“Yes, I want to help, anything you guys need; this is so wrong. My parents went to a movie at the Grandville mall; my mom said I could use her car if I needed to go anywhere. I'll swing by and pick up Kevin and meet you there in about 30 minutes. The four of us have always had each others’ backs, and we can have his house put back to normal in no time, girl. See you in a bit.” Gena tried to be as up-beat as possible, but in the back of her mind she wondered what would happen to Jasper if his aunt died.
“Thanks bunches…bye.” Stacy returned to the intensive care waiting lounge. Jasper and her parents sat together waiting for an update from the doctor. Waiting, waiting, and waiting. For Jasper it seemed like the longest night ever, but in reality it had only been two hours. Aunt Debbie-Lynne had not awoken, and her vital signs had slipped lower then when she was first brought into the hospital. Jasper was a wreck. Kent and Lisa Applekart, Stacy's parents, for their part kept assuring Jasper all would be well. Mrs. Applekart made contact with her small church group to activate their prayer circle while Mr. Applekart spoke directly to Pastor Jim over the phone. Bases were covered as far as they were concerned; all they could do was wait.
“Mom, Dad, will you guys stay the night here with Jasper? Gena, Kevin and I are going to head back to the house and clean up.”
Kent stood up from his chair and walked over to his daughter. He hugged her and said, “You think of everything, little one. Of course we will stay with Jasper.”
“Watch out for broken glass and make sure you wear latex gloves.” Lisa had moved from her not-so-comfortable plastic hospital chair and stole a hug for herself with Stacy. “I'll walk you out. Jasper, I'm going to make a fast food run for some coffee mocha. Would you like a frappe, cappuccino or something to help you stay awake?”
Now it was Jasper's turn to move in on giving Stacy a hug. “I would love a wild berry smoothie and thank you, Mrs. Applekart.”
“It’s the least I can do for you Jasper.”
“I'll check in with you when we finish up. Daddy, keep Jasper distracted. How about the two of you challenge each other to a game of Mancala on that tablet of yours?” Letting go of Jasper's embrace, Stacy backed out of the doorway.
“Deal, see you soon. Come on, Jasper, let's get lost in the world of apps.” Mr. Applekart and Jasper returned to the uncomfortable plastic molded chairs as mother and daughter waved good-bye.
Jasper lost the first game and every game after that. Unable to focus, he could only think about his aunt, and the stress of it all was mounting. Sometime later Mrs. Applekart returned with the drinks. Jasper sucked down as much as he could as fast as he could before yelling, “Brain freeze!” That simple act of folly began to cut the tension in the room. The three of them shared a collective laugh together. Then the waiting continued, but this time it seemed as if hope had walked through the door. At that very moment Jasper knew deep down that his aunt would awaken and be just fine. Jasper went on to beat Mr. Applekart in the next ten games of Mancala.
Gena, Kevin, and Stacy did their best to work through the night and place all the furniture back together. The basement seemed to be the only place the intruders hadn't really fussed with. Of course, most normal people didn't store things of great value too far away from their physical location; human nature dictates that you keep those items close. Which is why when Stacy entered Aunt Debbie-Lynne's room, at the end of the hallway on the second floor, she was stunned with disbelief. Stacy had never had a reason to enter this bedroom before now. When she was in Jasper's home she spent the majority of the time in his room. Of course Aunt Debbie-Lynne always insisted the bedroom door be left ajar. “There's no need to invite temptation,” she would say in a most grandmotherly voice. Stacy was often relieved by that gesture. Jasper always seemed to have sex on the brain. Deep down the stirrings of her own femininity were beginning to bring feelings of want and desire, this made her feel out of control and that was unacceptable.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, this room, it's been demolished!” Stacy shouted down to Gena and Kevin, who came running up the stairs to see the damage. “Whatever they were looking for must have belonged to Aunt Debbie-Lynne. Even the dresser drawers have been smashed. We’d better haul that out to the fire pit.” And so it went.
Stacy and company made several trips up and down the stairs and out the back door, down to Jasper's man-sized fire pit. This pit was surrounded on all sides by three-foot rocks. It was five feet wide and ten feet long. Jasper always had cast parties or band friends over for bonfires with flames reaching so high into the night sky his friends would have to stand back by the house to escape the heat. Now a miserable fire burned as Kevin and Gena tossed in the last of the non-repairable furniture pieces. Stacy stayed in the bedroom, putting the clothing on hangers or stacking them neatly on the shelf in the closet. She had found a wooden cedar chest shoved clear to the back of this massive walk-in closet. The contents of baby clothes and blankets were spilled out across the floor. One blanket in particular Stacy had found to be unusual. So she set it aside and did what she could to put things back where she believed Aunt Debbie-Lynne would have placed things. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that this one blanket was important. Woman's intuition she guessed, at any rate it was big and warm so she decided to take it with her when she was done working in the room. It would be the perfect blanket to fall asleep with.
Saturday Morning
The birds of spring were singing loudly while playing their twitterpated games outside in the giant maple tree off the front porch of Jasper's home, and the sun was shining in through the big bay window. Kevin and Gena had left hours ago.
“Purple flamingos fly at midnight.” Jasper’s voice reached the sleepy ears of his girlfriend.
Stacy suddenly leapt off the couch and embraced Jasper in the living room. “Creepy cow, go HOME!” Stacy buried her head in Jasper's chest as he squeezed her tightly with his strong arms. “How is your aunt?” Stacy asked as she looked up into Jasper’s face.
“She is going to be there for one more day for observation but should be able to come home the day after tomorrow.” Jasper’s voice rang with joy and relief.
Mr. and Mrs. Applekart carried into the kitchen grocery bags full of food, paper cups, plates, and anything else they could think of that might be needed for the household at the moment. Lucy Applekart, Stacy's grandmother, closed the door behind them. “Ready to eat breakfast?” she asked Stacy with a wink and a nod.
Stacy rushed over to give her grandma a hug. “Grandma, what are you doing here?” Stacy held her by the arm and guided her to a chair at the kitchen table.
“Well, your parents are still heading out to their spring break trip to China within the hour, so I thought I'd see if I could help you kids get Debbie-Lynne's home back in order with a grandmother’s touch. Debbie-Lynne and I go way back, you know. I'm very familiar with how she likes things.”
Stacy stood next to her parents. “You’re leaving now?”
Her mom took her hands. “We have to get up to the airport; our plane leaves in four hours. The police said this was just a random robbery. A onetime deal and it's over.” Lisa turned to Jasper. “Dear boy, you need to get out of those dirty sweatpants. Hop upstairs for a quick shower and change of clothes. We will see you next week. If you need anything, Grandma Lucy will get it for you. She will be here until she is not needed, and we have lined up others from our church small group to look in on your aunt and you. You guys will be fine. Enjoy your week off of school. Okay, hugs all around.”
“Thank you both for staying with me. It meant a lot that you cared so much. I appreciate it.” Jasper hugged Mrs. Applekart, who returned the hug in earnest.
“Jasper, there is no need for you to play detective on this, son. This is real life, so let the authorities handle it and keep my daughter out of trouble for the week.” Mr. Applekart extended a hug to Jasper. Deep down he considered Jasper the son he had never had. Jasper loved to spend free time with him in his garage during vi
sits to Stacy's home. Most fathers have boundaries when it comes to their daughters’ boyfriends; but in Jasper’s case, with his parents gone, those boundary lines (as far as Kent was concerned) needed to be blurred.
Stacy hugged her parents goodbye. “I love you guys, have fun.”
“Thanks again for everything;” Jasper said over his shoulder as he raced up the stairs. “Bye!”
“Goodbye, Jasper!” Kent shouted back while throwing a two-finger salute in Jasper's direction. Kent moved over to his mother and gave her a kiss upon her forehead. “Thanks for stepping in, Mother. I'll call after we land and check into our hotel.”
With a warm smile, Kent Applekart opened the kitchen door to the front porch for Lisa, who walked out, blowing a kiss off her hand to Stacy. “I love you, baby girl.”
Kent squeezed his lips together and kissed the air toward Stacy and closed the door behind him.
“If you will find me the electric skillet, I'll get started on making some pancakes and eggs.” Grandma Lucy started to unpack the grocery bags on the kitchen table.
“I'm so famished,” Stacy said in a hurried voice trying to hide the fact that she was upset with her parents’ choice to leave. “Let me check under the kitchen island cabinet. I think that is where Jasper always pulls it out from when he makes us grilled cheese sandwiches.”
A short time later Jasper bounced down the stairs sporting his University of Michigan maize and blue long-sleeved sweatshirt and Wrangler blue jeans. After breakfast a car pulled up the drive, and Grandma Lucy announced that her ride was here to take her back to the hospital. She wanted to sit with Debbie-Lynne for a while. She told the kids to have a good day and she would see them later that evening.
This was the moment Jasper had been waiting for: alone time with Stacy. Together they sat on the couch in the living room. Jasper told her all that had happened.
Stacy sat motionless, her gaze fixed on the trees out the bay window. She said nothing.
When Jasper finally finished, she turned to him, holding the large baby blanket over her lap. “Jasper, I believe you. I believe it all, and I don't know how this is connected or even what it means, but look at this...” Stacy pulled the corner of the baby blanket into Jasper’s view. “I found this in Aunt Debbie-Lynne's room with a bunch of baby clothes and other blankets that must have been stored in the old cedar chest. Take a whiff...cedar.”
Jasper brought the corner of the blanket to his nose and sniffed.
“Look at the corner. Your initials J.I. on one side and C.I. on the other, and there's more. The hem of the blanket has been sewn over because someone put something metal under both sets of initials. Feel that...see what I mean. And the most interesting thing about this blanket is who made it,” Stacy said with a beaming smile running across her face.
“Okay, Nancy Drew, how do you know who made this blanket?” Jasper asked with an amused tone.
“Because of the other set of initials. Turn the corner over.” Stacy read the stitching. “FOR YOU BOTH, FOREVER LOVED. R.I.” Stacy reached over to trace the stitching with her finger.
Jasper sat in silence, his mouth wide open. “Mom...my mom made this blanket.” He was astonished by what he had just discovered but still dumbfounded by it all. “R.I., Rosezella Indiana. C.I.?” Jasper looked back at Stacy and shrugged his shoulders upward. “I don't know of any relation whose name begins with the letter C.”
“Jasper, your aunt was hiding something in this blanket, and I'm betting whoever broke in here was looking for it.”
“We need a knife.” Jasper jumped off the couch.
“You’re not taking a knife to this beautiful handmade blanket,” Stacy said in protest, folding the blanket into a square for better handling and protection. “Find me a needle; I’ll pull the stitching out slow so as not to damage the hem.”
It only took about five minutes to open both corners of the blanket. Jasper and Stacy sat on the couch each holding a skinny half of a piece of metal.
“Well, it's more than obvious that whatever this was supposed to be, it is broken now, or rather someone broke it in half.” Stacy was disappointed. She was secretly hoping for jewelry. Something so dazzling that she could wear it to prom and tell all her friends that it was an Indiana family heirloom passed down by one generation after another for just such occasions as prom, or a precursor to a wedding.
“Stacy...Stacy. Snap out of it, will you? Stop your daydreaming and come back to me for a moment. Give me your half.” Stacy sadly blew a silent puff of air from her lips and handed over her half of the metal object.
“I wonder what would happen if we...” Jasper lined up both halves side by side. Suddenly they pulled themselves together like magnets. They sealed as one, and then a bright yellowish-green glow erased the seam, making the object completely whole. The glow intensified for a moment, filling the room with a soft light. A hissing noise, like hot grease popping out of a frying pan, radiated forth from the object, and then the glow faded away. There it was, left sitting in the palm of Jasper’s hand: a golden key. “It looks like a house key! Someone left me a magic house key?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Jasper was irritated over having more questions than answers and aggravated that his normal life routine had been interrupted. Not knowing why or what was happening was vexing to him. “Seriously, all this fuss over a stupid key?” Jasper took the key and threw it over his shoulder in the direction of the dining room table.
“Jasper, you need to calm down. I understand that you are slightly disturbed, but you need to think things out before you go all postal. It’s not the key’s fault all this is happening. You need to breathe, just breathe; I know how this kind of thing can try one's patience.” Stacy glanced up toward the ceiling then back to Jasper. “I felt that way after watching the first Twilight movie. Now it's more than obvious that this key has supernatural properties. We need to find out what that key opens.”
Jasper’s mood suddenly shifted. “I thought it out!” Jasper proclaimed as he looked over at Stacy with an all-knowing smirk. Man, that was quick. “It was the genius of my soul that told me to place the two halves together. I have genius of the soul, remember that, and did you hear the key fall to the floor?”
“No...come to think of it, I never heard a thing.” Stacy stood up and looked over in the direction of the table. “Holy creepy cow, just look at it! It's hanging in midair. Jasper, how did you know it would do that?”
Jasper stood up from the couch next to Stacy. “I had a little hunch after it lifted slightly out of my hands when it came together.” Jasper and Stacy moved slowly around to the backside of the couch to enter the dining room.
“Do you think this is another Angel?” Stacy asked in a whisper, “Perhaps in disguise…Jasper, wait a second.” Jasper was moving to touch the floating golden key, but when he came around the long side of the couch it moved toward him. “That's just strange, Jasper. You have a floating key stalking you in your own house.”
“Strange. Is that the best adjective my 4.0 school girlfriend can come up with?” Jasper said with a mocking tone.
“School girlfriend! Stacy slapped Jasper on the back with the flat of her hand. “I'd better be your only girlfriend!”
Jasper continued as if nothing had happened. He did this often in conversations, and his shrewdness left Stacy with zero satisfaction. “Quizzical. You know, like a puzzle, which would be the word I would use to describe what we are seeing.” Jasper stepped forward toward the key, and it moved back. He walked backwards and the key followed him. Jasper turned in a complete circle and the key just hung in the air. He moved forward again and the key backed away the same distance. “How am I to grab it when it won't stay still? Please tell me you have your 'Nancy Drew' on because this is going to get old very fast.”
“Nancy was a teen detective…I am a scientist…The key is keeping exactly the same distance no matter where you move. Have you given any thought to what we do after we have the key again?” Stacy moved t
oward the key, and the key shot straight up in the air just out of her reach. She jumped straight up but the key moved up as well. She moved back to Jasper's side, and the key descended slowly and resumed floating level with the height of Jasper's shoulders. “What if we turned it where it hangs in the air and it opens a door to heaven or even hell or…”
“Or, maybe it opens to a closet in someone’s bedroom. Stacy, this isn’t a cartoon movie like Monsters Inc.; this is real, and I'm pretty sure a key in this world opens a door in this world. I wonder what would happen if I did this?” Jasper placed his thumb between the fabric of his pants pocket and pulled it outward giving a whistle at the same time. The golden key shot down and nestled itself safely inside his front pocket.
“I think it knows it belongs to you. Pull it out so we can give it the once-over.”
“Oh, the things you say to me,” Jasper said with a grin as wide as the house. “Never ask a guy to pull it out! You might get a surprise you weren't looking for.” Jasper continued on in rolling laughter.
“Knock it off, Jasper. You need to focus here because we are caught up in something big, and judging by what happened to Aunt Debbie-Lynne, dangerous. Now hand me the key.”
Jasper pulled the key from his pocket and gave it to Stacy. This time the key didn't float away. It must have had something to do with Jasper's will for her to have possession. They sat down on the couch again. They turned the key over front to back, looking for any clue that would point them to what it was meant to open. Stacy held it up into the sunlight. Then she saw it: etching on the slim side of the metal. Both halves clearly had an imprint of numbers with dashes.
“Jasper someone, has engraved numbers on both sides of the key. I know what this is...I need your laptop.” Stacy tossed the key back to Jasper and ran up the stairs.
Jasper held the key up to the light and was amazed at the tiny, engraved numbers. “Someone must have had real steady hands to put those there,” Jasper shouted up the stairs.
Jasper: Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight (Jasper - Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight Book 1) Page 4