Mirror of Shadows (13 page)

“Hey! What are you doing here?” she asked as she took off her coat and set down the tuna can.

A weak little meow was heard. Ella ran to the couch, finding a very dirty and dreadfully skinny Boo looking up at her pitifully. “Oh my God, Boo! I’ve been so worried.” She kissed the kitten. Boo purred and licked at her fingers where the smell of the stinky tuna juice had touched. “Oh, sweetie, you must be hungry.”

She quickly made her way to the kitchen with Matt and opened a fresh can of kitty food. Boo gulped such huge bites of food down that she gagged several times.

“Slow down, sweetie…” she said as she set down some water. “Where ever did you find her?”

“I knew you were pretty upset about losing her, so I thought I would help out in the search and, well, I guess I got lucky.”

“I guess you did. I’m surprised you wanted to help, though? I didn’t think you even liked cats.”

“I don’t, but you do.”

She smiled. “It’s amazing that I didn’t run into you. I’ve been out everyday in the forest looking for her.”

“Well, it is a big forest. I’m sure we were just in different parts.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek as Jeremy walked in.

“Jeremy, look, Matt found Boo!”

“I can see that,” he said coldly, never taking his eyes off of Matt. He squatted down and patted the still eating kitten noting how skinny she was. “Maybe I should call the vet and have her come up and check her out,” Jeremy suggested.

“It’s fine. Look, it’s eating. It’ll be fine,” Matt said abruptly.

Ella looked at Matt oddly, and then answered Jeremy. “I think that would be a good idea. She’s so young; not eating for a couple days is not good for any cat yet alone a young kitten. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to make sure she didn’t get beat up by any larger animals in the forest.”

“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” Matt argued.

Jeremy and Ella both looked at him strangely this time. “No, I don’t,” Ella said harshly, which made Jeremy crack a small smile.

“Okay, whatever. So now that the cat is back and all is good, how about dinner?” Matt suggested.

“Not tonight, Matt. Although I am so grateful you found Boo and I would like to celebrate with you, I really just want to be with Boo tonight. I’d like to make sure she’s okay and pamper her a little. You have no idea how much I missed her.”

“Oh, I think I do. I mean, you couldn’t even return my calls because you were so busy looking for the little fur bag. I suppose I could give you a night to get reacquainted with the cat, but tomorrow you’re all mine,” Matt negotiated.

Jeremy couldn’t stand to listen to any more and left the room. Ella agreed to be all his the following night, if the vet said all was okay with Boo.

*****

Later that afternoon, the vet came and had a look at Boo. She found her rather dehydrated and starved but with no other major injuries. She did notice the cat’s front paw nails were cracked and worn almost to the quick and her throat was red raw. The vet deduced that it looked like the cat had been trapped somewhere. Clawing and scratching would explain her paws being raw and worn, and howling and crying could be why the throat was so red.

It pained Ella to think the kitten had been trapped somewhere, but she was so happy to have her back. In celebration of the cat’s return, Jeremy made tuna casserole for him and Ella and a can of tuna for Boo. He even set a placemat and plate for Boo at the table. The cat loved being part of the dinner party, instead of being shooed away from the table while they ate as they usually did.

When everyone was done eating dinner and Boo was happily cleaning herself on the quilted placemat, Jeremy said, “I’m glad Boo’s back. I really missed her, but I’m also glad we have a moment to talk. When I was in the attic today stowing away the mirror, I saw a portrait that caught my attention.”

“Really? What’s so interesting about it?”

“Well, it looks exactly like you. It’s really quite uncanny. The only difference I can detect between you and the girl in the portrait is the style of hair and eye color.”

“That is strange,” she said. “How did you come across it? I’ve been up in the attic and I didn’t see any portraits,” she asked.

“I was trying to put the mirror in a place you wouldn’t accidentally come across it—back behind some trunks and furniture at the far end, when I backed into it and the sheet that was covering it fell away. When I turned to see what I had bumped into, I just about dropped the mirror when I saw your face staring back at me.”

“That would be strange. Will you show me?” she asked.

“Sure.”

With Boo in tow, they went up to the attic. The room was huge and completely finished. There were several windows, which would let in plenty of natural lighting to move around without killing oneself, but seeing as it was getting dark outside, Jeremy turned on the lights. Though it was dusty, it wasn’t really dirty.

There were lots of old trunks scattered here and there, some sheet-clad furniture, and quite a few boxes stacked one on top of the other. Jeremy stood next to a half-covered portrait. When she was close enough for a good view, he pulled the sheet the rest of the way off the portrait and she gasped. It did look like her, but even more so, it was the woman in the mirror, the woman who had been chased and hung, then buried alone
—
it was Willow.

“That’s the woman I’ve been seeing in the mirror
—
the visions I’ve been having. That’s Willow!”

“Willow? How did you know her name was Willow?” Jeremy asked.

“I saw her grave. That was what was on her headstone. Why? How did you know her name?” she asked.

Jeremy turned the portrait around and on the back was a name and date. Willow Owens
—
1865.

“Do you think we’re related, and that’s why we look so much alike?”

“That’s my guess,” Jeremy said.

“Do you think there might be more things up here of hers or about her?”

“I would bet there are all kinds of things up here in these trunks about your family. If she’s part of your family, this would be where I would start looking for information about her.”

“Maybe I can find out why the mob of people killed her and why I’m having these visions about her.”

“Maybe,” Jeremy answered.

*****

The next day Ella ventured up into the attic to see what she could find out about Willow. She opened up trunk after trunk looking at photos and mementos from someone else’s life. It felt a little intrusive but it was also quite fascinating. Boo slept on an old quilt in a box within arm’s reach of Ella. It was obvious to her; the little kitten was a bit shaken up by her latest ordeal and didn’t want to lose sight of Ella. Every so often she would give Boo a little rub on the head and she would respond with a purr of contentment.

She found lots of things from the Grey family and if she hadn’t been looking for info on Willow Owens, she would have spent more time learning about the Greys, but for now she was on a quest. She had plenty of time to research the Greys whenever she wanted to.

She didn’t get through everything in the attic, but she went through a good portion of the trunks and boxes. The only thing she came across that had the name Owens on it was a small oil portrait of three children: Anna, Zachary, and Peter Owens
—
no date, just three solemn little faces.

She could tell by the light outside that it was getting late and she had to get ready for her date with Matt. She grabbed the box with the quilt and the sleepy kitten, stuffed the picture between the quilt and the box wall, and carried it all downstairs.

Ella made a detour to the kitchen and ran into Jeremy coming in the back door with two bags of groceries.

“Hey,” he said. “Find anything in the attic about your doppelganger?”

She smiled. “Not really. I found a bunch of stuff about the Greys, but nothing mentioning the Owens family. It’s weird. Aside from the portrait you found and this picture I found of some kids, it’s like the Owens family never existed,” she said as she handed the small painting to Jeremy.

“They look sad,” Jeremy noted and turned it over looking for a date or name. “Well, at least you have some more names to research.” He seemed intrigued by the mystery of the Owens woman; maybe it was his fascination with the past in architecture and renovating houses. It made her smile to see his interest piqued.

“You’d probably have a sad face too if you were a kid standing for hours while someone painted you.”

“Yeah. I guess I would,” he smiled.

“So you think I should pursue this strange crusade, based on visions from a mirror?”

“I think you should do what feels right to you. What harm can come from better knowing your ancestors and the past? Maybe that’s why you are having these
visions
, as you call them. Maybe you are the only one who has the power to figure out what happened to Willow and why there’s barely any mention of her.”

His words somehow filled her with confidence. “I never thought of it like that. Maybe there’s a reason I’m seeing these horrible scenes. Maybe somehow I can help!”

“Exactly!” Jeremy said, popping a grape in his mouth as he unpacked the groceries.

“Thanks, Jeremy. You really have made me feel better about all this. I think I have been looking at this all wrong. The first vision was a warning, but maybe the others aren’t being shown to me to scare me, but to tell a story to help figure out what happened to Willow and the rest of the Owens family.”

“That’s my thinking,” Jeremy agreed.

“So what is all this?” she said referring to the groceries.

“It’s my night to cook,” he claimed.

“But you cooked last night,” she reminded him.

“That was a special treat to welcome Boo back; this is my normal night,” Jeremy explained.

“I’m sorry, Jeremy. I made plans with Matt, remember, to thank him for finding Boo,” she said, petting the kitten who was now checking out her food bowl and mewing.

“Right. I forgot,” he said indifferently. “Boo and I will have our own little date,” he said picking up the kitten and rubbing behind her ears.

“Sounds fun. I guess I better go get ready,” she said, seeing Boo was in good hands.

Chapter 14

Ella came downstairs after she showered and had gotten ready for her date with Matt. She came into the kitchen again finding Jeremy cooking up some veggies and broiling a big old steak.

“Smells good. Where’d you learn to cook?” she asked as she put the backing of her earring on.

“Here and there,” he said.

“That’s vague,” she retorted. Jeremy raised his eyebrow and planted a big cheesy smile on his face in defiance.

She shook her head at his stubbornness. “So what was all that stuff that was delivered today?” she asked.

“Scaffolding,” he answered.

“What do we need that for?” she said pouring a glass of juice for herself.

“With all the work we are going to do I thought it would be safer to have a more permanent way of working on the second floor and roof. It doesn’t look pretty, but it will be easier to do repairs on the scaffolding than on a ladder. That’s okay isn’t it?”

“Of course. Whatever you think is appropriate. Just wondered what it was. I’m all new to this renovation stuff.”

“No problem. I’ll have a good portion of it up tomorrow and you’ll have a better idea of how it will serve to help with the repairs.”

“Great,” she said as the doorbell rang, which instantly furrowed Jeremy’s brow. He went back to stirring something in a pot and muttering something under his breath.

“Have a good night. Guess I’ll see you in the morning…” she said.

Jeremy looked up from his cooking, stunned for a moment by her comment before she continued, “that is, if I don’t see you when I get home.”

A sigh of relief was covered up with a nonchalant wave of his hand as she went to meet Matt at the door. She had forgotten her coat upstairs and asked Matt in while she ran up the stairs to get it and her purse. He waited patiently for her in the living room, leafing through an architecture magazine of Jeremy’s.

“Sorry about that. Ready?” Ella said a few minutes later as she hit the bottom of the stairs.

“Definitely,” Matt answered, tossing the magazine on the coffee table.

Helping her into the truck, she asked, “So where are we going?”