The Hermit & Heir | A Short Story

Part 8

The sweet family stood outside the door watching Vera and Ted set off on their rest of their journey. Once out of earshot, Ted looked to Vera and sighed heavily, "I'm sorry," he began, "Gene thought we were getting married. I hope it didn't make you uncomfortable."

Vera shrugged. It was all in good fun she supposed.

"Petunia's hair looked nice," he added smiling, "you did a good job."

Vera gave him a slight smile, and a silence fell between them. Vera didn't know how to fill it even though her mind swam with unanswered questions. She finally mustered up the courage to ask a question.

"Ted," she started unsure, "what was that necklace you had earlier? Why were there two of them."

She could tell the question ruffled Ted's feathers a bit. She chastised herself for asking the question aloud. He pulled his shoulders back and cleared his throat.

"It's the engagement gift. The parcel I told you about," He answered.

Vera began to put the pieces together. It was an expensive looking necklace.

"Is that what you stole from those men?"

Ted looked embarrassed, "Yeah, I sort of stole it. I know you don't care, but it was for good reason I promise."

Vera couldn't wait to hear how stealing had been a worthwhile endeavor.

"I stole the necklace from an archive near where you live. I was able to locate it in that spot, and I left home to get it," Ted told her shyly.

"Why did you need to steal it? Couldn't you borrow it or buy it?"

"No."

"No?"

"It wasn't for sale. It's more along the lines of a cultural artifact."

"Why do you have two of them then?" Nothing was making sense to Vera.

"One is a decoy. I spent almost all my travel money trying to recreate it, but I can tell which one is fake and which one is real."

"What kind of artifact is it? I mean, why would you need that as an engagement gift?"

Ted shifted the knapsack on his shoulders. He was having a hard time justifying his actions. Saying them aloud to another person now made them seem ridiculous.

"It's a very special artifact, you see," he paused awkwardly, "well, it's supposed to change its color when worn by the person you are meant to be with. The person you are supposed to marry."

Vera could tell Ted was growing uncomfortable.

"It's stupid I know," he looked at Vera, "but it's been known to help pair people together for marriage in the past."

Vera was struggling to accept this story and much as Ted was at telling it. Vera came to an awkward realization she spoke aloud without thinking.

"What if you give it to your fiancée and it doesn't change color?" she tried to catch the words before they left her mouth, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's okay. That's sort of why I went out of my way to steal it," he looked at the ground.

"You don't want to get married?" Vera couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, I was having doubts, but I had heard about the necklace in a book and sought it out. At first, I thought it was a legend or an old wives' tale, but it's real."

"How do you know it works or that it's real," Vera asked narrowing her eyes.

"There have been many false copies before it but the real one has an inscription on the back where the gemstone is," he said pulling the necklace out of his pouch to show Vera.

The necklace looked heavy. It had a silver chain with a large blue gem at the center surrounded by ornate silver molding. He flipped the gem around and there was an inscription on the back. It was getting too dark outside to see outside so Vera couldn't make out the shapes or letters if there were any on it.

"It's said to turn a dark red when worn by the lover of the person who gave it to them. I hope it will turn red when my fiancée wears it. You see, it must be given to her by me or else it won't work. That's why I figured it would make an inconspicuous engagement gift."

Vera let all the information soak in. It made sense she supposed. Magic necklaces weren't really her area of expertise, but she could see how those barbaric men at her house could want that necklace returned to them.

"Who were those men? How did they figure out who stole it?" she wondered.

"I stole it right from under their noses," Ted told her seeming proud of himself, "They were transporting it and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and took off with it while they weren't paying attention. I slipped another fake one in place of the real one. They must've tracked me down. To be honest, I'm not sure how they were able to find me."

Vera could tell he was being earnest. He had assumed no one followed him, and he wasn't going to put anyone in danger but himself.

While their conversation had brought Vera to a place of understanding with Ted, she still didn't know much about him. Likewise, he didn't know much about her. Before Ted got to open Vera up, she spoke, "Maybe we should find a place to rest tonight. I'm exhausted."

Ted hummed in agreement and suddenly yawned.

Not far away from them stood another home much like the one they hand come from. A barn sat towards the edge of the forest the two were walking towards. Ted pointed, "Hey maybe we can sleep in that barn!"

He looked to Vera who gave him an unimpressed look.

"Right, right who would want to sleep in barn? That's a stupid idea," Ted spoke sarcastically and chuckled softly.