Silver Hollow (3 page)

Amie
’s
father had been raised in a
n
isolated
estate in the countryside
, a place he had despised so much he ran away and caught a ride to the States the first chance he had. If Mother ever
learned
anything else of Uncle Henry she never told Amie. There were times Amie
had
forgot
ten
the man existed, until that day, ten years ago
,
after he learned of his brother’s death.

Amie frowned, grabbing her ceramic mug off her desk
,
and with a last groan for her laptop stood and walked purposefully to her small room. With another strand of Christmas lights to guide her way, she knelt before her ceiling
-
tall wardrobe.
It was a
n old thing her father once bought for her to add to the family collection of antiques, but she had always kept her treasures within it instead of clothing. She pulled open the bottom drawer and set her mug to the side. Riffling through keepsakes and small treasures, she eventually uncovered an even older folded sheet of parchment paper.

She froze as memories claimed her…

Of the horrid night she spent in her parents’ countryside home, Jo and Faye already asleep on her bed after a long day of tears and pain. It was only then she had dared open the strange letter an even stranger man
had
handed her at the funeral. Inside was an offer too bizarre to believe. Uncle Henry was asking her to come and live with him in England, had even put her
plane and train ticket in the envelope. She had torn up the tickets in anger and buried the letter in her stash of old papers immediately.

Her eyes scanned over the words ten years later once more.

“I have no doubt my brother has shared little with you of our ancestral home, or the legacy you share, dearest Jessamiene. He held little love for our world and its responsibilities. My deepest regret in
learning of his passing is
that
I never had the chance to tell him how important he was, how he will always be my brother. I wish for you to know the truth
,
Jessamiene, to grant me peace in my
old
age
,
yet also to know you.

I wish to share our legacy with you
,
should you choose to accept it. I wish to give you the answers your father has been unable
to
. I know the sacrifice you will make to come, and I do not view lightly the circumstances you find yourself in.

At present my own circumstances are difficult at best. It cost me more than I can say to be certain this parchment met your hands. I pray you guard it
,
dear one, but follow my instructions and all will be revealed…”

Amie sighed and lay back upon her rug. Who was this Uncle Henry? Why should she go to see a man who hadn’t cared enough to come to his own brother’s funeral? Just what kind of a place was this estate her father
had
hated enough to never go back to?

The entire idea was laughable really
,
the old parchment and archaic ink, more like something from a trashy romance novel than real life. Had she not heard of him in passing from her parents over the years, she might have doubted he existed and named the letter a cruel practical joke.

The vibrations from her phone hidden in her jeans pocket made her jump and then scramble off the floor, knocking over her Earl Gr
e
y
-
filled teacup in the process. With a light curse Amie twisted round and snatched the letter before it too was doused in tea.

Amie pulled
her phone from her pocket
and
flipped it open
. B
reathlessly
she
answered, “Hello?”

“Hey!” Jo’s voice was edgy and giddy at once. No doubt James was nearby. Only he had the ability to make her oldest friend that nervous. Even now she could hear his thick
S
outhern
accent in the background. She immediately recalled why Jo would be calling her in the first place.

Amie groaned, “The party…”

“Wentworth, you better get over here! It’s supposed to be a surprise party and Faye could show up any minute!”

Amie stepped forward and slipped on her puddle of tea, struggling to keep her balance on the hardwood floor.
Biting
back a curse
,
she said, “Sorry, I’m coming!”

…

Thirty minutes later, after practically flying from her small apartment above
Pat’s Delights
antique store and speeding in her car to Jo’s mini-horse ranch just outside of town, Amie found herself offering half smiles to strangers.

Faye’s circle of friends had always far exceeded Jo and Amie’s, now including fellow doctors, church members and ambassadors to foreign lands. The place had been dressed up to cater more towards the United Nations than a small gathering of friends in Amie’s opinion. Jo flitted through the crowd with some of their mutual girlfriends and ranch hands, and as always
,
eyes followed where she landed.

It didn’t take long for Amie to find James, Jo’s longtime boyfriend and partner in AJSS Ranch. Most parties James found his place behind the dessert table, away from the buzz of the crowd, and often Amie joined him. Neither of them was keen on meeting Faye’s dignified guests. Dressed in a pearl-snap long-sleeved shirt and cowboy hat, jeans and boots, he stood out as much as Amie did in her thrift
-
store plaid shirt and jeans. The rest of the guests were
clearly
overdressed
for a barn party
.

“Hey,” she offered, moving to stand next to him.

“Hey
,” he said with warmth.

Amie scanned the crowd. Chinese lanterns had been strung and lit the clean barn. Music played from a stereo nearby. The crowd mingled. Jo’s infectious smile spread to them all. Faye hadn’t arrived just yet. “Wonder how long this party’s going to last.”

James chuckled and said, “All night knowing Faye.”

“When was she supposed to arrive?”

“Her plane landed at eight. She
should
have been here fifteen minutes ago.”

Amie nodded and
tapped her fingers on
the buffet table laid out before them. “How many times have we ended up at this same table?” she asked.

James shrugged before countering, “How many parties has Faye thrown or had thrown in her honor?”

“As many as
times
she has come in and out of the country.” Amie smiled to herself as she saw the same
‘
Welcome Home
’
banner hanging
across the open barn doors. Faye had always dreamed of being a doctor, going to the hardest places on
E
arth to save the lives of those who could hardly claim their own. Amie both envied and admired her, for while Amie wrote of adventure, Faye lived it.

“How’s the book coming?” James had always been interested in her writing and he loved war stories best of all. Naturally he took a keen interest in the War of 1812 story Amie had as of yet
not
given a better name to.

“I can’t decide whether or not to kill Desdemona.”

For a moment James was silent before saying, “Kill her off. She whines too much anyway. And that Richard guy’s put up with enough.”

Amie shook her head and gave him a dark glare. “Not funny,” she said with a whine
. “This is serious business
,
you know. My editor’s expecting me to turn in this draft before the end of the month. That only gives me three weeks!” She fought the urge to hyperventilate and scream beneath the sudden
suffocating
weig
ht
. How had she gotten caught in this mess again?

“Screw the editor. Write what you want.”

Amie met his eye and said, “I wish.”

“S
urprise
!” The crowd suddenly cheered as a golden Faye came through the barn doors. Her skin had been warmed heavily
by
the African
sun she
had been
living in
the last six months. Amie’s heart warmed. They had all missed her mischievous, smiling
face
.
Her b
lack hair
was
cut into a short bob now, her halter dress was red and displayed her thin figure and long legs perfectly. Amie shook her head. How did she always know there would be a party even if only hearing whispers of it upon the air?

Faye worked the crowd with natural grace and ease. And with the distraction a relieved Jo approached them. Amie wondered not for the first time
at
how different the twins were. Where Faye was tall, dark and vivacious, Jo was shorter than the three of them, light and gentle.

Jo sank into James’ arms
with relief
. “Finally! I’m worn out from talking to
those
people.”

Amie nodded. She understood. Most of these people carried the same purposeful nervous energy Faye did. It was exciting but also exhausting at times.

She blinked, not hearing Jo’s words until her old friend repeated them.

“So any luck on the story?”

Amie adopted a sour expression.

Jo spoke for her
.
“That bad, huh? Don’t worry about it. You always come up with something. By the way, who was
the
letter from?”

Amie opened her mouth, praying for what would sound like a convincing response. For though she hardly knew her uncle
,
a part of her was quick to keep his secret. Faye and Jo
had
never kn
own
about the first letter, or her father’s ring for that matter, which made Jo’s interest in the key
sharing
its symbol all the more curious.

“Amie!” Faye shouted, descending upon them like fireworks, her green
-
flecked eyes dancing, long arms instantly squeezing the life out of Amie.

Amie fought the urge to cough, but was thankful for the distraction. “Ah…”
S
he paused for breath before gasping, “Faye
,
you’re choking me.”

Faye stood back, taking the trio in with her mischievous eyes. “It’s so
good
to be home. I missed all of you so much!”

Her twin hugged her round the waist and said, “Are you al
l
right? Maybe we should have given you another day to rest before the party?” Jo’s was the voice of care and concern in place of their parents.

Faye’s eyes grew wide with disbelief. “Uh—glad you didn’t!
’
Cause I wouldn’t have forgiven you!”

Jo frowned
.
“Hey
,
we’d have been happy with just the four of us, right
,
Amie?”

Amie was sneaking another chocolate candy into her mouth while the twins were arguing, and froze when Jo called her out. “Uh, yeah, sure we would.”

Faye stuck her hip out with attitude and said, “Come on
,
Amie, you know without these parties you wouldn’t ever meet anyone new.”

Between munches of heavenly chocolate Amie held up her hands and shrugged. “You ever see me or James anywhere beyond this table? I’m an introvert, you doofus.”

But Faye was already on a roll, listing off the many reasons why it was necessary they be friends. “Like you’d ever meet
any
decent guys without my help
.
When was the last time you went on a date? And we all remember how that turned out.”

Amie growled through another sampling of the candy dish, “I do too meet guys on my own!”

“Name one,” Faye challenged.

Amie was over this
.
She
pulled her other hand out of her pocket and dragged the lost key with it. She’d quite forgotten the old metal key until she started waving it around. Instantly Jo perked up from James’ embrace and placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“I met someone this morning, actually. He helped me when I dropped my papers and everything,” Amie declared, leaving out the fact he was the reason she dropped them in the first place.

Jo’s voice cracked as she shrilly interrupted, “You didn’t say anything about a guy earlier
.
”

Faye zoomed in on the metal and grabbed Amie’s fist mid-flail. “Where did you get this?”

Jo tugged on her arm, and whispered, “I was going to tell you earlier. She found it on the street.” The twins exchanged a long hard look.