Greta was sitting in the stairs, holding the picture in her hands and her head leaning on the wall beside her. At the moment, no one could make anything of the mystery surrounding the key and the picture they had found. Michelle came and sat beside her, as everyone else kept looking through the many rooms of this cabin. Eric and Danny were in the master bedroom, busy looking inside a huge closet while Cassie was downstairs and Jason was searching in the living room.
Michelle and Greta sat in silence for a little while, none of them knowing the right thing to say. Was it a good thing they had done by coming here? Or had they made a huge mistake, trying to uncover a past that needed to stay burried? They didn't know anymore. The more they were looking, the worse Greta's feeling was getting. And the more they were getting closer to answers about her mother's life and death, the more it scared her. Michelle, in her beige sweat pants and deep blue t-shirt, looked at her friend and smiled.
"How...." Greta started but stopped herself before she finished her thought. "There are so many things I realize that I didn't know about my mother, like why she knew about this place and what was her connection to Danny's family...." She sighed.
"I think there is a lot more to this than we all imagined...." Michelle said finishing Greta's thought.
"I didn't mean to get you all involved in this....I know Danny probably had...." Greta started apologizing, but Michelle cut her off with a smile.
"Don't worry about Danny. You didn't get us involved in anything we didn't want to be a part of. Besides.....I think we're going to find answers about all of us here..."
"So..." Greta started looking behind her. "You're an old married woman now...." she giggled.
Michelle laughed at her remark.
"Well married yes but old...." she laughed. "I'm still younger than you by a few years!"
"You seem happy...." Greta remarked with a gentle smile. "And you deserve it. God knows you do. Although i sure thought you and Bill would have ended up together by now.....by what you had told me about him." Greta teased.
"Yeah well...." Michelle laughed. "Things didn't happen like that at all....Actually when I went back to Springfield, Bill was the last thing on my mind!" Michelle sighed.
"Find another prince charming?" Greta asked.
"Sort of yeah...." Michelle said with a bit of sadness in her voice.
"What happened, was it Danny?"
"No...." Michelle finally said, forcing a smile.
"What happened? Who was it that stole your heart after all this time spent away here, lonely?" She asked softly.
"His name was Zachary, and he was so not like anyone else I've ever met in my life. He was different. Not an outsider because he seemed to be admired by everyone but he was just different, in a different way that Danny is different too. Does that make sense? I fell for him the minute he rescued me from the water....he was mysterious, handsome and mostly very caring. He had this strange way of always knowing what to do and what to say in any circumstances....he was my first love." Michelle said smiling and taking a sip of coffee.
"Where is he now? why didn't it work out?"
"He died." Michelle softly whispered. "There was a storm and he went to help some people who were at sea and he never came back....from the same waters he had pulled me from." Michelle smiled.
"I'm sorry." Greta said sensing a bit of sadness in Michelle's voice.
"It's ok. I spent a lot of time mourning his death but I realized that it was meant to be this way. I was meant to be with Danny.....I have found love again and stronger than ever. I am a boring married woman ok!! and a happy one might I add!" She laughed.
Greta laughed with her.
"So what about you? You didn't tell me what happened to you?" Michelle reluctantly asked, knowing she was going on a touchy subject.
"Well....A man named Stephano, took me away from here, and made sure I wouldn't come back. I was living in a bayou for a long time...." Greta said a little embarassed.
"In a Bayou??!" Michelle exclaimed.
"Just like george of the jungle!" Greta laughed. "Until friends of Eric found me and brought me back. Trust me you wouldn't have wanted to see me there!Covered in mud and scared..... "she joked. "And then Eric and I became friends and we decided to come back here to find out what had really happened to my mother, and how she'd lived her life while I was away and how she'd died.....and then we found the key." Greta explained.
"Wow....I missed so much...." Michelle realized.
"Well so did I." Greta sighed.
"But what made you call me after all this time? I mean after all these years, I didn't even think you remembered me, and then I get this letter from you...."
"I never forgot you Michelle. You were the only friend I had in this school.....I spent my life travelling from school to school in this country and then I got here and even though you were younger you were my best friend. I wanted to call you before but I didn't know what to tell you...And then I came here and it brought back all of these memories and I learned that you were married to Danny Santos.....and then we found the key and....I don't know. We thought you should know about it...." Greta said. "And I missed my friend too..." she confessed.
"I'm glad you contacted me....I missed my friend too." Michelle said as the two girls hugged.
"So....How about you and Eric? What's with that?" Michelle maliciously grinned.
"No....There's nothing between Eric and I." Greta assured Michelle. "He's just a very good friend who agreed to help me no matter what."
"Come on I've seen the way he looks at you....." Michelle smiled.
"You've always had a huge imagination!" Greta laughed. "I'm telling you, Eric doesn't 'look' at me in any way....why would anyone be interested in a girl like me?" She added.
"Are you kidding me?!" Michelle exclaimed. "You are the kind of girl every man would be looking at....And Eric is one of those trust me. You're a beautiful young woman and a very nice person. Some people would almost call you perfect!" She laughed. "Besides he's very easy on the eye himself." Michelle grinned.
"Stop playing match-maker!" Greta laughed as they both got up.
At that moment Eric came towards them and asked Greta to come and see something. Michelle gave her a funny look with a huge smile stuck on her face and Greta hit her on the arm, gently. They both went with Eric inside the master bedroom where Danny was standing, near the window. Soon they all gathered in there and Danny showed Greta the little velvet box he had found.
"Didn't you say you're mother had been married only once?" Danny asked.
"Yes....to a prince. She gave me her wedding ring when I was little and it is at the castle...." Greta answered positively.
"Then what is this?" Eric said taking the tiny box in his hands and opening it for Greta to see.
In the small box lied a beautiful sparkling diamond ring. Greta had never seen something that beautiful in her entire life. You could actually see the every shade of the rainbow on it as it sparkled in the day light. She was at a loss for words. Who did that belong to?
"I know that this isn't my parents....And these are mostly things that I think belonged to Princess Gina, your mother, so I figured that the ring might have been hers too." Danny said.
"No...I've never seen this before. If it was my mother's she never showed it to me." Greta said.
Cassie and Jason came closer to take a look at the magnificent ring Greta was holding in her hands.
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Later on, they decided to go up in town to get some more food and make a few phone calls. Just before leaving, Michelle took one quick look at the shed outside in the backyard again. Something about this place that intrigued her. Then she turned around to leave and heard a voice, Danny's voice.
"Michelle! Michelle...." Danny called from the backyard.
"Danny? What is it?" she yelled as she walked towards the back door. Then a hand grabbed her shoulders from behind and she spun around faster than you can "Boo!" Danny looked at her strangely.
"What are you doing? Everyone is waiting in front of the cabin." he said pointing out to the front door.
Michelle's stare went back and forth between the back door and the front one.
"You didn't just call me from there?" Michelle inquired pointing to the shed.
"No...Why?" Danny asked concerned about his wife.
After a moment of thinking, Michelle shook her head as if she had just dreamed all of this.
"Nothing..." she smiled and they both headed for the front door.
Before locking the door Michelle turned around to look inside the cabin, only to find it empty and dark, as it always is. She looked at Danny and everyone tucked in the two cars and she decided that she was just tired and that her imagination was indeed too big, as Greta had told her over and over before ever since they had known each other. Michelle, ran to Danny's car, trying to avoid as much rain as possible, which was a lost cause right from the start. They all belted up and headed on the mud-filled road to the nearest store in town.