Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
She grimaced again. “Sorry. There are several reasons I hope that’s not the case.”
I let out a strangled laugh as I felt another drop in my chest. “Yeah. Same.”
She reached in her bag and pulled out a journal that looked to be nothing but an empty leather cover, the pages gone. “My mother kept a diary most of her life. This one was from the months that she lived here. The inner pages are gone for some reason, but the first and last entry are still there.” She held it out to me and I took it from her, flipping it open and quickly reading through the first entry of a young girl obviously filled with adventure and hope. Once I’d finished reading, I skimmed it one more time, looking with the eyes of a local, for anything I might be able to offer that would provide another clue. Unfortunately, nothing struck me other than what she already knew.
“Do you know who Lys is?”
“No. My mom didn’t keep in touch with anyone by that name.”
“Hmm.” I turned to the only other intact page, this entry shorter than the first and read through that one too.
The bus pulled away from Calliope early this morning and I watched out the window until the lake disappeared. My heart aches and I’m filled with such profound grief that I don’t know how I’ll bear it. My only solace is nestled safely inside of me, the precious child of the man I love but can never have. His family needs him and to stay would only bring him pain.
I handed the mostly empty journal back to her, my brow creasing as she took it. Whatever had happened between the beginning and the end had obviously changed everything. “Any idea where those pages went?”
“None. I searched every corner of her house but never did find them. Either she tore them out herself and discarded them, or they fell out at some point and were scattered to the winds. Too bad, because it sure would have made the mystery easier to solve.”
I sighed. We were both silent for a few minutes as I digested the information she’d just given me, and that her mother had included in her diary. After I’d pulled myself up a bit, she asked haltingly, “Is your father…good at drawing?” It appeared that her muscles tensed as she waited for me to answer.
“Yeah,” I said, the word a mix of breath and despair. I pulled myself up to a full sitting position but couldn’t manage to raise my slumped shoulders. “He’s really good,” I told her. “He used to draw funny little pictures and put them in our lunch boxes. They were always…” I let out a deep sigh. “Very good.”
“Oh,” she said, her mouth tugging downward. She took in a deep breath and then tapped on the journal still sitting next to her. “Did the sketch on the napkin remind you of his sketches?” Once again, she appeared to brace.
I shrugged. Before she’d told me what it was, I honestly hadn’t recognized anything about it. I certainly hadn’t thought of my father. But that didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t his. “It’s hard to say. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of his sketches. They were just done for fun. And, he always used a ballpoint pen from our kitchen drawer.” I gestured to the journal. “The one you showed me is done in colored pencil. It has a different feel. But it might be due to the different mediums. Or maybe my memory isn’t great on that subject. I’d love to give you a definitive no, but the truth is, I can’t say for sure.”
“Would you be able to find one of his old drawings?”
“I didn’t keep any.” My eyes met hers. I didn’t want this to be true. I wanted to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this wasn’t true. And there was a way to do that. “Aurora…there’s a sure way to rule my father out.”
“A DNA test?” she guessed immediately. “I thought about that, but stealing someone’s DNA seems…unethical, especially considering I was hoping my father would accept me right off the bat. Looking around homes I’ve been invited into and gaining access to art that I’m going to return in the same condition I took it is one thing. Stealing bodily fluids is another.”
“Agreed. But we don’t need to use my father’s DNA,” I said. “We can use mine.”
She blinked. “Oh my God, you’re right.” She gave her head a minute shake. “I guess I didn’t think of that because I’d already dismissed the idea of DNA completely. And of course, finding out that you’re…you, was a…shock.” She looked sort of hopeful and also sort of nauseous and I watched her throat move as she swallowed. “If you’re my…brother…then a DNA test would show that. If we’re not, we can rule your father out immediately.”