A Remarkable Resemblance

A REMARKABLE RESEMBLANCE

By Lucy Clement

Prologue

Hazel Manning, her two friends, bubbly Selah Corman and sleep dependent Linie Farwood were taking a road trip. They didn’t have any plan in particular, except to leave cares behind and have fun doing it. Their thought was to stop wherever they felt like it. Leaving the city of Minneapolis, they drove for hours and finally stopped at a hotel in the upper part of the state.

Being a twenty-one year old and almost done with college has its perks. Hazel was studying to be a beef rancher, however, she was far from cruel. Kind to all people and animals was her personality. She just had a weird thing for beef. Because she was happy and adventurous, as well as pretty, she found herself naively smitten and engaged to a twenty-four year old, Mr. Chris Hemming. Fortunately, she had friends to help her celebrate her upcoming marriage. 

This was to be the summer of road trips and celebrations.

Describing Hazel and her personality is quite easy. However, the morrow would turn Hazel’s world upside down.

                  1

“Linie! Get up! It’s time to have breakfast!”

“Ughh…” Linie groaned, rolled over, and shoved a pillow over her head. Nodding at Selah, Hazel grabbed a pillow and pounced on the unsuspecting, annoyed Linie.

By the time they were in the car and driving, it was an hour past when they were supposed to leave.

“I want to stop at a garage sale!” Selah exclaimed.

“No! We can always stop at a sale in the cities, where people obsess over junk!” Linie complained, still grumpy, that she had to be awake as early as nine-thirty in the morning.

“Hazel! May we stop?” pleaded Selah, completely blocking out Linie’s mutterings from the back seat.

“Well,” Hazel mused. “I suppose we may.” A “Yes!” and a “No!” both emanated from the backseat at the same time. At about noon, the trio pulled over to investigate a small town for lunch and Selah’s garage sale.

“Why do we need to go to a garage sale?!” Linie said again, as they stood at a restaurant. 

“You will feel better once you eat, Linie. For now, put a cork in it!” said Hazel, with an expression that implied ‘Shut up, or else!’

After the three got their food, they ate outside. Hazel glanced around and signaled to Linie. Pointing at a garage sale across the street, Hazel smiled. Shaking her head furiously, Linie caused Selah to stop peering at her hamburger and look up.

“Selah, right across the street is your garage sale!” Hazel loved bugging Linie, because she rarely got the chance. Only three things bugged her; garage sales, lack of sleep, and lack of food. “Linie, since you hate garage sales, for whatever (stupid) reason, why don’t you go nap in the car? Go take a nap, while we look.” 

Nodding her thanks, Linie took the keys and leapt up at the prospect of sleep. The other two shook their heads and left for the sale.

                   -oOo-

Lovely, young Mrs. Caroline Banner was a talented artist who by unfortunate circumstances was widowed and soldl her art and knick-knacks for a bit of extra money.

Looking around took longer than expected because the art had so much flavor. Mountains, rivers, and people dancing, all leapt off the canvas to delight the eye. An eighteenth century ballroom, in particular, captivated Hazel. The men lifted the women off the ground. Onlookers clapped, switched partners, and began again. Chris took Hazel’s hand and led her to the floor as the violens gave their welcome.

“Hazel! You must come see this!” Selah awoke the dream that had seemed so real. Wistfully glancing back at the painting, Hazel walked toward her. “Look at this mountain! Isn’t it beautiful…”

“Yes, it’s very beautiful.” The painting was elegant, but Hazel’s eyes were drawn to a small portrait of a very young man. In his older teenage years, his face was very handsome. The eyes stared back with roguish intensity, and he looked obviously smitten. It rushed on Hazel all at once! It was her fiance, Chris! Looking harder, in the corner was a loving note that read: “To my Dear Meredith.”

Now, Hazel wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but her Chris was in a portrait with a loving note. What if Chris was engaged to someone before her? He told her he had only dated one girl previously, Hannah. Had he lied?

“Are you alright?” the concerned Selah questioned. Peering over her friend’s shoulder, Selah looked at the picture. Hazel only shook her head.

“Oh my goodness! Is that Chris? Who is Meredith? Sorry, this isn’t helping. What can I do?”

“Nothing. I think he lied. He only ever dated Hannah Everworth, not Meredith. I am sorry to be a poor sport, but I want to go home.”

“We can go home. I really think you should talk to Chris, later. You shouldn’t let this painting get to you. For all we know, it could be his cousin. Oh! I just got an idea. Come with me!” Selah dragged Hazel over to Mrs. Banner.

“Mrs. Caroline, we would like to ask you about this portrait. What can you tell us about it?” Selah held up the beautifully drawn problem.

“Oh…” Caroline’s face went through a sad change. “My friend Meredith’s husband…” The word “husband” hit Hazel in the gut. Husband! Has Chris been hiding anything from her? 

“He wanted me to draw his portrait for her. I haven’t heard from them in years. Last I heard of them, they moved to Wisconsin. Meredith was a close friend and a good one, too.”

“Do you recall her husband’s name?” Selah asked.

“Hmm… No, I’m sorry, but I can’t remember. Oh! His name started with a C.”

“Thank you, very much. Hazel, why don’t you get in the car and I will pay for this and that mountain painting.”

Full of her thoughts and worries, Hazel forced herself to march to her car. She had quite forgotten about how twenty minutes before Chris had swept her in a dancing blur.

2

The ride home was a silent one. Linie, who was all glee and happiness thanks to her long nap, offered to drive. Selah was quite disturbed by Hazel’s behavior and only spoke when she deemed it prudent. “Is there any way I could help?” 

“No. Not unless you have a way to tell me if that portrait is of Chris.”

By now Linie had been filled in. “Hazel, do you want my advice? Because I have advice and a solution.”

“Yes, I want your advice, but you would give it anyway. Am I right?”

“Yep,” Selah affirmed.

“Ah hem!” Linie cleared her throat and began with an air of upright importance. “My advice is to first ask Chris about it, see if it is him, which I doubt…” 

“My idea!” coughed Selah, interrupting.

Frowning, Linie continued. “Unlike Selah, I have a solution! My loving (though lazy) husband Ishmael, is a police investigator, or detective,/if you prefer. If it isn’t Chris, have the investigative team look at it.”

“I love it!” Hazel cried.

Selah smirked at Linie, who in turn, stuck out her tongue. Always attempting to outdo each other for good reasons, they were very competitive. As they put it mildly, ‘It is only healthy adult competition.’

Inside, Hazel recovered enough to enjoy the rest of the trip, though doubts still lurked in her mind. At least now, they had some plan.

3

Ring. Ring. 

Hazel was calling Chris’ phone. Relaxed, Hazel wasn’t going to interrogate or probe Chris. Trying hard to be her normal self, she waited.

“Hello?”

“Hi! It’s Hazel!”

“Hey Hazel Nut! Glad to hear from you. How was your trip?”

“It was intriguing. Linie was mostly grumpy from lack of sleep, and Selah was obsessed with visiting a garage sale.”

“Find anything interesting?”

“Actually, yes. We met a lady, Mrs. Banner was her name, who was having a garage sale we happened upon. She’s an amazing artist who was selling her artwork for money. We bought a portrait of a young man who looks identical to you. Have you ever had your portrait done?”

“No. Would it be possible for me to stop by later today, and see it?”

“Sure. See you at one o’clock?”

“I’ll be there.”

Decided, Hazel wasn’t going to accuse Chris of anything. She was only going to ask a few, non-direct questions. She trusted him.

Precisely at one, Chris arrived at Hazel’s apartment with flowers and a smile.

“Show me the handsome young imposter,” Chris said after bestowing a loving hug on Hazel.

Pulling the portrait carefully out of a bag, Hazel presented the small imitation to Chris. Gapping, Chris started and said “Even photographs aren’t this accurate. Everything is identical, except…”

“What?!” begged Hazel, impatiently.

“My birthmark on my neck. It’s so small, it’s hardly noticeable. However, after you’ve seen it, even just once, it’s hard not to.”

“I see it now. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed it before.”

“I have no idea who this could be. Maybe an ancestor of mine.”

“That’s not possible. Mrs. Banner painted it not more than a few years ago. Linie volunteered her husband to help us find this man.”

“Wonderful!” Chris lifted the painting up, and looked at the back. “There is something stuck to this.” Peeling away the layer, a small sheet of paper came off.

“It is a note to Meredith from Charles Hemming!”

“Charles Hemming! Is he a relative of yours, a cousin maybe?”

“Not that I know of…”

“Is there anything else on the paper?”

“All it says is 

           ‘To my dear Meredith, 

Happy Birthday. 

Yours Truly,

Charles Hemming’”

“I am going to give all this information to Ishmael.” Hazel said.

“Let me know when you hear something. Well, I’ve got to go. See you around Hazel Nut.”

4

It was a week before Ishmael had anything to show for the work he was supposedly doing. When he did, Ishmael asked Hazel, Chris, Linie, and Selah to meet with him. When they arrived, they found him in the breakroom eating donuts. Linie went to open the door and discovered Ishmael had taken the word ‘break’ a little too seriously. As it so happened, Linie came to Ishmael’s work more often than she should. Ishmael had just taken precautions in case Linie came early. Even though they loved each other dearly, he needed his space, so he locked the door.

Peering through the window next to the door, Line yelled, “Ishmael, I wish you would come out of there!” Acting as if he had only just seen the group, Ishmael opened the door.

“Take a seat. I’ll go get the information. Be right back,” Ishmael said. They all sat down at a table and waited. Linie helped herself to a donut. 

“I got them,” Ishmael said. “I’m sure this will surprise, if not shock you. Do you want the good news or bad first?”

“Bad. Let’s get it over with.”

“The man in the painting has died.”

“That’s too bad,” Chris said with some feeling.

“This is a shocker. The person, Charles Hemming, was Chris’ twin brother.”

Hazel teared up and wanted to curl up under the table, for she hated anyone to see her tears, while Selah squeaked, Linie gaped, and Chris just looked sad and confused. 

“How is this possible? I’m an only child!” Chris said, unbelieving.

“We did the research and you two were separated early on. When you were one, you got really sick. Charles was under the care of your parents' cousins, the Wellingtons. Somehow, your brother ended up in foster care. What happened to your parents when you were two?”

“They passed away from the same sickness. I didn’t.”

“Where did you go?”

“I went to live with my aunt and uncle.”

“Did they try to find Charles?”

“I don’t know. They never told me about him. They could barely afford me as it was.”

“Meanwhile, Charles got an excellent education, he worked hard and made some good money. He fell in love with a girl named Meredith, and got married. They had one child, named Lousia. Five years ago, they moved to Wisconsin. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived. Their house caught on fire. Charles died saving Lousia. Meredith and Lousia still lives in Wisconsin. Why didn’t Mrs. Banner give Charles the portrait?” Ishmael finished.

“She lost track of them, when they moved.”

“There is only one thing left to do.” Chris said determinedly.

“What’s that?” Selah asked.

“Go meet my niece.”

                  5

Knock, knock.

A beautiful woman answered the door. Her face looked about twenty-five, but her head wore a few gray hairs.

“May I help you?”

“My name is Hazel Manning. I have a gift for you. Here.” Hazel passed the delicately wrapped present to Meredith, who took it suspiciously. 

“May I open it now?” 

Hazel nodded, so Meredith tore off the wrapping and gasped.

“How did you come across this? All pictures of Charles burned in the fire!”

“It’s a long story.” 

-oOo-

Hazel was invited in and explained how she came across the portrait. How Charles had been separated from his twin Chris at a young age, and that Chris wanted to meet her and Lousia.

“Why didn’t he come with you?”

“He looks so much like Charles, he was afraid he would frighten you out of your wits.”

“That is very honorable of him. Is he married?”

Blushing, Hazel explained she was engaged and they were to wed that fall.

“I would love to have you and Lousia at the wedding! Oh! Lousia could be the flower girl! Would you be alright with that?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much for this portrait. It means so much to me to have a picture of Charles, and it will mean a lot to Lousia. She is always asking me to show her daddy, but I can’t. My daughter and I are indebted to you and Chris.”

“Chris wanted to know if it would be fine if he stopped by next week. He really wants to meet you and his niece.”

“We would love that!”

                  6

The week before the wedding, Hazel, Chris, Linie, Ishmael, Selah, and Derrick, (Selah’s boyfriend) were all gathered at Selah’s house. 

Hazel looked quite content and happy, except there was the smallest hint she was disappointed about something.

“Are you content, Hazel Nut?” Chris asked.

“Quite. The only thing I could wish for is a painting I saw at Mrs. Banner’s sale. Where our adventure started.”

“Do you mean the eighteen-century ballroom, where the dancers look like you and Chris?” Selah exclaimed.

“Yes, why?” Hazel said, perking up.

“Because I thought you would want that. Ah, here it is. It was supposed to be a surprise.” Selah said, pulling out the painting and presenting it to Chris and Hazel.

“Wow! It looks just like us!” Chris admirred.

“Thank you so much, Selah!” Hazel said, hugging her. “I’ll hang it up straight away.” 

After the wedding, they hung up the painting in the house they would share together for as long as they both lived.

The dancers still twirl and leap on the canvas making a moment last for years.