Afterwards they made their way back home, Danny chatting excitably about Christmas all the way.
In the meantime, he’d also taken a keen interest in the mystery bracelet having learned all about it following their trip to Tiffany’s that morning
‘So a flower, a handbag, a feather … ’ He reached for the bracelet she’d once again been examining. ‘It really is just like yours, except the charms are different.’
‘That's a quill, Danny,’ she corrected him.
‘Really? It looks exactly like a feather to me.’
‘Well, yes, this is a feather, but the kind they used to slice the end off, so they could dip it in ink and write.’
‘Cool! I want to do that.’
Holly laughed.
‘Well, if that feather thing is used for writing, maybe she’s a writer?’ he offered.
Holly shrugged. ‘Could be.’ A highly successful one if she was carrying around charms made of platinum and diamonds she thought wryly.
‘And what’s that?’ Danny asked, pointing to a crescent-shaped object that looked a little bit like a tadpole.
Holly had been wondering about that one herself from the outset. She’d thought at first that it could be a chilli, but there was a definite wave to the design that suggested otherwise. ‘Your guess is as good as mine, honey.’
‘Well, what about these wedding bells – you think that maybe the owner of the bracelet is married?’
Holly nodded; she had already considered that, but unfortunately it didn’t open any other doors for her. After all, people got married every day, and nothing on that particular charm gave a when or a where.
‘I thought about that, but it doesn’t lead to me anything – not that I can think of, at least.’
Danny inspected further. ‘How about this one?’
Holly leaned closer to see what he was looking at. It was a horseshoe.
‘What about it?’
‘See on the back there’s some kind of stamp?’
‘Yes.’ She had taken note of that too; a series of letters and numbers, she had no idea what they meant, and just assumed it was a jeweller’s mark. ‘I saw that, but I didn’t know what to make of it.’
‘Did you run it through Google?’
‘What?’ She looked at him, feeling stupid. ‘No. Actually, the thought didn’t even occur to me.’ Leave it to her technologically savvy son to inspire a new avenue for the search.
Danny rolled his eyes in feigned disbelief. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t do that first thing … Here, let me get the computer.’ He scurried off to get Holly’s laptop and then sat down on the edge of her bed. ‘Can you read off what it says?’
Holly looked closer at the charm, and deciphered the letters and numbers. Danny’s fingers, entirely adept to a computer keyboard, quickly typed in the information and waited for the search to populate. Holly moved beside him and peered over his shoulder in curiosity as she watched her son do his magic.
‘What are you getting?’
‘Not sure, might be nothing. There’s a bunch of hits for books, library call numbers and some other stuff … ’
Holly looked at the search listings and, admittedly, it seemed like a lot of gobbledegook. A thought occurred to her. ‘Maybe it’s a date or an address? And since we know this bracelet’s home is most likely in New York, why don’t you add New York to the search terms? This might be a zip code, or … something.’ She didn’t knowwhatit could be, but she thought her suggestion was reasonable.
Apparently, so did her son, who turned around with his eyebrows raised. ‘Who are you and what did you do with my mom?’
Holly tapped him on the back of his head. ‘Enough with the wisecracks, kid.’
She watched as he turned back to the computer and typed in her suggestion.
