When Maggie Thyme got the news that her Grandmother Evelyn had died, she was beyond devastated.
Not only because her Grandmother had died, but she was the only person who made Maggie feel "normal". Like Evelyn, Maggie was a keen reader and historian. From a very young age, Maggie had always been interested in the old books gathering dust in her Grandmother's study, and she couldn't wait until she was old enough to go and research some of the ancient legends she had been told about as bed time stories. Maggie's own parents, and Evelyn's son and daughter-in-law, had been less than unsupportive about her interests, saying she had inherited her Grandmother's "obsession" and no good would come from it.
In fact, when Maggie expressed her wishes about pursuing her dream and studying History at college, her parents all but disowned her, and Maggie went to live with Evelyn in Boston instead, where she spent her childhood years soaking up her Grandmother's knowledge of all things ancient and legendary. Every school holiday, you would be sure to find Maggie at the Museum where her Grandmother and her team worked, following anybody who would listen, and filling their ears with questions and her own theories as to where these legends stemmed from.
Just before Maggie's 18th birthday, she had made plans with her Grandmother to visit some of the colleges she would be applying to; UCLA, Columbia and Berkeley. Maggie had wanted to attend Boston University, as it meant she could stay at home and keep an eye on Evelyn who, despite all of her protests, had begun to look a little unsteady on her feet.
Evelyn, however, had other ideas. "You can't put a price on a decent education, Maggie!" she would say. "If you're going to be like me, then you gotta go the distance to get there!". Maggie was never too sure what her Grandmother meant when she said things like that, but she knew better than to question them. Her Grandmother eventually agreed, however, that Maggie would go to any interviews on her own. She didn't want to be seen as "piggybacking" on Evelyn Thyme's reputation.
One spring evening, Maggie made the 3 and a half hour journey from Boston to New York in preparation for her school interview at Columbia University the next day. After getting stuck in traffic jams for the last third of the journey, stopping for a well needed coffee break, and then getting lost in the bustling New York Streets trying to find her hotel, Maggie collapsed exhausted on her hotel bed almost 3 hours later than she should have done. She was just about to doze off, when her hotel phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered sleepily.
"Good Evening, Miss Thyme. There is a call for you from a Mrs Evelyn Thyme, should I connect?" the receptionist asked.
"Sure, go ahead" Maggie replied almost unwillingly, adjusting her position in preparation for the audible onslaught her Grandmother was about to give her.
There was a click as the receptionist connected the call, and before Maggie could say hello, her Grandmother bellowed down the phone, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! I have been calling and calling for you for the last 2 hours! I've been worried sick, anything could have happened! You should have called me the moment you got there!"
"Woah, calm down Gran! I've only just arrived!" Maggie interjected. "The traffic was ridiculous, and then I couldn't find my hotel!"
"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET TO NEW YORK FROM HERE, AND IT DOES NOT TAKE..." Maggie rolled her oval brown eyes as she held the phone away from her ear, whilst she waited for her Grandmother to finish reading the riot act. There was no point even trying to reason with Evelyn when she was like this; Maggie was too similar to know it would be pointless.
"Better to just take the shouting, apologise and promise you will be more considerate in future" Maggie thought to herself.
Finally, after what seemed like an age, Evelyn seemed to remember why she was actually calling. "Oh, guess what came today!" She suddenly exclaimed excitedly.
"What?"
"Do you remember Cassandra Morgan, my number one researcher at the museum?" Evelyn asked.
"Vaguely" Maggie replied. "I only saw her a few times."
"Yes, you would have. She was extremely unwell, and nobody knew except me" Evelyn remembered, sadly. "Every day, she put on a brave face for her husband and her two young children, but she got to the point where she couldn't cope, and it was easier to end her pain."
"How sad," Maggie had no idea. She had only met Cassandra a few times when she was young, she was constantly flying from one expedition to another. Then one day, she just realised that she never saw her again. Maggie had never even given it a thought, and was instantly ashamed. She remembered Evelyn mentioning two children, and thought about how she'd feel if it was her Grandmother who had suddenly killed herself with no explanation. Maggie shuddered. "Her poor family," Maggie said, thoughtfully, "they must have been devastated."
"Well actually, that's why I'm calling," Evelyn answered, serious now. "After she died, her husband couldn't cope. He abandoned his boys to an orphanage, sold all of his belongings, and disappeared overnight. Never seen again." Maggie was shocked. "It was an awful shame, he was a pretty good explorer too, from what I remember. They'd collected all kinds of weird and wonderful things over the years, and he sold every last bit of it. AND within the belongings that he sold, was all of Cassandra's research," Evelyn went on, "Every note she had taken, every map she had drawn, Gone! It's taken me a while, but I've finally found it after all these years! It arrived today, so the moment you get back from Columbia, I want you going through every journal you can find, Maggie! This is a chance for us to prove Cassandra's dream come true, I owe her that much after all!" Maggie's Grandmother almost sang, she was so excited again.
Maggie chuckled, fondly. This is what she loved about her Grandmother, more than anything else in the world. Her passion. Here she was, almost 90 years old, and she was speaking as if she was a giddy schoolgirl. Maggie began to get excited herself, and smiled. "Okay, you got it, Gran" Maggie laughed, "anything else?"
"Just you be safe, young lady" Evelyn retorted, back to lovingly-overbearing Grandmother mode. "New York can be dangerous! Make sure you call me tomorrow!"
"I will, don't worry," Maggie sighed, "I'll call you first thing tomorrow morning before I leave for my interview, and I'll call you as soon as I'm back afterwards, deal?" Maggie asked with just a twinge of sarcasm she knew her Grandmother wouldn't miss.
"You best do, young lady, or there'll be hell to pay!" Evelyn growled, lovingly.
"Love you, Gran, Good Night!" Maggie laughed as she hung up the phone.
Maggie lay on the bed for a moment, thinking about what her Grandmother had just told her. She wondered what had happened to Cassandra's husband and their two kids, whether they ever saw each other again, and her thoughts flickered to her own mother. They had never been particularly close, seeing as Maggie's mother couldn't stand to have a daughter who refused to conform to the "normal" things girls should do. Maggie wondered if there was an underlying reason why her mother was so against her following her Grandmother's footsteps, which she didn't know about. Maggie promised to herself she would call her Mom once she got home, in an effort to make amends for the time they'd not spent together as she grew up.
Maggie shook her head, as if to shake off the looming thoughts threatening to ruin her Grandmother's good news. "This is it!" Maggie thought to herself excitedly. "I'm finally going to have my own research to study!" Maggie thought about the opportunities this could bring. Not only could she be potentially attending one of the oldest Colleges in America, but she could start her classes with a wealth of actual fieldwork experience! "This is unbelievable! Almost too good to be true!" Maggie squealed with excitement as she climbed under the crisp hotel bed sheets. As she settled down, she let her mind wander to great mounds of treasure, buried on an island far, far away waiting to be discovered and smiled lazily as she finally fell asleep, her dreams playing out behind her closed eyes.