Charming Lily

by Fern Michaels

  “I’ll still feel better if you go to the authorities, Matt.”

  “Lily, look at me and listen to me carefully. I can’t prove anything. Think about it. So my car is in their garage. They’ll say I parked it there. I’m assuming it wasn’t damaged. How can I prove otherwise? I stood you up at your wedding. They’ll say I did it once before and I got cold feet again and took off and landed myself in a mess. How can I prove that’s not true? So I transferred large sums of money from my accounts to other accounts all over the world. That’s done twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. So what if I never did it before? I did it this time. My dog got lost. Dogs get lost all the time. I got lost. You found me. Yep, I almost died because I was foolish and did foolish things. I’ll look like a fool, and I don’t want the CEO of Digitech looking like a fool. Do you see what I’m talking about, Lily?”

  “So they get away with it is what you’re saying.”

  “For now. Dennis and the new kid are going to be working on it day and night. If there’s a way to track the money, they’ll find it. First rule in business, follow the money. So, can we lay this to rest for now?”

  “Yes, but I don’t like it. I hate it that they’re off spending your money. I hate it that they dumped Gracie and left her to fend for herself, and I want to kill them with my bare hands for leaving you out there to die. I won’t talk about it anymore, if that’s what you want.”

  “Okay, it’s your turn. How about telling me whatever it is you’ve been teasing me with. Whatever it is, I can handle it. I can, can’t I, Lily?” He sounded so anxious, Lily smiled.

  “I don’t know, Matt. I’m having a hard time with it. It’s this gizmo hanging on my neck. If we move into this house and raise a family here, I officially become the new Wish Keeper. Promise me you’ll keep an open mind, okay?”

  “I promise.”

  “You know how you’re always throwing stuff out to the universe.... It’s kind of like that with me and this ... thing. Now listen carefully. I’m going to give you a test when I’m finished.”

  Matt propped the pillows behind his head as he listened. When she finished a long time later, clearly agitated, he fingered the pendant around her neck. What do you want to do, Lily?”

  “That’s just it, Matt, I don’t know. At first I thought I was meant to wear it to find you. Make no mistake, without it, without the visions or whatever they were, I never could have found you. I feel like I am the Wish Keeper. I know secrets, but I don’t know what they are. They’re just there. Wishes are something different. I don’t understand that part of it. What I do know is when I take it off, I feel different, lighter if that makes sense. But something always makes me put it back on. Wishes and secrets are more or less the same thing, don’t you agree?”

  “Yes,” Matt said.

  “Isn’t this kind of like when you’re at your wits’ end and you toss it out to the universe and then sit back and wait for things to happen?”

  “Yes and no. You touch it, and you see things. Things that are happening or have already happened. That’s almost like an instant response. I guess that’s the difference. Are you afraid of it, Lily?”

  “In a way. It’s a tremendous responsibility. What if I see something, and I don’t understand it and don’t know what to do?”

  “Did you ever make a wish on it?”

  “No, not really. What I’m asking you is this. Are you okay with me keeping it and acting on something if I get one of those . . . whatever they are, visions or spells?”

  “Yes, I’m okay with it.”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you, Matt?”

  Matt’s arm tightened on her shoulder. “No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think things happen all the time in this life of ours that have no explanation. Either you accept it as it is, or you reject it. I don’t see anything evil in it. I think you’d feel that. What do you feel?”

  “Sometimes burdened. Sometimes I feel heady, like I can literally take on the world. It’s difficult to explain. I feel different when I’m wearing it. There’s a gravestone in the backyard that says Mary Margaret and underneath her name are the words, Wish Keeper. There’s no last name. No date. I guess she was the official Wish Keeper here in this house. The job and the pendant were supposed to be handed down to Sadie’s mother and then to Sadie herself, but her mother refused to accept it. Sadie found the pendant in the back of the closet and gave it to me. She said I needed something from the house to make it officially mine. Up to that point, she didn’t remember any of this stuff, and it wasn’t till we were spending such long hours at the hospital that little bits and pieces came back to her.”

  “If you’re asking my opinion, Lily, it would be this. Wear it until you no longer want to. If you feel it affects you adversely, take it off. Everything in life is not explainable. I certainly learned that.”

  “I wish it was pretty. Actually, it’s kind of ugly,” Lily said, yanking at the chain to center the pendant.

  Matt watched in horror as Lily fell away from his embrace and rolled off the bed onto the floor. Her eyes were glazed as her hands tried to reach out to him. He was off the bed in a second, her head cupped in his hands. “Lily, Lily, what’s wrong? Snap out of it. Lily!” He shook her shoulders to no avail. “Lily, it’s me, Matt. C’mon, honey, sit up. What’s happening here?”

  Lily jerked free, sat up and stared at Matt. She struggled to take a clear, deep breath. “It happened. This is the way it always happens.”

  “Jesus,” Matt said, rocking back on his heels. “You scared me. Did you see something? Talk to me. What the hell did you see?”

  “I saw the three brothers. And then I saw Marcus in a different place. I don’t know where it was.”

  “What?” The single word exploded from Matt’s mouth like a bullet.

  “The brothers were at a beach bar. One of those resort places where there’s a cabana bar right on the beach. They were together laughing and talking. That’s all I saw except their bare feet. One of them was really sunburned.

  “Are you suggesting that Marcus engineered the whole thing? I can’t believe that! Those guys were amateurs. They didn’t know who I was until they looked at my ATM card. Lily, take that damn thing off. If this is what happens to you, then I don’t want you wearing it. Take it off, Lily.”

  “Marcus wasn’t with them. He was separate, in a different place.” Lily reached up and removed the chain and pendant. She laid it on the floor in front of her. Suddenly she felt like crying and didn’t know why. “Where would someone like Marcus go with all that money? You know Marcus, try and think. You said the brothers were amateurs. Would they stay close to home, go far away? This whole thing is so bizarre it’s making me crazy. Where would Marcus go with all that money?”

  “Lily, I have no idea. I was never really involved in Marcus’s private life. Off the top of my head, I’d say he wired the money into a Swiss numbered account, then wired it to a thousand other accounts just like those jerks that snatched me. Maybe the south of France. Spain. He could be anywhere. Hell, he could be in Miami for all I know. Miami is only two hours from New York by plane. It would be just like him to be right under everyone’s nose. Wherever he is, he’s probably laughing his damn head off. Was it in the past, now, or was it going to happen?”

  “I don’t know, Matt. Usually it’s in the past, like it already happened, and I’m getting a replay. Is that important?”

  “Shit, Lily, I don’t know.”

  “If they left the country, they must have traveled with their own passports. Your abduction was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Wasn’t Marcus’s departure much the same?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Then that means they all traveled with their own identification. You have a window of time here. Can’t you hire a detective to do whatever it is they do, bribe people, nose around, that kind of thing? You have names now and a picture. I would think your firm would have some top-notch security. Call them, Matt. Don’t let the trail grow a
ny colder.”

  “It’s late, Lily. I’ll do it first thing in the morning.”

  “No, Matt. Make the call now. They can be ready to do things in the morning. Things can be done during the night that can’t be done during the day. You certainly have nothing to lose. Please, do it. They can put the gears into motion.” Seeing his reluctance, Lily said, “I took off the Wish Keeper for you. You can do this for me.”

  Matt reached for the phone.

  It was two o’clock in the morning when Matt hung up the phone for the last time. “They’re on it. Don’t get the idea they’re going to be out there acting like gumshoes. It’s all done with computers these days. We’ll probably know something late today. Gracie needs to go out. Looks like Buzz is ready, too. I’ll take them.”

  “I’ll go with you. I could use some fresh air. I’ll just turn on the floodlights outside. As long as we’re going out, I’ll show you the gravestones. The dogs are the ones who found them. Bundle up, Matt. We can’t take a chance on you getting a cold. That means you put socks on.”

  “Nag, nag, nag,” Matt grumbled with good nature. “Okay, guys, we’re going out. Hold on, Buzz, fetch the leashes. I don’t care if they do know the yard, Lily. This dog of mine is never going unleashed again.”

  “Buzz doesn’t need a leash. I’m ready. Maybe I shouldn’t put the lights on.”

  “No. Put them on. I want to be able to see clearly. It’s not like we’re going to be out here a long time.”

  “This is it, Matt. The stones are very old. They’re so worn, the granite is actually shiny and smooth. Feel it.”

  He didn’t want to stretch out his hand, didn’t want to touch a gravestone in the middle of the night, but he did it because Lily asked him to. He felt his shoulders slump, felt a tremendous weight settle over him as his fingers traced the letters on the words, Wish Keeper.

  “Matt, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Nothing. I just suddenly felt this tremendous weight on my shoulders and then . . . this . . . surge of energy. Like electricity ripping through me.”

  “Ghosts are energy fields. Wait here. Don’t move. I’m going inside for the Wish Keeper. Stay, Buzz.”

  Lily was back in less than five minutes, breathless with the exertion of running, the pendant clutched tightly in her hands. She draped the necklace over the top of the stone and then stepped back. “We’re giving it back, Mary Margaret. I don’t think I’m the right person to continue

  ... I can’t handle it.” She reached for Matt’s hand and squeezed it tight.

  The floodlight attached to the corner of the roof of the small cottage shone directly on the tiny cemetery. They watched in stupefied amazement as the pendant floated forward, then upward, before settling around Lily’s neck.

  Buzz whined as he squirmed closer to Lily.

  Gracie tried to hug Matt’s leg.

  “I think we should go inside,” Matt said hoarsely as he gingerly backed away.

  Instead of following Matt, Lily stepped forward, both hands outstretched. “I need to make a wish, Mary Margaret. I want to wish for a peaceful, happy life. If you can’t give me that, I’ll have to leave,” she whispered. “I’ll leave this behind for the next owner.”

  “Look,” Matt said.

  Lily looked around the overgrown backyard to see it suddenly bathed in warm, golden sunshine. Four small children romped and frolicked with a basket of wiggling puppies, their laughter contagious. Gracie and Buzz looked on indulgently as Lily and Matt flipped burgers and hot dogs on a grill. “Mommy! Daddy! Here comes Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sadie!” More laughter, hugs, kisses. Happiness.

  Lily blinked as the overgrown yard came back into view. Her.mouth felt thick and fuzzy, her tongue too big for her mouth. Matt, his eyes wild, stood rooted to the ground. “Did you . . . did you . . .”

  “Yes. I think we just saw into our future. I wished for a happy, peaceful life.”

  “Jesus!”

  “Let’s go inside, Matt. It really is cold out here. I’ll make us some hot chocolate. I don’t think either one of us is going to get any more sleep tonight.”

  “What’s the word, Lily? Magic? Supernatural? What?”

  “I don’t know. We had two boys and two girls, Matt! They looked like little versions of us. And a bunch of puppies. It was this yard, this house. We had a barbecue. Dennis and Sadie were here. They called them ‘Aunt’ and ‘Uncle.’ Did you see all that, Matt?”

  “Yes. I think I’m spooked. This can’t be. How can it be?”

  “It is. I have to keep the pendant. That was Mary Margaret’s way of telling us it is definitely not an evil thing. I just wish there was someone I could talk to who really knows about these things. Someone who can explain it to me.”

  “You made a wish, Lily,” Matt said, his voice raspy with his words.

  Lily nodded. “Minnie Figgins! I know that name. I just heard it recently. God, it’s the housekeeper at the Laroux house. The one Sadie was talking to. She’s ninety-five years old. She might know something. The name just came to me. We’re going there first thing in the morning.”

  “Fine. But we’re going into the house right now. Turn off the outside lights.”

  Lily reached up to turn off the switch. The yard turned midnight black. Buzz threw his head back and howled. The fine hairs on Lily’s arms moved.

  “Does that thing open up? Did you ever look inside?”

  “No. I mean, no, I never looked inside, and yes, it opens up.”

  Both Matt and Lily jerked forward when the phone took that minute to ring. They looked at one another as much as to say, I don’t know anyone who would call at two-thirty in the morning. Lily’s hand snaked out. “Hello,” she said cautiously.

  “Lily, it’s me. I had this sudden feeling you needed me. Dennis and I were just sitting here talking and all of a sudden, the strangest feeling came over me. Did I wake you?”

  “Sadie! No, Matt and I just came in from outside. Listen, why don’t you and Dennis come over here. I’m going to make some hot chocolate. Bring the marshmallows. We were just saying we weren’t going back to bed. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”

  “This is beyond strange, Lily,” Matt said, sitting down at the table.

  “You’re telling me. Oh, Matt, I don’t think I want to be able to see into the future. That little scene in the yard was nice. But . . .”

  “I know, Lily. I guess it isn’t as simple as we thought. I’m not sure you can just take it off. Even if you do, are you still officially a Wish Keeper? Or, do you have to move away? They say spirits are bound to certain places, so it probably wouldn’t follow you. I can’t get a handle on any of this,” Matt muttered. “I like throwing things out to the universe better. There’s a sense of normalcy to doing it that way. This is kind of like hocus-pocus if you know what I mean”

  “Maybe Dennis and Sadie will have some input,” Lily said. Her tone of voice said she didn’t believe it for a minute.

  The dogs didn’t bother to bark or get up from their comfortable positions under the table when Sadie and Dennis entered the kitchen through the back door.

  “Very nice,” Dennis said, looking around. “I like it, Lily.”

  Lily smiled when the two men grabbed for each other’s hands and pumped them vigorously. Friends forever. Lily smiled at Sadie, who tossed her a bag of marshmallows from the shopping bag she was carrying.

  They talked into the night, their hands cupped around mugs of hot chocolate.

  “We’re computer engineers, wizards or so they say, and we can’t figure this out,” Dennis said in disgust.

  “Reality and the supernatural are two different things. Take off the pendant, and put it in the center of the table. Let’s all look at it and when I say go, each of us blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. Not right now, though. So, Sadie, do you think the housekeeper will talk to us if we go over there after breakfast?”

  “I don’t know. She talked to me. Quite openly as a matter of
fact. She’s a sweet little lady. Maybe we could take her some flowers or maybe some soft candies. Or a pouch of fresh tobacco. It certainly won’t hurt to try. Are we going there mainly to find out if she knows anything about the Wish Keeper or are you going to quiz her on the three brothers?”

  “Both. I thought we’d just tell her the truth and see how she responds. I’ve always believed that truth wins out in the end. Let’s just cross our fingers that I’m right this time. So, what have you two been up to?” Matt asked as he winked at Lily. “Go! Dennis?”

  “Fear.”

  “Sadie?”

  “Safety.”

  “Lily?”

  “Peace.”

  “How about you, Matt?” Dennis queried.