A Bit of Art & Fiction

Belle’s mother decided to fly into town after Belle told her about Fiona’s necklace and all of the mystery surrounding it. Juanita had been a private detective when she was in her twenties, and when Belle asked her mother if she knew anything about it, Juanita suggested that they talk about it in person. 

Belle was going to book the flight, but her mother insisted on having her husband fly her in. He ran the commune in California that Belle had lived in for a few years, and he did so much traveling that he purchased his own plane. It seemed hard to believe that someone who made their own clothes and grew their own food would own such a gas guzzler, but that’s how it was.

It turned out that Belle was busy the day they arrived so she asked me to pick them up at the airstrip. The plane was a bit of an eyesore, if you ask me, but it was unique and it was certainly easy to spot. It suddenly occurred to me why Belle came back the way she did – with her wild “hippy style.”  When the plane approached, it looked as though a psychedelic 60’s poster had been caught in the wind and was now soaring through the clouds. 

Juanita was a beauty. She looked like an older version of Belle, but she was more mature and extremely proper. Her husband, Beau, was exactly what you’d expect given his history and the appearance of his plane. His hair and beard were both long and wavy, and they were lightly sprinkled with gray. His skin was tan and a little too leathery, and when he stood beside Juanita she looked as pale as a ghost.

It was hard to imagine the two of them as a couple, but love is like that and Beau seemed like a really nice guy. Juanita was far less friendly, and very abrupt. Rude, actually. Before she even said hello she started interrogating me to find out what I knew about Fiona and her necklace.

It seemed obvious then why Belle was the way she was. Loneliness was still on the table, or at least a part of the equation, but it was clear that she had inherited her inquisitive nature from her mother.

Beau stayed silent during the drive, and Juanita never stopped talking. It seemed strange to me that these women cared so much about Fiona and her necklace, and all I could do was wonder why such a thing even mattered to them. As I said before, it was just a cheap piece of jewelry.

What I came to realize was that the mystery didn’t involve the necklace itself. What Belle, her mother – and everyone else in town for that matter – really wanted to know was who had given it to her, and why this person was not only special to Fiona, but a secret to everyone else.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Well, this one took so long that my word of the days are becoming the words of “yesterday.” That’s ok though. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up to speed as the story gets moving. So far it seems we still don’t know much!

Anyway, it’s late so I need to go on to other things… sleep for one… but I wanted to say that I did my combo again because these projects are really fun. This one was centered around the photo of the hat, which a proper women might wear to cover her head. Ha-ha! I have a baseball cap, does that count?

Thanks for reading part three of my story, and – as always – I hope you enjoyed!

Until later,
-Janet

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Word of the Day challenge: Flight

The Daily Spur Word Prompt: Proper

If you’d like to read the beginning, here are links:
Part One I Part Two