Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (14 page)

Two
days later, they puttered along the New Hampshire highway in a vintage Volkswagen
Beetle.

“So
it won’t win a Nascar race,” Kenzie said. “At least it runs smoothly.” 

“I’m
surprised this car doesn’t seriously cramp your style.” 

“Oh,
it does, believe me. But the price was right and the man didn’t ask many
questions. Besides, I don’t know anyone up here, so I don’t have to worry about
my image.” Her playful grin dulled the superior ring in her words.

“Good
thing,” her sister muttered.  

On
one side, the car was mostly sun-bleached blue, if you did not consider the
rusty panel behind the rear wheel. On the driver side, the old panels had been
replaced and the new ones painted a bright, happy blue to match the hood. Or
was that the trunk? Makenna thought she remembered the original models had
their engines and trunks switched around. At any rate, the front was bright
blue and the back was not. She thought the paint on the rear hood panel might
have been yellow at one time, but it was difficult to tell beneath the dozens
of colorfully painted peace symbols.

“Besides,
it has character,” Kenzie said, pressing her foot to the accelerator and
waiting for the engine to receive the signal. As they belatedly surged forward,
she grinned as she thought of the yellow Volkswagen Travis had ‘borrowed’ in
Wyoming. “And I have a new fondness for Bugs.”

“I
thought the idea was for us to slip into town unnoticed. That’s going to be a
little hard in this contraption.”

“Be
careful. You’re going to hurt Yoko’s feelings.” Kenzie patted the lambs-wool
covered dash with a gentle pat.

“You
named the car Yoko?”

“Yep.
All these peace symbols have me feeling the love.”

Seeing
her sister’s sunny smile, Makenna muttered, “I think that last car crash
seriously damaged your brain. I can’t believe I agreed to this farce.”

“Hey,
it worked like a dream, didn’t it?”

Makenna
agreed with a reluctant sigh. “Yes. No one suspected a thing.”

“Stop
worrying. He’ll understand once it’s all said and done and we’re back home. He
wants you happy, Ken, and until we know the truth, neither one of us can be
truly happy.” She knew her sister was worried about Hardin and his reaction when
he realized they had duped him.

“And
what if we never learn the truth? Have you thought about that?”

“No,
because I refuse to accept defeat.”

Makenna
pulled a spiral notebook from her oversized purse. “I thought we could start
with our neighbors, asking if they remembered our parents.”

“You
made a list, I presume.”

“Of
course.” This time Makenna flashed a bright smile.

“What
else is on your list?”

“This
side is a to-do list, this one a how-to-do list.” She skimmed the first side. “
Have
electricity turned on.
You called them from home, right? Good.
Go by
bank.
We’re all set up to access our trust account, but we still have to
sign the signature cards. You’re okay with using the names Tamara and Tressa,
right?”

“I
guess.” It still made her uneasy using a different name again, even if Tressa
Mandarino was her legal epithet. “It seems easiest, since everything is under
those names. And it’s less likely anyone will trace our activity that way.”

Makenna
returned to her list. “
Buy groceries, ice, and ice chest.
Heaven only
knows if the refrigerator will work after all these years.
Buy light bulbs,
bug spray, cleaning supplies, paper products and towels.
I know we need a
ton of other things and it’s already getting late, so that’s why this one is on
the list,
Get hotel for first night
.”

“What’s
on the other side?”

“Ideas
of how we’ll track down our past. I know our father erased the electronic records,
but I doubt he thought to cover everything.
Go to local newspaper, search
old papers
.
Visit library
.
Go to County Court House, look for
birth certificates, marriage licenses,
”
her voice softened as she
finished the thought, “
death certificates. Talk to neighbors, townspeople.
Go to nearby schools and businesses.
”

“You
and your lists.”

“Hey,
you should try them sometime. That, and putting your clothes away. You’d be
amazed at what organization can do for your life.”

Kenzie
looked slightly horrified. “The next thing I know you’ll want me to balance my
checkbook and make regular dental appointments. Thanks, but I like my
unorganized life the way it is.”

“Okay,
but don’t blame me when your teeth fall out and you can’t afford dentures
because you never learned to balance a check book,” Makenna warned. “A little
organization might have saved it all.”

***

Early
the next morning, Yoko rolled down the overgrown path to the cabin in the
woods.

Now
that the sisters knew what to expect, the sight before them was not nearly as
shocking as it had been only a few weeks before. Tucked into the a small
clearing amid the White Mountain National Forest, at one time the homestead had
been quaint and idyllic; now it was overgrown and sad, a dim reminder of its
former days. Backed up against a foothill, the cabin itself was in fair
condition, but the yard around it ranged from overgrown jungle to dormant
seedlings. An old swing set, faded toys, and a mint-condition two-toned 1990
Ford pickup sat in the yard. 

“Are
you ready for this?” Kenzie asked, pulling Yoko up close to the limb-strewn
porch and killing the motor.

“I
think so.” Makenna drew an unsteady breath and stared at the bedraggled porch
with its rotting porch swing and a handful of neglected toys.

“I
see the electricity still isn’t on,” Makenna said after they unlocked the door
and she tried a wall switch.

“Hopefully
soon.”

Without
a word between them, they moved together through the living room, toward the
back of the house. They passed through the dining area, lingering at the table
where the pictures of their third birthday party had been taken. Their hearts
beat out erratic tunes of mixed emotions as they turned, side by side, to
circle through the kitchen. Everything was the same as it had been five weeks ago;
exactly as it had been twenty-three years ago. Nothing had changed, other than
the new layer of dust that had settled.

Their
feet led them to the front bedroom, where fairies still danced among petals on
the log walls. The hand-painted scene was as stunning today as when they
discovered it a month ago.

“This
room makes sense now,” Makenna said, taking in the magical theme. It wove
throughout the room, repeating in a whimsical fairy lamp between the twin beds
and in glass figurines on the shelves, even in the throw pillows shaped like
fairies and flowers. “I couldn’t understand how the woman you described could
have decorated a room like this, but now it makes sense. She didn’t.”

“I
wonder which bed was mine?” Kenzie murmured, but she was drawn to the far one,
the one topped with a frothy lavender spread. “I’m thinking the pale green one
was yours. Looks better with your hair,” she explained, taking a seat on the
edge of the twin mattress.

“That’s
the thing about red hair, it clashes with most anything.” Makenna pulled a face
as she sat on the bed opposite her sister.

Kenzie
closed her eyes and tried to recall sleeping in this room as a child. Makenna
looked around them, seeing if anything sparked a memory. When she closed her
eyes, a tear squeezed past her lids.

Long,
silent minutes passed. “Maybe later,” Kenzie whispered hopefully. “Maybe after
we’ve been here awhile.”

“Maybe
then we’ll remember,” Makenna agreed.

Kenzie
took pictures of the cabin to document their progress. Using jugs of water they
brought with them, they started in the kitchen, wiping down counter tops and
cabinets. Makenna stirred up a small dust storm when she swept the tiled floor
of the kitchen and dining room. They were hot and tired by the time they made
their way into the living room to clean. They were contemplating whether to stop
for the day, when they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.

Heart
in her throat, Makenna’s green eyes were wide as she turned to her sister. “The
electric company, I hope?”

“I
hope.” Kenzie went to the window. Relief washed through her when she saw the
utility truck with the local power company’s logo emblazoned on its side.
“Thank goodness.”

Perfect
plan or not, there was still the fear that someone had followed them.

Two
men were there to inspect the electricity lines and restore power. It took most
of an hour, but finally they had the power reconnected. Kenzie struck up a
conversation with the younger one, while the older man showed Makenna where the
breaker panel was for the well pump.

“Have
you worked for the power company a long time?” Makenna asked conversationally
as they walked over to the small well shed.

“Forty
years this spring,” the man said proudly. “Be retiring soon.”

“Forty
years? That’s impressive.”

“Seen
a lot of changes in that time. I remember when ‘lectricity in these mountains
was a luxury, not a necessity.” He opened the creaky shed door and waved his
flashlight inside the dark cavern of the small enclosure. An array of hand
tools and odds and ends crowded around the curb of a well and an outdated
electrical pump. “This here is the switch you’ll need for your well. There will
be air in your lines when you first turn it on, and the water might be rusty,
but just leave your faucets open wide and let it pour. Let’s see if this little
baby will run after all this time.” He flipped the breaker and the motor
sluggishly responded with a chug and a loud buzz.

“Is
that awful sound normal?” Makenna asked in concern.

“Give
‘er a few minutes. It should ease down in a bit.”

Makenna
was skeptical, but the older gentleman seemed confident the noise did not mean
the motor was falling apart. “Thank you for all your help,” she said while they
waited. “I don’t suppose you remember the family who lived here back in the
early nineties? Young couple, two little girls?”

The
older man pushed back his hardhat and scratched his balding scalp. “Seems like
I recall a pretty little lady with curly hair, great big smile. Her husband was
quiet. One of those computer nerds.”

Makenna’s
heart hammered with excitement. He remembered her parents! “Did you know them
personally? Do you know what happened to them?”

“Didn’t
really know them. I came out here a time or two, mostly when it was just the
little lady and her babies. Husband worked a lot, as I recall. Had some job in
the city where he stayed half the time. Seemed like nice enough folks, maybe a
little reserved.”

“Do
you- Do you know what happened to them?”

“Heard
they was in some sort of car wreck, killed the whole family. Shame, too. Those
little girls were cute as buttons. There, now, don’t that sound better?”

It
took a moment for Makenna to realize he was referring to the pump motor, which
had finally settled into a quieter rhythm. The man was already heading out the
door before she blinked away her surprise and scrambled after him.

“Do
you know if they had any family in the area?”

“Who?
Oh, you mean the folks who lived here. Can’t rightly say, I’m afraid. Well, if
that’s all we can do for you, think we’d better get on down the road. Chuck?”
There was a hint of sharpness to his voice as he called his partner.

Hanging
on every word that fell from Kenzie’s lips, Chuck did not hear his name until
it was called for the third time. He reluctantly said his goodbyes, but he left
his business card with a hastily scribbled note on the back.

“They
seemed nice,” Kenzie said, still waving as the truck retreated down the lane.
It was soon swallowed up by the overgrown mangle of spruce and pine. Overhead
limbs snagged on the truck’s tall equipment, littering the gravel roadway with
leaves and twigs and torn vines.

“How
do you do it?” Makenna asked with an amused smile. “We look almost exactly
alike. We’re dressed almost exactly alike. Yet that man didn’t spare me a
second glance.”

“It’s
all in the attitude, sister dear. My smile is open and wide. Yours is friendly
but cautious. Plus, you have a rock on your hand. I don’t.” She waggled her
ring-free fingers as proof.

“What
did you write on that card he slipped you?”

Kenzie
flipped it over to read, “
Welcome to NH. Call me. 555-7010
.”

“While
you were busy flirting, I was actually getting some useful information. Mr.
Letts said that the family who used to live here - us, of course - was killed
in a car wreck. He vaguely remembered our parents. He said the wife was
friendly, the husband a computer nerd who lived part time in the city.”