If Memory Serves

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  Polly walked closer to Sarah and sat back down next to her. “I don’t understand.” A worried look came over her face. She covered her mouth. “Okay. Okay. Let’s talk about this now. I don’t know what all you want to know.”

  “I want to know why you took those items. I want to know where they are. Then you might want to explain to me how you could come in here, pretend to be my friend, then stab me and my family in the back the way you’ve done.”

  “That’s not what happened, Sarah. I truly do care about you. I do!”

  Sarah wiped her hands on her napkin. “Then why did you take those things?”

  Polly smiled nervously. “I don’t have those things.”

  “I know,” Sarah said.

  “Then why are you questioning me?” Polly was starting to break down, shaking slightly. “Why are you acting like this?”

  Sarah stood up. “I have such a time with the circulation in my legs these days,” she said. “I find when I move around, it really does help.” She walked over to the Christmas tree, with the assistance of her walking cane, and gazed up at it. Turning around, she made her way to a straight-back chair and sat down diagonally across from Polly. “Why don’t you tell me what really happened that day, dear? Come on, the truth.”

  “You mean Saturday?” Polly swallowed hard. “The day they say those things likely went missing? Well, let’s see. I came by here after Gayle called me and told me you’d been rushed to the hospital. When I arrived, no one was here. Everybody was gone. The house was completely empty.”

  “That’s when you decided to use the key I gave you to get in the house in case something ever happened to me and you had a need to get in? The truth, Polly.”

  Polly smiled while rocking a little. She nodded. “Yes. But I didn’t come in looking for anything in particular. Montgomery had asked me to find out whatever I could on Memory and Lena. What better time to snoop than when I was sure the house was completely empty? But I wasn’t planning on giving him anything that would really hurt either of them. Just find enough to make him feel he could continue to trust me.”

  Polly looked at Sarah, trying to deduce what Sarah was probably thinking now. “I searched the room where Memory was staying,” Polly said, continuing with the story. “There really wasn’t anything of importance in her room. Then I went to Lena’s room, and jackpot! Right there on the bed was a beautiful handcrafted box with the key in the lock. I went over, was about to open the box to see what was inside it, when the necklace laying beside it suddenly caught my eye. I picked it up, not knowing at the time that it was the infamous Alexandrite necklace. I mean, how would I know that? It was my understanding from you that it was missing—taken some years back by Memory from Lena, which had precipitated their falling out.” Polly reached down and picked up the glass of iced tea Monica had brought in for her and wet her throat with several swallows.

  “Before I got a chance to look in the box,” Polly said, setting the glass back down, “I heard someone open the front door and close it.”

  “Lena’s husband, Richard,” Sarah said.

  “Yes, it was Richard, although I didn’t know that at the time. Of course, the last thing I needed was to get caught upstairs snooping with everyone gone. I knew I had to act fast, so I grabbed the box, stuck the necklace inside of it, and as quickly and as quietly as I possibly could, I scurried out of the room. At first, I wasn’t sure which way to go. Then it hit me—your room.”

  Sarah looked puzzled. “My room?”

  “Yes, your room. You weren’t there, but if I was discovered, I could easily play off my being in there. After all, you’d given me a key to your house. You obviously trusted me and would trust me to get something out of your room if it was needed. You’d gone to the hospital, so I could have easily and plausibly been looking for something for you. I could use our relationship and closeness as a cover if I had to.”

  “And no one would have been the wiser,” Sarah said, shaking her head.

  “Exactly.” Polly drank some more tea, then politely cleared her voice. “I stayed in your room and waited to see if whoever had come in was planning to come upstairs. When I heard the heavy footsteps on the staircase, I knew I couldn’t be caught with that box and necklace still in my possession. So I looked for a good place to hide it until I could come back and retrieve it later.” Polly looked at Sarah as she moistened her lips.

  “What happened after that?”

  “I cracked the door, peeped out of it, and saw it was Richard. He was going into the room I’d just left. I then remembered my car was parked out front, and he most likely saw it when he came home. As soon as he closed the bedroom door, I attempted to sneak down the stairs. Just as I reached the top step, he came back out. I turned in a hurry and pretended I had just made it to the top step and was slightly out of breath. He spoke, and I played it off like I had come in the house a few minutes before him, that I’d been downstairs looking to see if Monica was still around when I heard someone go up the stairs. Thinking it was Gayle, Lena, Memory, or Monica, I’d come up to see.”

  “Knowing you, you probably then made him believe you were relieved when you saw a man coming out of the door, and it was him instead of some intruder.”

  “You know me. I was about to tell him they had taken you to the hospital when Lena called. I could tell she was trying to tell him how to get to the hospital.”

  “And that’s when you, being the Good Samaritan that you are, volunteered to drive him to the hospital, further covering you and your actions,” Sarah said.

  “That’s not totally true. I volunteered because I was planning to come to the hospital and check on you anyway,” Polly said. “So we left here in my car and went to the hospital to see about you.” Polly pressed her lips tightly together, then relaxed them. “I’m sorry, Sarah,” she said. “I really am.”

  Sarah nodded. “Uh-huh. Now, tell me how Montgomery fits into all of this.”

  Polly stood up and paced back and forth as she spoke. “Montgomery came to me back in 2001, when you first had him thrown out of this house. Naturally, he was furious with you and everything else that had transpired. He didn’t have an avenue inside here to see what was going on—”

  “So he got you to befriend me.”

  “Originally, that was my purpose. He asked me to see if I could use some of my Southern charm I was known for and become part of your close inner circle.” Polly walked back over to Sarah and kneeled down in front of her. “But I genuinely did grow to care about you, Sarah. True, it may have begun with him putting me up to it, but you’re a remarkable woman I’ve come to adore over the years. I see you as a true friend.”

  Sarah smiled and shook her head. “Unbelievable,” she said. “Unbelievable.”

  “Sarah, I haven’t been supplying Montgomery with much information lately. In fact, he’s upset with me right now. He knows the Wings of Grace box is missing, as well as that necklace. But I wasn’t the one who told him that. You have to believe me. Someone else on your staff must have leaked that information to him. The part about me having heard it from someone on your staff was true, indirectly anyway. Someone told Montgomery, who told me. But Sarah, Montgomery desperately wants that box, even more than he wants the necklace.” Polly sat down on the floor in front of Sarah, which, for an always-prissy Polly, spoke volumes. She took Sarah’s hand. “Please forgive me. I’ve wanted to tell you about this for so long. I just never knew how.”

  “Of course you did,” Sarah said, patting Polly’s hand once.

  Polly looked up at Sarah with sad eyes. “Tell me, if you will, how did you figure this out?”

  “Oh, I didn’t,” Sarah said.

  Polly pulled back. “You didn’t?” She got up off the floor, confused now.

  “No,” Sarah said. “I didn’t.”

  “Then who did?”

  “Well, you see, we’ve been racking our brains about what could have happened. Memory and Lena questioned everyone here but got nowhere. Then today, I
started thinking. You were the only one we hadn’t questioned, although I really couldn’t see how you would have been able to pull anything like that off, if you had. Then I thought about something Richard said about you bringing him to the hospital. He couldn’t believe he didn’t notice your car outside when he came home from playing golf. But it had to be there, since you were here in the house already. He said you’d come in right before him, but he couldn’t understand how you got up the stairs so fast without him hearing you. You’re not the quietest, when you walk up steps.” Sarah squeezed the arms of the chair.

  “I knew I had given you a key to get in,” Sarah continued. “But honestly, until just now, I really didn’t know you’d done it.”

  Polly laughed as she began to shake her head. “Wow, you’re good.”

  Sarah looked up at Polly. “Thank you. Now, where are the box and the necklace?”

  Polly turned her back to Sarah. “Montgomery asked that same thing last week.” She turned around and faced Sarah. “They’re upstairs in your room . . . under your bed.”

  “Is that why you were trying so hard this past week to get in my room? You wanted to get the box and the necklace back,” Sarah said in deep thought. “When you brought that empty cardboard box with tissue paper in it to my room the other day and sat it on the floor next to my bed, you intended to get the Wings of Grace box from under my bed and put it in there so you could sneak it out of my room undetected, didn’t you?”

  Polly flopped down on the sofa. “Yes. You see, after I brought Lena and Richard home from the hospital that night, it dawned on me that the house wouldn’t be empty anymore, and I wouldn’t be able to get the box out of your room. I needed to get it.”

  “And what were you planning on doing with the box and the necklace when you got them?” Sarah asked.

  “Honestly, Sarah”—Polly smiled—“I really don’t know. But Montgomery really wants that box, along with all that it contained inside. So much so, he offered to give me the Alexandrite necklace as a reward for the box, should I happen to get it to him.”

  “So this past week, your being here on the pretense of helping, while constantly being under foot, was merely a guise . . . a ploy to gain access to my room?” Sarah asked. “And for whom? Montgomery, the man who continued to perpetrate what his father and uncle began some seventy years ago? I shared my heart with you, Polly. You know how hard all of this has been on me just over the years we’ve known each other.” Sarah shook her head slowly. “How could you? How?” She held out her hand. “My key, please.”

  “I’m sorry, Sarah.” Polly opened her purse, took Sarah’s house key off her key ring, and placed it in Sarah’s hand. “I never used that key to take anything from you.”

  “Until now.” Sarah closed her hand. “I’m sorry as well,” Sarah said. “I’ll have a check mailed to you tomorrow for services rendered for the Christmas celebration.”

  “You don’t owe me anything. Really you don’t. But now that you know everything, can we start over? I’d still like to be friends,” Polly said, lowering her head.

  “You know, if you hurry, you can probably make that three o’clock appointment you said you had,” Sarah said. “Good-bye, Polly.” Sarah looked away.

  “Sarah, at least say that you forgive me. Please. I need to know you forgive me.”

  Sarah looked at her. “I forgive you, Polly. Mostly for me . . . but I forgive you.”

  “Mostly for you? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

  “I forgive you for me,” Sarah said. “See, forgiveness is as much for the one who was wronged as it is for the one who did the wrong. I’ve lost too much in life already to waste time holding on to anything toxic. I forgive you, Polly, because I refuse to allow the negative that comes with unforgiveness to rob me of anything more in my life.”

  Polly leaned down, tears flowing, and hugged Sarah. “Thank you,” she said. She started to leave. “And for the record, I don’t have a three o’clock appointment today.”

  Sarah smiled as she slowly rose to her feet. “And for the record, I know that. Good-bye, Polly. I do wish you well. Now, please . . . allow me to see you to the door.”

  Chapter 46

  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.

  Isaiah 61:3

  When Memory and Lena returned from Christmas shopping later that evening, they were shocked to see Sarah still sitting in the parlor with the Christmas tree. But even more shocking was what was on the coffee table in front of her.

  “The Wings of Grace box?” Lena said. “Where did you find it? Who had it?” she asked.

  Sarah took the Alexandrite necklace and held it out. “I’m not sure who this goes to now,” she said.

  Lena and Memory both came closer. Lena looked at Memory. “That’s yours,” Lena said of the necklace.

  “But I gave it back to you,” Memory said.

  “I know, but I want you to have it. It should have been in your possession to begin with. Grace left it for you, so it belongs to you.”

  “Then it’s mine to give to whomever I want,” Memory said, “and I want you to have it. You can give it back to Theresa again, if you like.”

  “Will somebody just take it?” Sarah said, in a scolding-type voice.

  Memory and Lena exchanged looks and laughed. Memory came and got it, then promptly handed it to Lena. “Please. If you really want to make me happy, you’ll take this.”

  Lena acquiesced and took it.

  “Put it on so I can see how it looks on you,” Memory said. Lena put it on and stood back, playfully striking poses. “Beautiful,” Memory said.

  Lena looked at the box. “Grandmother, you haven’t said where you found them.”

  Sarah smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I told you both that I still had a few tricks left up my sleeve.”

  “Have you looked in the box yet?” Lena asked.

  Sarah shook her head. “Except to take the necklace out, no, I didn’t. For whatever reason, my mother chose to leave the two of you this to view together. I’m a bit tired now. It’s been a long and trying day, to say the least. I think it’s past time that I go up to my room and retire for the evening.”

  “I’ll help you,” Lena said as she started toward Sarah.

  “Are you ready to go up now, Miss Fleming?” Gayle asked as she seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

  Sarah looked in her direction. “Gayle, dear, as always, your timing is impeccable.” Sarah began to stand up. Gayle came over and helped her up the rest of the way. “I think I might be starting to get rusty. That’s what happens when you sit for a while.” She looked at Memory then Lena as she took a few baby steps forward to get her joints working again. “Let this be a lesson to you all. You need to always keep moving if you don’t want to rust up.”

  Memory laughed. “All right. We’ll keep that in mind.”

  Memory and Lena sat there with the box beside them on the sofa. They quietly waited until they were certain Gayle and Sarah were completely upstairs and they’d heard Sarah’s door close.

  “Where do you suppose this box came from?” Lena asked. “I mean, it’s been missing now for well over a week. Then, out of nowhere, it suddenly reappears.”

  “I don’t know, but I’m curious as well where she found it. Even more importantly, why wouldn’t she tell us any more than she did?”

  “Well, the key is still here in the keyhole, just like we left it,” Lena said as she examined the box. “Do you think anyone, besides Grandmother taking the necklace out, has been inside of it since we last had it?”

  “Who knows? But it appears someone would have had to, since we certainly didn’t put the Alexandrite necklace inside of it when we had it. Someone had to open it up to put the necklace in it. And since Sarah’s not talking, we m
ay never find out who took it. But I sure would like to know.”

  Lena ran her hand over the box again. “I just love these boxes,” she said. “Shall we?”

  “Well, you can have the box when we’re finished,” Memory said. “It’s only fair, especially since I was the one who threw the first one I ever came across in the trash.”

  “Yeah, but I hear your father made this box with his own two hands. This may be the closest thing you ever come to having something his hands actually touched.”

  “All the more reason you should keep it. Haven’t you figured out yet that I’m not at all the sentimental type?” Memory said. “Now, shall we open this up and check out what’s inside before something else happens and stops us again?”

  Lena raised the top. The signature carved wings were on the underside of the top. Lena traced the details of the fine craftsmanship with her index finger. “This is so beautiful,” she said.

  “Yeah, looks like my dad was really talented when it came to stuff like this.”

  Lena began taking some things out of the box: various papers, a couple of rather unique brooches, two exquisite rings. She then came across a certificate of birth. “Now, this is strange. It’s not exactly a birth certificate, but it appears to be something a midwife would give for a child’s birth.”

  “Who is it for?” Memory asked, leaning over to get a better look at it.

  Lena handed the frail piece of paper to Memory. “See for yourself.”

  When Memory looked at it, she saw the child’s name, Ransom Powell, although the name Powell had a single line through it, and written above it was the name Perdue. “It looks like my father’s birth certificate. But why would his birth certificate be in a box Grace, Sarah’s mother, would have? And why would Grace leave it for us to find?”

  “I don’t know,” Lena said.

  “The mother’s name is scratched out, but it looks like it was someone named Adele Powell,” Memory said, holding the paper up close to her eyes so she could get a better look at it. “The father’s name is totally scratched out. I can’t make out what it was.”