So until then, enjoy.
As I searched through various drawers, my foot
kicked against something solid. A black metal-rimmed trunk sat wedged between
several pieces of luggage. It was heavy, and as I eased it out layers of dust
made me sneeze. That was good, as it meant the previous housekeeper, whose name
I couldn’t bring myself to say, hadn’t been snooping into it. She’d taken my
mother’s clothes before so I wouldn’t have put it past her to have pried into
all of my mother’s things.
The trunk was locked.
What was in there? What was my mother hiding that
needed to be kept in a locked trunk?
I glanced around in case the key was lying
somewhere close, or maybe hanging from a hook.
Nothing.
Dumb idea
anyway, Laura. If you want something hidden you don’t leave the key where
everyone can find it! I’d carry
it with me, with my set of house and car keys where they’d blend in with the
rest.
The house keys I was in possession of now, didn’t
contain any extra keys – Kari and I had tested each one. That left only her
handbag.
Judy had always kept it in the middle drawer of
her bedside table. It was still there when I pulled it open. I hugged the black
leather bag to me and inhaled its sweet leather scent as image after image
paraded through my memory.
No more
tears, Laura.
I began my search, shunting aside the thought that
I was intruding.
For a relatively small bag, it contained so many
compartments and pockets, but finally, in a side pocket, my fingers grazed a
small key-shaped object.
That had to be it.
Attached was a black velvet ribbon, frayed at the
edges. Traces of my mother’s perfume clung to it. Again I inhaled and let the
memories assail me – if only for a little while.
Back in the closet, I knelt next to the trunk and
inserted the key.
It fit.
With a click, the lid flew
open.
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