Emeralds in the Attic

by Jan Fields

  “Do you want to go to the auction together?” Alice asked. “Could be fun.”

  Annie readily agreed. They chatted only a few more minutes before Alice left, making plans for Annie to drive them to the auction later. Annie felt better now that she’d seen Alice, but she was still worried. John MacFarlane was certainly handsome and charming. He and Alice shared a history, and she hoped her friend would tread carefully.

  Once again, Annie felt a surge of gratitude for her own life. She missed Wayne fiercely, but at least her memories of their time together were full of trust and love. She’d never once doubted his faithfulness. He never gave her reason to doubt him.

  Just before time for the auction, Annie pulled the car down to Alice’s driveway so her friend wouldn’t have to wade through leaves. Alice was walking down the porch steps of the carriage house, and Annie waved brightly at her as she rolled to a stop. She was pleased to see Alice looked cheery—clearly she wasn’t brooding about John. Alice had changed into a gorgeous, olive green military-style jacket that set off her auburn hair, making it almost look like flame. The shell she wore under the jacket and her slacks matched her hair color almost exactly.

  “You look great,” Annie said as Alice slipped into the car. “I wish I could pull off some of those colors.”

  “Autumn is my season,” Alice said. “Plus, I always try to wear unusual colors to an auction. They draw the auctioneer’s eye. That can make a difference in tight bidding.”

  Annie laughed. “I don’t picture this mask auction turning into the competition of the century.”

  “You never know. I believe in being prepared.”

  Annie noticed her friend tensed up slightly as they pulled in at Maplehurst Inn. “I just hope we don’t run into John,” Alice said.

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” Annie said. “I need to stop at the dry cleaners on the way to the auction and drop my gown off for cleaning.”

  After Annie left her gown at the dry cleaners, the friends proceeded to Maplehurst Inn. As they entered the inn, they found rows of tables with flat glass cases laid out on them throughout the inn’s lobby area. At one end of the row, a desk had been set up for the auction participants to register and get a paddle with a number on it for bidding.

  Annie saw Liz Booth standing behind the registration table talking to a tall, elegant woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Annie didn’t recognize her. Alice tugged on Annie’s arm and drew her attention to the nearest glass case. “Look at that mask,” Alice said. “It’s gorgeous.”

  Annie had to agree. The mask form had been spray-painted a smooth metallic silver. Then a delicate butterfly design in gold leaf covered much of the silver. From the left side of the mask, metal filigree leaf shapes in gold and silver curved up and over the left side of the mask’s forehead. Gold and silver wire in varying widths wove around the stick the mask wearer would hold.

  “Wow,” Annie said. “I can’t imagine making something like that. Clearly some people heard about this mask auction a long time before we did.”

  Alice nodded. “Not that I could have made some of these even if you’d given me a year or two.”

  As they continued peeking into the cases, they saw at least a dozen masks with the kind of expensive look of that first mask. One mask was done in delicate gold filigree with sparkling jewel highlights that Annie certainly hoped were just rhinestones.

  “They’re certainly beautiful, but I can’t imagine carrying something quite that elaborate with my gown,” Annie said. “I hope they have some simpler designs.”

  Soon they came to a few cases with masks that looked a bit more in Annie’s price range. As they walked, they passed the doorway to the ballroom, and Alice tugged Annie’s arm again. “We’d better register and go inside,” she said. “We’ll never get a good seat if we look at all the masks first.”

  Annie nodded and they walked over to the registration table. Liz and the young woman still stood behind the table, talking intently, but Liz stopped and smiled as they walked up. “Hello Annie, Alice,” she said. “I’d like you ladies to meet Mrs. Victoria Meyer. She’s sponsoring the auction.”

  “How do you do.” Annie said warmly.

  The young woman responded politely, but with a flatness in her voice that suggested she had little interest in further conversation.

  “Why did you pick Alzheimer’s research as the charity?” Alice asked curiously.

  “A close member of my family suffered from the disease,” Mrs. Meyer said simply and a bit dismissively. She was certainly not a person who invited further chat.

  As Alice bent over to fill out her registration form, Annie studied Mrs. Meyer quietly. The young woman’s black dress was cut simply, but Annie could tell it was expensive. It fit perfectly, and the design suited the tall, cool woman, setting off her fair skin and light wintry blue eyes. The young woman’s blond hair would have been a perfect match in color to Annie’s own, minus the few gray streaks that Annie’s grandchildren called her “sparkles.”

  As if sensing eyes on her, the woman turned to look coolly over Annie’s own gray-blue wool skirt and matching sweater. The slight cold smile she offered oozed superiority, and Annie found a strong dislike rising up in her. She didn’t normally dislike people on sight, but Mrs. Meyer definitely didn’t seem very friendly or appealing.

  Alice tapped Annie’s arm, handing her the pen, and she quickly registered and received her auction paddle. “Good luck with the auction,” Alice said as they backed away from the table.

  “Thanks,” Liz replied. The cool blonde beside her didn’t say anything at all.

  “Whew,” Alice said as she and Annie went into the ballroom. “Nice to get out of the chill. I do believe that girl could out-snooty Stella.”

  Annie smiled at the idea of a showdown as they looked around the room for seats. She spotted a number of people she recognized amongst the rapidly filling seats. Most of the rows at the center left of the room were roped off with “reserved” signs hanging from the rope. A few very well-dressed women already sat in that section. Annie saw Gwen Palmer standing outside the roped-in area and chatting with the older women seated inside.

  “Wow, they must be quite a bunch if Gwen has to be on the outside,” Alice said.

  Annie didn’t answer. She was beginning to wonder if she’d made a mistake agreeing to go to the ball with Ian. Certainly, if it was going to be an event with a clear divide between people based on money, she’d really rather not go.

  Liz Booth passed through the crowd and took a place at the front of the room. The microphone in front of her crackled as she adjusted it. “Can everyone take a seat, please?”

  After a quick scurrying as those standing found seats, Liz smiled at someone behind them, and a young man in a Maplehurst Inn waiter uniform carried up a lovely ball mask. The mask form was covered in smooth white brocade, and a beaded fleur-de-lis was centered on the forehead. Where the stick joined the corner of the mask, loops of glass beads accented the temple. “This mask was donated by the Hook and Needle Club here in Stony Point,” Liz said, and Annie felt a twinge of curiosity about which of her friends had created the lovely piece. Since she didn’t see any sequins, she assumed it wasn’t Alice’s mask. “Opening bids on all masks begin at twenty dollars. Can I get twenty for this lovely piece that is certain to complement many different gowns?”

  Annie glanced around and saw paddles raise here and there for a few minutes as the bidding crept up, and then everyone was still. The lovely white mask sold for forty dollars. Annie breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly some of the masks would be within her price range.

  Several more pretty masks came up, donated by different civic groups and businesses around Stony Point. Bids continued to stay in a comfortable range, but Annie started to worry about finding something that would actually go with her dress. She suspected the bright sparkly masks would quickly overwhelm her simple gown. Then she brightened as Liz said, “We have another donation from the Hook and Ne
edle Club.” The waiter held up a mask covered in delicate, ivory crocheted flowers on a smooth green satin base. The flowers were a masterpiece of crochet artistry, and Annie quickly put her paddle up when bidding began.

  Again she looked around and saw only a couple others were bidding on the same mask, but those bidding seemed to really want it. Paddles flashed as Liz raised the bid again and again. Annie bit her lip and raised her paddle to signal a bid of seventy dollars. “I can’t go much higher,” she whispered to Alice as she looked at the two other bidders who had hung in so far. One twitched her paddle a bit but didn’t raise it. Annie had won!

  “Sold for seventy dollars,” Liz said.

  “It’s going to be perfect with your dress,” Alice whispered. “Kate had to have made that one. I don’t know anyone else who could crochet those tiny flowers with that kind of detail.”

  Annie nodded. The mask was a little treasure, and Annie decided she’d hang it on the wall somewhere after the ball. After Kate’s mask, the next piece to come up was the gold mask studded with gemstones that Annie had seen in the case outside.

  “This next mask was donated by the Forsythe family,” Liz said. “It was designed by Palermo Vanzetti.”

  Alice gasped, and Annie turned to look at her. “You don’t recognize that name?” Alice asked.

  Annie shook her head.

  “He’s a major jewelry designer to the ultra rich,” Alice said. “How did they get him to do a mask for a dinky auction like this?”

  Annie shook her head as bidding went on fast and furious around her. Soon though, it became too high for anyone outside the reserved seats. When the last paddle dropped, the mask had sold to a distinguished man in a handsome charcoal suit for fifteen thousand dollars.

  “I would hate to be the mask that follows that,” Alice whispered, fanning herself with her paddle.

  That’s when Liz said, “We have another donation from the Hook and Needle Club here in Stony Point.” Annie’s eyes jumped to the front and she recognized her own mask and nearly groaned. She figured she’d be lucky to get one bid when people compared her shabby little mask to the jeweled masterpiece that had just sold.

  “Oh, nice,” Alice said as she raised her paddle. Annie figured Alice must have recognized the pieces she’d cannibalized from the attic and was offering a mercy bid. But then several other bids came in quickly.

  Annie smiled in relief as the bidding quickly reached fifty dollars with Alice clearly committed to getting the mask. Suddenly a voice rang out from the back of the room. “One thousand dollars.”

  Annie and Alice turned in shock. Victoria Meyer stood at the back of the room. She didn’t even have a paddle. Liz blinked a moment, but then went smoothly on. “The bid is one thousand dollars,” she said. “Can I get one thousand and twenty?”

  No one moved in the audience, and the mask was sold to Victoria.

  “Wow,” Alice said. “I guess she really wanted it. That solves the question of which of the Hook and Needle masks sells for the most. That one!”

  “I guess,” Annie said vaguely. But she was completely confused. Why would someone bid that kind of money for her simple mask?

  The rest of the auction passed in a bit of a blur. Alice managed to buy a lovely mask that had been donated by Dress to Impress, a cute shop across the street from The Cup & Saucer.

  “I’m so glad I’ll be wearing Kate’s mask to the ball,” Annie said as they joined the folks heading out of the ballroom. “She’s done so much to help me with my own work, but I can’t imagine ever being the artist that Kate is.”

  “I wouldn’t say never,” Alice answered. “You’ve taken on some tough projects.”

  Annie laughed. “Taken on isn’t the same as accomplished. I can hardly wait for the next Hook and Needle Club meeting so Kate can help me fix the mess I’m making of my sweater.”

  “You’re always too hard on yourself.”

  A voice interrupted the two friends. “Excuse me.”

  Annie and Alice turned to see Victoria Meyer standing behind them with a warm smile on her face. “Aren’t you Annie Dawson?” the young woman said. “I believe you made the mask I bought.”

  “I did,” Annie said, startled by the change in Victoria. She looked so friendly and interested as her smile grew bigger.

  “I’m so glad to meet you,” Victoria said. “I just love my mask. How did you make it?”

  “I’m afraid it’s a scraps project,” Annie admitted. “I used fabric from my grandmother’s scraps basket and broken jewelry I found in the attic.”

  “Oh, I did wonder if that lovely emerald piece was originally from an earring,” Victoria said. “It’s a unique piece and exquisitely made.”

  “I’m certain it’s just costume jewelry,” Annie said, hoping the young woman hadn’t paid so much because she thought the mask had a real emerald on it.

  “Oh, I know,” Victoria said with a sparkling laugh. “It’s the design that interests me more than the value. I love that tree motif. Did you find other pieces in the set?”

  “How did you know it was a set?” Alice cut in.

  “Well, earrings do come in pairs, don’t they?” Victoria said, her voice turning a bit cooler as she turned her attention to Alice.

  “I have the second earring if you want it,” Annie said. “Do you want me to bring it by here?”

  “Oh, you’re so kind,” the young woman said, her smile warm again. “Is that all you have? Just the earrings?”

  Suddenly, the harried young man manning the table called for the next person in line. Annie excused herself and went to pay for her mask. She was pleased to see it was every bit as lovely up close as she’d hoped.

  She turned to show it to Alice and was surprised to see Victoria still stood there, clearly wanting to talk more.

  “Kate did an amazing job,” Alice said. “You’re going to look fantastic.” Then Alice ducked around Victoria so she could reach the table and pay for her mask.

  “That is a very nice piece,” Victoria said, her eyes barely flitting to the mask. “Though I do like the one you made better. Maybe I could come by your house to get the second earring?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Annie said. “I can bring it to you.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind. I could maybe wear it in my hair at the ball to match the one on the mask. I do love unique jewelry.”

  “Victoria?”

  “What?” Victoria’s response almost snapped as she turned to face Liz Booth, who had interrupted to ask her something about the auction. While Victoria’s attention was turned away, Annie slipped outside. She’d had enough of the moody young woman’s behavior. Wealth seemed no excuse for poor manners.

  Annie stood a few moments on the front steps of Maplehurst Inn and smiled when she saw a gust of wind send crispy leaves dancing in the driveway. A few minutes later, Alice came out of the inn to join her. “So this is where you disappeared to,” Alice said. “That Meyer person practically demanded to know where you were.”

  “She is a bit aggressive,” Annie said. “I wonder why she’s so interested in that jewelry. You don’t think those gems could be real?”

  “No, I looked them over,” Alice said. “They’re nice costume jewelry, but those aren’t real gems.” She grinned mischievously. “Trust me, I know jewelry. The whole set might be worth a couple hundred dollars, through. It is nice stuff.”

  “I don’t think a couple hundred dollars would impress that young woman much.”

  “No. Her shoes cost way more than that,” Alice said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Did you see them? I’m absolutely certain they were Roger Vivier.”

  “Which are?”

  “French and definitely worth more than all the jewelry in your attic combined.”

  Annie sighed. “Well, maybe she was just trying to be friendly. I don’t want to start seeing mysteries where they don’t exist.”

  6

  Annie spent the rest of the day half expecting Victoria Meyer to show
up on her doorstep, demanding to root through all her costume jewelry. She was pleased when nothing unusual happened.

  “Well, perhaps asking questions is her way of being friendly,” she said to Boots, who showed her extreme disinterest by yawning widely.

  “You’re right,” Annie agreed. “I have better things to think about. Like making sure I’m ready for the ball next Saturday!”

  Still, in case the woman really did want the second earring, the next morning Annie dropped it off at the desk at Maplehurst Inn.

  The weather turned rainy by Sunday afternoon, and Annie stayed close to home, working on her sweater. Boots clearly found the soft, fuzzy green yarn as attractive as Annie did, as Annie twice had to catch the cat in the midst of yarn theft.

  “I still haven’t found the last ball you stole,” Annie said, scolding the cat while she cuddled her. “I bought you a nice ball with a bell in it. Why don’t you go find that and play with it?”

  Boots just purred in response. The ringing phone interrupted Annie’s failed attempt at cat discipline, so Annie carried the cat with her to the phone. It was Annie’s daughter, LeeAnn.

  “Oh, please tell me you’re calling to finalize your plan to come for Thanksgiving,” Annie said, tucking the phone into her shoulder as she set the cat on the floor.

  “Mom,” LeeAnn said, “remember all the times you scolded me for nagging you about moving back to Texas?”

  “That just means I’ve earned some free nagging back at you.”

  LeeAnn moaned. “Well, that is not what I’m calling about. I just had to tell you what costume Joanna decided on for Halloween.”

  Annie sat down in the chair beside the phone and curled her legs under her. “What costume?”

  “She wants to go as twins,” LeeAnn said.

  “She wants matching costumes with John?”

  “No, not twins with her real twin. She wants to be twins with the doll you gave her for her birthday. So, I was hoping you might have some of the fabric you used for the costume?”

  Annie laughed. “The apron was just muslin, but I found the calico in Gram’s fabric collection. There’s definitely more of it. I don’t know if there’s enough for a dress to fit Joanna. Are she and her brother still growing like weeds?”