Friday Barnes, The Biggest Mystery Yet

Memory of the Present

Hey everyone. This is a continuation of the dessert storyline based off of book 12 onwards. I’m thinking of moving it to a separate book. Hope you enjoy it!

Ian:

We found and made Friday’s favourite dessert, or at least 2nd favourite. We decided to leave making the Country Apple Galette in the past as a mother-daughter memory. But I didn't want to stop there. I wanted to see her smile again, an unreserved smile. So what's better than desserts, presents. As a child my parents never really showed me affection, however my mother always made sure to get me gifts, which I think was her love language, besides raising vegetables. Yes I know it's a pathetic display of materialism however I do believe that Friday deserves a gift which would be a constant reminder that I care for her. Even when the world hurt her, when I hurt it, because it was inevitable, let's face it. However if I could give her something, something of sentimental value then maybe I could help her hurt less.

So the quest began to find the perfect gift for Friday Astrella Barnes. First I thought about what she liked. Fedoras, woolly cardigans were the basics, but I wasn’t trying to replace objects which she had sentimental value for. Jewellery seemed too obvious, and face it, it was a last resort for anyone who couldn’t find a real present. Technology was a no because she would have that constant fear of being tracked by the government. So what could I give her?

I ran my hands through my hair, angry at myself for not being able to find her a good gift, let alone a perfect one. I then went to console Melanie but she had no clue either. Bernie suggested getting her another hat, but we both left before he could finish the suggestion. Then as a last chance sort of situation we went to Quantum.

“A gift, for my sister”, he looked up deep in thought.

“Honestly, I don’t know her too well but if I were to give her something it would be a scrapbook of sorts, even as I kid i remember her cutting out news articles to make a suspect board, that’s where i’d start”

With that he just up and left, leaving both me and Melanie shocked that he would have noticed something like that. But he was right, it was a good start and I intended to make her the greatest scrapbook ever. Luckily Melanie has a ton of photos from Italy through to Switzerland, Bernie had pictures of baby Friday which were so cute, she and Bella were almost identical with the exception of their eyes. I was tasked to find any photo in between the two time periods. Which wasn’t as hard as I thought as she was on the news quite a lot. The only picture missing was her solving the mystery which allowed her to come to HighCrest. My father made sure to have his humiliation erased. Luckily I always kept a clipping of that article with me at all times in my left jean pocket. As I took out that worn down piece of paper I couldn’t help but smile. There was no picture of her but the words girl detective were written in bold, which was equally as nostalgic. I took a photo of the clipping and had it printed out.
Creating a scrapbook was quite fun, it helped cement why I truly love this girl. She was courageous, dedicated but most of all she was pure. She always did what she believed was right and fair. We all called her Sherlock Holmes or Einstein but really she was our own Lady Justice, a being too pure to be compared to us mortals, who always made sure to create a world that was just for all. Yes, that my girl.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face even if you physically used a windshield wiper. As we kept adding pages my smile grew bigger and bigger as we went down memory lane, literally. There was the time when she solved the school’s mystery expulsion of teacher’s, resulting in me being expelled myself, but my girl, ever the fighter of justice, put things right, though she did end up on the face of a cliff, that’s one of the best ones. There was the time Fontana made Friday do 100 burpees, which started her whole tracking phobia. But the best was of the last case we did in Australia, where she figured out the gold treasure of Malcolm's grandfather Sebastion, the founder of HighCrest, there she was, not quite smiling but content looking at the statue where his gold treasure was hidden, where she literally knocked into it. It was fitting, the place where she got her first head injury would be her last with me.