Chapter 19 - The Vanishing Relic
"I didn't throw it away," I whispered, the realization hitting me with terrifying clarity. "Lily picked it up. She brought it back into the house after you left."
Jason sprang up from the hearth. "It was on her nightstand that night, Emma. But when we cleaned the room two days ago, I didn't see it."
We hurried upstairs, our footsteps muffled by the carpet. We crept into Lily's bedroom. The faint nightlight in the shape of a crescent moon cast soft blue shadows over her small bed. She was sleeping soundly, clutching her favorite stuffed bear, completely oblivious to the war raging around her future.
I knelt beside her white wooden nightstand. The space where the paper angel had sat was empty, save for a small glass of water and a hair ribbon.
I opened the top drawer with agonizing slowness. Crayons, sketchbooks, hair clips. Nothing.
"Jason, check her desk," I whispered.
Jason combed through her school folders, his large hands careful not to disturb the quiet. "Not here. Emma, could she have taken it to school?"
Suddenly, a tiny voice piped up from the bed. "Mommy?"
I turned around. Lily was sitting up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, looking between me, Jason, and the hallway where Carol stood hovering in the doorway like an apparition.
When Lily saw Carol, her little face stiffened. She pulled the covers up to her chin, the memory of Christmas dinner still an unhealed wound in her young mind. "Grandma?"
Carol stepped into the room, her eyes shimmering with uncharacteristic tears. She looked fragile, stripped of all her haughty jewelry and tailored coats. "Lily... sweet child. I am so sorry."
Lily didn't answer. She looked at me for protection. "Why is Grandma here?"
I sat on the edge of the mattress and brushed a strand of dark hair from her forehead. "Grandma needed our help, sweetie. Lily, do you remember the paper angel you made for Christmas? The one you used the old gold parchment paper for?"
Lily's brow furrowed. "The one Grandma said was ugly?"
Carol flinched as if she had been struck across the face. She sank against the doorframe, her hand clutched over her chest.
"Grandma made a big mistake," I said gently. "She was scared of something else, and she made a terrible choice. But that paper is very, very important. It has some writing on the back that belongs to your great-grandfather. Do you know where it is?"
Lily looked down at her hands, hesitating. "I didn't want Grandma to throw it away again. So I took it to school for Show and Tell yesterday."
My heart stopped. "Show and Tell?"
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"Yes," Lily whispered. "Miss Gable asked us to bring something historic from our families. But after school, when I was waiting at the bus stop, a tall man in a nice black coat with gold glasses asked to see my backpack."
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