The Necklace

Words have power

The land was his.

It always had been.

It had belonged to his family for generations.

Pre-Revolution.

Colonial.

The house, however, was hers.

As a wedding gift, constructed in her honor with the legal documentation to prove it was hers.

It was beautiful.

It was elegant.

It had more rooms than she knew what to do with.

The views were stunning.

But she hated it.

Mary was a city girl.

Richmond.

Being so far from people, parties, society, fine dining, and gossip was a kind of torture she could not abide.

The trees were lovely, but they knew nothing of the latest fashions in Paris and London or who was courting who.

Mary was not blind. She knew the real purpose of the home, whoever owned it, was to show off to her husband’s friends and business partners.

“Look at me. I built a big house!”

“Look at me. So and so imported from Italy!”

“Look at me. In the middle of nowhere so it cost more!”

On the rare occasion they did host a ball, she found some peace, but was so woefully behind on the rumors and gossip she had once been the center of was almost worse than not knowing at all.

“Did you hear that so and so was seen walking with so and so?”

“NO! NO I did not! I’ve been trapped here a million miles away!”

Those were private thoughts. She never spoke them out loud.

Or at least she hadn’t intended to.

The latest ball, some sort of harvest affair her husband thought up, was as you would expect.

Fine food.

Dancing.

Her husband smoking cigars in the parlor with other men who were also smoking cigars.

The women who had been her friends did not know how to talk to her anymore, nor she with them.

Mary was miserable.

A woman approached, older. Her dress was not as fancy at most, but it was acceptable. Mary did not know her. Perhaps she was a local woman.

“Are you the lady of the house,” she asked?

“I am.”

“You do not seem pleased. You have wealth. You have beauty. How can that be?”

It was no business of the older woman’s, but Mary was alone. She answered her.

She told her how she missed the city, the people, the parties, the gossip.

The older woman nodded.

“I can help, but there will be a cost.”

Mary should have been offended, but she looked around. Her husband was getting on without him. Her old friends were getting on without her. It was like she was invisible.

“How?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Never you mind how,” the older woman scolded. “I have my ways.”

The woman’s confidence lured Mary in.

“If I was interested...”

Mary was.

“What would I have to do?”

The older held out her arm and a simple, silver necklace with a blue gem dangled loosely from her fingers.

“Take this. Whisper your desire into the gem, then put it around your neck. That is all.”

Mary laughed.

“What? Like magic? Oh, I don’t believe in that.”

Mary was about to turn to leave, but suddenly the older woman became smaller and younger and more delicate than she had been.

Before Mary stood a girl roughly half her age.
“It’s lucky for you,” the girl said, “that magic believes in you.”

Mary took the necklace at once.

“So, I just make a wish to the necklace and that’s it?”

The girl nodded, “be sure to think about...”

But Mary didn’t listen. She closed her eyes, held the necklace to her lips and made her wish.

“... what you say. Words have power.”

The girl shrugged her shoulders when she saw that Mary had not waited for her warning.

“Now all that’s left is to put the necklace on and your words will become true.”

Mary eagerly unclasped the necklace and placed it around her neck.

She couldn’t wait to be in the city again. To be at balls and parties. To hear the gossip.

The necklace snapped in place beneath her hair. She felt suddenly very tired.

The girl smiled and told Mary that she should go to sleep.

“When you wake you will have your wish.”

Mary didn’t even bother to say goodbye or goodnight to her guests. She went straight to her room and was asleep the very second her head touched the pillow.

“Get up, girl. The day’s begun.”

Mary knew that voice. It was Vera, her lady’s maid. She hadn’t seen Vera in so long.

It happened! Her wish truly came true!

With her eyes closes Mary could hear the horses and shouting and people outside her window.

The city! She was back!

The covers were pulled off of her.

Vera had never been so rough. Or maybe she had and Mary had forgotten.

“Out of bed, girl. I won’t ask you again.”

Mary opened her eyes.

Something wasn’t right!

This wasn’t her room. It was... plain. Small.

She looked down and was shocked to see a plain cotton nightgown. It was nothing so fancy as what she used to wear.

Vera yanked Mary’s arm and pulled her from the bed.

“There’s work to do. You’re not to be lazing about all day.

Mary fell to the floor.

Before she could say a word, Vera rattled off the day’s duties. At the end, she added, “and remember we’re hosting a ball tonight. You’ll be serving drinks to the guests... the young miss is no doubt meeting eligible suitors tonight.”

Mary found herself able to do all that she was told to throughout the day. It was a strange thing. She had never done most of the tasks before but was fully able to perform them with ease.

What was stranger still was that this was HER home. The one she grew up in.

She found herself unable to complain or question anything. She just worked and worked as if she had always been a maid.

In the evening when it came time for the ball, she took her station, holding a tray of delicate champagne glasses.

After the guests had all arrived, a hush fell over the crowd.

Vera whispered, “it’s the young miss. This is her night. Big smiles!”

Mary didn’t want to smile, but she found she had no choice.

The young miss, as Vera called her, walked slowly down the stairs. At the bottom, she turned so that Mary could catch just a small glimpse of her face.

It was the girl... the one who had given her the necklace... who had been an older woman when they met.

Mary dropped her tray as glass shattered everywhere.