The Road Trip Series
by Cher

Journey's End - Part 3

"He's saying that Alexis's Mother is alive."

Luke shook his head very slowly. "No way no how, Doc. Allow me to recap for all of you folks who appear to have misplaced your brain matter. Natasha watched her Mother die and couldn't stop it. It's what made her go all mental MIA since she was a kid. Not to mention Mrs. L here spent some quality time with Mom's body. Hell, she started this whole treasure hunt by telling us about draping that cursed necklace around the diva's neck."

A thought suddenly crossed his mind and he prayed it was just his natural suspicion doing what it does best. He looked very deliberately at Mrs. Lansbury and asked with deceptive softness, "Unless, of course, you've been playin' possum with us."

They focused their attention on the older woman. She struggled to maintain her composure as she shifted Kristina in her arms.

"Yuri Mironov is an old man gone mad with grief and believes what he chooses. Mr. Spencer, what possible reason would I have to lie to Miss Alexis?"

Alexis raised a hand to speak but was ignored as Luke mercilessly continued his interrogation.

"That's an interesting question. Seems to me you got awfully chummy with Tash here around the same time Helena started playing with her head. You've served that infernal family since the beginning of time. Lady, just whose side are you on?"

The old woman didn't like the course the conversation was taking. She'd always despised interfering interlopers and Spencer was one of the worst. She would never forgive his part in the destruction of the family she had come to call her own. His only redeeming quality was sincerely caring for Miss Alexis, the only thing standing between him and an untimely but much deserved end.

"Are you insinuating Mr. Spencer that I work for Helena Cassadine?"

Luke held his ground. "What I am questioning is your tale about the diva's final swan song since the old man seems convinced she's alive. We've seen it happen before… Katharine Bell, Stavros…has Blondie the Cassadine Alchemist been working her voodoo again?"

Alexis had enough and snapped, "Stop badgering her, Luke! I saw my Mother die. I am quite satisfied whose side Mrs. Lansbury is on as it is and always has been mine. Let's just move on."

Mrs. Lansbury looked to her gratefully but Jerry, more disturbed by the minute, chimed in, "But how can you be so certain, Lex? Helena has spies. What makes you so certain that Mrs. Lansbury isn't one of them?"

Cameron had purposely kept out of the fray. He knew of Mrs. Lansbury's relationship with Mikkos and Kristin and her guardian role with Alexis but the others did not and he could see how their suspicions about her motives would be aroused by the old man's claims. But this was Alexis's story to tell not his and all he could do was try to keep them on course until she felt ready to share it.

"Luke, your life is ruled by suspicion and I assume given your various… predilections… Jerry yours is too. I think we have to trust Alexis. She is satisfied that Mrs. Lansbury has not been leading us down the garden path and that works for me."

The warmth in Alexis's eyes as she gazed at Cameron matched the gratitude in her thankful heart. "I know Mrs. Lansbury is telling the truth. I saw Mama die in front of my eyes. There was so much blood Cameron, there was no way she could have survived that night."

Zander was watching Mrs. Lansbury closely. He liked the old woman, her devotion to Alexis and Kristina, but she seemed awfully distracted. He noticed the unsettled look in her eyes and it unsettled him too. He walked over and leaned down to kiss Kristina on the cheek. As he moved back, he looked into Mrs. Lansbury's eyes and gently inquired, "Are you alright? You seem nervous."

She looked at Zander, his eyes full of earnest concern. She knew all Miss Alexis had done to save this young man and the deep bond those sacrifices built between them. He was like a son to her and she trusted him. She could do no less.

She whispered, "Would you please take the little one out into the garden? I need to speak of some things that a child's ears should not hear."

He looked at the uncertainty in her eyes and nodded as he took Kristina into his arms. "You need to be honest. I trust that you love Alexis and wouldn't hurt her but if you are hiding anything, it will eventually come out and from experience I can tell you it will blow up in your face. Alexis is strong and can face anything. Don't hold back."

He walked out the door as his Father's eyes followed him. He noticed the intense conversation between his son and the housekeeper and wondered.

The old woman's throat was dry as she swallowed and stiffened her spine. "Miss Alexis, Mr. Spencer is correct. I have not been totally honest with you. If you'll allow, I will remedy that now."

Alexis was suddenly very afraid. The old man had sparked a hope within her despite what she had seen that night long ago when the world she loved crumbled into shards around her, a fate shared by her Mother's beloved crystal rose. But hope is often a fickle companion, whispering desires that lure hearts to dance and dream even as it flees laughing at human gullibility, of dreams that evaporate into the mists of never, the empty resting place of wounded hearts left once again to beat alone. She'd lost so much hope over the last few years that her heart no longer heard the whispers or even longed to dance.

She nodded as Mrs. Lansbury gestured for them to follow. They walked through the main hall and down the corridor, its walls covered ceiling to floor with tapestries woven by the silken threads of history. Alexis knew where they were headed and her chilled hand unconsciously locked with Cameron's.

"Alexis?" he inquired as he stroked her palm with his thumb.

"I feel like the house is…"

She stopped mid-sentence as they approached a set of massive oak double doors and the old woman stopped and turned around. She took Alexis's hand and stared into her eyes, a question resting there awaiting her answer. Alexis reluctantly nodded as the woman touched her cheek, turned on her heel and pushed open the doors.

Cameron's eyes blinked as the light from the lamps illuminated the path before them. The furniture was draped with old browning cloths, a musty wave of dust motes sparked in the soft lamplight as the fresh air from the hall released them from their linen prison. Blue silk damask covered the walls, its intricate embossed pattern long since faded and pockmarked by age, and draperies in a darker hue slumped from their perch high above the room, the rich brocade material leaden with decades of dust and grime. Most of the paintings that once dotted the walls were now missing and what remained was a nondescript landscape or two. An elegant piano stood regally in the corner next to a bank of boarded windows he instinctively knew would overlook the lake. He ran his finger across a table, Chippendale if he was any judge, holding curios and pieces of bric-a-brac, nothing of exceptional interest or of value. He assumed that what was valuable had been removed, either by Mikkos or by thieves as years passed. He lifted his lamp and its light caught the edge of something hidden beneath a large cloth on a table opposite the piano. He walked over, lifted the material and found a gramophone like those he'd seen in old movies. His mind imagined evenings in this room, family times filled with bubbling laughter and music and happiness, all sacrificed upon the whims of one jealous psychotic woman. His heart shed tears for the loss of innocence, of family and the childhood denied the woman who deserved so much more.

He heard murmurs and noticed Luke and Jerry deep in conversation on the other side of the room. Mrs. Lansbury, hands braced on the fireplace mantle, was gazing down at what remained of the ashes of time, as if answers awaited her in their long- extinguished mounds. His eyes searched for Alexis and finally caught sight of her in the shadows near the doors.

"Alexis."

She didn't respond and as he started to walk over, she glided slowly forward tilting her head as her brown eyes riveted on the middle of the floor. He saw her expression transform as thunderheads encroached upon the fair sky of her face and grimace as her knuckles clutched the edge of a wingchair for support.

He was confused and saw Mrs. Lansbury also watching her. She gazed up at him with eyes burdened by grief.

"What's happening?" he whispered as he continued to watch Alexis.

The old woman grasped his arm as she answered, "She's remembering."

* * *

"You stay away from Mikkos!"

"HE doesn't want you… he wants to be with us!"

"I heard Mikkos on the telephone with you… something about another baby you intend to keep secret from me. Is this your pathetic little way of bribing Mikkos out of his fortune? Becoming pregnant with another bastard child?"

"Mikkos said you knew nothing about love. He was right. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see the last look on the face of the tramp who tried to defile my home."

"Get out … or I will call Mikkos!"

"You won't call anyone!"

"Leave my Mother alone!"

* * *

A knife gleamed in the dusky room and her mind saw her Mother fall slowly to the ground, her arm carelessly knocking the crystal rose from the table as she reached out blindly in shock and agonizing pain. Her Mother's words replayed in her heart again and again, her acte final as it was the last time her soft, musical voice touched the world. Loss painfully sliced into her as she stared at the flagstone floor, a place of innocence where so many nights she and her Papa played games as her Mother played piano and sang for them. She could now pinpoint the exact moment her innocence was lost forever, point even to the exact stone her Mother stood upon as she faced down the harridan that invaded their home and threatened their lives. She knew she was disobeying but some purpose drove her back into the house that night, a night when the servants were off and it was to be only the three of them. She walked over to the stone, dropped to her knees and leaned close, the clammy hand of death reaching out even now to claw at her heart. Her fingers grazed it gently as if to brush away the droplets of blood imprisoned within its finely textured surface, a lingering patina of death never to fade until eternity falls away.

But nothing would brush away the pain from her heart, a pain that pulsed with life between the walls of this house.

"Alexis?"

The voice was muffled and as she tilted her head to catch its inflection a hand touched her cheek and she sighed.

"Alexis… come back to me."

She brought her fingertips to her lips and leaned forward one more time to touch the stone in farewell.

She gazed up with reddened eyes as she grasped Cameron's hand and pulled him down beside her. "This is where it happened, Cameron. She fell here and died."

He reached out reverently to touch the stone and found the warmth of its surface at odds with the chilliness of the room, as if the blood spilled upon its surface long ago suffused it with heat. He was about to reply when Mrs. Lansbury walked over and took Alexis's other hand in hers.

"And that, Miss Alexis, is what I haven't been honest about with you. But returning to this house, a place I hoped you would never need face again, has made me realize I was wrong to keep it from you. I was only trying to protect you."

Luke piped up, "Ok… enough smoke and mirrors. Protect her from what?"

She sighed and squeezed Alexis's hand.

"The fact that Miss Kristin did not die that night."

* * *

The words echoed in the dusky room, their meaning brushing upon bruised hearts and cynical minds as time stilled and waited in breathless confusion and fear.

Alexis felt a whooshing in her ears and fell back against Cameron.

"Yuri was right? My Mother is alive?" she asked suddenly hopeful yet terrified.

A tear escaped and trailed down the old woman's face. "No, my child, you misunderstand me. What I'm saying is Miss Kristin did not die THAT night. She survived in and out of consciousness for several days but her fate was sealed."

Luke thundered, "So that maudlin story about your coming here with Mikkos to mourn a dead body, his grief… it was a lie?"

"Not a lie, Mr. Spencer. All of it was true except the knowledge that she survived for a short period after the attack. We felt it necessary to protect Miss Alexis…"

Jerry sharply inquired, "Who felt?"

"Mr. Mikkos and myself. We believed it would only hurt her to know that her Mother clung to life and she was unable to say goodbye. And there was the other concern that Helena would return to wreak more havoc and you were in no condition…"

Cameron was livid. "You don't think this hurts her now? She trusted you to tell her the complete truth… we all did."

Alexis felt his anger. She touched his cheek and shook her head as her eyes spoke her appreciation but also her need to deal with it in her own way. She smiled bleakly into the face of the man she knew would always defend her and never allow her to stand alone. That alone gave her the courage to face whatever truths their journey uncovered.

She turned sadly to her Father's friend. "But it does hurt, Mrs. Lansbury, to find that a truth you believe is false and a person you trust kept the knowledge of that truth secret. I need to know what happened that night and the days that followed. You owe it to me… and to both Kristinas."

She nodded sadly. "Aye, Miss Alexis that I do."

"Well folks this room is giving me the willies so I suggest we move any further discussion back to the living room," Jerry said with a pronounced shudder.

They nodded their assent and moved to the door. Cameron and Alexis walked hand in hand but as they reached the door Alexis turned back.

Cameron looked at her speculatively. "Is everything alright?"

"Is that a trick question?" she muttered sarcastically, a bit of her usual spirit showing as her eyes fixed on the room.

"You look like you are trying to solve the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle in less than five minutes."

"Still jealous I can finish under 15 minutes, huh?"

He sighed in defeat. "No but since you like the fantasy of believing that be my guest. Now seriously…"

"I had a flash of…" she replied uncertainly as she looked again around the room, her eyes touching upon the curios on the table. She walked over and picked up a small woodcut. A landscape was etched into the wood, trees bordering a stream that wound into the distance under a sky filled with ribbons of clouds, their curved edges billowing like curtains on a windy day. It was not very impressive but her eye was drawn to its primitive simplicity.

"More memories of that night?" he asked, his hand rubbing her back in gentle circles as he looked at the etching.

"It was a memory but not that night. Something… I don't know…just out of reach," she murmured as her fingertip traced the clouds.

"Perhaps it will come back when you don't try so hard."

She placed the woodcut back on the table and reached up with her hands and pulled him into a deep kiss. She wound her hands into the curls of his hair and kissed him for what seemed a blissful eternity but in truth was only a handful of seconds.

He leaned back and smiled. "Hey, what was that for? Not that I mind but…"

She pressed her fingertips to his lips. "Because your loving me is making the difference and every now and again I want you to know that."

He caressed her cheek. "I do know. Let's go and see what truths the good housekeeper is revealing today."

* * *

They sat around the main living room nervously awaiting the story the old woman had to tell. Luke and Jerry had removed the boards from the front windows allowing daylight to streak into the room, its dancing light only magnifying the aching emptiness that haunted its walls.

Mrs. Lansbury finally spoke. "What was the last thing you remember, Miss Alexis?"

Alexis sucked her lower lip between her teeth as she relived that moment again, the angry voices battling inside her mind. "I came back from the stables and Helena was threatening Mama. Mama told her to get out or she would call my father. Helena said she wouldn't be calling anyone and that was when I saw her pull out the knife and move toward Mama. I shouted that she should leave her alone and then I saw a flash as the knife cut across Mama's throat and she started to fall. Her hand reached out, the crystal rose fell and the sapphire necklace she was wearing dropped from her throat to the ground. Helena reached down and picked up the necklace as she ran from the room. I ran to Mama and held her."

"You remember nothing else?"

"Just flashes… slipping on the mud as I ran back to the stables… finding Kristina missing… being carried in someone's arms… linen sheets that smelled of lavender… voices murmuring…and then nothing more until I was on the Island."

The old woman leaned back against the cushions of the couch. "Vicar Marsden was driving Magda home when a car passed them on the road. No one was expected at the house and Magda didn't know the car but caught a glimpse of the woman inside and recognized Helena. They rushed to the house and found your Mother unconscious but alive and losing a great deal of blood. The doctor was summoned and a call placed to Mister Mikkos who immediately told me what had happened and we left for England. You and Kristina were missing but Magda wasn't concerned because you had been taught to take your sister and find Yuri if anything happened. The Vicar was trying to make your Mother more comfortable when he noticed a track of small muddy footprints leading to the terrace doors and called to Magda. She ran to the stables and found you sitting in a stall gripping your sister's stuffed pony in your hand. She called for Yuri and looked for your sister but they were both gone. She called to you again and again but you would not respond. She brought you back to your room and sat with you until the doctor arrived. He managed to stabilize your Mama but said it was only a matter of time and moving her to a hospital would only hasten her death."

She looked over at Alexis and back down at her hands as she continued, "You had totally withdrawn into yourself, had become almost catatonic. When your Papa arrived, he moved your Mama to her room and came to see you. As long as I draw breath I will never forget the terrible expression on his face when you did not recognize or respond to him. He rocked you for a long time in his arms and cried. I had never before seen him so lost and alone, not even the long ago day I saved him."

Tears flowed down Alexis's cheeks as she struggled to touch the memories her mind still hid away. As much as she longed for it, she could not remember that moment with her Father but her heart recalled the gentle way he used to hold her and so she reached out to grasp that tactile memory and merge it with the one that eluded her. A distant echo of protective warmth and salty tears fought its way up from imprisonment only to be forced down again by her mind.

Alexis wrapped her arms around her body. "What happened after that?"

"The Vicar convinced him that Rosewood was no place for you, that he needed to be with your Mother and spend whatever time was left to them and it would be best for you to go with him. Your Father had lost so much and did not want to be parted from you. After a great deal of angry discussion, he finally agreed to allow the Vicar to take you to the vicarage. You stayed at the vicarage watched over by your Father's bodyguards and the Vicar until your Mother passed away and your Father made arrangements for you to come to Greece. And you know the rest, sad tale that it is."

"What happened the day she died?" Alexis whispered softly.

"All the terrible days since the attack, Mr. Mikkos never left her side except to speak with the Vicar about you. That day he asked me to sit with her while he met with some men who had arrived earlier that morning."

Cameron interrupted to ask, "Men?"

"Many men had come and gone in those horrible days, Doctor. Many I knew, many I did not. Mr. Mikkos returned and dismissed me saying that he wanted to be alone with her. I went belowstairs to the kitchen and an hour later Magda came to inform me that Miss Kristin was dead. I was a bit taken aback. She was on a respirator and monitor and the readings were faint but had been unchanging and she certainly hadn't been in any physical distress that day. I went to her room and found Mr. Mikkos standing next to the window staring outside, one of her embroidered handkerchiefs clutched in his hand. He asked me to dress her in her favorite blue silk dress, the one he bought at Givenchy the day they found the Paris apartment. He opened a velvet box that contained three diamond necklaces, handed one to me and asked that I place it around her neck. I had never before seen these necklaces, each a single teardrop diamond with a rose embedded within."

Luke frowned. "Three necklaces?"

Alexis mused, "One for my Mother, one for me and one for Kristina. If my Mother's was buried with her, then the others must have been in the safe in Paris that Helena ransacked."

"The bait," Cameron nodded.

Mrs. Lansbury continued, "After I dressed her, Mr. Mikkos called for the men to bring up the casket. He asked me to go to the vicarage and watch over you while the Vicar came to the house to perform the burial service. As I returned to the house, I saw the two men he had met with at the house earlier in the day drive away with the casket. He met with me privately when I returned. He said Helena would not be satisfied with your Mother's death and feared she would attempt to desecrate her grave. He had therefore arranged for burial sites in a number of locations and only he, his solicitor and the two men who would prepare the gravesite, trusted employees all, would know where she truly rested. He asked that I not be offended but it was for my own protection as well as yours. He knew Helena having killed once would not hesitate to do so again. He said that Magda would see to closing the house and I was to return to Greece. I asked what was to become of you and he said that it had been, as he phrased it, negotiated with Helena that you would live on the Island. The doctors informed him the trauma left you without memory so he decided that in order to protect you from Helena, he would raise you as an orphaned niece and you would never know he was your Father. He asked that I watch over you at all times, especially so when he was not in residence for he did not trust Helena. I asked what Helena would do if you remembered what she had done to your Mother. He said he prayed you would never remember but if you did, it would be at a time and place in your life when you could defend yourself against her."

"But why wouldn't he allow me to see her?"

She looked at her sadly. "She was dying and he was afraid. He feared if you remembered that you could not save her from Helena, the pain of losing her again when she died would have truly destroyed you. You would have lost your Mother twice and he feared that any further emotional damage to your mind would be irreparable. He wasn't a doctor, Miss Alexis, he was simply a man grieving the loss of his family and he was clinging onto what was left to him before you too slipped away."

Alexis looked into the gentle eyes of the woman who gave her the truth she sought and so much more and said with some astonishment, "My Father loved me."

Mrs. Lansbury was surprised. "He loved you unconditionally until the day he died, Miss Alexis. He compromised everything he should have been in your life so you would be protected. He watched you grow never being able to hug you or praise you, secretly pleased at how brilliant and independent you were even as a child. He sacrificed you on the altar of Helena's hatred but by publicly turning his back on you he kept you alive. Privately… to me… he recounted your triumphs and your failures, his pride in the former and his heartbreak for your sadness at the latter. He loved you, Miss Alexis, you should never forget that."

"I never will."

Luke was irked by the story. He believed he knew all there was to know about the life and death of every Cassadine since the Bolsheviks chased them out of Russia and the fact he never discovered this tale annoyed him. But as he watched from a perch beneath the defaced painting of Natasha's family, he forced himself to acknowledge the truth behind that annoyance. The Mikkos Cassadine he was coming to know on this journey was not the man he despised and killed 23 years ago. This man was caught between two worlds, one of destiny and one of choice, and his choices said so much more about the man he was than what he led the world - and Luke - to believe.

Luke saluted the housekeeper. "So you've been playing guardian angel all these years. I knew there must be some reason Tash defended you so passionately. Kudos, Mrs. L, for going up against the Queen of the Damned armed only with righteousness and a kitchen spatula to defend our Natasha."

"I hold much more in my arsenal than a kitchen tool, Mr. Spencer. It would do you well to remember that."

He stared at her gentle grandmotherly demeanor and filed away the last statement. He recalled how effortlessly she wielded a pistol protecting Kristina the night of the Halloween masquerade. Yes, this old woman was not to be underestimated.

Jerry asked, "So where does this leave us? We had a history lesson but are nowhere nearer to finding out the location of Shangri-La."

Cameron glanced at Alexis. "It seems to me Alexis was right. This house has been offering up many truths and while I have no rational reason for believing, I have a feeling our answer, or at the very least the clue, is here. Mikkos Cassadine was a meticulous man…"

Luke muttered under his breath, "You have no idea."

Cameron frowned at his friend. "And if he wanted his daughter to find her past, he would find a way. I suggest we search every room for a clue."

Zander walked in with a sleeping Kristina tucked under his chin. "We are both tired playing and I want to be part of this. What are we looking for? It wouldn't be in plain sight if he was afraid Helena would find it."

Alexis nibbled her lower lip. "So far, it seems that all the clues were meant to jog my memory, that he depended on my being able to recall certain things. The legal and personal effects Sir Edwin gave me, the snowglobe, even the diamond necklaces that I now believe Helena stole from the safe in Paris. All clues unwritten except within my hidden memories. I agree with Cameron that the clue to jog my memory is here. We need to search the house and see what breadcrumbs my Father left behind."

* * *

They divided the house into quadrants and went off to search. Jerry went upstairs to search the east side of the second floor while Mrs. Lansbury and Zander took the east side of the main floor accompanied by Kristina and her portable playpen. She watched solemnly as they went about the living room, reception room, kitchen and formal dining room not knowing exactly what they were looking for but hoping they would recognize it when they found it.

Luke took the west side of the first floor searching the room where Alexis's Mother was attacked, the conservatory, library, finally ending up in a small ballroom that also served as an art gallery. He stalked the perimeter of the room staring at the portraits and landscapes, the priceless intermingled with the commonplace, and he thought about the canvases missing from the family room. The portraits here were untouched with none missing and each nestled in their own private recessed nook bounded by archways inlaid with carved wood. It was stately and elegant and lacking in one very important item - accumulated dust.

"Now that's weird," Luke muttered as he continued to putter about the room.

Alexis and Cameron were searching through the upper west half of the house. They'd scanned the nursery and the two guest suites, scrutinized Alexis's suite with its cheery furniture and playroom and found nothing but old memories and years of dust. They reached the last door and Cameron moved to open it.

"NO!" she snapped.

He snatched his hand back as if from an open flame. "What's wrong?"

She bit her lip as she stared at the oak door. "It was Mama's room."

"You don't have to go in there…" he said gently.

She frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Being in this house has stirred old memories. I haven't been in this room since the day she di… was attacked."

"Maybe I should go in myself…" he ventured.

She straightened her shoulders and grasped the doorknob. "No, I need to face my demons, Cameron, so I can conquer them. You taught me that. If my Father was sending me a message, it could very well be in this room. I spent a great deal of time here as a child."

She turned the knob and walked into a room where time stood still awaiting the return of its owner. The antique furniture and crème carpet with the Delft blue edging were dust-free and oddly fresh in this airless room. The room was dominated by a painting of her Mother dressed in the Grecian style, the white silk of her gown flowing about her as she smiled enigmatically, her arms opened in welcome as she stood on the dunes overlooking the sea.

Cameron exhaled a breath at the purest beauty he'd ever seen. "She looks like a painting I once saw of the birth of the Goddess Aphrodite as she arose from the sea."

Alexis smiled her agreement as she walked over to the vanity, her hands lightly brushing her Mother's collection of Egyptian perfume bottles, their contents crystallized by time. She lifted the amethyst bottle, its delicate spun glass neck hand-painted with gold scrollwork, and removed the stopper. Her Mother's perfume wafted up placing an airy comforting hand upon her heart.

Cameron glanced around the room. "Someone has been keeping this room clean. Yuri maybe?"

"Or someone else. And nothing has been disturbed so either Helena has never come into this room or she decided it was bad luck to deface it."

She continued to circle the room, touching her Mother's silver hairbrush recalling the feel of the bristles as her Mother brushed her long dark hair. Her eyes savored the memories as they fell upon all that was her Mother. Suddenly she stopped and looked around the room.

"What's wrong?"

"Everything is as I remember it but the wishkeeper is missing," she replied as she searched through the armoire and dresser drawers.

"What is a wishkeeper?"

She smiled at the memory. "It was a gift from my Father, an ancient Far Eastern custom. You write down your wish on a scroll and place it in a covered jar for safekeeping until the wish comes true. We used to write our wishes down all the time and she always kept it on the vanity."

"Maybe someone moved it," he replied as he looked around.

"But everything else is as it was. No…wait a minute…just maybe…" she murmured disappearing into the walk-in closet. He soon heard a THUMP! and a muffled curse.

He peeked into the closet. "Are you ok in there?"

"Yes, I forgot the lever was hidden by some hat boxes," she said excitedly.

"Lever?"

She walked out of the closet holding a sage green ceramic jar, its front inlaid with gold Chinese symbols and a lid tied with straw. She placed it on the vanity and gently lifted the lid. Inside the jar was a small raised basket that held a scroll and two small gold poesy rings.

Cameron picked up a ring and held it to the lamp. "Pour toujours mon coeur par l'éternité. Your French is much better than mine. Would you mind translating?"

"Forever my heart through eternity."

Cameron gazed at the matching rings, one for a man and one for a woman. "A very beautiful sentiment I completely understand having met and fallen in love with the daughter born of that great eternal love."

Alexis smiled at him shyly as she unfurled the scroll. She squinted as she lifted it to the light and read aloud.

"Le compte vient au coût terrible au coeur de lion's sont les vérités que nous avons perdues."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that would mean?"

She furrowed her brow in thought. "Reckoning comes at terrible cost; in the lion's heart are the truths we have lost."

Cameron scratched his beard. "In the lion's heart are the truths we have lost. What could it mean?"

A flash of memory escaped the boundaries of its imprisonment and she was back in the garden playing hide-and-seek among the wildflowers with the vicar's grey tabby, King Richard, as her Mother and the Vicar had tea in the vicarage.

King Richard… the Lionheart.

Vicar Marsden, her parent's friend, the man who was there the night her Mother was attacked, the man who took care of her.

She turned to him and smiled with satisfaction.

"I know exactly what it means, Cameron. My father is sending me to the house of the Lionheart."

"And since King Richard has been dead for centuries just where would that be?"

"The vicarage of Folkestone."