Status: This is my Nano story
Illusion
Chapter Five
Nothing significant happened in Ridgefield Park for two years. The carnival came and went. Darcy’s favorite magician did not come with the carnival for those two years, but she still enjoyed the changing leaves falling like snow and the music in the air. She even went to a few of the magic shows held in the big tent, although she found her preference to lie with the street magic of the booths just outside.
Elizabeth finally stopped hiding away in her office. She still couldn’t bring herself to go to the park, but at least now she could drive passed it without tearing up and cringing. This felt like a major accomplishment, but there was still something inside her that told her something about the scene that still played on repeat, just a little less often, in her head wasn’t right. Her husband’s great grandfather had heart problems, but he died of cancer. No on in Caleb Barlow’s family, that she knew of, ever died of a heart attack…until Caleb. She found herself shaking the thoughts of foul play from her mind; her husband’s insatiable curiosity could not take over her life.
Elizabeth found herself outside of the Ridgefield public library. It was an ancient two-story building made of crumbling gray stone, and occasionally when it rained the door got stuck in its frame. Down stairs appeared as it should, dusty book cases filled with even dustier books with the occasional overly read novel hidden between the dust bunnies. Upstairs was a modern marvel. Computers lined one wall while a fax machine, copier, and laser printer covered the other wall. Research books lined the cleaner shelves, along with a case of audiobooks.
She logged into one of the computers, although she didn’t know what to search for. What was going on in the small town significant enough to research? Becky Owens. Elizabeth typed the name into the search bar atop the archives page. Nothing showed up. She growled to herself before she tried the other woman’s full name. Rebecca Owens. There was a picture in the paper of a beautiful smiling baby; underneath the picture it talked about the Owens family.
Robert and Margret Owens had their second child on Wednesday, September 21, 1960. Margret gave birth to her second child, Rebecca Noel Owens. They are the proud parents of two girls, Rebecca N. Owens and Elsie O. Owens (8 years old).
Elizabeth reeled at the thought of the lonely old woman that starred in all of Darcy’s imagined fairytales having any family at all, let alone a sister. She looked deeper into the family, finding nothing but good deeds from both Robert and Margret. Stumbling upon a different article, Elizabeth gave in to her curious mind. She let her thoughts roam to Caleb’s past life, the one he had before they were a family.
On, Sunday, October 4, 1970 eighteen year old Elsie Owens disappeared from the east side of Ridgefield Park. She was playing with her little sister when she vanished, leaving her eight year old little sister to fend for herself at the Harvest Carnival for six and a half hours. Search parties will scour the park until they find signs of Miss Owens.
How could she just leave her younger sister alone at a carnival? God only knows what could have happened to that poor little girl! Elizabeth wondered to herself if that’s why Becky liked being alone on her park bench, feeding the local birds. Is that was her daughter saw, at such a young age, in Becky Owens? Sadness, loneliness, fear?
November 12, 1970: Nothing of Elise Owens has shown up in the past month. Authorities are calling off all searches for Elise Owens. Ridgefield Park has been searched from time to bottom, and no signs of struggle had been found. Police are ruling the disappearance as a ‘run-away’.
Elizabeth gasped as she read the whole article. Elsie was about to graduate high school in just a few months, she had a little sister she absolutely adored, and her parents even admitted over helping her pick out colleges. A girl with that much to lose would not just run away on the spur of the moment; she wouldn’t leave her little sister in the middle of a crowd of strangers just to vanish from her life.
“What did you know about this, Cay?” Elizabeth whispered to the computer screen.
A loud bang startled her and made her jump a little in her seat before she turned to see what caused the noise. Bending over to pick up the book he’d just dropped, a man with the most beautiful aqua colored eyes mouthed his apologies. He must’ve been new in town, or with the carnival. Elizabeth never saw him before, and she made it a point to know most of the people in town since she had a wandering teenaged daughter.
~~~
Darcy laughed as the back of her pony-tail swished in the wind and tickled the back of her neck. She never liked wearing her hair up, but she didn’t feel like trying to fix it when she woke up. The easiest thing was just pulling it back and letting it go. Clouds filled the sky as did the clean scent of rain.
Greyson finally forgave Darcy of her misguided obsession with the masked magician. The two girls walked home, glee sprawled across their features. Fall was in the air. The carnival was setting up in their usually place, the south east end of Ridgefield Park. It was hard not to notice the ginormous Ferris wheel going up, or the lilting music of the merry-go-round. Darcy learned, after her nearly sixteen years of life, that the men setting up the colorful porcelain ponies often liked to listen to the music as they screwed the adjustments together.
“I think my mom might actually go to the carnival this year,” she said over her shoulder as she avoided stepping on a huge crack in the sidewalk. Darcy had taken to moving around them as a way to cure her boredom, or maybe to focus on something other than the carnival. She found herself praying sometimes that her magician would show up again.
“I highly doubt that, but mine is letting me go on my own for once.” Greyson’s smile lingered a bit too long. She never got to go out alone; her parents always spent their time hovering.
“Opening night is going to be amazing this year! I heard they have fireworks planned.” Darcy’s focus betrayed her as the ball of her foot landed in the middle of a large crack cutting through the cement slab. She cursed under her breath while Greyson laughed.
“You are too excited about this!”
“I can’t help it,” Darcy whined. “Every year, it’s like, a little piece of my father comes back to me while the carnival is here. I don’t want to let that go.”
“Yeah,” Greyson said as she rolled her eyes. “You’re just reeling over your obsession!”
“Maybe a little.” Darcy grinned and dodged a playful slap from her best friend. She stuck her tongue out before she began running away. Greyson giggled as she chased her friend.
Neither of the girls noticed Elizabeth Barlow’s car as they passed the public library, nor did they notice the man with the aqua colored eyes watching them carefully as they ran.
Elizabeth finally stopped hiding away in her office. She still couldn’t bring herself to go to the park, but at least now she could drive passed it without tearing up and cringing. This felt like a major accomplishment, but there was still something inside her that told her something about the scene that still played on repeat, just a little less often, in her head wasn’t right. Her husband’s great grandfather had heart problems, but he died of cancer. No on in Caleb Barlow’s family, that she knew of, ever died of a heart attack…until Caleb. She found herself shaking the thoughts of foul play from her mind; her husband’s insatiable curiosity could not take over her life.
Elizabeth found herself outside of the Ridgefield public library. It was an ancient two-story building made of crumbling gray stone, and occasionally when it rained the door got stuck in its frame. Down stairs appeared as it should, dusty book cases filled with even dustier books with the occasional overly read novel hidden between the dust bunnies. Upstairs was a modern marvel. Computers lined one wall while a fax machine, copier, and laser printer covered the other wall. Research books lined the cleaner shelves, along with a case of audiobooks.
She logged into one of the computers, although she didn’t know what to search for. What was going on in the small town significant enough to research? Becky Owens. Elizabeth typed the name into the search bar atop the archives page. Nothing showed up. She growled to herself before she tried the other woman’s full name. Rebecca Owens. There was a picture in the paper of a beautiful smiling baby; underneath the picture it talked about the Owens family.
Robert and Margret Owens had their second child on Wednesday, September 21, 1960. Margret gave birth to her second child, Rebecca Noel Owens. They are the proud parents of two girls, Rebecca N. Owens and Elsie O. Owens (8 years old).
Elizabeth reeled at the thought of the lonely old woman that starred in all of Darcy’s imagined fairytales having any family at all, let alone a sister. She looked deeper into the family, finding nothing but good deeds from both Robert and Margret. Stumbling upon a different article, Elizabeth gave in to her curious mind. She let her thoughts roam to Caleb’s past life, the one he had before they were a family.
On, Sunday, October 4, 1970 eighteen year old Elsie Owens disappeared from the east side of Ridgefield Park. She was playing with her little sister when she vanished, leaving her eight year old little sister to fend for herself at the Harvest Carnival for six and a half hours. Search parties will scour the park until they find signs of Miss Owens.
How could she just leave her younger sister alone at a carnival? God only knows what could have happened to that poor little girl! Elizabeth wondered to herself if that’s why Becky liked being alone on her park bench, feeding the local birds. Is that was her daughter saw, at such a young age, in Becky Owens? Sadness, loneliness, fear?
November 12, 1970: Nothing of Elise Owens has shown up in the past month. Authorities are calling off all searches for Elise Owens. Ridgefield Park has been searched from time to bottom, and no signs of struggle had been found. Police are ruling the disappearance as a ‘run-away’.
Elizabeth gasped as she read the whole article. Elsie was about to graduate high school in just a few months, she had a little sister she absolutely adored, and her parents even admitted over helping her pick out colleges. A girl with that much to lose would not just run away on the spur of the moment; she wouldn’t leave her little sister in the middle of a crowd of strangers just to vanish from her life.
“What did you know about this, Cay?” Elizabeth whispered to the computer screen.
A loud bang startled her and made her jump a little in her seat before she turned to see what caused the noise. Bending over to pick up the book he’d just dropped, a man with the most beautiful aqua colored eyes mouthed his apologies. He must’ve been new in town, or with the carnival. Elizabeth never saw him before, and she made it a point to know most of the people in town since she had a wandering teenaged daughter.
~~~
Darcy laughed as the back of her pony-tail swished in the wind and tickled the back of her neck. She never liked wearing her hair up, but she didn’t feel like trying to fix it when she woke up. The easiest thing was just pulling it back and letting it go. Clouds filled the sky as did the clean scent of rain.
Greyson finally forgave Darcy of her misguided obsession with the masked magician. The two girls walked home, glee sprawled across their features. Fall was in the air. The carnival was setting up in their usually place, the south east end of Ridgefield Park. It was hard not to notice the ginormous Ferris wheel going up, or the lilting music of the merry-go-round. Darcy learned, after her nearly sixteen years of life, that the men setting up the colorful porcelain ponies often liked to listen to the music as they screwed the adjustments together.
“I think my mom might actually go to the carnival this year,” she said over her shoulder as she avoided stepping on a huge crack in the sidewalk. Darcy had taken to moving around them as a way to cure her boredom, or maybe to focus on something other than the carnival. She found herself praying sometimes that her magician would show up again.
“I highly doubt that, but mine is letting me go on my own for once.” Greyson’s smile lingered a bit too long. She never got to go out alone; her parents always spent their time hovering.
“Opening night is going to be amazing this year! I heard they have fireworks planned.” Darcy’s focus betrayed her as the ball of her foot landed in the middle of a large crack cutting through the cement slab. She cursed under her breath while Greyson laughed.
“You are too excited about this!”
“I can’t help it,” Darcy whined. “Every year, it’s like, a little piece of my father comes back to me while the carnival is here. I don’t want to let that go.”
“Yeah,” Greyson said as she rolled her eyes. “You’re just reeling over your obsession!”
“Maybe a little.” Darcy grinned and dodged a playful slap from her best friend. She stuck her tongue out before she began running away. Greyson giggled as she chased her friend.
Neither of the girls noticed Elizabeth Barlow’s car as they passed the public library, nor did they notice the man with the aqua colored eyes watching them carefully as they ran.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thanks for reading :)