Chapter 5 - THE SEWING BOX
Nora returned home that evening and opened Amelia's sewing box.
Inside were buttons.
Needles.
Old photographs.
A small silver bell.
And the blue ribbon.
She carefully untied it.
A folded piece of paper slipped free.
Nora froze.
She had never noticed it before.
The paper was thin and yellowed.
Written in faded ink were several lines in the Valdorne dialect.
Nora could read only part of it.
But one sentence stood out.
The boy was taken by the man with the silver watch.
Her heart pounded.
She turned the paper over.
There was a name.
Arthur.
Nora sat down.
For years, she'd believed her grandmother's memories were simply fragments of childhood trauma.
Now she understood they were clues.
Amelia had remembered the man who took her brother.
She had remembered his watch.
His name.
And perhaps something even more important.
Nora called Elliot.
He answered immediately.
“Nora?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A note from my grandmother.”
Silence.
Then he asked, “What does it say?”
Nora swallowed.
“I think your grandfather took Henry away.”
Elliot went quiet.
Then said, “Can you bring it tomorrow?”
Nora looked at the paper.
“Yes.”
She hesitated.
“Elliot?”
“Yes?”
“What if Arthur wasn't rescuing Henry?”
A long silence followed.
May you like
Then Elliot answered.
“That's what I'm afraid of.”
