The Jewels of Sofia Tate (17 page)

Well, Garnet was sure of one thing: she would not be going to the formal with him.

She passed by the window of the Walper Terrace restaurant and slowed as she recognized two familiar faces inside. Gerdie sat across the table from Stan, her eyes downcast, gazing nervously at her folded hands. He scowled at Gerdie as though expecting an answer from her. Garnet turned away from the rain-streaked window. Elizabeth had said that Gerdie had been alone for a long time before she met Stan. She should have stayed that way, thought Garnet. It seemed that no couple ever stayed happy forever. The magic always seemed to wear off eventually.

When Garnet arrived home, she pulled off her soggy shoes and threw her dripping knapsack and jacket onto the floor. The house was empty. Her mother wouldn't be home until at least seven; it was her evening to work late. Garnet climbed the stairs to her bedroom, and stripped off her wet clothes. She pulled on her
pyjamas and threw the covers over herself. The rain pounded on the roof, and the water churned through the eavestrough and Garnet let her tears flow. Never had she felt more alone.

Some time later, she awoke with a start.

“Garnet? Garnet! Are you here?” she heard her mother call.

The light had changed and the rain had subsided.

Garnet's mother poked her head into the room. “Oh, there you are! I was looking for you. I've got some good news.” The smile froze on her face. “What's the matter? Are you sick?”

Garnet shook her head.

“What's wrong then? You're in your pyjamas.”

“Nothing,” Garnet snapped.

Her mother frowned, then sat down on the bed and laid a hand on Garnet's arm. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, but I know you're going to ask, anyway.” Her mother flinched and pulled away. “If you don't want to talk about it, Garnet, that's fine. I'm only trying to help.”

Garnet felt tears prick her eyes and she took a deep breath. “Okay. You know how Dan asked me to the formal yesterday? Well, today, I saw him with this other girl, Laura.”

“Oh, dear,” said her mother.

“I've seen them together a lot at school and I know they've gone out before. But when I saw them today, she looked like she'd been crying. I think he might have told her about the formal. The thing is, I don't know why he even asked me when he's still seeing her.”

Garnet's mother shrugged. “Hmm, why don't you ask him?”

Garnet sat up. “Ask him? It's pretty obvious. He's a cheater! I'm not going to the formal with him. I'll tell him I've changed my mind. I should've known he was too good to be true. He's just like everybody else at that school.”

“Oh, Garnet,” her mother said. “Don't let one incident colour your whole outlook on life. I don't think you're giving him a chance. He seems like a nice guy. Talk to him and find out what the situation is. How do you know this girl isn't merely a good friend and he was simply giving her a ride? Think of it: he asked you.”

Garnet rolled her eyes and let out a huff. “Don't you understand? She's his ex — or not his ex — I don't even know! How can I trust him?” she wailed. “Mom, I hate this place. I hate the school. I hate this city. I just want to move back to Owen Sound!”

Garnet's mother fixed her violet eyes steadily on her daughter for a long moment before she said in a quiet,
even voice, “Well, that's not going to happen. That's my news. It finally happened. In two weeks, it'll be official: I'll be the new district manager for Prosperity Trust. We're definitely staying.”

“Staying?! How could you do this to me?”

“How could I do this to you? I'm doing it
for
you! I thought you'd be happy. We can finally settle down. We can buy a house. No more moves.”

“Happy? Are you kidding? In case you haven't noticed, Mom, I have no friends! Oh, except for an old woman who's eighty. All I want is my old life back!”

“Garnet, it's time for you to face it. We're not going back and I never said we were. It's my job and my career and, I might add, it helps pay the bills. I'm sorry you're having such a tough time, but you haven't exactly had a good attitude right from the start. The way I see it, you don't want to make new friends. You barely even try. So, may I make a suggestion? Change your attitude. And the sooner the better, or you'll only be unhappy.”

“I tried to make friends but it didn't work. Amy
was
my friend, but she's not here.”

“I know. But we're not going back. You can visit her and keep in touch with her, but you have to move on. Now, you can choose to be miserable or you can choose to reach out. It's up to you.”

“Don't you get it? I don't fit in around here.”

“Garnet, you have to give things a chance. You have to make the effort. You're being unreasonable.”

“I'm not being unreasonable. You are! And I don't want to give things a chance!”

Garnet's mother pressed her lips into a thin line. “Then I'm afraid you've already chosen to be miserable.” She paused before continuing. “Look, I understand you're angry and I may not be the one you want to talk to right now, but you should talk to someone. Why don't you give Amy a call? It might do you some good to hear a friendly voice.”

Garnet shook her head. She couldn't do that either. It would depress her even more. Another “I've got a life and you don't” moment. “No,” she replied.

“No? Well, suit yourself,” her mother said, rising from the bed and leaving the room. Garnet watched the room grow darker until the pink glow of the streetlight invaded. She closed the blinds and lay back down. She did not want to think about anything. Or anyone. She wanted to feel completely numb. If any thought entered her head she would push it right back out again. She would feel nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Numb.

“You can't miss any more school,” Garnet's mother said. She stood in the doorway and crossed her arms.

Garnet pulled the blanket over her head. For two days she had managed to persuade her mother that she felt sick and couldn't go. And at first, she
had
felt sick. The dark circles and puffiness under her eyes from crying had been more than convincing. But her mother's patience had grown thin.

“For heaven's sake, Garnet, you'll have to face him sooner or later. Now get up and get dressed. I'll drive you.”

But Garnet did not want to face Dan. She had been a fool — for reading more into his interest in her than there actually was, for being a passing amusement to feed his ego.

He had phoned several times and Garnet let the answering machine take the messages when her mother wasn't home. Last night, however, her mother had answered and called Garnet to the phone. But Garnet had refused, so her mother had been forced to make excuses.

“I don't want to go,” Garnet insisted, her voice muffled.

“I know you don't. But sometimes we all have to do things we don't really want to do. Now, get up!” Garnet did not miss the brittle tone.

“Oh, all right!” she said through gritted teeth as she threw off the covers.

Once at school, the day nearly passed without incident. Garnet didn't see Dan in the halls between classes, and she avoided the cafeteria at lunch, walking around outside instead. But during math class, her teacher, Mr. Sanders, asked her to stay after the bell. Unless she aced her math exam, he told her, she'd have to retake the course.

Retake the course. No surprise there, Garnet thought as she slammed her locker door closed, the sound of banging metal echoing down the empty corridor. She'd failed nearly everything in math since she'd arrived. It had never been her strong subject but since coming here, it had only gotten worse. She picked up her knapsack and turned, ready to leave, but when she looked up, she stopped, her eyes suddenly wary. Coming toward her was none other than Laura. Her blond hair was loose, spilling onto her shoulders, and her red T-shirt and jeans were snug enough to show off her other enviable attributes. “Hey Garnet,” she said. “Feeling better?”

Garnet's eyes narrowed. Why was she being so friendly? “Yeah, whatever,” she replied as she moved to step around her.

Laura appeared puzzled and shrugged. “Okay. It's just Dan said you were sick or something. He's at a track meet in Hamilton.”

“Yeah, well, you can tell Dan I'm feeling fine now. And while you're at it, you can also tell him I changed my mind. I'm not going to the formal with him.”

Laura frowned. “You're not?”

“No. I don't even know why he asked me.” Garnet tossed her head and started to walk away. “He's all yours and I couldn't care less.”

“All mine? What do you mean?” Laura called after her.

“Don't play stupid, Laura. I know about you guys.”

Garnet started to walk faster.

“Garnet!” Laura called after her. “What are you talking about?”

But Garnet didn't stop. “Just leave me alone!” she called over her shoulder. She pushed open the doors and gulped in the damp spring air. It was raining again.

A pang of guilt shot through Garnet as she pushed the key into the lock of the heavy oak door. Not only had she neglected Elizabeth, her only friend, and her promise to find the jewels for her, but for three days she had failed to check on her cat. She hoped, as she opened the door, that Ginger was safe.

Entering the house, Garnet noticed immediately that something was different. She sniffed the air. Was that cigarette smoke? She sniffed again. No. Maybe not.
Just my imagination,
she told herself, locking the door behind her. Drops of water beaded off her jacket as she removed it and laid it on the floor in the front entrance alongside her soggy shoes and knapsack. She became aware of the silence of the home and looked over at the grandfather clock. The pendulum had stopped swinging and was stuck at thirteen minutes after three. Garnet peeked into the living room. The hands of the porcelain clock had stopped at five minutes after nine. She looked down at her watch. Twenty minutes past two. All the clocks were wrong.

Garnet went to the kitchen. The electric clock on the stove said three-thirty. Her eyes lingered over the broken mirror that still covered the kitchen table, then she glanced down at the feeding bowls. To her surprise, they were still full — one with water, the other with cat food. The kitty litter near the back door appeared to
be clean, too. She frowned. Where was Ginger, anyway? She had not come to greet her at the door.

Garnet searched the main floor, then felt dread wash over her as she climbed the stairs to the bedrooms.
Curiosity killed the cat.

Stop it,
she told herself. At the top of the stairs, she cocked her head. Was that mewing? Garnet opened the door to Reginald's room, then leapt to the side as the cat sprang out and bounded down the stairs, happy to be released from her prison. Ginger was safe. But how long had she been stuck there?

Garnet pushed the door open all the way to the large blue room. The bed, covered with an embroidered spread, was elaborately carved as was the dressing table across the room, and the armoire off to the side. On one of the night tables, a silver frame held a black-and-white photograph of Sofia, and on the other lay a leather-bound Bible.

A cross, hung above the doorway, caught Garnet's attention. On a whim, she grabbed the wooden armchair from the corner and dragged it across the room. She climbed up and pulled the cross off the nail. It was made of wood and had a silver-cross inlay with praying hands etched in the centre. The hands were so detailed that the moons on the fingernails were showing. Garnet looked over the entire cross, front and back, paying special
attention to see if it might hold any clues to the jewels, especially any Bible verses, but there seemed to be nothing unusual about it. Reginald had used it as a reminder of his beliefs and nothing else. She hung the cross back on the wall and returned the chair to its corner.

There was no doubt that Reginald had been a religious man, but there was something odd about writing Bible verses on household items. Why had he done it? Had he changed the location of the jewels while Albert was away and thought that, upon his son's return from war, he would understand this and know what the verses meant? For an outsider, maybe even for the murderer of Sofia's father, the Bible verses would have been meaningless unless the person knew to look for them.

Garnet eyed the Bible now, resting on the night stand, and went over to pick it up. She was surprised by its weight and set it back down. The leather cover was ornate with a raised design, painted with decorative patterns in gold, but tiny pieces of leather were beginning to crumble off and the spine had split into two.

She carefully lifted the cover and fingered the first yellowed pages. It was an old King James Version. The script was divided into two parts, with a top and bottom half. The top half was divided into two columns of scripture, while the bottom half offered explanations of the text. As she continued, she discovered the occasional
coloured illustration and maps of the Middle East, and between the Old and New Testaments, the family register. Someone had filled in the names in black ink in a neat, old-fashioned script.

Husband: Samuel John Tate

Born: January 30, 1847, London, England

Wife: Mary Martha Taylor

Born: May 20, 1854, Marlborough, England

Married: June 19, 1874

On the opposite page it read:

Children's Names: Reginald Samuel Tate

Born: July 22, 1882, London, England

But that was as far as the family tree had been completed. Sofia and Albert had never been added. Garnet flipped to the back portion of the Bible, which contained a Bible dictionary with various pictures and explanations of words, then backtracked a little to the book of Revelation, where a picture of an angel caught her eye. She began to read chapter 7: