Then she heard it, the very faint sound of air passing through feathers.
She turned her head in time to see a barred owl approaching and she drew back as the bird passed her, swooping on into the silhouette of black trees standing against a dark blue sky.
Callie looked down at her feet. Lying between them was something the owl had dropped. Something shiny. She stooped down to pick it up. It was a chain with a pendant, but it was now too dark to make out any details.
She walked back to the house, holding the necklace in her hand, peering at it under the outside light.
“Silver,” she said almost breathlessly. It was quite tarnished, but definitely silver.
Callie returned to the shed, rummaged around one cabinet, and produced a blue can labeled Nevr-Dull. She popped the top open, happy to see that a little of the cotton wadding with polishing compound remained in the can.
She returned to the house, grabbed an old newspaper from the kindling box, and opened it up on the kitchen table where she carefully laid out the necklace.
“What’s that?” Amanda asked, curiosity piqued as she joined Callie at the table.
“I think it’s silver,” Callie said. “Weirdest thing. An owl dropped it next to me.”
“Weird,” Amanda said. “Did you smell it?”
Callie looked up at her, her eyes questioning.
“You’ve told me before that you can tell birds apart by their smells.”
“I guess I did kind of guess what it was. I didn’t really see it other than its silhouette. But it was definitely a barred owl.”
“Which you could tell from smelling it,” Amanda said, a hint of teasing in her voice. “Weirdo.”
“Whatever,” Callie responded, focusing back on the pendant. It was shaped like a crescent moon, but there seemed to be more to it, hidden under the tarnish. She opened the can of polish, then slid the pendant from the chain and passed the chain to Amanda.
“Yeah, it’s silver,” Amanda said. She grabbed a bit of wadding from the can of metal polish and began working on the chain. “So, the owl just dropped it?”
“Yeah,” Callie said. “Right at my feet.”
Callie polished the pendant, revealing more moment by moment. She folded the wadding over on itself multiple times, finding a clean bit to use while being as economical as she could with the material. Very gradually, the whole image began to take shape.
“Is that a sapphire?” Amanda asked, her eyes wide open looking at the pendant in Callie’s hands.
“I think so,” Callie said. “Wonder if it’s real?”
Amanda went to the cupboard by the sink and returned with a soft, white tea towel, which she handed to her sister.
“Thanks,” Callie said.
When she was finished polishing the pendant, she was astonished at its simple, but intricate design. It was a gleaming silver crescent moon in an open circle with its points almost touching, nearly completing the circle. Cradled in the moon’s open center was a beautiful sparkling blue sapphire looking like a dusky evening sky.
Amanda rummaged in the junk drawer and returned to the table with a magnifying lens left over from a broken magnifying glass, handing it to Callie.
Callie grabbed it and examined the pendant in more detail, amazed at the fine details.
“Can I look?” Amanda asked, her voice almost reverent.
“Yeah, sure,” Callie said, handing it to her.
“What have you girls got?” Mom asked, her voice breaking the spell of the moment.
“A necklace,” Callie said. “An owl just dropped it out by the shed.”
“Let me see,” Mom said, suddenly more alert than she had been in a long time.
Amanda handed over the necklace and magnifying glass.
Mom looked at it for a few seconds and said, “What on earth? An owl really dropped this in the yard? Really, Callie?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I think,” Mom said. “Wait. This can’t be.” She placed the necklace back on the tea cloth and rushed to her room. The girls heard her talking under her breath and rummaging around in her closet.
Mom returned a couple of minutes later with an old photo album. She sat down at the table and began flipping through pages. About halfway through the book she stopped and pointed.
It appeared to be a professionally made photograph, in color, but it was very old. A woman, about thirty years of age, was wearing the very same pendant, lying gracefully on her collarbone.
“Who is it?” Callie asked, her curiosity piqued.
“That’s your great-great-grandmother, Lily. My great-grandmother.” She took the photo out of the album, turning it over. A Kodachrome logo was printed on the back. “This was an amazing photograph for the time. It’s the oldest family photo we have in color. It was expensive, I know that, to have this picture done in those days.”
“What days?” Amanda asked, leaning in closer.
“1938,” Mom said, pointing to a date mark. “August 13, 1938, was the day it was developed.”
“World War II,” Amanda said, a hint of awe in her voice.
“Yes, war was brewing. Her husband, my great-grandfather, did not return from Normandy.”
“So, why did the owl have this necklace?” Callie asked, her mind racing with possibilities.
“I don’t know,” Mom said. “I believe it was a gift from her grandmother to the oldest daughter. It was a family heirloom, but it was lost somehow during the war.”
“Could it have been lost in the woods?” Amanda asked.
“I guess,” Mom said. She ran her fingers over the pendant, much to Callie’s chagrin. She’d have to polish it again.
“It should go to you,” Mom said, looking at Callie with a mix of pride and sadness. “If it had stayed in the family, I would have given it to you when you turned sixteen.”
“But you were the oldest daughter too,” Callie said, her voice softening.
“Yes, but you’re over sixteen now. It’s yours to keep until, someday, you have a daughter turn sixteen.”
Amanda looked at it in wonder, smiling at her sister. “It’s very pretty, and I agree. It belongs to you.”
Callie wasn’t much of a jewelry kind of person. She had a few pieces, including some pretty opals Daddy had bought her when she was twelve. But she’d never owned a necklace before.
“Try it on!” Amanda said, glee written all over her face.
“I just don’t understand where it could have gone!” Mom said. “It’s been lost for something like, I don’t know, like eighty-five years. How is that even possible?”
“Maybe it just looks like it?” Callie said, her voice uncertain.
“But it’s real silver,” Amanda said. “Definitely old.”
“Here’s the other thing,” Mom said, looking at it through the magnifying glass again. “I don’t see a single scratch on it. It looks brand new. Maybe it is just a duplicate, but it’s uncanny. The original one has to be over a hundred years old.”
She put the glass down, picked up the necklace and said, “Turn around.”
Callie did and watched it settle onto her own collarbone, just like in the photograph. Mom clasped it for Callie and said, “You know, you look an awful lot like her. Same green eyes.”
Callie looked down and it all felt familiar again, as if she were seeing the strange figure in the forest again. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought, but it crept back into her mind. Could it have been something like the ghost of her great-great-grandmother come to visit her? Shouldn’t that frighten her?
But she felt no sense of foreboding. Somehow, Callie felt wonderful wearing the necklace. She had expected to feel the weight of generations fall on her neck. But instead, it felt almost like generations were lifting her up.
“Where did the owl drop it?” Amanda asked.
“Out by the shed,” Callie said.
“Show me?” Amanda asked.
“Uh, it’s cold.”
“It’s Maine. Of course it’s cold,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes.
They donned their jackets, left the house, and walked over to the shed. It was easier to see now than it had been when she’d finished her work on the coop. The moon had risen, and it was dazzling, practically like daylight.
“Weird night,” Callie said, her breath visible in the frosty air.
“Yeah,” Amanda said. “It’s so dark, even with the moon.”
“Dark?” Callie asked. “I was just going to say the opposite.”
“Where was it?” Amanda asked.
“Right here,” Callie said, pointing.
“Okay,” Amanda said. “Fess up. Where did you find the necklace? Was it in the shed or something?”
“I’m not lying,” Callie said. “An owl literally dropped it, right here.” She walked back over to the spot where she had been standing.
Amanda caught her breath, looking back at Callie. “What the heck?” she said. “It’s glowing!”
Callie looked down and there did seem to be a faint light coming from the stone. “It’s just reflecting the moon, silly,” Callie said. “It’s very bright out.”
“No, it literally is not,” Amanda said. “That’s coming from the necklace. From. The. Necklace.”
Callie reached behind her neck with both hands, found the clasp and opened it, intending to take a closer look at the stone. Immediately, darkness closed around her and the pale moon gave insufficient light to the land. It was as if someone had suddenly turned off a light switch, leaving behind just a night light.
“It’s gone!” Amanda said. “The glow. It’s gone.”
“It got dark,” Callie said.
“Yeah, that’s what I mean. The stone is dark.”
“No, silly. The sky is dark,” Callie said.
“What the heck are you talking about?” Amanda asked, a mix of confusion and curiosity in her voice.
“The sky literally got darker,” Callie said.
“When you took it off? At the same time that the stone stopped glowing?”
Callie re-clasped the necklace again and as it settled on her collarbone, it was as if someone removed sunglasses from her face and she could see all the way to the mailbox as if it was still a half hour before sunset.
“What is even going on?” Callie asked herself. She took the necklace off, the glow from the stone disappeared, and she was plunged back into darkness. She tried it several times. As soon as the pendant landed on her collarbone, she saw brilliantly well. When she took it off, it was nighttime again with the pale moon barely making shadows.
“Here,” Callie said. “Try it on so you can see what I’m seeing.”
Amanda did, but the stone did not glow, and her vision did not change.
They both stared at each other, the weight of the discovery hanging heavily between them.
“What the—?” Amanda asked but did not finish the question.
“I know,” Callie said, her voice filled with a mix of wonder and apprehension.
Stephen B. Anthony is the author of Transmigrant, an epic science fiction thriller, available on both Amazon and Audible. The first seven chapters are available on this website for free.
Oooh I’m so curious what the necklace is!