I don't own The Sentinel and I'm not making any money off this. I'm just borrowing the character for my own amusement.
The more the merrier…so they say
Prologue:
His younger sister had been gone for almost two months now, without a single trace. It was like she had vanished into thin air. Officially she was now declared dead by the government and his family wanted to follow suit. He was however reluctant to do so. Elizabeth was and always would be his little sister. She had been outgoing and so full of life, defying their parents as much as she dared at all times.
"William," he heard the sad voice of his mother behind him. He looked over his shoulder at her. The past month had taken its toll on her and she'd aged much in little time. "Here," she handed him a box, "take what you want before we put her things away." She gave a last glance at the room and went back to the kitchen. William began to fill the box lovingly with small mementos, leaving the photo albums and scrapbooks on the top. Placing the lid firmly on top he hid the box under his bed. The next day the room was empty and nothing was left of Elizabeth but a small box under a bed.
Chapter 1 The Box:
Blair stood at the top of the ladder and groped around the uppermost shelf. Cleaning out the closet had become a major project. Trying not to sneeze from all the dust his hands stumbled upon a solid object. Feeling it he found it was a box and getting a firm grasp, he pulled it down. It was a good size, like the kind that held pounds of computer paper for large companies. Jim helped steady Blair from the bottom of the ladder as he stepped down with his prize. Once down he placed the box on the plastic covered coffee table. Brushing odd the dust with a hand broom reviled writing on the lid.
"Its dad's hand writing," Jim ran his fingers over the single word. "Elizabeth?" Blair raised an eyebrow as he read the label. As far as he knew he'd never heard about an Elizabeth and judging by Jims expression on confusion neither had he. Slowly Jim opened the box and let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. The first item was a photo album made or cardboard and blue paper with a slight frill. Family album was scrolled across the top in golden cursive letters. Jim lifted it out as they both sat on the sheet covered floor. After a minute or two in waiting silence Jim opened the cover with trembling hands. The first page was a title page with a family photo in the middle. At the top of the photo written in golden calligraphy was the scription The Ellison Family. In the picture Jim recognized his grand parents and his father, but there was also a young girl in the picture. The caption on the bottom of the picture read Elizabeth Ellison. She appeared to be younger then William but not by more then a few years.
"You never told me you had an aunt," Blair bent over to take a closer look. "I never knew either, dad never said anything about a sister," Jim looked even more confused and slightly hurt. He gently turned the page and let out a little gasp. There were little pictures of his family everywhere all with captions. His father and grandfather in a boat, his grandmother dancing with his father in a living room. His father with a giant grin holding his hands on his grandmother's very round stomach. All of them in a bedroom with a doctor holding up a baby. The rest of the album was filled with the pictures of Elizabeth's life growing up. Jim felt a smile spread across his face as he turned the pages and thought about this woman he never knew. She was like a Sandburg in the midst of a world populated by Ellisons. He could tell by looking at his friend that Blair would have loved to meet her. The last pages at the end of the book were of her as a late teen with William a few years before he married Jim's mom. Closing the album they still had so many questions left they dug into the rest of the boxes contents. It was mostly nick-knacks, extra photos and a book or two, but nothing to really answer their questions. Only when they were done and had replaced the items did they realize that two hours had passed. It was time for lunch and their stomachs rumbled in complaint, so they reluctantly let the box to make sandwiches. As they sat down to eat Blair looked at Jim with a puzzled expression.
"If never knew this woman or even heard of her why do you have a box of her stuff?" Blair snagged a second sandwich while waiting for the answer. Jim just shrugged "I don't know and I want an answer about more then you do. But there might be a way I can find out. If you are up to a challenge that is chief," Jim used Blair's nick name to help persuade him. "What do you have in mind?" Blair asked finishing the last of his lunch.
"I'm going to invite my father over for dinner. He will have the answers we're looking for." Jim then got up and took the empty plates to the sink. Blair said nothing as they began cleaning the rest of the loft. By the end of the day they were almost done. "We'll be able to finish this by tomorrow," Blair broke the silence they had been working in. He guessed Jim had been thinking about the mysterious box and his father. "I think you should give the dinner with dad a go," Blair finally caved in. Jim's jaw clenched for a moment and he nodded. "It would be nice to see him again." Blair smiled and went into hyper mode as his mind began to formulate the whole thing. "You can get all your questions answered and work on that chasm of a gap separating you two at the same time. This will be grate and I'll be the referee." Blair was practically bouncing off the walls in his eagerness. Jim shook his head, "hold up Chief, He has to except the invitation first and even then he might not want to say anything about Elizabeth. It might make things worse thought I don't see how," Jim muttered the last part. Blair gave Jim a big grin "the interrogate him Mr. Detective. He ducked as Jim threw a pillow at him and smiled too. "So when you gonna call him?" Blair pestered putting the pillow back were it belonged. "What you want me to do it right now?" Jim sounded annoyed. Blair nodded vigorously sending a few stray curls flying. "Fine chief, but don't get your hopes up," Jim picked up the phone and dialed.