It All Started with a Sticky Note

Chapter 3: A dangerous gift

 ****Dedicated to xTheEmoBookWormx for being one of my first fans, thanks!*****

Despite instinct, I called mom before the police. She sounded worried, but since she was the most levelheaded one in the family so wasn’t loosing her head. Fortunately, they were just around the corner when I called, otherwise I would have driven myself crazy with guilt.

“Stefani, its all my fault. I was supposed to be here. She was supposed to go with us. I wasn’t supposed to be the selfish big sister.”

I think it was just about then that she snapped me into the present.

“You know what? You sound like the typical moping family member after a tragedy: Blaming yourself and feeling sorry you weren’t ‘thinking’. You know what I think? I think you need to start thinking. Grab some clues; c’mon you’ve always bragged you were brave and smart. Prove it to me.”

I think that was the best thing she could have said to me. A pep talk, lecture and a tad bit of sympathy all in one. That’s what best friends are for.

Mom and Dad came into the driveway; they said the police were on their way. I showed them the sticky note. My dad put it in his pocket and told me not to tell anyone, which seemed a bit un-like my dad, but I kept quite. He suggested that “us girls” should go talk in my room, which I was actually feeling at the moment. I was glad we could avoid the wave of policemen, at least for a minute. The door was open, which was unusual since I always closed it before I went out, so Tracy wouldn’t sneak in and mess it up, but I pushed that to the back of my mind.

I looked at the clock, almost lunch. I suggested to Stefani that we go grab a bite to eat, but she wasn’t in the mood either. Then I suggested to get our minds off everything I should open the package, just to take a breath. We plopped on my bed, and I took out the crinkly bag out of my backpack. With it came the pig cookie I had saved for Tracy. I decided to keep it for her until she returned, hoping it would make her come home sooner.

The package was tapped securely shut, and eventually I gave in and used scissors to unwrap the gift. The book inside had a deep green cover and golden writing on the front the title Famous Old Wills was written on the cover.

“So it’s a book about dead people and what they wished?” Stefani didn’t sound amused.

I looked at the printing date – it was over a hundred years old! No wonder the pages felt like they would crack when you turned them. Hoping it was a limited edition; I turned to the front pages. But it wasn’t a one of a kind, in fact there were thousands printed. I looked at Stefani, happy for the great find, but disappointed it wasn’t better.

“I’ll go tell Dad, he’ll be excited to know.” But Stefani stopped me.

“Why don’t you save it for a special time? You know, to pick him up.”

Reluctantly, I agreed, and put the book in a box under my bed for safekeeping.

The sirens were so loud I could hear the shrill calling long before the cars arrived. They did a typical interview: sitting mom and dad on the sofa and calling Stefani and me down next to them. Most questions they asked we were unable to answer. They asked questions like: What time period was she left alone? Was the door kicked in or was it intact? Can you think of any possible motive? After a few unsuccessful questions they dismissed Stefani and I up to our rooms where they asked Mom and dad for any recent photos and descriptions that might aid in their search.

In a few minutes the conversation had turned ‘adult worthy’ so we stayed up in the attic where I pulled out my laptop so we could do some research for the book. After about twenty minutes of unsuccessful research we stumbled upon an uncommon website containing information on the book. The article read:

Late last night there was a tragic catastrophe at the Weldon mansion. Old Mr. Weldon was not harmed nor was his blind daughter; they said they were warned in time by a neighbors phone call. Unfortunately, nothing in the house was saved, which included the famous collection of the last known remaining Famous Old Wills books, all of the books were unable to rescue. To the dismay of the Weldon’s there is no lead to why the fire started. They chose to leave no comment since they prefer to keep to themselves. Though any leads will be rewarded. More coming in the future. Jason M., Reporter.

There was no date attached to the article, but we had some rare information we were lacking minutes before. Stefani and I were still unable to believe that this may actually be a super rare book, we checked the cover and title one more time, like a person who pinches themselves to make sure its not too good to be true. Sure enough, the book was an antique; our excitement was building up by each find! Just as we were beginning to dig into the book, Stefani’s phone rang. Her mom was wondering where she was and wanted her to be home by three. That gave her just enough time to bike home. Though we were disappointed, I figured we had enough adventure for one afternoon.

“see you tomorrow at church?” I asked Stefani as she was mounting her bike.

“Hope to be there, I’ll try to talk Mac into coming. But I’ll leave it to you to tell him about Tracy” She gave me a half-hearted smile before she left the driveway.

“It’s just you and me Roosevelt, you up to breaking this down?” I asked him as I walked back upstairs to start my clue book. That’s one thing about great detectives: they write, as much as they can while it’s still fresh, so they don’t loose a detail. Because loosing a detail could mean failing at success.