The Lost Daughter
Excerpt
Prologue
The girl waved to the castle, running along the edge of the water as it gradually disappeared. She shook herself in delight, spraying the water she was dripping with all around her. Seeing the glittering ring as the wave receded, she picked it up and slipped it on her finger. It was too big, almost slipping off. Saddened and afraid she’d lose it, she pulled her hand against her chest, cradling it against the necklace that had been slipped over her head the night before. It matched the necklace. Feeling it tighten, she looked back at the ring and smiled. It fit now. Noticing the lights flickering, the young girl looked up, seeing the castle blink into view quickly before disappearing as if it wanted to make sure she knew it was leaving. Feeling footsteps behind her, she turned around. A woman approached with her daughter. The black-haired girl studied the one with bouncing blonde curls, noticing how much she looked like the older woman. She frowned, looking about, suddenly worried for her own family.
Where’s Mum? She signed. The woman stopped talking, not having realized that the girl hadn’t once looked at her while she was talking until she began using sign language.
“What’s that, Mom?” The younger girl asked, her voice high and curious.
“Hush, Charlotte. Let me think.” The woman looked at the black-haired girl with silver eyes. She looked ethereal - as if she had come from the sea itself. Her laughter was what had drawn the woman down to her - that and not seeing an adult near her. The girl looked to be about Charlotte’s age - maybe a year older - but not as old as Colette.
“Why isn’t she speaking?”
“Charlotte, shh.” The woman paced in front of her daughter, not sure how to figure out if the little girl was deaf - or how to ask where her parents were. Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly called the police station. “Hi, yes. My name is Margaret Warren. I am with a little girl who seems to be deaf. I do not see her parents around, so I think she may have wondered from them.” She listened for a moment, before quickly looking the young girl over and adding, “She’s not bleeding and doesn’t seem to be hurt - just wet. She has a lovely moonstone ring and necklace on.” Margaret listened for another minute before hanging up. She knelt on the ground and grabbing her attention, began speaking to the girl.
“... are you? What’s ... ...? ... are your ...?” When the girl simply stared at her, she finally touched her ear, shaking her head, mimicking that she couldn’t hear. The girl copied her, touching two fingers to her ear and tapping.
Margaret continued, “... .... are you? ... you ...?”
The girl simply tapped her fingers against her ear again before turning and pointing at the water.
The woman began asking more questions, talking faster and faster until she threw up her hands in frustration and turned away from the girl. Her daughter looked between the two and asked, “Why are you sad?”
“I can’t get any answers. She doesn’t understand me, Charlotte.” The woman sighed loudly, tapping out the questions in her phone that she knew figured she would need to have answered, along with the general description of the girl.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why?”
“Charlotte, I don’t know why you are asking why!” Margaret’s frustration mounted. Charlotte pointed to the girl and then asked why again. Finally, the woman calmed down enough to think through what her four-year old daughter was trying to say. “She is deaf. This means that she can’t hear, Charlotte. Sometimes deaf people don’t speak. She must not speak. I don’t see any hearing aids on her, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have them before and they are just lost.” Hearing sirens and cars, she sighed in relief. “It looks like the police are here. They are going to help her.”
“What’s her name?” Charlotte looked back at the older girl, wondering why she was so interested in the water. The girl was staring intensely out at the water, which didn’t make sense to Charlotte. There was nothing out there besides fish. She shuddered. And monsters. She thought to herself. She had tried telling her mother and father before about the monsters she had seen in the water, but they didn’t believe her. Looking at the girl, she wondered if she would believe her that there were things in the sea that didn’t make sense - that weren’t “practical” and “real” (her mother’s words). Seeing the policeman and another woman walk up, she hid partially behind her mother, not sure what to think about these people. The lost girl didn’t turn around.
“Hi Margaret.” The woman said before calling out, “Hi Charlie.”
“It’s Charlotte, Kate.” Margaret huffed.
“Um, hm. Well, hi Charlotte.” Kate winked the girl. Charlotte giggled and waved back. “And is this the girl?” She nodded towards the black-haired girl. Margaret nodded and watched as Kate’s expression blanked as she studied the girl; her thoughts staying to herself. “Have you been able to get anything from her?”
Margaret shook her head. “She’s deaf. And mute - or at least she didn’t talk to me.”
“What about trying to see if she could read your questions on the phone?”
“Well, that would’ve been smart - if I had thought about it.”
Kate waved off her response, “Don’t worry about that. Just curious if it had been tried. Chip, I’m going to approach her. Is there anything you need me to do first?” He shook his head.
“I’m just here as your backup - because Margaret called the police station first. We’ll write up a missing person’s report, but really, right now, we need social services to interview her and for us to have some basic answers - how old, name, parents, number - if she knows all that information. She looks kinda young to know some of it.”
“Charlotte knows my number and her home address.” Margaret said stiffly, offended at Chip’s offhanded comment. Kate ignored both Margaret and Chip and began walking towards the girl. She stopped as the girl twirled around, her movement fluid. The girl’s eyes began to sparkle - at least, that is what it seemed like to Kate.
“Hello,” Kate said as she waved. The girl’s face brightened. Kate’s hands moved hesitantly in American Sign Language, still speaking out loud.. “My name is K-A-T-E.” She finger-spelled her name slowly before pointing to the girl, asking for her name.
The girl’s hands flew, her fingers gracefully signing. Kate held up her hands, laughing a little before placing her right hand over her left arm and moving it towards her shoulder, Slowly. The girl nodded and began signing again. She pointed to herself, before adding a sign that Kate didn’t know and signed name. Kate sat back on her heels, thinking.
“That your sign name?” She finally asked, signing. The girl’s face brightened, making the others gasp at her fairy looks. “You fingerspell your name?”
The girl shook her head before pausing, showing a few letters: A, R, S.
“Don’t know?” Kate signed slowly, voicing it as well so that Chip and Margaret could hear. The girl sighed, her face down-turned. “It’s okay.” Kate said softly, forgetting to sign. “Hurt?” She asked. The girl nodded and turned her head, lifting up her hair to show a bump.
The girl moved her thumb and finger close together, signing a little.
“O-K.” Kate sat down, having gotten tired of squatting near the girl. “Mom, dad, where?” She asked, hoping that her signs were correct as it had been years since she’d really used them. She didn’t often see her niece and brother-in-law and even if they did, she’d found out that she learned the wrong language as they used British Sign Language, not American. Her sister’s son did use American Sign Language, but he spoke more than he signed. Pushing those thoughts away, she focused on the girl, watching as she daintily scrunched her face and pointed towards the water.
“There?” Kate added. The little girl hesitant nodded. “B-O-A-T broke?” She asked, combining the mixture of finger-spelling and signs she remembered for a shipwreck. The girl shook her head.
“One more,” Kate realized the girl was becoming stressed, “after, go to H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L to rest.” The girl nodded slowly, “Know phone number? Address?” She used the word live for address, as she had been taught. The girl shook her head, tears gathering at her eyes. Kate patted her back, signing O-K, O-K over and over again.
Margaret looked at the young girl before turning to her daughter. The fascination of the strange girl hadn’t disappeared from Charlotte’s eyes. “Kate,” she said, speaking quickly. “I think I am still on the roster for emergency foster situations. I’d be happy…” she drifted off as Kate stood up.
“I’ll let you know.” Kate interrupted her, knowing that she was going to offer to have the girl stay with her. “I’ll update you after we visit the doctor.” She looked down at the girl, placing her hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for finding her, Margaret.”
“It was Charlotte actually. She thought she had seen a mermaid in the water and wanted to check.”
“A monster, mom! Not a mermaid.”
Margaret narrowed her eyes at Charlotte’s contradiction. Kate grinned, simply saying, “Well, it’s a good thing you found her. Who knows what could’ve happened. Thanks, Charlie.” Turning back to the girl, she tapped her shoulder, pulling her away from staring at the water. Go, see doctor now. Help you. She signed.
The girls hands flew as she signed her worry. Kate tried to follow before finally asking her to slow down again. Realizing that she was worried about leaving the sea in case her family was looking for her, she tried to assure the girl that the police were looking for her family. Finally, the girl nodded and slipped her hand into Kate’s when offered.
Kate quickly said goodbye to Margaret and Charlie before leading the girl to her car. Opening the door, she motioned for the girl to hop inside as Chip walked over, having gotten all his information needed for the report from Margaret. They quickly discussed the next course of action before Kate buckled the girl in, glad that she still the car seat for her son. Closing the door, she looked out at the sea, trying to keep her face blank as her thoughts raced. Just what did Charlie see? She wondered. What monsters are there in the water? She shivered. Things she had seen with her husband’s family raced in her mind. Looking back at the girl, she wondered before deciding the she couldn’t be connected. Not here.
Chapter 1
The sea glittered. All Genevieve could think about was how the sun shimmered on the water as she sat on the rocks near the WatchTower staring out. It seemed to be sparkling even more today, she thought. Feeling a storm blowing in, she tilted her face to the sudden rain, smiling as it lightly pelted her skin. Her arms turned iridescent like they always did when they were wet - something she tried not to think too hard about. Shaking off the thoughts, she stood and began walking towards the ledge, the rocks under her feet slightly sliding before she steadied and drove into ocean. A swim in the rain always helps my mood, she thought as she floated, her face tilted to the sky. Plus, I don’t look so different when I’m in the water as I do when I’m out. She pulled up her hand, flipping it back and forth, playing with the water droplets. They seemed to change shapes - dragons, fairies, mermaids. She shook the water off her hands before turning and diving deep. Thinking about her peculiarities - as Margaret would say - made her melancholy.
Seeing a light towards the bottom, she pulled up and looked above. It wasn’t too far down, she thought before pushing forward. Her lungs were burning by the time she got to the light. It was a key glimmering in a plain glass bottle. Looking closer, she noticed that the water seemed to almost slide off the bottom - as if someone had willed the bottle to remain spotless for her to find. Grabbing the bottle, she pushed off from the bottom and swam upwards, heading back to the shore. Pulling herself out, she took a breath before walking back to where she had left her towel. She quickly dried off and ran into the lighthouse and up the stairs. The old lighthouse was her favorite place to be on the island; an area that she could sit and stare at the water for hours. It also made her feel like she helping some mythical job that she should do, though she wasn’t sure exactly “it” was other than keeping watch. At the same time, that didn’t feel like the job.
Reaching the last stair before the beacon’s ladder, she opened the bedroom that was on the right. The lighthouse had two bedrooms - one on the first landing, and one on the top. She kept her things in the top bedroom, as most people didn’t climb the stairs of the WatchTower anymore. The county had tried to condemn the lighthouse, but since it was on private property, and blocked off, it somehow had never been fully condemned. The lighthouse itself was in excellent condition; the county really didn’t have.a reason to condemn, just that it didn’t have an owner present. The WatchTower did have a lock on the door and fence up to try to keep people out, but if one was determined - as she often was - they could get in.
Grabbing her pack and quickly changing, she stuffed her wet suit and towel in the bag before placing it right outside the bedroom door and grabbing the bottle and climbing the stairs.
Pulling herself up into the room with the big light - that was now missing - she studied the bottle. It didn’t look like other bottles she had seen; it looked as if it had sand and water running through the glass itself; almost trapped inside. Wondering how it had been done, she turned the bottle back and forth in her hands, studying what was inside. Finally seeing no other way to open besides the top, she began pull. As she tugged, the bottle gave way, liquefying into sand - the water vaporizing mid-air. She looked at her hands before studying the sand on her pants and the ground. Shrugging, she brushed off the sand, unsure of what had just happened.
It was a key. Both it and the envelope with the paper were fluttering mid-air for a moment before landing gently on her lap, after she had cleaned off the sand. Genevieve shook her head, confused. Picking up the key, she looked it over.
It didn’t look like the typical house - or car - key, but a secret key. One that could be used to enter a secret garden or open a magical cupboard. It wasn’t old or even covered in rust, but it didn’t match anything she had seen before. As she turned it, the key flashed, becoming the same luminescent color as the ring she always wore. Thinking of her ring, she pulled it off, looking at the mixture of pearls and moonstones. She’d had the ring as long as she could remember, rarely taking it off as it grew with her. As she studied the ring, she realized she had never had it resized. Genevieve began to breathe raggedly, her breaths coming in faster and faster to where she wasn’t sure she would be able to take a full breath. Where did this come from? She thought. Her breath gasping, she finally returned it to her finger, sighing in relief as her breaths evened out. <Weird,> she signed. She wondered what the key led to and felt the smooth edges as if someone had held it often, running their hands over it.
Finally placing it aside, she pulled out the slip of paper that was in the bottle as well. It said her name on the outside: Genevieve Faye. Genevieve cautiously opened it, unsure of what to think.
It begins with quick glances, small talk, time spent together. It ends with death. The middle is the journey and that, is the important part. That is charaid - the journey of friendship, of partner, of family. It is worth... everything. Slave, princess, castle. You can endure it all with charaid. [Blessing]
Genevieve looked up, confused at the letter. Reading it again, she frowned as it made less sense. Feeling her phone vibrate, she pulled it out to see a text message from her sister.
Where r u? Mom is pissed. Genevieve sighed at Charlotte’s text, trying to figure out what to say before replying.
I’m leaving in just a min. Coach had us practice in the ocean today - so distracted. Tell M home soon. (Keep the ocean part to yourself)
The phone flashed and buzzed almost as soon as she had finished sending it. Groaning, Genevieve looked at it, laughing at the reply.
Keep to myself = u take me where I say this weekend.
Sat
Deal. The reply came back nearly as fast as she had sent it. Rolling her eyes, Genevieve slid the key and paper into her bag before heading down the stairs and towards her Jeep. Noting the time, she knew she’d need to hurry to make the ferry.
She arrived just in time. As the ferry got underway, she sighed and sat back, thinking of the key and note. How did it know my name? Who knows I go to the WatchTower on Pharos Island? She wondered, watching as the island disappeared slowly, the rain covering visibility as the ferry moved towards the other side of the bay.