Legend Unmasked

Chapter 4

        I hand the locket to Isobel. She smiles, pleased.
        "I'm very impressed, Infinity," she says. "Would you like to see what is inside it?"
        I nod, eagerly.
        She carefully opens the locket and holds it out to me.
        Inside, there is fine, silver powder. When the smell hits me, I stagger back. It's incredibly strong - it smells of new cloth, fresh strawberries, and roses. "What is that?" I ask.
        Isobel closes the locket back up. "Some people can look the same, feel the same, sound the same," she says, crossing her legs. "But a person's smell is unique."
        I shake my head. "Still don't know what you're getting at here."
        "This locket was precious to me because I kept my daughter's scent in it. One of my best friends used a spell to capture the essence of her scent and store it in this powder. I kept it close so I would be able to remember her scent, and use it to find her if she ever got lost. But then I lost the locket. And then, when she was but six months old, my daughter vanished. I must have accidentally left one of the doors open, and she crawled through it. I haven't seen her since." Isobel hands me the locket.
        I take it and put it around my neck. "So... what am I supposed to do with this?"
        Isobel closes her eyes for a few moments, and then opens them again. "I would like you to find my daughter. Please. She had to have ended up in the same house, but in another time period. Some of her belongings must be around your house, somewhere. When you detect a scent like roses, cloth, and strawberries, something that once belonged to her is near."
        I slowly nod. "What was her name?"
        "Eloise."
        I kiss Isobel's hand and thank her before going back through the corridor.
        When I'm in the guest room once again, I close the door. I sniff the air. It smells like dust and old wood. I walk down the hallway until I get to Mom's bedroom. Fortunately, she's at work. I carefully walk around the room, but I don't smell anything unusual. Just makeup and vanilla-scented perfume. I sigh, and start to exit when I detect a whiff of something else. I slowly turn back around and sniff.
        Yep, I definitely smell something. I sniff again. Roses! With a hint of strawberries, and new cloth. I pump my fist in the air, and sniff around some more. The scent is strongest in the corner of the room. This was one of the rooms the workers didn't mess with, so I feel around in the cracks between the floorboards and the wall.
        I draw a breath when my fingers meet the corner of a thin sheet. I carefully withdraw it, and go over to the window to look at it in the light.
        It's a grainy photograph of a young girl who looks to be about 5 years old. She's wearing a puffy dress, and smiling. I look at the back of the picture and let out a breath - it says, written in ink in spidery handwriting, "Eloise." Below that, there is some faded writing. I squint, and can barely make it out:
        "Photographed by Robert J. Armundus."
        Armundus - we have neighbors with that last name! And it's not a common name, either; they must be related! I slip the photo into my pocket and race out the front door and down the street.
        When I arrive at the correct house, I knock on the door. A middle-aged lady - I believe her name is Kirsty - answers.
        "Hi, remember me? I just moved in a few houses down," I say, panting. "Anyway, I'm doing a history project for school, and it has to be about someone who lived in the town a long time ago. I wanted to do it on Robert J. Armundus. You're related to him, right?"
        Kirsty smiles. "Yes, I am! Come in, come in." She waves me in, and I follow her.
        "So.. who did he marry?" I ask, sitting down on her couch.
        Kirsty bends over and pulls a heavy book out from under the coffee table before sitting down next to me. She opens it up. It's a photo album, with written parts, too. "He married a woman named Juliet Johnson." She shows me a picture of a fair-skinned lady wearing a gown. "She moved in with him in this house."
        "What were their children's names?"
        "Robert Jr. was his son. He's my great-great-great-grandfather. Their daughter was named Lilian." Kirsty pauses, flipping to another page. "And here's a cool story: One day, when Robert was exploring the house that you live in - it was abandoned, of course - he found a baby, crawling around in one of the rooms. She was wearing a lacy dress with the name 'Eloise' embroidered onto the front. When no one claimed her, he adopted her. She spent her childhood here, and when she grew up, she moved into your house."
        I pull the photo out from my pocket and show it to Kirsty. "I found this in my mom's bedroom. It says it was taken by Robert J. Armundus!"
        Kirsty's eyes widen. "Wow!" she exclaims. "It's in great condition, too."
        I nod. "Do you have anything else that was Eloise's?"
        Kirsty pulls something out from a pocket in the back of the album and hands it to me. It's a grimy journal, with Eloise's name stitched onto the cover. I flip to the very last entry, where Eloise is all grown up. Eloise talks about how she is moving out, and going off to live in a new house. I look at the date - 1866. I hand the journal back to Kirsty and run to the door. "Thanks! This really helped!" I call, dashing down the driveway. I have a lead!