by Box Set
“Do you want me to come over?”
“Maybe.” Ellie often came over to Kate’s house in the night. Kate let her in through the front door, and she hustled up the stairs. No one was the wiser. Ellie helped Kate whenever there was something crazy or scary going on.
“Then you’re going to have to wait for a half an hour. I’m not DVR-ing this baby. I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen. I need to see my hottie Jace tonight.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Why do you like that guy? He’s either chasing skirts or totally depressed. You deserve better.”
“Oh, I know, but as eye candy and sweet dream maker, he’s the best.”
“You’re right there. He looks amazing. You don’t need to come over. It’s okay. I can do it myself. But if there’s a desiccated corpse back there, I’m going to blame it on you.”
Ellie laughed. “It’s back on. Call me when you find out what it is. If you don’t call, I’ll come looking for your dead body.”
“Okay.” Kate hung up and tiptoed downstairs and out into the shop to get a screwdriver and was back in the attic in less than two minutes. Drawing a deep breath, she pushed through her reluctance and attacked the first screw at the bottom of the panel.
Her wrist ached as she twisted the fourth screw loose. She’d leave the top two in to hold it in place. The sawdust mingled with dust particles in the air and tickled her nostrils. She held back a sneeze as she pulled up and out on the bottom right corner of the panel. Behind the board, a gaping cavity stretched out before her. The light of her headlamp revealed a stack of boxes hunched up against the back of the space. She swiveled her head around, shining the headlamp around the confines of the space. She couldn’t believe how large it was, at least six feet deep and about four feet wide. She could fit her whole body inside. She wouldn’t be able to stand, though.
She paused. There were bound to be spiders in there and who knew what else. She took a deep breath, pushing away her worried thoughts. She crawled inside. Her foot got stuck, and the wood scraped her ankle as she tried to pull it through the closing opening. A layer of skin right at her ankle ripped away and blood dripped down it. She pushed her pant leg against it and waited thirty seconds, clenching her teeth against the sting. She never should have done this without Ellie. The blood stopped, so she looked around. A circle of light from her headlamp highlighted the layer of dust that sat on everything and she coughed. She buried her face in the crook of her elbow, trying to stifle the sound.
The baby pink bag she’d spotted earlier that day was nowhere to be seen. Kate frowned. So her mom had not only fixed the panel, but she’d also come back here and moved things around. Intense curiosity impelled her forward.
The top box was taped shut with a shiny strip of packing tape. There was not a speck of dust on it. Kate hesitated only for a moment before ripping the tape free and pulling back the flaps. Inside, smashed and warped to fit the confines of the box, was the pink bag. Kate recognized it now for what it was—a diaper bag.
Kate lifted it gingerly. Unlike the box, it was covered in dust and faded with age. She stood dumfounded as a jumbled mass of questions collided in her brain, one ringing out louder than all the rest. What the heck is going on here?
She opened the bag and ran her hands through the interior and each pocket—it was empty. She turned it over and over in her hands, but there was nothing on the bag—no name, not even a brand. The box, too, was empty.
Stymied, Kate set the bag back into the box and moved it to the wooden floor. The second box was also taped shut, but the tape looked older—the edges curling up and the silver was dulled by layers of dust. Kate wasted no time yanking the box open.
Inside were a child’s sweater and a pair of denim pants, neatly folded. Kate held them up—the pants had a little ruffle around the bottom hem, and the sweater was soft white with pearl buttons down the front. A tiny snag on the sleeve made Kate’s throat fill with unexpected emotion. She smoothed it out and examined the tags—they were both a size 2T. Not knowing what to make of that, Kate set the clothes on the first box and kept going through the contents: a pair of little girls’ shoes, white mary janes to match the sweater, a sippy cup, and a little pink hair bow. The last thing Kate found, in the bottom of the box, was a locket—a filigreed heart the size of a child’s palm on a long gold chain.
It took her a while to get the locket to open. A picture of a woman holding a baby looked up at her.
The woman’s bright blue eyes laughed with delight. Pure joy exuded from her. Kate couldn’t help but smile back at her. Pulling the picture close, she checked the baby out. Chubby and dressed in a frilly white dress, the baby appeared to be going to her baptism. Dust motes swirled around her as she stared at the pair in puzzlement.
Her phone vibrated. After setting the locket back in the box, she checked her phone. Ellie. Did you get inside yet? Don’t leave me hanging. You’re dead aren’t you?
Kate started to type, but found she didn’t have the patience for explaining everything. She dialed Ellie.
“I’m alive,” she whispered.
“Oh, goodie. I wasn’t looking forward to having to replace you. All the hassle.”
“I hear ya.”
“You sound weird,” Ellie said, ever observant. “What did you find in there? Was it a dead body after all?”
“I… don’t know. I don’t understand what I found.”
Ellie drew an impatient breath. “Come on, walk me through it.”
Kate described the items she found—before she could even get to explaining the locket, Ellie cut her off.
“OMG, Kate! That’s your stuff! Your baby stuff!”
“But—it can’t be,” Kate said, her frustration and confusion made her a little more terse than she meant to be. “I was adopted when I was one. These clothes are for a two year old—there are little shoes and everything.”
“Huh, that is weird. Maybe you were on the big side?”
Kate shook her head. “I don’t think so. This stuff isn’t mine.”
“Jori’s then? Or Amelia’s?”
“No—they were both babies when we got them. I can’t figure out why my mom would want to hide this stuff.”
“Maybe…ooh, I know! You have a secret sibling. One you never knew about, and your parents are keeping her in the attic.”
“Uh… right.” Kate picked up the locket again and ran her fingers along the chain.
“Well, what about the bag? Are you sure it’s empty? Check again.”
Kate sighed but complied. She pulled the bag out and looked inside. Nothing. Streaks of something dark, almost black were on the shoulder strap. She avoided it. She swished her hand through each section.
“No, there’s nothing here,” she sighed. She started putting it back in the box and a glint of silver hit her eye. “Wait, there might be…” There was a zipper in the middle pocket. She opened it. Inside was a gold cross on a chain. She let it dangle from her fingers. It turned side to side and she noticed an engraving on it. She turned the bag over and shook it. She heard a crinkling sound. She searched one last time. In the deep corner of one section she found a receipt. She flattened the paper out. It was from a pizzeria in New Jersey. She described it all to Ellie.
Kate sighed deeply. “Well, this has been a colossal waste of time, and now I’m going to fail my physics test for no reason. Ugh, and now I’ve got to put all this stuff back.”
“No way, Kate! I think we need to look into this further.”
“What—why? It’s got nothing to do with me. It’s probably just some old junk left behind by a former owner.”
“Then why was your mom hiding it from you?”
Kate hesitated. She didn’t have an answer for that.
“Look, I gotta get out of here. I’m feeling all itchy and claustrophobic.”
Ellie huffed. “Fine. But take the cross with you—and the receipt!”
Kate started to argue, but found she didn’t want to put the cross back or set the locket ba
ck in its box. She liked the weight of it in her hand, and she couldn’t deny that the mystery of it tugged at her. “All right, I’ll bring them out to show you, but if I get grounded over this you owe me big time.”
“Oh! Commercial’s over, gotta go—Jace is on!” Ellie didn’t even wait for Kate to say goodbye.
Kate pocketed the cross, the locket, and the receipt and packed the rest of the items back in their boxes, smoothing the packing tape back down as best she could. She pushed back out through the panel, careful not to get her foot caught this time, and began the obnoxious cranking of getting all four screws back into place.
Back in her bed twenty minutes later, she gripped the locket in her fist. It didn’t have anything to do with her, but the excitement of discovery thrummed through her anyway. If she couldn’t solve her own mystery, maybe a new one was just what she needed.
3
With locket and cross necklace tucked nicely into her jean skirt pocket, Kate sailed down the stairs for breakfast, excited to get it over with and show Ellie her treasures. She sat at the kitchen table with her dad, a strict family rule, and began eating her fruit and nut-filled oatmeal.
“Did you sleep well, Kate?” her dad asked. He’d already eaten and was reading the paper.
“Okay. I could always use more of it, though.” She finished her oatmeal.
He chuckled. “Couldn’t we all?”
She nodded and dug into her eggs.
“You ready for your physics test?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I’m sure you’ll ace it.” She took her vitamins with the remainder of her milk. She watched her mom out of the corner of her eye, trying not to stare but at the same time studying her. She stood at the stove, humming to herself, holding a paperback book open in one hand and stirring the oatmeal with the other. The familiar sight jarred Kate. Watching her mother perform her normal morning routine, all the while feeling the weight of the locket and her mother’s secret press against her leg—it was like seeing a stranger step into her mother’s skin.
She felt a twinge of guilt for hiding what she’d found, but she had a feeling if she confronted her mother with it, she’d get no answers at all. With a shaky hand, she patted her pocket of treasures absentmindedly. It wasn’t that she wanted to pry into her mother’s secrets—not really. She didn’t want to cause problems. After she showed Ellie, she would sneak back into the attic and return the necklaces and receipt. Order would be returned. Her sisters joined them at the table as she stood to leave just like every other day.
“Morning,” she said.
“Hey, Kate,” the two girls said in unison, as they dragged their chairs out from the table.
Kate passed her mom, who was bringing steaming hot bowls of oatmeal to her sisters. Kate rinsed her dishes and then put them into the dishwasher. Her mom had been chopping vegetables, no doubt for dinner. Kate grabbed her sack lunch and said, “Thanks, Mom.” The routine felt familiar and calming.
“You’re welcome, Kate. Have a great day at school.”
“I will,” she said. Once outside, she rushed to Ellie’s mini cooper and climbed in. Kate liked it when it was Ellie’s turn to drive, one less stressful thing to worry about. She dug the locket and cross from her pocket before climbing in. She held them up for Ellie to see as she backed out of the driveway.
“You did take them. I wondered if you’d let your sense of propriety get in your way and you’d leave them.”
“I almost wanted to,” Kate admitted. “But I couldn’t do it. I have to know what these are, who they belonged to.”
“Wait, what’s this?” Ellie slammed on the breaks and reached over to get a better look at the locket. Good thing they were in a quiet neighborhood without much traffic because the tail end of the car would have been blocking traffic completely. For once it was good to be in such a slow, secure town.
“Oh yeah, I didn’t get to tell you last night—”
Ellie opened the locket while Kate talked and cut her off with an excited, “Holy crap, Kate—”
“—because you did that—”
“This is you!” Her eyes were wide and her red-lipsticked mouth gaped open.
“No, I told you—I was adopted when I was one. The kid is at least two in this picture.”
Ellie frowned. “This is so weird. I mean, I know it’s not a very good picture. It’s small, and blurry—“
“Very blurry—“
“But I would swear this little girl has the same chin as you.”
“My chin? Really? I think that’s a bit of a stretch.” Kate snatched the locket back. “Would you please just drive? We’re already late to pick up Braxton.”
Ellie straightened out and drove on. “I really think that’s you in the picture, Kate.”
“But it can’t be me. I told you—”
“I know what you told me. But what if your parents were lying?”
If Kate had been driving it would have been her turn to slam on the breaks. “What are you talking about?”
“You know your mom is hiding something, so don’t act like she’s some kind of saint, like it’s impossible that she could lie to you.” Without thinking, Kate gripped the locket; the clasp dug into her palm. She didn’t respond to Ellie, and Ellie took that as encouragement to continue. “I’m just saying it’s possible that the story your parents have told you is not one hundred percent factual.”
“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about this now.”
“But this is the last chance we’ll get until gym! We’re almost at Braxton’s, and I won’t get another word out of you until lunch.” When Kate didn’t answer, Ellie stuck her tongue out at her. “Fine, we’ll discuss this at gym.” Ellie grinned mischievously and Kate made a point of staring out the window until they arrived at Braxton’s house.
When they arrived, Kate popped out and started a text, but Braxton came out of the house before she could even send it. He smiled and walked her way. Ellie was right about one thing. Kate wasn’t about to talk to Ellie about her birth parents in front of Braxton. She’d have to put on an especially happy face for him so he wouldn’t suspect anything.
After sharing a quick kiss, they sat in the back seat together, clicking their seat belts on. “Hey, Ellie.”
“Hey.” She pulled out of the driveway and only a few houses down, stopped again to pick up her most recent boy toy, Masters.
He slid into the front seat and put a kiss that was anything but soft and sweet onto Ellie’s mouth. She gladly joined in on the assault. Kate squirmed in her seat.
Braxton cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. School. Remember that thing we do five out of seven days a week? It’s waiting for us.” Kate snuggled into Braxton, and he put his arm around her shoulders.
Ellie laughed, pulling away from Masters. “Later.” Masters pulled back and buckled his seatbelt.
Much to Ellie’s chagrin, there was no time to talk in gym. They were in the throes of a basketball tournament. While Ellie ran willy nilly up and down the floor, Kate worked hard, making half her team’s points.
Kate looked toward the showers, but knew it would be social suicide if she ventured in. No one ever showered. Ever. Instead, she grabbed her bag and headed into the bathroom where she pretended to pee. Instead, she took off her sweaty clothes and wiped her body down with wet wipes before washing her hands and face at the sink. She dressed quickly and fixed her makeup and hair. Her face was still hot and red from the game. The blasted changing room was too hot for her to cool down. She rushed into the gym, letting the fresh air cool her as she waited for Ellie.
Ellie walked out and Kate moved to meet her for lunch. They made their way to their lockers and Kate finally felt the heat leave her body. They pulled out their lunches and hurried to their regular spot to eat just down the hall. All their other friends had second lunch.
“Look,” Ellie said around a mouthful of roast beef sandwich. “I want to believe your parents, too, but my family and I have seen too man
y betrayals to simply take things at face value.”
“You mean you’ve seen too many betrayals on reality TV.” Kate chomped on some chips.
“Same thing.”
Kate turned her head away and rolled her eyes while she chewed.
“All right then—what’s the first thing you can remember about your life? Like, actually remember?”
Kate stared at her friend like she was insane. “I don’t know! Kissing Matt Gonzales in the first grade? What’s yours?”
“My point exactly—you don’t remember your life enough to corroborate your parents’ story. Maybe you were adopted at one, or maybe you were older. You don’t remember.”
“Do you remember anything from when you were one?”
“No, but that’s beside the point. The point is…” Ellie was scrambling for something and Kate had to laugh at the look of slight desperation on her friend’s face. She really wanted to create intrigue out of nothing. “The point is—are there pictures?”
Kate nearly choked on a chip. “What?”
“You know, the day you were adopted. All the cute little things you did when you were a little one-year-old baby. Are there pictures?”
“I…” Kate blinked at her friend in mild shock. What Ellie was suggesting was impossible. And yet—she couldn’t remember ever seeing pictures of herself before age four. She didn’t have a baby book, and all the family pictures on the walls were ones taken after Jori and Amelia joined the family. “I’m sure they’re somewhere. I just never really asked.”
Ellie wiggled her eyebrows. “Or maybe they don’t exist because you weren’t actually adopted when your parents say you were.”
“I think you’re just desperate to make life a little more like those shows you watch. Could you do me a favor and find some kind of scandal in your own life and leave mine alone?” Kate meant it teasingly, but the words came out in a more irritated tone than she’d intended. Ellie’s words were bugging her more than they should.
Ellie raised her hands defensively. “Look, I’m just trying to help you find the truth. All I’m saying is, we should check the stuff out. Prove that your parents’ story is true. Wouldn’t that make you feel better about it all?”