The Suggestion Box (Volume 1)

Part 4: The Legacy (3)

Based on the following Suggestions:

Names: Teresa, Elena Knight
Times: 1930's and 2030's, a century
Places: Egypt, Uncharted Phoenician island, citadel of Natalys
Objects: Turkish scarf, heirloom watch, a puzzle in 4 pieces, fountain of youth

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Elena heard the dishes clinking in the kitchen, but she did not want to get out of bed. She had been up into the wee hours, as the conversation with Teresa had opened fresh wounds of grief, and Elena found herself mourning her mother all over again. She opened that last letter and read it through. With a heavy sigh, she regained her composure and decided it was time to come clean with her daughter, to step up and be the sort of mother she always wished she had.

Elena went to Teresa's room, but she wasn't there. Her notepad sat on the desk, scrawled all over with a peculiar doodle. Elena recognized the design as one from her scarf. Why was Teresa so fixated on the design? Elena picked up the pad and went downstairs.

Teresa had just finished her breakfast at the table when her mom walked in with the notepad. Teresa eyed her warily.

"What are you doing with that?" the younger woman demanded shortly.

Elena laid the pad on the table. "I found it upstairs, Rese. I just wanted to say.... I'm sorry for blowing up at you like I did. Will you forgive me?"

Teresa nodded and set aside her bowl. Elena took the seat next to her.

"So," she began, "what was this all about?"

Teresa frowned, "There was just something about that compass that I couldn't quite figure out. I was just remembering the design of it, and wondering why it looked so weird—I mean, besides the fact that it has the letters A and T instead of East and West. I don't know," she pushed the pad away, "It's probably nothing."

Elena nodded. "Teresa, I wanted to show you something." She laid the letter in front of her daughter. "This is the last letter my mother ever wrote, the one she sent with the scarf."

Teresa read through the letter, understanding now how hurt her mother must have been when Teresa Mallow gushed repeatedly about how much she loved her darling Elena—but at the same time, never did spend the time she promised with her daughter.

"...I have found something that I think will be the key to everything I have been working on... Think of the place it came from, Elena, and think of the amazing world we live in, and let that thought guide your life in the right direction...."

Like the mechanism of a clock or a wind-up toy, Teresa immediately recalled the components of the compass design. Was Grandma Teresa dropping hints about the true purpose of the scarf? Teresa looked at the design again, and looked at the precise placement of the seven dots.

N, A, S, T—and if one separated the design at the center into three parts according to the placement of the dots, the upper "branch" made the fork of a Y, the lower branch might be a sweeping L, and the third dot stood at the opening of what could be a letter A that used the down-stroke of both the Y and the L, with the L's serif as a cross-stroke. Hastily, Teresa jotted down the letters. NASTLAY... LANASTY... ANALYST...

"What are you doing now?" Elena's question interrupted her train of thought.

"Mom, check this out!" Teresa breathed, still trying different letter combinations, like YALANTS and NYTALAS. "Grandma Teresa wrote to think of the world, and to think of the place this scarf came from—Lebanon, right?"