by Zoe Matthews
Barbara chuckled to herself as she remembered how stubborn Megan had been. Eventually, Megan told Keegan how she felt, and they agreed that Keegan should live with Megan in the present time.
Barbara found an old-fashioned oil lamp that still had some oil in it. Finding matches on a nearby shelf, she lit the lantern and hung it on a hook from the low ceiling in the attic. They hadn’t wired the attic or the second floor that contained the bedrooms and bathing room, wanting to keep the integrity of the home as much as possible, although Barbara suspected that eventually Keegan would add lighting and plumbing, especially when he had been in 2016 long enough to enjoy the conveniences of modern technology. The only renovation they’d made was to the first floor, which contained the bookstore, the room where they sold herbs, and the kitchen so they could use it to cook the foods for the cafe.
She walked over to a corner that seemed to hold most of the stuff they had moved up here. They hadn’t wanted to use everything Victoria had left behind, mostly because a lot of the items were worth quite a bit of money. There were also some items that Victoria had collected from her years as a time traveler.
Barbara still didn’t quite understand how Victoria had traveled through time, or how any type of time travel could occur, for that matter. Keegan had tried to explain something about Victoria using two golden keys that held a particular kind of magic, although Barbara didn’t understand how it was possible. She knew it did work because not only had Victoria used the keys, but two of Keegan’s sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law, along with their parents, had used the keys to travel back to Keegan’s time and had married into his family.
She rummaged through the items carefully and soon found a bowl that would look nice with some twine balls in it as decoration. She was about to stand up and carry it downstairs when she saw a beautifully stitched tablecloth. Barbara set the bowl to the side and stepped over to admire the handiwork. She was looking over the intricate swirls and designs when something else caught her eye.
She reached over and picked up a beautiful glass bird that had been placed on top of some old clothing. Worried that it could break, she carefully placed it on a table in the back of the attic, where people were less likely to go. She nestled it in a small wooden box so it wouldn’t fall on the floor and break.
Knowing that she had plenty of time, she decided to explore the attic. She continued to move around, admiring all of the furniture that was there. There were tables, a sofa, and cushioned wooden chairs. The furniture had been taken care of very well, with few scratches in the wood. The cushions on the chairs were worn thin, however. There were multiple vases, porcelain figurines, and even a trunk of very old books. She wished she could bring some of these items into her shop and made a note to herself to ask Megan about doing just that. Maybe Keegan would give her permission to take some of the vases and figurines to display in a china cabinet she owned in her condo.
Barbara sighed, worried she was pushing her luck and would break something soon, so she decided to leave. Then she noticed a trunk she didn’t remember seeing before. Curious, she worked her way to another corner of the attic.
She brushed a thick layer of dust off the beautifully carved wooden trunk and coughed a little as the air cleared. The flowers carved into the side and top of the trunk were so small and delicate that Barbara wondered how it was possible to carve them at all. She traced her hand over the design and then carefully opened the trunk. Surely whatever was inside this exquisite trunk was particularly special.
She found dresses that seemed different from the other ones she had found from Victoria. Carefully, Barbara lifted one out and held it up against her to examine it more closely. She knew the dresses Victoria had worn were fancier. They had been covered with lace and ribbon, and the skirts consisted of many yards of fabric. This dress was a pale blue with only a bit of lace around the collar. It looked like it could be from the early 1800s, maybe the Regency period. Barbara carefully laid it aside and pulled out pantaloons that she assumed went under the blue dress, a corset, and a pair of black shoes that were more like slippers than shoes.
She reached into the trunk to remove another dress, this time a yellow one, and she noticed a book tucked in between the folds of the fabric. The book was leather-bound. She opened it to the first page and instantly knew it was a journal. In beautiful script was written:
Victoria Gouldsmith Hilton
Barbara sank to the dusty wooden floor and started to carefully turn the next few pages. She turned to the last page of the journal and noticed that it too was full of writing. She knew Victoria was not her ancestor and it probably wasn’t her place to read the journal, but she could hardly help herself. She set it to the side, telling herself she shouldn’t take it out of the house to her condo, but she decided it wouldn’t hurt to borrow it, at least for a few days.
She saw some more books and wondered if any of them were more journals. She glanced through each of them, but they all seemed to be novels. After she lifted the last book out, she noticed a small violet handkerchief folded at the bottom of the trunk. She reached in to pick it up, admiring the small delicate embroidery and lace that trimmed the handkerchief. Then she realized something was inside, wrapped up in the handkerchief. She unfolded it and saw that it was a locket.
“Oh,” she breathed with delight.
The locket was tarnished, so it was difficult to make out any design on it. She opened it up and saw a picture of a couple. The picture was faded and very hard to see in the dim light the lantern provided, but from what she could tell, they made a handsome couple. Even so, she somehow felt connected to the picture. It seemed to draw her in, as if it were trying to tell her the couple’s story. After a moment of looking more closely at the locket, she thought that she could see that a rose was etched into the front, but she wasn’t totally sure of that.
She closed the locket and folded it back into the handkerchief. She was about to put it back in the trunk when a strong feeling of loneliness washed over her. She lifted her hand back out of the trunk, still holding the locket, and the feeling faded just as quickly as it had overtaken her. She couldn’t explain why, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave the locket in the attic hidden away.
Barbara set it on top of the journal and began putting the rest of the items back in the trunk the way she had found them. She carried the two items back to the decorative bowl she wanted to use and took everything downstairs with her.
As she walked down the stairs, she tried to push away thought she had had when she first looked at the small colored picture in the locket. It almost seemed as if the woman in the picture looked just like her. Most likely, the woman was one of Victoria’s ancestors since it was stored in the old trunk in her attic. She had seen one black and white photo of Victoria that had been taken on her wedding day with her second husband, Collins. But the woman in the locket looked nothing like Victoria had. Why did the woman in the locket look so much like her? Barbara finally decided to attribute her thoughts to her busy day. But she also made the decision to try to polish the locket. It needed to be taken care of.
Chapter 3
Barbara opened her door and stepped into her condo, locking the door behind her as she always did. She walked into her kitchen and started to grab a few items out of one of her cupboards. She didn’t have any polish to clean the locket with, but she had heard of a few tricks she might be able to try with some basic kitchen items.
She knew boiling the locket with some baking soda and aluminum foil would help, but she feared that it would damage the photo inside the locket, so she sat at the table to scrub the front and back of the locket by hand. The paper that the picture was on was very thin. She knew if she tried to remove the tiny picture, it would probably tear.
She worked slowly at cleaning the locket, being careful to not damage any part of it. After about an hour, she had cleaned up the silver well enough to be able to tell that it definitely was a rose etched on the front of the locket. The leaves a
nd vines behind the rose only added to the beauty of the piece.
She opened the locket again to see the couple better. The man was certainly handsome and had a little smile on the edge of his mouth. That caught her off guard, as she remembered pictures from the 1800s she had seen. She didn’t remember seeing anyone who smiled in paintings. She knew this was because while people posed so their portraits could be painted, it was difficult for them to for most to continually smile for a long period of time.
The woman was faded more than the man, and it was still hard to make out her features. She also wore a smile and Barbara thought that the woman’s eyes matched her own. In fact, the woman wore her hair in a style similar to her own. Then Barbara laughed out loud for trying to see similarities between herself and a woman who she guessed lived over a hundred years ago.
It didn’t matter anyway, did it? She wasn’t sure why, but she felt such an incredibly strong connection with this couple. She polished the silver chain and made sure the clasp didn’t need to be repaired. Without thinking, she reached back and clasped the necklace behind her neck. Feeling more at peace with herself than she had in a long time, she got up and started to make herself a simple dinner of grilled chicken and broccoli. She planned to eat dinner while watching one of her favorite movies.
****
Barbara used to love her Sundays, but now she dreaded them. They were her one day off, which should be a good thing. However, now that Megan and Keegan were engaged, she didn’t spend her day with Megan like she used to. Megan used to come over and they’d have breakfast together before attending church. Sometimes in the afternoons they would take a drive and explore different areas around Denver. Other times, they would work on their business. But they always spent the day together.
Since Megan had become engaged, she and Keegan would invite her over for a Sunday dinner at the Victorian home, but that still left the morning and afternoon for Barbara to be alone. She knew Megan and Kegan had chosen to attend a different church that was closer to Keegan’s home. They invited Barbara to join them, but she declined, feeling like she needed to let them have some time for themselves.
By lunch time, Barbara had already cleaned her condo, answered all of her email, paid her bills, and gone over the needed inventory for the store for the coming month. She was bored and restless. She pulled out her laptop and started to research some classes she could take that were close to her home. She definitely needed a hobby.
She saw that cooking classes were popular, but she had never been a big fan of cooking. She could follow simple recipes and that was good enough for her. After spending some more time searching, she saw an ad for painting classes, and almost snorted out loud. She hadn’t painted since her high school art class, but she remembered how atrocious the paintings were. Even her teacher hadn’t been able to think of anything positive to say about them.
Then she noticed that the website that offered the painting classes also offered pottery classes, and this caught her eye. She had never tried pottery before, but it sounded fun. She had always been intrigued by the idea of making dishes, vases, bowls and other items with clay. Instantly, she decided to give this a try. Even if she didn’t end up being any good at it, it would still be fun to get her hands dirty for an hour or two. She filled out the online registration for a beginner’s class and was excited to see that her first class would start the next day, Monday.
Perfect. She smiled to herself. Now she would have something new to occupy her time. She closed her laptop and realized she still didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day.
Clicking her fingers on the table, she thought about her options. She could go shopping, but that always resulted in her spending money on things she didn’t need. She already had her groceries for the week and she didn’t want to sit lifelessly in front of the TV.
She suddenly remembered that Megan had given her a gift card for her birthday last month. It was to a local salon, good for a massage, manicure and makeover. Barbara smiled to herself. That was just what she needed before she turned a new leaf the next day at her pottery class. She made a call to the salon, hoping they would have an opening for her.
“Hello. Luscious Locks and Massage; how can I help you?” a chirpy voice answered.
“Hi, I was wondering if you have any openings today for a massage package?”
“Sure thing, honey. We are always slow on Sundays, and we just had a cancelation,” the woman replied. “Can you get here by two o’clock?”
Barbara sighed in relief. “That will be perfect. I’ll be there.”
The woman took down Barbara’s information, and Barbara excitedly got her things together in a small purse that wouldn’t get in the way while she was there. She remembered when Megan had given her the gift card. Barbara had acted excited for her daughter’s sake, but didn’t think she’d ever use it. She had never liked the idea of massages and having perfect strangers touching her, and she was perfectly happy with the way she looked. But now she realized that her hairstyle was out of date. She still wore it the way she had in high school, long and straight. The last time she’d tried to do anything more than pull her hair back, she noticed that she was starting to go gray, which she decided to ignore because after all, she was only forty-one. She only wore a bit of blush for makeup and never painted her nails.
It was time to make some changes in her life. She’d signed up for a pottery class. Now it was time to treat herself to a makeover. With a big grin on her face, she left her condo, locking the door on the way out.
Chapter 4
“What do you think, honey?” the woman, who called herself Keri, asked as she applied the finishing touches on her lipstick.
Barbara looked at herself in the mirror. She looked better than she had in years. The makeup was simple, and most of the colors were neutral, which Barbara appreciated. She never did enjoy being flashy. “I don’t know how you did it, but I love it. I look years younger.”
“This cream makes a big difference,” Keri responded, holding up an anti-aging cream. “It tightens up the skin, perfect for right around your eyes.”
Barbara cringed; she didn’t like to think of herself as old enough to need anti-aging cream. As she looked at herself in the mirror again, she did have to admit that it made a difference. “Can I purchase a bottle of that?”
“Of course. I’ll take it up to the counter for you when you’re ready.”
Barbara felt great. The knots in her shoulders were gone, her nails were painted a simple pink, and her hair was pulled part way back in loose curls. Keri had cut off quite a bit of her hair, but it still fell past her shoulders, and she loved the new layered style. She had also colored it, adding some red highlights, which hid the gray hair.
She smiled as she grabbed her purse and headed to the counter. She would definitely be making more of an effort to take care of herself. It wouldn’t add that much time to her morning to put on a little more makeup, and do her hair the way the woman had shown her. It would be worth it.
****
The next day, Barbara walked into the shop with energy and confidence. She hadn’t thought she had been low on confidence before; she was always glad to be at work. Now, however, she wasn’t just happy to be at work; she was happy to be herself. She had also decided to wear the locket, but she tucked in under her blouse to hide it from anyone who might have questions. She felt a little guilty for wearing something so old and antique, but she felt such a connection to it. She couldn’t leave it wrapped up in the handkerchief.
“Wow, Mom! You look great!” Megan exclaimed as Barbara walked into the kitchen.
“Thank you! It was all thanks to the gift you got me for my birthday.” Barbara returned Megan’s hug and kissed her cheek.
“You finally used it!” Megan teased. “I’m glad it worked out so well for you. I love your new hairstyle.”
“I need to ask you for a favor today,” Barbara hedged.
“Absolutely, what do you need?” Megan asked
as she turned back to her job of getting the food ready for the cafe.
“I am going to start a pottery class today, and it starts at the same time we close. If I left work early, could you close yourself today?” Barbara felt a little embarrassed; she didn’t want Megan to worry that Barbara was making all of these changes because she was unhappy.
“A pottery class? Sure, Mom. That’s not a problem. What made you want to do that?” Sure enough, Megan seemed concerned. She was trying to hide it, but Barbara could still see the worry in Megan’s eyes.
“Oh, I just want to make the most of my life, that’s all. There is no point in sitting around waiting for life to do what I want. I need to go out and get it myself,” Barbara said cheerfully.