The Brooch

A Life Turned Upside Down

You ever lose something so precious and of value that you go insane looking in and out of the same place just to find it, but to no avail? And then one day, there it is, like white on rice just staring at you like it was never gone?

Well that was how Mrs. Crowder felt that late and windy autumn evening in her estate, googling at that brooch.

She thought she would never see it again. But there it was. And it was in her hands! And no one knew of it, or so she hoped, but Andrew Wellington the third.

Oh poor Mrs. Crowder, her mind was in a frenzy!

MRS CROWDER: "Whut I'm gone do with this?"

She thought to herself with a gaped expression. You could tell she was even afraid to hold it. And just like what Mrs. Lexington had once implied, Mrs. Crowder in her sauced state of mind heard the voice of her belated father...

HAL: "Keep it..."

The voice hollowing whispered in her ear. Mrs. Crowder gulped as chills ran up and down her shivering body. It was like she could hear that voice, almost as if it were right there in the room with her! In fact, since the trial, that's exactly what she had felt. That she wasn't alone. That or she was just sure going per plumb crazy.

MRS. CROWDER: "I can't keep it." She mumbled in a shaken response. "I can't!"

But the voices kept on. They kept on echoing, getting louder with every word. And in her mind, it was like her walls were shattering and caving in all around her. Mrs. Crowder felt like a volcano ready to erupt! She squealed holding her ears.

MRS. CROWDER: "Go away! Go away!" She cried to the voices that surrounded her.

Oh yes, it looked like she was stir crazy alright! Just as it looked like she couldn't take anymore... She heard a still calm voice that stood above and suddenly quieted all the voices around her...

"Magnus..."

Mrs. Crowder shook her head in disbelief and frustration...

"Magnus..." A calm voice lowly whispered again. "Open yo eyes."

A trembling Mrs. Crowder, petrified out of her mind, hesitantly opened her bulging eyes... The voices had stopped. But the one that had called her sounded all too familiar. But it wasn't that of her father. Right then and there she could smell an aroma that brought back such memories... The smell of a sweet rich floral and spicy pipe. Just like the one, her dearest used smoke.

MRS. CROWDER: "Rusty?"

In a hushed tone, the voice spoke....

"Return the brooch..."

With the vibration of that sound, a warm sensation of sweetness filled her soul, like hot chocolate on a cold winters day... It was almost the exact same feeling that she always felt, when she was with her Rusty in the flesh. Mrs. Crowder called out to the voice again, but just like that it was gone... But the brooch wasn't. It was real. And it was shining like pure gold in her eyes.

Mrs. Crowder, tipped back to her bar and delicately placed it down on a napkin. She poured herself another glass of sherry or two. She sat there for hours just staring at that brooch. She contemplated what she was gonna do with it.

Do as the voice said? Return it to Maple and hear her accusations of wrath and face the punishment she tried to bestow on Mrs. Woods? Keep it for herself? It was after all, once upon a time hers. Or so she had convinced herself.

MRS. CROWDER: "Matthew did give it to me first and that Olivia's gal, Scarlet stole it on my wedding day! It's mine!" She greedily mumbled.

But deep down, especially after the trial, she knew it wasn't. And never really was.

But that didn't stop her from contemplating...

MRS. CROWDER: "I could keep it." She said out loud. "Or I kin do as Andrew said. Give it to my Tator."

Find Tator? Easier said than done. How was she even gonna do that? Go to her Mama's and beg for mercy in the whereabouts of her grandson? Even her own estranged son, Ruston didn't know. For Tator only visited his parents and siblings on occasion. And she had not been in the affections of her own children or grandchildren since the passing of her beloved Rusty. She knew it was no one's fault but her own. Seeing as she did as she did to most.. she forcibly pushed them away...

No, the only one who knew of Tator's actual whereabouts was her mother. And she knew, her own mother wasn't about to spill the beans. No matter how desperate she was. At least when it came to Tator. Per Tator's request. It was like he had disappeared off the face of the earth.

And what was she gonna do even if she found him?At present time, they weren't on the best of terms, seeing as what she, as Tator indignantly versed, "maliciously did to the Woods slash Hastings family. To the only woman, he ever loved." He felt she destroyed any chance he ever had with her. She felt he was bitter and would never forgive her. But maybe the brooch could help. But how?

How was she gonna explain to her grandson that Andrew, his all time nemesis, the man who supposedly possessed the love of the woman he desperately loved, gave it to her? He just gave to her just like that? No qualms about it? Ha! That was hilarious she thought to herself. She knew if she did that, the only grandchild that ever really kept in touch with her out of pure love, would call her out! Turn her in. And disown as if he never knew her. And then he would be lost to her forever!

At least her other grandchildren kept in touch with her. When they needed money that is. But Tator, he was different. And Mrs. Crowder knew it. And the thought of losing him altogether? She couldn't and didn't want to fathom. So that, right there was out of the question.

So what the blazes in high heaven, was she gonna do? Mrs. Crowder had no earthly clue.

Going to her safe, behind Rusty's portrait on the wall, Mrs. Crowder took out a box of her most precious possessions. Taking that brooch, and picking it up, like a new born babe, she cautiously wrapped that brooch in a silken handkerchief and placed it in that box. She looked around to see as if anyone was really around. She locked that safe up. Placed the picture back up. She kissed the portrait of the face of her beloved. And she ran away and spurted up her long and winding stairs as fast as her bubble butt could take her! Why she ran so fast up them stairs, one could swear her feet never touched the ground. She huffed till she leapt in her king size bed and covered her head till morning's dawn.

That night, she swore to herself, she would not lay a hand on that brooch, until her relationship with Tator was mended. One way or the other...

To her dissatisfaction, it would be years till she opened that safe once again and gazed upon that brooch.