The Missing Orb

The Missing Orb

               “We have to do it this way. She is probably looking down on us thankful we are doing anything at all,” said Nancy.

               “Yeah but it is not a real service is it?” replied Nancy.  It is a Zoom call. I think she would have liked something fancy, a party where people dress up. There should be beautiful flowers. There should be lots of people mingling about and remembering the things she said like how she was fascinated with the stories of the golden orb. She could talk endlessly about the history of the orb and how it was smuggled out of the old country. There should be a preacher saying prayers and…”

               “Let me stop you right there. We can do all that over Zoom.”

               “We could but you know no one will. No one will dress up. Flowers will be too expensive so no one will buy them. There will be dogs barking in the background and someone’s cat will walk all over the keyboard and their tail will be in the camera the whole time. Great Uncle George will be on mute most of the time. All the kids in the family will be running around and when someone brings up the pandemic and the lack of toilet paper everyone will have forgotten about Great Aunt Matilda.”

               “Well, our aunt will just have to understand and so will you. Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

               It was not fine. Cousin Hank’s computer kept glitching. Cousin Mary’s dog saw a stray cat outside and went on a barking streak right at the time the preacher was saying prayers for the deceased. Aunt Katherine had a ridiculous tropical background behind her that she didn’t know how to remove. As predicted, no one could hear Great Uncle George because the mute button was on.

               But then Great Uncle George’s voice came loud and clear through the computer and everyone, including the dog, stopped and listened.  Maybe it was because of the respect they had for his wisdom or maybe it was because he had been so close to his sister Matilda or maybe because everyone heard the words “golden orb”.

               Uncle George kept talking, “...and then Matilda looked me straight in the eye with the most intense look I had ever seen on her face, grabbed me by the collar, pulled me down to her on her death bed, and whispered, “I know where the orb is. I should have told you sooner. Forgive me. The orb is in the…”

               “In the what?” asked cousin Hank.

                “I don’t know. She died before she could tell me. But since she found it, it must be among the family possessions somewhere.”

 Nancy blurted out, “She hadn’t been in her right mind for a long time. This could have been a dream or something she just made up without realizing what she was saying. We have all been looking for the orb for many years.”

“I guess we can’t know for sure but I have the feeling she spoke the truth.”

This, of course, got everyone talking. Certain words and phrases stood out among the conversations. Words like attic and basement and hope chests and million dollars and how split the money and finders keepers and inheritance.

  It didn’t take long for the conversations to turn ugly. Several relatives were in the process of dialing phone numbers to the various lawyers in town when Uncle George said, “I know everyone is excited, but we need to keep this information quiet. We don’t want Betty to find out.”

 Great Aunt Betty was Great Aunt Matilda’s and Great Uncle George’s sister. She was the most conniving of all of the family members and no one trusted her. As a child, she lied about just about everything. Once she took George’s teddy bear and convinced George that his best friend had taken it. George had punched his friend in the nose for denying the theft and only when his friend had run home crying with a bloody nose did Betty tell him what she had done. Betty thought the whole thing was hilarious. George felt terrible and his friend did not talk to him for two years even though George had explained everything and apologized.

Another time Betty had asked to borrow Matilda’s bracelet. Matilda agreed but was horrified when Betty secretly put her bracelet into the cake batter for Matilda’s birthday cake just to see what would happen when you “cook” a bracelet. It turns out that both the cake and the bracelet are ruined. Neither Matilda nor George ever trusted Betty again.

So when he heard Betty’s voice on the computer he started something terrible and then got mad at himself for underestimating her. Not even modern technology could keep Betty from causing trouble.

“George gotta keep one eye open with me around she laughed,” as her weathered, pinched face and shrewd blue eyes popped up on the screen.

“Great Aunt Betty, said Aunt Katherine, “do you think Matilda knew where the orb was?”

               “Oh yes. I remember her telling me all about it.”

               “What! That is ridiculous. Matilda would have never told you about the orb,” cried George.

               “She did because I threatened to tell everyone her darkest secret unless she gave me a secret. The orb is among the family possessions. She even gave me a picture. Look.”

Betty held up a faded black and white picture to the computer screen. In it was a younger-looking Great Uncle George smiling in front of a curio cabinet in the family living room. In the cabinet, clear as day, sitting on the top shelf was a dark orb.

“Betty there is no way that thing is the golden orb. Mom told me that it was a brass trophy that someone had passed on to her and they said it was to remind her of the old country. George stopped. It was possible.

“Where is the orb now?” he choked out.

“I don’t know,” replied Betty.

Her words opened the floodgates. Never had such a ruckus been heard on Zoom. Everyone started comparing notes all at the same time. Words and phrases such as old boxes, trunks, journals, and curio cabinets escaped from the cacophony.

 By this time everyone had forgotten about the memorial service. The preacher tried to finish up the service with a prayer for Great Aunt Matilda. No one paid him any attention and he quietly disassociated himself from the family by logging off of Zoom.

The rest of the relatives stayed on Zoom talking until the program kicked them off.

 Meanwhile, Lilly figured she might as well take part in the search since she only had two other options, go to work or go to the grocery store. It was Saturday and she didn’t want to work online and the grocery store had new pandemic procedures in place reminiscent of dystopian sci-fi novels.

She decided to begin her search in the attic.  She said a short prayer and climbed up the squeaky wooden ladder.

 The attic was dark and hot but she found the light switch. There were boxes and a couple of old lamps left by the previous owners. Then her eyes settled on an unmarked clear plastic box. She remembered the keepsakes she had placed in the box a couple of years ago. Lilly thought there was a birthday card from Great Aunt Matilda. After a few minutes of searching, she found the card. She remembered a cryptic message Aunt Matilda had written in the card. She hadn’t given it much thought at the time. Upon reading the message for a second time, she still thought the message odd. It said, “Here are a pair of shoes for you to wear during hard times. May they bring you comfort.” She remembered her aunt stopped her from opening the shoe box in front of the guests at the party and told her to open it when she was alone.

Lilly made her way to her bedroom and took the shoebox down from the high shelf in her closet. She examined the markings on the cover. It was from her Aunt’s store. In all the excitement of the birthday party, she had forgotten to look inside.

               She wondered at the shoe box. Could the orb fit in a shoe box? It was rumored to be as big as an ostrich egg and solid gold. However, she had also heard that some of the relatives might have filed the orb down as they needed the gold to get through financial difficulties. It might be much smaller now.

Lilly took the box downstairs. She sat at the kitchen table staring at the box next to her. Could it be? She opened it and to her surprise found a pair of shoes inside. They were sensible beige everyday shoes. Disappointed she nevertheless decided to try them on. She put one shoe down on the floor when something rolled out of the toe of the shoe. Lilly jumped. A scorpion? No. On further inspection, she saw it was a brownish ball, slightly larger than a golf ball. It was smaller but it looked like the orb in the curio case from the picture. OMG flashed through Lilly’s head many times. She noticed the brown on the outside was paint and there was a gold color underneath. It was very heavy. As she peered at the bottom of the ball she found the family crest embossed at the bottom.  Lilly knew she had been given the symbol of her family.

This thought completely overwhelmed her and she sat back in her chair wondering what to do. Who should she call? Nancy? Great Uncle George? While she was thinking she put on the shoes.

She was hungry and decided a sandwich would help her think. She stood up to go to the refrigerator and felt something odd in her left shoe. She immediately sat down and took the shoe off. Inside was a note from Great Aunt Matilda.

“Dear Lilly,

Now that you have the orb I’m sure you are wondering what to do with it. It is my advice that you keep it hidden and tell no one. Let them keep looking. One of the reasons Betty is so intense is that our mother entrusted me with the secret location of the orb. I think she did so because of the cake incident. (Ask Great Uncle George to tell you that story.)

 I gave Betty a hint once about where the orb was but for some reason, she still couldn’t figure out its location. I think she always thought of the orb as golden and shiny. It never occurred to her that it could be painted and disguised in some way.

If Betty ever found the orb, she would instantly sell it to the highest bidder. The last remnant of our family heritage would be lost forever.

 If anyone else found it, the family would fall apart. Have they started calling lawyers yet?

The final decision rests with you. Good luck.

Love,

Great Aunt Matilda

Lilly packed up the shoes, the orb, and the letter. She put everything back in the attic and went downstairs to make her sandwich. She wondered how the search was going.