“That’s nonsense,” Penelope said with a laugh. Miss Wendy, as she was called, was quickly becoming Penelope’s closest friend. She knew that Destin was just sneaking away to spy on her. His endless curiosity always led him into other parts of the house that weren’t baby proofed. Destin and Aiden had a wing with the nanny where they spent most of their time when their parents weren’t home, which was often because they both worked night and day at their popular restaurant, Cristo’s.
Penelope took Destin back to the playroom where Wendy was reading a story to Aiden. She looked up from the picture book, surprised that Penelope was standing there. She thought Destin had gone to the bathroom. The four year-old insisted on being a big boy and going alone.
“Oh my goodness, Destin!” she cried. “Did you go to your sister’s room again? Please don’t go anywhere without me. I’m here to take care of you and I need to know that I can trust you to stay here, silly goose.”
Destin smiled at Wendy and said, “I just wan’d to say ‘hi’ to Penny. I miss her.” He looked up at his big sister and blinked both eyes in an effort to wink.
Penelope grinned back at him and ruffled his hair. “You can say ‘hi’ anytime you want to, but you always have to ask Ms. Wendy first. Ok?”
“K” he said, and nodded.
Penelope leaned down and kissed both her brothers on the top of their heads. “I’m in my room if you need me. It’s almost bedtime, so I’ll be back to say goodnight.” She looked at Wendy, who nodded her head in agreement.
As she turned to leave the room, Aiden asked, “Penny, how come you moved to the other room? Can’t you just stay in your old room?” An unshed tear trembled on his lashes.
Penelope’s heart ached to see her little brother so sad. “Aiden, you know I had to move into the other room so you and Destin can have more space. Besides, I’m a boring big sister. All I want to do is listen to music and write in my journal.” She winked at him.
“Yeah, but now I can’t sleep in your bed anymore,” he said. “’Sides, you’re not boring. You’re fun!”
Aiden had been climbing into her bed at night since he’d learned to walk. Her old bedroom was across the hall from the twins’ until she’d turned sixteen last year. She’d delayed moving into her own suite since she was fourteen because she didn’t want to leave her baby brother who often woke in the middle of the night and went to her for comfort.
“You’re a big boy now. You don’t need to sleep in my bed anymore, buddy. You’ll be five soon,” she said.
“Aw,” Aiden said, looking down, a fringe of bangs shielding his eyes. “I know.”
Penelope gave him a hug, and then said, “Now that settles it for good this time. You finish the story with Miss Wendy. I’ll come back later and tuck you in.”
Both the twins sat back down with the nanny on the loveseat and began chattering and giggling while she tried to read to them about a curious monkey named George.
Penelope closed her bedroom door behind her and went over to her desk where her diary lay open. The money clip sat beside it where she’d left it. She picked it up and turned it over in her hand, admiring the beautiful workmanship.
She’d never seen anything like it before and decided to search images of money clips online to see if she could find a match. She opened the browser on her laptop and typed “antique money clips” into the task bar. Instantly, the results scrolled down the screen as she moused over the blue list of hyperlinks. She clicked on the “images” tab across the top of the window and searched the matrix of jpegs that popped up. A picture of a group of clips similar in design to the one she found caught her eye. She double clicked on the image and read the brief description:
Antique 1920’s Lunt Sterling Silver Pierced money clips.
Behind her, the bedroom door whispered a soft click as it opened.
To be continued…
Tales from the Aether 
