just to take it off my hands.” She snickered.

I pulled out my debit card and handed it to her, as she wrapped the box in tissue and placed it in a sales bag. I looked back and noticed how perfect my timing was; Gregory was just sitting down with our food.

“What do you have there?” he asked.

“It’s a box of some sort, not really sure how it works; but I think it may have belonged to Hannah. When I held it, I got a vision of her holding the same box. I figure I can look into it later, today.” I looked at the food he had selected, which looked yummy. “Everything smells wonderful. I guess I could eat a little bit.”

He leaned in to give me a quick kiss on the lips. “You need to eat more than just a small amount. We have a long day ahead and you promised your mother, and me, that you would keep up your strength.”

We arrived at Aunt Destiny’s quaint little cottage and I was a nervous wreck. The exterior reminded me of an old tavern or inn. A pleasant looking woman, in her late-sixties, opened the door and instantly greeted both of us with hugs. I knew that she would be one to help us, as her aura glowed a bright white, with hints of yellow. Pure and safe.

“It is so good to finally meet you both. Please come in and let’s have some refreshments while we talk.” She was quick to usher us inside, to her living room, as she offered us some iced tea and cookies.

The room was decorated with a variety of historical treasures, and I wondered if they were family heirlooms passed down through the generations. On a side table was small vintage photo frame with oil portrait that caught my eye.

“I see you’ve honed in on some of the founding Clark family members.” She looked back at the painting, taking in the picture of my parents and me and then glanced back at me with a bewildered look upon her face.

“Sorry to stare, dear, but the resemblance between you and the girl in this picture is uncanny. It’s obvious you are a member of our family, the genes must have been passed down through the ages.” She smiled warmly at me. “I just wish my husband had lived long enough to meet you. For several years, we had been searching the genealogical charts to try and trace our roots, both past and present. We stumbled across your name late last year, but Harold took a turn for the worse, with his heart, and our hunt was put on hold.”

I’m glad she doesn’t know just how close the relation is.
“I’m sorry for your loss. I would have loved the opportunity to get to know more about Uncle Harold; but I’m happy we can at least get to know one another and maybe piece together some information about our family, together.” I offered.

A warm smile spread across my aunt’s face, as she moved the refreshments from the coffee table and produced a small key. Gregory and I both looked at each other, wondering what on earth the table could hold, because it looked so thin.

We watched as she inserted the key into the front and sides of the furniture before opening the lid. To our amazement, the coffee table was all an optical illusion. She motioned us forward to help her lift some of the boxes from the deep interior.

We were about to ask about the trickery, when Destiny enlightened us. “The Clark family history has been sacredly guarded throughout time. Back in Pre-Revolutionary times, the history wasn’t as accurately kept as it is now and there were those set to destroy any links to certain lineages. We don’t quite know why this happened, so we set out to keep our family’s past alive and well by hiding our documents from the untrained eye.”

Gregory spoke up. “Who would want to wipe out a family’s history?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know; but just last week, I had a break-in. Nothing was stolen, but the house had been wrecked in an attempt to find something. My only guess is that they were looking for historical documents.”

“Why would you assume that?”

“Just recently, The Clark House, which is on the Historical Registry and belonged to Dr. Joseph Clark, one of the first physicians in the area and who worked with some of the more notable politicians of his time to fund healthcare for the poor, had an arson attack. I had hoped to take you there for a visit, but the place is corded off, pending an investigation and to see whether it can be salvaged.”

She went on. “The Williams house, which is now the Norriston Inn, has been having its share of problems with sprinkler system malfunctions. It has also had a couple of kitchen fires and numerous other incidents over the past week.”

I mentioned, “That’s where we’re staying and Gregory’s family can be traced back to Barrister Williams.”

Destiny cocked an eyebrow at us. “How coincidental that you would happen to pick the very house that your ancestors grew up in.”

Gregory spoke up. “We had no clue at the time I made the reservations. We’ve enjoyed checking out the various rooms of the house and catching up on our American History, while staying in Philadelphia.

My aunt sat back and pursed her lips, as if contemplating something. “What I’m about to say may alarm you, but there’s no need for the act around me, Hannah and Aaron.” She looked directly at us as she said our names. “While I may be only related by marriage to the Clark family, my ancestry is from a long line of clairvoyants—able to see the past, present and future.”

We both inhaled sharply, as she went on. “My family has been friends with both of your families throughout time.” She held her hand to her chest with tears in her eyes. “We feel awful that our visions, which could have saved you in the past, came too late for us to help. But, we know that your prophecy mentions multiple lifetimes of rebirth to help you grow stronger and more knowledgeable in order to handle the evil you will eventually face.”

Both Gregory and I said in unison, “You know of our prophecy? Do you know how to translate it?”

“The women on my family have been given glimpses of your prophecy, but never the full description. We’ve been searching for a copy of it. We know it was written in an ancient form of dialect that pre-dates the birth of the Latin language. The best I can determine, without actually seeing it, is a cross between Latin and Proto-Indo European.”

I was about to ask a question, when she turned to me. “I know you’re going to ask whether we’ve been able to translate any of what we’ve seen. Sadly, we cannot. Throughout the generations, we were able to get bits and pieces of it in the English translation. None of my immediate family has ever seen the full prophecy and searched for it.”

I looked over at Gregory and smiled. “We have the prophecy hidden in a safe place. I’ve been given insight into a portion of what it says, but we need help with the rest of the translation.”

She reached into the coffee table and pulled out a piece of paper with a name and number scrawled on it. “This gentleman is a specialist in dead languages. The more unusual the language, the happier he is to try and decipher the words. I was about to set up a meeting with him to show him the couple of sentences I was able to write down. Maybe you’ll have luck with him being able to translate it.”

Gregory took the piece of paper. “Thank you, Aunt Destiny.”

Her eyes widened. “You called me Aunt. Does this mean…?” She glanced over at my left hand, at the ring. “May I take a closer look at that, Jordan?”

I leaned forward on the sofa, opposite her, and placed my hand in hers. She turned my hand this way and that, taking in the design of the ring, before placing her other hand atop it. I watched as her eyes rolled back and a strange expression crossed her face.

She had gone into some sort of trance and within moments, she came back out of it. “This wasn’t your original engagement ring?”

I was stunned by her knowledge. “No, it wasn’t.”

I was too speechless to carry on so Gregory took over. “When Jordan almost lost her life in an automobile accident a couple of months ago, that we believe was caused by the witch’s dark spirits, my grandfather offered up this ring. It was my grandmother’s ring and has great sentimental value to him. He felt it brought them good luck for many years, so he gave it to me in hopes that we might have the same good fortune, love and fate.”

“He was right to give this to you. The ring has a strong vibe of safety and love coming off of it. I believe it has been blessed with special powers of protection.” She pulled me closer so my eyes met hers. “Whatever you do, Jordan,
never
take this ring off. It is providing you safety.”

I swallowed hard. “Yes ma’am.”

She went back to looking through papers in the boxes. “By chance, you wouldn’t happen to have the letters that Aaron wrote to me as Hannah?” I asked.

She looked up with a sad face. “I wish I did. They were once within our procession, but one of the past keepers of the Clark history failed to lock a couple items up and they were stolen away in the night.”

“Did I keep the papers in anything special?” I wondered.

“No, dear. You had them twined in a bundle at your bedside table, initially. Then Aaron made a box for you to keep them in, so they would remain private. Sadly, that box was stolen. I don’t recall much about the box, itself, other than people describing an inability to open it and discover its secrets.” Aunt Destiny went on. “My predecessors were not too worried about the box, citing it would find its way back to its rightful owner at a future date– which means it will somehow seek you out, Jordan.”

I wondered if the box I left in the car with Anderson could potentially be Hannah’s. I looked over to Gregory wondering if I should mention it, but he gave a slight shake of his head. So, I kept quiet, knowing I would try to figure it out later.

He glanced down at his watch. “Aunt Destiny, I’m sorry to cut this short, but we have another appointment that we need to get to, so we must leave soon. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

She smiled, knowingly, as she reached back into the coffee table and pulled out a small rectangular box that was ornately carved and hinged on one side. The box seemed familiar and I thought she would hand it to me; but, instead, she passed it to Gregory.

“You gave this to Hannah a long time ago, when you asked her for her hand in marriage. We’ve tried figuring out the secret to getting the box open, but no one has managed to do it to date. I think it’s about time that it finally makes its way back to its rightful owner.”