Chapter 1

 

It had been a few days since the funeral. She missed her grandmother terribly. As she moved through the house, each room brought back the memories of her childhood and all of the stories that Grandma used to tell. The others let her buy their share of the house so she could hang on to the memories. The smells and decorations reminded her of the best times of her life. There were things in the attic that she needed to go through. “Might as well get this over with,” she thought. She climed the stairs to the door she had been allowed to go through only on the rarest of occasions.

“There were treasers in there,” her grandmother would tell her. “We must be very careful as some of them are very old and were given to me by my grandmother.”

She thought back to that day when she was first allowed up there. They were looking for something very special. They did find it but in the process of looking there was an old trunk in the corner that caught her attention. She had thought often about what that trunk had contained. What were the hidden treasures that lay within. Well, today she would get the chance to find out. Among the things that she was given was an old skeliton key that was on a ribbon long enough to be worn around the neck.

She had reached the top of the stairs ans was reaching for the other key that kept the door locked from prying eyes. What treasures would she find? What stories would each item tell her of her grandmother’s past? Well, today was a good day to begin as she didn’t have anything else to do and no where else to be for a while. She wanted to spend the time living with the memories of grandma. She missed her so much these days. Slowly she opened the door to that treasure room. It did not look like much. There was the full length mirror near the window, the dressmaker’s dummy that grandma used to make her pretty dresses, various other boxes and thing stacked around the parameter of the room. What drew her attention this day was the trunk sitting just below the window. There was a simple chair sitting beside this trunk. This was curious to her as she thought about what her grandmother might have done up here.

She kneeled in front of the trunk and brought out the key that was so plain and simple, old and rusted. She turned the lock. “What wonders will I find,” she thought. “Did this trunk belong to my grandmother or to someone else? What will I find within and what will it be like?” She wondered at all the stories that the trunk would tell her once it had been opened.

Now it lay open. There were all sorts of beautiful things laying within. She had no idea that her grandmother had all of this beautiful stuff. Somehow, she sensed that this stuff did not only belong to her grandmother but to someone else as well. Who? She began exploring the trunk using the utmost of care. Things were fragile even though they still retained their beauty. As she carefully looked through the contents of this treasure chest, there were three objects that caught her eye, a bundle of papers, a small box and a linen bag containing thread. The thread, however, was not as old as the rest looked to be. This was curious to her as to why the difference. She picked up these items and moved to the chair for more light. There was one other thing which caught her eye, an envelope addressed to her. It was in grandma’s hand. “How did she know that I would look here?” she wondered. “Well, I guess that I need to begin with that letter first then.”

Carefully she opened the last message from her grandmother. “What a wonderful gift when I am missing her most right now” she thought as she touched the floral patterned peper. The scent of roses drifted up from the pages. Roses were her grandmother’s favorite flower. Slowly she took in each word on the page.

“Dearest Nina,

“I knew that your curiosity has lead you to the old trunk in the attic since you are now reading this letter. This trunk has a wonderful and rich history as it traveled from the “old world” to the “new world” many, many years ago. There are many items within this trunk that will prove very fascinating for you. I am hoping that you have found the most three valuable items within this chest. These are items that have been passed from the origional owner to my mother then to me and now I pass them on to you. I have found many hours of joy from them.

“The first item you should have found was a small box. The ornateness of this box is one that  was very intriguing for me. What is contained within is one of the secrets of the spider that we spoke of so often in our visits. When you learn to use this tool, you can wrap air with fine lace. I spent many hours relaxing with this tool in my hand. I regret now that I did not tell you of this sooner so I could  show you how to use it. I have included some simple instructions in other letters so you can begin to employ it as I used to do. “

When she opened the little black laquered box, inside was a strange looking object which was about 3 inches long. It was long and narrow with what looked to be two almost flat pieces of wood  around a thin center post. It reminded her of a bobbin she had used in sewing. This was much bigger though and how to use this will be fascinating to learn. She had to read more but the day was starting to waine and the light was going away.

“Oh dear,” she thought. “I guess I need to take these things downstairs were I can sit with the light and continue to read.”

Just then the doorbell rang. Well, this would have to wait for another day. She reluctantly put the things back into the trunk, locked it and went to the stairs. Carefully locking the door behind her, she sighed and went down to answer the door