Chapter 7
Something was off. I could feel it, that uneasy sensation stemming from my brain and vibrating through my finger tips. Survived, they had said. Mr. Hockley's memory was starting to make sense. But it didn't make sense.
For one thing, why would my parents not tell us they were on the famous shipwreck. They had always been so open with us our whole lives, what was the significance of not sharing their past with us? And secondly, if my mother was the Rose in Mr. Hockley's memory how is it she ended up with my father and a little baby nine months later? Was young love that superficial?
Yet so many things did make sense. The reaction I received as I walked into the Hockley's parlor. Mr. Hockley thought I was Rose, and the necklace of course. The stunning diamond necklace I had discovered as a small child being described in another man's memory of a woman who looked exactly like my mother. This wasn't a coincidence.
But I wouldn't pry, I told myself. I would find out my own way, not by pressing them till they cracked but piecing together the facts like a puzzle from the past. But first I needed the whole story from both sides.
I crept into my parents' room and opened the top drawer of my mother's dresser and dug through the blouses till my fingers touched the false bottom. I opened it and snatched the listless blue necklace from its resting place.
"Eliza, could you come here, please?" My father called from downstairs. My heart stopped at the sound of his voice. I quickly stuffed the heavy necklace in the sole of my shoe and hobbled back down the stairs trying to look as innocent and as unperturbed as I had before.
" What is it?" I asked, walking towards my father, sliding one arm around his shoulders, lovingly. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Said my father. "Your mother and I were talking, and we think you're old enough to go places on your own and we're willing to make an agreement with you."
"What do you mean agreement?" I asked warily. This all seemed too formal, they usually let my brother and I run wild as long as we were back before night fall. This was not a coming of age privilege, this was a restriction, I could already feel the cold metal chains clamping around my wrists.
"You can go where you like, around town and come back whenever you like, as long as it's not too late. But, you have to tell us what you're doing and who you're doing it with."
"Why? I said I was sorry for running off all those times. You never minded it before." I said, indignantly, directing my eyes at my mother, who looked down. "Why are you worried?"
"You know that guy, Cal Hockley?"
" Kind of." I said quietly. "He was just being nice, taking me home and all. I really don't know him."
"Well, he's not a very good guy, Lizzy. And if he comes near you or tries to talk to you, come and tell us, alright." He said patting my hair down. "Otherwise, try and stay clear of him."
"Why? How do you know him?" I asked plainly.
"We'll tell you someday, when your older. But right now you just gotta trust us. Do you trust me?"
"I trust you." I told him. But in a way, I didn't trust him at all.
The next afternoon was hot and sticky like most days in late spring. I sat under an oak tree in the school yard pretending to be totally immersed in my book, but I peered over the pages once and awhile searching the sea of hot, restless children for two familiar faces and I found them.
Two identical girls in matching pink sundresses came flouncing across the lawn. There thick, glossy hair was spiraled and pinned up with bows so the tips of their curls dusted the napes of their necks. They laid their rucksacks on a shady patch of emerald green grass and sat down on top of them, chatting away.
I advanced towards them, gripping the hard diamond behind my back as I tried to grab their attentions. They looked up at me, delighted.
"Why, Elizabeth, we were just talking about you!" Beamed Rosalie. "Do join us."
"Yes, do." Said Lavinia. " We were just discussing cotillion. Any thoughts?" I had half a mind to ask what a cotillion was, but as I was pressed for time, I needed to get to the point.
" Lavinia, Rosalie. I need you to do something for me." I said, leaning against the tree that shaded the grass.
"We don't do anything for anyone." Snapped Lavinia. "People do things for us."
"I could make it worth your while." I grinned and they both perked up.
"What do you want us to do." Said Rosalie, eagerly. Lavinia still looked unsure.
" I want you to deliver a note to your brother for me." I said leaning close to their faces. "But you must do it promptly, don't wait. And you can't read it or let anyone else read it."
"What's in it for us?" Asked Lavinia tersely.
I extended my hand out of the shadows and let the royal blue diamond slip from my fingers, dangling by its crystalline chain in front of the twins' faces, sparkling like stars in the golden sunlight.
" It's La Cour de la Mer!" Rosalie gasped, clutching her sister's arm. Lavinia just stared, stunned at the fabled necklace right before her very eyes.
"I'll give it to you." I said, tantalizingly. " If you go to Nathan right now and give him the note." Lavinia clawed for the diamond but I held it high above her head. She frowned.
"I'll give it to Nathan to give to you when I see him. But you must deliver the note first."
" Fine." Sighed Rosalie, taking the slip of paper from my other hand.
" How did you get that?" Asked Lavinia loudly, glaring at the necklace. "It's supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean."
"Let's just say Rose isn't as dead as your father thinks she is." I said smiling. Rosalie gaped at me in awe. I bet she thought I was the ghost of fair Rose. But before any of them could respond I walked away.