A Timely Vision

My grandparents had told me the sisters were never friends again after that even though Miss Mildred had married Frank Mason and done quite well for herself. Wild Johnny Simpson had left Miss Elizabeth crying and alone for the rest of her life. She never remarried, and Miss Mildred never forgave her.

So I didn’t ask. I sipped my lemonade and let her run through the gamut of Miss Elizabeth’s faults and vices.

“She’s always thought she was better than me because we both ran for Miss Duck that year and she was chosen. Really, I think she let the judge feel her up a little, if you know what I mean. Otherwise I’m sure he’d have chosen me.”

“This doesn’t really sound like you’ve lost your mother’s watch,” I finally interrupted. “But I’ll be happy to go by Miss Elizabeth’s house and see if she’s okay. I can check on the watch while I’m there.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’s fine.” Miss Mildred waved away the idea that her sister wouldn’t be fine with an impatient hand. “I can’t help but feel that Mama’s watch is lost. I need your help, Dae. I know you’re busy being mayor and all, but surely you can spare me a few minutes.”

I didn’t remind her that this was one of the biggest days in Duck. At least twenty thousand people were here for the holiday. They were looking for food and someplace to shop. Some of them might be about ready to run in and buy my treasures.

I glanced around at my collection of odds and ends, the precious and the ordinary. They had taken me a lifetime to find and might take a lifetime to sell the way things had been going the last few months. Sometimes I thought I should get rid of all of it and take to the open sea, as my Duck ancestors would have done. But visiting Gramps’s old fishing boat always changed my mind. I was never crazy about the smell of fish.

I sighed and brought my thoughts back to Miss Mildred. It couldn’t hurt to oblige her. Later, I could check in on her sister and find out what was going on. Miss Elizabeth, at the sweet young age of ninety, had been known to wander the beaches late at night and had often been escorted home by the police. “Okay.” I took a deep breath and turned to face Miss Mildred on the sofa. “Give me your hands.”

“I remember the first time you did this for me.” Miss Mildred smiled. “You were such a pretty child. I was looking for my purse, and your mama told me to give you my hand and you’d help me find it. I didn’t quite believe it then. But I do now.”

Miss Mildred put her rough, dry hands in mine, her short nails dirty and cracked. She refused to wear gloves when she gardened, which she did a lot of the time. “Think about the watch.” I closed my eyes and let the images form in my mind. I wasn’t really expecting to see anything since the watch wasn’t really missing. That seemed to be the way my gift worked.

But an image came seconds later, making me gasp. It was a gold wristwatch with tiny diamonds where the numbers should be. It was on a thin, wrinkled arm, presumably Miss Elizabeth’s.

I opened my eyes and shook all over for a second. I’d come to think of the shaking as a reaction to being in someone else’s mind. There’s not much literature or research done on this kind of thing, so I had to go with what I knew.

“Did you find my watch?”

“I think so, yes.” I let go of her hands and felt the link between us fade. “I think your sister is wearing it.” I wasn’t sure why that image would come to me since the watch wasn’t officially lost. Maybe Miss Mildred feeling it was lost was enough for that part of me to latch on to it.

“Maybe you could drop by her place, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d like to have Mama’s watch back. She left it to me, you know. Not Lizzie.”

I smiled as I helped her to her feet. “I’m sure your mother gave her something nice too.”

“Not as nice as that watch.” Miss Mildred patted my hand. “Thank you, Dae. You know, I voted for you, and you’ve done a very good job for us.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Mildred. I’ll see if Miss Elizabeth will let me bring the watch back to you.”

I was blessed with a string of customers after she left. I was always amazed at what visitors would buy and take home with them for souvenirs. Amazed and frustrated when the things I thought were most valuable were completely ignored for touristy lamps made from shells and little lighthouses that said “Outer Banks.” Most of the lighthouses didn’t even look like the ones you could find here—and they were made in China.

“Looks like you’ve got a good crowd,” Trudy Devereaux observed as she sauntered in from the Curves and Curls Beauty Spa next door. Trudy was showing off her signature tan with a short white dress that left her shoulders and most of her back bare. Of course, her pink nails and platinum blond hair were perfect, as always.