Daunt Manor
July 2006
Within the forest of the Daunts' territory, Franny was by the creek that lies within the territory. After finding a comfortable position when perching herself on the base of the large roots of an old tree, she began to read her book in peace before she could and start foraging the mushrooms. It had been a week and she was surprised to have nearly forgotten fungus that she was suppose to gather the night she saved Jacob.
"What ya reading?"
She looks up to see her brother with an insect case in his hands.
"Neverwhere."
"Fiction, for once?" He teased and sat beside her. His sister was the scholar out of the two. Often finding her reading one of their family's memoirs and journals, improving failed experimented spells that were theorized and ignored for centuries, until Franny's curiosity got the better of her.
Since Matthew can remember, Franny has always been the most attentive about anything that is to do with magic. She values every lesson their grandfather taught, every book and memoir written by their family. Once, she perfected a potion that can slowly repair infertile eggs for a young couple who they knew were having trouble with conception. The couple didn't have the money for the procedure of reproduction, and it drove Franny into work for their happiness, seeing as they had no other family. It didn't essentially give them a baby, only a fix on the human body.
However, the number one rule of that witches must obey was to never interfere with the balance of life and death with mortal kind. It was a taboo to do so.
The act itself nearly put them to trial with the other Sovereigns across the globe to judge her actions.
Matthew remembered it well.
They were in their family's sacred grounds that was hidden in the forest. Many representatives of covens around the world came to watch the trial. The tension was palpable as the decision on whether Frances was found guilty of helping mortals conceive a child and tampering with the balance.
Matthew didn't know what they would have done if she didn't write down her theories and reliable sources in her notes. He was grateful that a witness, a respected and powerful man in the witches' community, was there to look over her work by request and vouch for her saint efforts for two poor mortal beings. Stating that she was not giving life, only healing a broken biological format within the human body.
The jury were reluctant but found her innocent after reviewing her studies and even asked her to fabricate the potion in person.
Matthew admired his sister's kindness, but he couldn't help but wonder when is enough, and how much is too much for her to give that could cost her everything.
He fears slightly what would happen if her life was part of the gamble.
"So, who's your victim today?" She peers over his side to see the insect he caught.
He lifts it close to her face. "Another Boxelder. It has a nice orange ombre color on its side. Thinking of giving it to Gramps for his study."
She closes her book and takes the box from him to look inside carefully. Indeed, it had a unique orange ombre on its side. Giving it back to her brother, she places her hand on the ground.
Sprouts grew from the ground rapidly until a full bloom red wildflower stood there by her side.
Plucking it out, she covered the flower fully and Matthew watched her with interest. Wanting to know what she'll come up with this time.
Every time she comes to the forest, a new spell is made from her own hands and mind, but growing the flower was nothing new.
She opened her hands to reveal a blue butterfly and it flew away.
Yup, nothing new.
They both watched it fly away to the sky and Matthew finally had the courage to ask.
"You think it will hurt?"
She turns her head to him. He nervously glances back at her, waiting for her answer.
Sighing. "It has to. We all have to go through it eventually in order to survive. You know that, Matthew."
"Doesn't mean I like it." He argued.
"We don't. I don't. But I wanna live." She nods, as if she was so sure about her words then look at her brother. "I want you to live."
He leans his head back and exhales loudly through his nose. Hoping this fear will go away.
Right after their talk, Franny met up with her aunt and cousin in her room to take her measurements for her ceremonial dress.
"So, how was the market with Jacob yesterday?" Analee asked.
Franny only shrugs. "It was good. But I think I spooked him a bit by telling him of the Wakening."
Her aunt wrote up the measurements in her notepad. "Well, you can't expect him to be comfortable with the idea right now. He's an outsider, a stranger to our family's history and the practice of our people."
The teenager silently sighs and Valerie frowns, reaching to lifts her chin lovingly. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"
'Jacob' is what she wanted to answer. Jacob is what is bothering her.
After she explains that witches could die if they couldn't keep their magic contained within them and that it was crucial for them to go through the Wakening, Jacob became. . . quiet.
Not that she has a lot of conversations with him but once she brought up about her possible death at the diner, he asked if there were any other ways that could harm them, her mostly and when he asked, she saw how genuine he was on the subject. He didn't push farther than that, only asking about how she feels about the ritual. If she was afraid.
But she denies any fear with honesty, truly believing that she will be okay. But Jacob's obvious look of uncertainty still bothered her.
Even though they shared a bit of their life and who they were, Franny felt like she knew him forever. Every smile and every look that he gave her made her feel warm and safe like no one has ever done before. It almost felt. . . natural.
Franny shakes her head lightly. "Nothing. I just feel a bit hungry."
"Well, try to hold on for a bit longer, we're almost done." Valerie instructs as she wraps the measuring tape around her chest. "No niece of mine will be wearing garbs on her special day. Especially those terrible shoes." She gestures to her Mary Janes on the floor.
"They're comfortable." She argues.
"In a sense." Valerie waves. "Now, tell us more about him." She pushes again on Jacob after writing down the last of his measurements.
Franny couldn't help but shake her head and complies a bit with her aunt's plea.
"Well, he's. . . sweet." She says softly, remembering how patient Jacob was when she began to open to him about her life as a witch with no interruptions or questions, like he was so immersive on the subject itself, but her.
It was the same feeling she had when they talked at conservatory. Like there were no other conflicts nor stress. Only them.
She hadn't felt this in a long time, not since Christopher.
"And. . .?"
"And that's it. That's all that I have to say." She slipped on her shoes and put her hair down from her bun.
"Please. Humor us, this is the longest you've been hanging out with the opposite gender since Christopher and that guy from last spring." Analee commented, wanting to hear more about Jacob from Franny's perspective.
"He's just a sweet guy. I don't know what to tell you." They went to her room, and she fished out her journal from her bookshelf.
"Oh, so there's nothing to say about the looks you've been giving him." Valerie asked.
"Or the looks he's been giving you." Analee appears next to her.
"He looks at you like you bring the stars every night." Her aunt almost sighs.
"That's a bit exaggerated." Franny squirms.
"I'm serious," Valerie took hold of her shoulders from behind and looks at her eyes through the mirror. "And if you tease him too much, it would hardly be a fling."
"Fling, really?"
"He's infatuated with you." Her aunt then starts to braid her hair. "Can't you tell?"
"How can I? With everything that's being taken care of." Franny fiddled with one of her rings.
Valerie sighed and went to lean over her niece's shoulder, they looked at each other through her mirror of her vanity. She can see how much of a trouble the responsibility of being the heir of their coven. The tasks were getting overwhelming for her niece to handle, she could see through those smiles she put on her face. How tired her niece must've been.
"Well, you gotta admit that he is pretty cute."
"Didn't say he wasn't."
Even with the preparations for the Wakening being a distraction, Franny finds Jacob very handsome and wonderful to be around with. It was weird though. Whenever he smiled all her nerves magically stray away any stress that was left in her system until it comes right back whenever the Wakening is mentioned. Something about his tone of curiosity whenever he asked a question about her. Not about her magic, or her heritage, but her specifically.
Of what she likes to do, what her interests are, it was like a first date.
"There you go. It's nice to have a little fun. You know how we are during the equinox, if my memory serves me right, you also participated a bit in the night celebrations last year with one of the Talon brothers." Valeri grins mischievously, finishing the last strands of Franny's hair.
"Please." Franny scoffs. "It was a one time thing. Though I do admit, John Talon definitely lived up to his name."
They began to giggle until a cough was heard at her door, and they were surprised to see Jacob standing there awkwardly by the open door.
"Uh, is this a bad time?" His eyes didn't bother to focus on anyone else but Franny.
"No." Franny answers quickly. "Great time, actually, I assume that Gramps sent you here for your measurements?"
With his stature, it would be impossible to find the right shirt that would fit him for the night of the Wakening without it being ripped off from accidentally moving, and getting an extra sized would just look too loosely on him.
He nods quietly then enters the room. Concurrently, Valerie and Analee went around the boy and slipped out of the room.
"Wha-" They were both gone before she could even ask where they were going, leaving them alone in her room.
They briefly share a moment of silence before she points to the middle of her room.
"Just stand here."
Jacob followed her easy instructions and waited as she opened a notebook and measuring tape in hand. Before he knew it, she burst his bubble and lifted his chin so he could look up.
"Stay still." She told him.
As he stood still, she noticed how his eyes were bouncing around her room.
It was weird to have him in her room. But she was not embarrassed of what her room contained. There was nothing that she was ashamed of anyway.
Dried flowers by the windows, antique furniture like the others in the manor, a door leading to her own bathroom and a bay window with the view of the Daunts' orchard.
Her bed had a blue and white duvet with white pillows and above it was a white canopy.
A desk was placed in front of the bed, and trinkets adorned with beads and feathers. Posters of indie bands decorating the walls along with some polaroid pictures and other types of such that depict a bit of her entire life.
There's one of her and a group of friends. Another with her family. At a violin recital.
The last one made him feel a bit solemn.
It was a picture of her father holding little Franny in his arms, it shows she was trying to get out of his arms, but she smiled in a laughing matter, nonetheless.
That made her think. "When are you planning to go back?"
Jacob then looks at her.
"What?"
She looks up at him. "When are you planning to go back? You never said anything about going back."
Sighing quietly. "I guess the thought I hadn't really crossed my mind for a while."
She wrapped the measuring tape around his neck.
"How come?" She her eyes shifted to meet his.
He went quiet for a few beats, staring into her eyes. "I have a lot in my mind."
She moves away to write down the measurements. "Feet apart."
He did so and she crouched down to wrap the tape around his right thigh.
Fran didn't take long and stood up to write down the measurements. "Alright. All done, I think a simple beige button up dress shirt will do."
As she talked, he stepped away from her and she can hear him breath heavily, only for a short second.
Franny noticed his brief behavior. "You, okay?"
He turns. "Yeah." Answering quickly and she noticed how he was doing anything but looking at her and out the window.
Then a thought came into mind.
Did she make him feel nervous?
"I should take these to aunt Val." She takes the notes and stops to look at him and steps a bit closer, trying to see if Val was right about their earlier conversation in the room before Jacob came in.
He looks down at her as she pretends to go over his physic one last time and sees the look that Val had mentioned. That alooved look of attraction clinging in his dark eyes.
She can't help but feel warm about them.
"Chestnut Beige should work." She whispers, stepping back and then heads out of her room.
Jacob finally exhales his holding breath before frowning.
"Chestnut Beige? . . ." He mutters before following her out.
They barely made it to the staircase when Franny's name was called from the end of the hall.
They turned to see Oswyn with the door to his study wide open.
"Can you come in for a moment." He asked but it was more of an order.
She looks at Jacob before walking down the hall to meet with her grandfather and he steps aside for her to enter the study room. Before closing the door, he sent Jacob an indescribable look that had the teen uncomfortable and curious as to why Franny had been summoned to.
He had the upper hand to eavesdrop with his hearing but what's made that impossible was that Franny had once mentioned that Oswyn and Hank had put up silence barriers in everyone's personal rooms ever since he temporarily stayed in their home. He understands everyone deserves their privacy, but the way Oswyn sounded bothered him.
Like he was worried.
Suddenly, he felt something tugging at his pants and sees the littlest Daunt looking up at him.
He burrows his brows and kneels in front of him. "Hey," He looks around. "I don't think you're supposed to be alone. Where's your dad or sisters?"
The toddler babbles. "De-ors."
Jacob sighs softly, forgetting that the family has a sort of thing to speak French occasionally. Like last night at dinner, Valerie and Hank had a full conversation in French and Franny or Matthew would cut in a few times in the same perfect tone pronunciation.
Carefully, he picks up Lucas under his armpits and settles the kid on his hip. "Let's go look for one of your sisters, hm?" Seeing as he had nothing to do when he was already done with work.
They walked through the manor and Lucas was pointing at the numerous décors on the wall that Jacob enthusiastically gasped at which earned him a giggle and laugh from the toddler. They then went into a hall filled with painting portraits, some that are even painted back in the earliest years.
"Fifi." Lucas pointed at a picture and Jacob looked to see it and stood still.
His eyes widened a bit by the woman on the painting who looks exactly like Franny. She wore a blue dress with her hair in a fancy updo, with her head facing upwards to an eye-level position. She had a small book in her hands with a ring on her index finger, a ring that he's seen before on Franny's finger multiple times.
Like Franny, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
He was admiring the painting a bit more until a small plate that was stuck underneath the painting caught his eye.
Louisa Traya Daunt. 1422.
The year stumped him. If he remembers correctly from one of his conversations with Fran, Louisa was the sister of Oswyn's father, yet the date of this painting was made nearly five hundred years ago.
Before he could think into it deeper, a voice pulled him away and he sees the ever so smiling Franny walking towards him.
"And Lucas, I see?" She took the toddler from Jacob arms and hugs him close to her.
"Got lost I think, found him alone by the stairs." He messed up the boy's hair.
Franny shrugs uncaringly. "It happens. Witches his age would go through a phase of walking away from their elders and run or float around."
Jacob blinks and lets out a little laugh. "Yeah, floating."
She didn't laugh though, but a secret smile was there as she smoothed out Lucas' hair.
He pauses. "You're joking. . . right?"
She walks away. "Come on, I'm sure Lucas needs a snack."
But Jacob took a second to think before finally following her.
"You were kidding. Right?!"
She did not answer his question.
They went into the kitchen and Franny whipped up some easy apple slices and peanut butter sides for the toddler and for herself as well.
"Can I ask you something." Jacob asked as he swiveled his way to the other side of the kitchen counter.
"Yeah?" She kept cutting the apples.
"That painting. Down the hall, Louisa. You said she was your grandpa's aunt."
She hummed to confirm.
"How come the date of the painting goes back to the 1400's?"
He was no math genius, but there was some common sense to understand that no person would be able to live longer than Louisa could to have Oswyn as a nephew seventy years ago seeing as she could've been around five hundred years old.
Franny hums. "Well. That's something I have yet to mention about being a witch."
"What?" He leans his elbows on the counter.
Franny continued to prepare Lucas' snack. "It's a decision really, but at some point, after the Wakening is completed, we can stop aging at will. With the right practice of course."
Jacob makes a face in disbelief, considering if this was possible. Then again, he too has the ability to stop aging if he continues to phase. He knows the story of Taha Aki's will to stop aging, how he was able to live long enough until he decided to do so until he found his imprint, the Third Wife, and wanted to grow old with her.
"So your grandpa . . ." He slowly deducts.
She places a finger on her lips. "We don't track ages here. It's kind of a rule that Aunt Val insisted."
"And how old is Val? Wait, how old are you?"
"Never ask a woman's age." She places the cut apple slices in front of Lucas. "But to ease your mind, I just turned sixteen this year."
Jacob hides his relief, not wanting to seem strange around her, although that is beginning to be impossible now.
"How does it work though?"
Franny bites a slice. "Nope, this is trade secrets, you tell me a secret, you get one back." She chews as she waits for him to spill something.
He squints his eyes at her, almost challenging her but he couldn't say no to her, not when she was looking at him cutely with a full mouth.
He sighs and crosses his arms. "Fine. When I shift, my pack brothers and I can read each other's thoughts."
Her eyebrows perked with interest, and she handed a couple of thin apple slices to Lucas. "Mmh? And how does that feel? For you anyway."
"Uncomfortable," He stole a slice and ate it before Franny could take it back. "Even though it helps to communicate between our patrols, you can hear everything."
She suddenly smiled at him, eyes shining with mischief.
"Yes." He sighed, "Even the ones we don't want them to know."
She hid her mouth with the back of her hand and snickered.
"Alright. You're turn."
She nods, her turn to lean on her elbows. "There is an extent to how we like to. . . keep our youth right after our Wakening ceremony. If we keep it long enough and control it in a certain way, we can keep on living and stopping the aging process that no mortal can."
"And once you don't?" Jacob leans in closer.
She tilts her head as she looks down at her hands. "We begin to age again. Kind of like pausing and playing a movie until you have no scenes left to play. Gramps found a more peaceful life in growing old than spending his life staying young."
"Why?"
She smiled. "He met my grandmother, Ana-Joe Daunt nee Mitchell."
Jacob nodded, understanding a bit more of her family's practice and culture, comparing how her way to stay young is like how he can stop aging by phasing. But the thought of spending your years with someone, waking every morning to that person that changed your life, is a blissful thought that attacked his moral thinking.
A burp interrupted their conversation, and they both turned to Lucas and smiled as he grabbed his sippy cup that Franny had passed for him to reach.
"You're pretty good with him." He compliments.
"Thanks, but I can barely keep up with the little munchkins." She tickled Lucas' stomach, but he continued to eat his snack. "It's hard since his mom passed away, but we managed to give him the love he needs."
He gazes at the little guy. "Yeah, well, at least he's too young to remember her." He leans again on his elbows as Franny looks up at him. "Gives him the advantage of not getting hurt too much if he remembers her."
She hums again. "True enough, but if he did, at least it shows how much he misses her, how much she meant to him." Speaking from experience as strokes Lucas' head in a gentle manner.
Suddenly, instead of seeing Franny feeding her baby cousin, he sees a quick vision of Franny repeating the same action with another child in Lucas' place. The child had tanned skin and black hair like his own, but their eyes reflect Franny's. Blue and bright.
Jacob nods. "Yeah. You're right."
He blinked himself to wake himself from his daydreaming, hoping that the beauty across the counter didn't notice how he suddenly got quiet.
No. Too soon. Too soon.
He mentally scolds himself. He can't think of that right now. He needs to focus on keeping their new friendship where it was now and not got ahead of himself like he did with Bella.
For the rest of the afternoon, they sat in the kitchen with Lucas. Unaware of the shadow that lurked in the ajar door of the kitchen, watching them since they entered.
Forks, Washington
August, 2006
As always, after the wedding is the reception.
By now, Franny has made way through the backyard and was entranced by Alice's magic touch in the decor, especially the flowers, though she had given some help to the vampire after a sudden unfortunate event that she had ultimately caused to make true of her claim to be a witch.
"Pretty."
Every vampire in the yard turned to see an unfamiliar girl with a violin case in her hand. Her brightly green colored shoulder sleeved dress made her stand out if she was in a crowd and her choice of footwear almost made Alice frowned in interest rather than the person trespassing their territory.
Which comes into question.
How could they not have heard her walk into their home?
Fear then overpowers them when they quickly realized she had no sent.
How can she have no sent?
Alice walked cautiously to the girl, blinking to wake herself from her shock and began to talk.
"Who let you in?"
"The door was unlocked." The stranger thumbed towards the house.
"What she means is-" Jasper begins but was cut off by Rosalie's sudden low growl.
"You're trespassing."
The girl tilts her head, unphased by the woman's threatening look. "Am I? 'Cuz last time I checked, I was here for a soundcheck for the wedding march." She lifts her violin case in gesture.
She smiled, as if what she was saying was true and nothing more, looking at them innocently so that made them nearly uncomfortable.
"Say what?" Emmett appeared next to his mate, ready for what would seem to lead to something ugly.
"I've never asked for a musician for the aisle." Alice glares at the stranger.
"The groom did." She said with such confidence.
As if her point was made, her supposed voucher appeared with Carlisle and Esme in tow.
Edward sighs heavily when he saw what the commotion was about.
"Why am I not surprised." He declared dryly and a signals his siblings to stop their hostility. "It's fine. She brings no harm."
"Hmm." Franny shrugs.
He ignored her sound of doubt and walks to her until he was close to her side, he faced back to his family. "Everyone, this is Frances Daunt."
Rosalie did not waver her stance despite the revelation of the girl's identity. "The witch?"
Frances leaned far to her right and nodded her head across the man's figure.
"Like we've been telling Edward, there no such thing."
Ever since his trip to take back the mutt to surprise his beloved fiancée, he has been in a state of disbelief when he revealed to his family what he found in his journey.
A witch.
A being of magic.
Something that was impossible to exist and that's saying something from a creature of the night themselves. There was no proof, no evidence of such a being.
Edward's last statement to convince his family was for them to see to believe. How cliche it was.
"Says the vampire." Frances snorts at the family's expression and stepped past Edward. "Oh yes, I know all about you . . .vegetarians. And I can honestly say you have a beautiful set of golden eyes I've ever seen in. And I've seen a lot."
Rosalie seemed to have enough and marched to the girl. "Look, we're in the middle of something. So why don't you go and-"
Franny looks at her way and suddenly Rosalie stopped when she felt something wet hitting her left cheek.
Rosalie lifts a hand to touch her face and sees there, resting on her finger was something impossible.
And then suddenly, as if to confirm her sanity intact, landed in the palm of her hand.
A snowflake.
She looked up, her family followed in suit and what they saw only drove them away from reality.
Snow flurries began to drop from the sky, but there was not a cloud in sight. It wasn't until more snow began falling that the ground was close to being covered.
In shock, Carlisle lifted his hand and caught a snowflake. Thanks to his nonexistent body heat, he was able to study the snowflake closely and was marveled by its natural structure, despite being fabricated by the un-natural.
He looks at the girl and the snow. Unbothered by the sudden drop of temperature in the area, but it didn't stop the shiver of fear and utter stupefaction.
At first, he thought that maybe she was showing an ability that can be seen in humans, ones that were deemed potential to Aro's collection of vampires with rare abilities. Her display is almost identical to their friend from Egypt.
But this power, this ability was too real. Almost pure. Nothing like his friend or anything he's witnessed before.
He had heard rumors of witches, back during his days with the Volturi, but no matter how many scouts they sent, they were only led to a dead end. Crossing the idea that such a creature would exist.
But here it is, in the form of a small framed young woman, who looked at the age of sixteen-seventeen. Making a blizzard in their own backyard.
"THE FLOWERS!" Alice then cried. "THE FLOWERS!"
By her cry, the snow disappeared instantly. The ground was nearly covered in snow and the tables were close to being soaked in water. Frances waved her hand, and all the snow was gone including the wet residues.
Alice ran to where she had placed the flowers earlier to organize its place. She let out a sound of distress when they were nearly ruined by the frost.
She turns slowly and dangerously to the girl who was responsible.
"No one. . . RUINS. MY. VISION!"
She was about to murder her if it weren't for Jasper holding her in his arms. She tries to struggle herself free, but Jasper would have it. He was too frightened of the person she was challenging.
"To be frank, you made the right call with wisterias, but you got the color wrong."
Alice stopped her struggle. "I beg your pardon?" As if another insult was thrown at her.
France looks at the flowers, and in seconds, they became dry and restored back to their healthy state, only the once pink shade that Alice have chosen to become stark white.
"Pink wisterias would've added too much color to the arch. White would have been a better choice."
Alice looks at the flowers then at the girl. Though she stopped fighting in her husband's arms, he still did not let go of her as she looked around the set up and her mouth opened disbelievingly when she saw that the witch was right. She HAD been using the wrong color for the flowers, it was supposed to be white, not pink.
She made a mistake.
She was so busy to keep the dress a secret and all the other arrangements that she had FORGOTTEN about her color schemes for the flowers.
"I've become O'Keeffe." She whispered.
"Big time." The witch noted before looking back to the rest of the coven of vampires. "Now, about that soundcheck?"
The Reception*
"I hope you'll be happy, Bella."
Billy looks up at Bella with an honest manner, genuinely wishing her happiness for her union with Edward.
Bella hesitated before asking. "Have you heard from him?" Implying the word, obviously asking who she meant.
Billy didn't hesitate to answer and kept his smile. "I'm sure Jake wishes you the best." And then he looks at Edward. Bella was too in deep with her thoughts to see the silent communication between them.
Franny hums as she walks around the wedding reception. She could not fathom how much work Alice had to put into this event with such . . . grace. She was even stopped by a few guests to talk with her, mostly to compliment her by her playing in the aisle. Some asked if she was a friend of the bride or groom, only for her to answer 'no', explaining that she was only here for work.
Though she was not close to Eddie, she was testing the waters first before she could ever call him her friend. Her family had a bad history with vampires after all, but that didn't mean she wanted to explore the potential relationship and even find out if they could become relied allies for the near future.
A waiter with a tray passed by and she helped herself to a glass.
"Oh, sorry miss, I'm gonna have to ask you. . ." The worker was about for her age but mid-stopped when she gave him a soft look.
"What brand?" She asked, using a small cinder of her magic. It wouldn't be a wedding if there wasn't at least a bit of alcohol in her system.
In an instant, the waiter smiled, as if nothing wrong had happened. "Moët et Chandon."
Franny raised her brows, impressed by the choice and smiled. "Don't mind if I do." She takes a sip and begins to walk her way through the reception, leaving the waiter befuddled before going back to his tasks, and even away from the party itself.
Bella however was the only one to notice her leaving and nudges her now husband.
"I almost forgot, who is she?" She gestures with her chin.
Edward looks to see where his now wife was looking and sees no one. "There's no one there, love. Who?"
"The violinist. Franny. The one that Alice hired the last minute, how did you find her?"
Silent hesitation was clear when Edward did not answered his wife's question.
"Just an acquaintance. I'm sure we'll bump into her real soon."
Without her noticing, Billy and Seth shared a brief look with each other when they heard the mentioning of the mysterious musician.
She was not seen again for the rest of the evening by anyone.