I sit in the car, watching people walk past, some tourists are out today. Wearing expensive outfits, boots shiny and new. There’s a tap on the car window, startling me, I look through the glass and see Michael on the other side. I wind the window down.

“Hey, did mother talk to you?”

“Yeah, I just came back from the gas station, Stephen seems cool. We’ll do some tests to make sure but seems like it's pretty likely.”

“How do you feel?”

“Pretty great, honestly. Things always felt off at home, it makes more sense now. It’s a shock, but it feels like a weight’s been lifted. I feel like I can finally move on, leave here without the guilt. It sucked to find out, but I’m glad you told me, really."

“That’s great.” I’m happy for my brother, we didn’t have the best relationship but I’m starting to feel like it’s getting repaired at long last. Even if I don't work out everything that happened, it feels good to have done something.

"I better get going, got to get back to the office."

We say goodbye, I watch as he walks away, disappearing around the corner.

“He seems happy.” Maida says.

“Yeah, I can’t ever remember him being like this.” I say. “ He’s finally going to do what he wants.”

Maida half smiles. “So, what now?”

“Let’s go home, I need to go talk to Agnes.”

We sit silent during the short drive back. I’m worn out and can’t come up with anything to talk about, Maida looks tired as well. I close my eyes and try to relax, only opening them again once the car has come to a stop. We get out of the car and walk towards the front porch, I see Agnes off to the left, standing in front of a large bin at the side of the house. I tell Maida I’ll catch up with her later and start off towards Agnes.

“Hello, young lady.” She says when she sees me.

“Hi, can I ask you something?” I’m not sure what she’ll know, but it’s worth a shot.

“Yes, of course.”

“I gave you that shoebox.”

“Yes.”

“Did I give you anything else? I have this feeling like there was something else.”

She pauses. “Uh, no, that was all.”

“Did I tell you anything about what I was looking into?”

Agnes looks around her and lowers her voice. “Meet me upstairs in ten minutes, in my room.”

“Why not just talk now?”

“We don’t know who’s out here, listening.”

Agnes hurries away from me and walks back inside, leaving me standing there alone. I look over towards the forest behind the house, the thick branches of the trees blocking any view past them. They stand there, a dark fence, appearing impenetrable. The gardener I talked to the other day is standing before them, shovelling snow from the path, he looks up and waves, I wave back. He sweeps his gloved hand over his forehead, pushing his hair back, he looks down and continues working.

I walk back to the house and slowly go upstairs. I realise this is one of the only times I can remember where I've had something to work towards, I never had that in my life. I always drifted so aimlessly. I turn off to Agnes’ room, walking up the narrow creaking stairs and entering her tiny bedroom. I always found it funny that the least desirable room in the house had the greatest view. This bedroom was about a quarter of the size of mine, but the view of the forest and gardens was unrivalled. I recall as a kid telling my mother I wished this was my bedroom, I could vividly remember the look on her face, pure horror. I sit in a small white corner chair and wait for Agnes to arrive. Always punctual, she shows up right on time. She walks into the room and sits on her bed facing me. She leans over and opens her bedside table drawer and reaches under it, pulling something off the bottom of the drawer, a cream coloured envelope. She hands it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“A key.” She answers.

“A key to what?” I open the small envelope and tip out the contents. The key falls into my palm. It has a number etched into the top - ninety three.

“It’s for a safety deposit box at the bank in town. I don’t know what’s in it, you wouldn’t tell me.”

“You said I didn’t give you anything else.”

“I told you, we don’t know who’s around, who could be listening.”

I look at Agnes, she seems paranoid.

“Why didn’t you give this to me with the shoebox?”

“You told me not to give it to you straight away if you came back.”

“Is this everything I gave you?”

“Yes. I have to get back to work, I have important things to do.” Agnes quickly exits the room, I hear the steps shifting under her weight.

“Thank you.” I yell after her. I leave the room a few minutes later, envelope in hand.

Once I get back to the hallway, I go towards Maida’s bedroom and knock on the door.

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“It’s open.” I hear Maida through the heavy wooden door.

I turn the knob and enter her room. I dangle the key in my hand. Maida is sitting at a desk in the corner, she turns her head to face me. “Ohhh, what’s that?” She asks.

I throw the key over to her and she catches it in both hands.

“What’s it for?” She asks.

“A safety deposit box at the bank in town.”

Maida grabs her car keys from the desk in front of her, swivels herself around in the desk chair and jumps to her feet. “Let’s go!”

We get a park right in front of the bank, a squat brown brick building that had probably never looked good. We go inside and stand at a low counter waiting for a teller. Nobody seems to be here, I ring a bell in front of me and continue to wait. I can hear someone in the back, talking, shuffling through paper. I hit the bell again. A couple of minutes later someone finally appears.

“Hello, have you ladies been here long? My hearing isn’t much good these days.” A short wizened man shuffles towards us, he’s wearing a colourful vest, a pocket watch attached to it with a chain. “How can I help you both?”

I show him the key. “I’d like to open a safety deposit box.”

“Ah, yes.” His wire framed glasses keep sliding down his nose and he pushes them back up. “Do you have ID?” He asks. He begins to type on the keyboard in front of him, he stares at the computer screen, squinting, readjusting his glasses once again.

“Her documents were damaged, she was in a terrible accident.” Maida says.

“Regardless, I can’t help you if you don’t have identification.”

“I really need to open it.” I plead.

“I’m sorry, but once again, I can’t help you. It’s a joint safe deposit box, maybe the other person can open it for you.”

“Who is the other person?”

“I can’t tell you that, sorry.”

Maida nudges me. “I have an idea.” Maida begins talking to the teller. “I just noticed those frames up there with the coins.”

“Oh, my coin collection?”

“I love coins, I collect them.”

“Wow, really, that’s such an unusual hobby for someone your age.”

“Do you collect as well?”

“I do! Actually, I’ve been going through my collection in the back, I don’t often get customers. I keep them here, it’s the safest place for them, they’re quite valuable.”

“I would love to see them!”

“Really? I’ll go get them, be back in a minute!” The little old man walks to the back room and goes through the door.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Look at the screen!” Maida hisses at me.

“What?”

“The screen. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Ohh.” I stick my head through the bars and grab one side of the screen with my hand, turning the heavy monitor so I can read what’s written on the screen. I can’t see anything, I push myself further forward shoulders through the bars now. I see the information about my safety deposit box, he didn’t log out or close the program. I try to quickly read through the pixelated green letters. I scan the screen, I can see the number and then the names below.

Elena A. Taylor and Michael A. Taylor in blocky font.

“I think he’s coming back.” Maida says.

“My brother's the other person.”

"Perfect, let's go see him."

I pull myself out from between the bars, we don’t wait for the teller to reappear, instead we rush out of the bank. We run down the street, laughing, it feels freeing, I almost forget about everything else. I feel like a kid. I could run forever, Maida’s striding ahead, much faster than me. She turns a corner and she’s out of sight, I keep running eventually spotting her again, running towards Michael’s office. When she reaches it she stops out the front and waits for me to catch up. I come to a stop next to her, opening the door, we both stumble inside, out of breath.

“God, you two gave me a fright.” Chelsea holds her hand against her heart. “He’s in the back.”

I knock on Michael's door, he tells us to come in and we step inside. Michael looks up from his desk. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I need your help.” I show him the key and place it on his desk. He looks at it and opens his drawer, rifling through the contents, he holds up his own identical key.

“Are you free now?” I ask.

“Yeah, I've got a bit of time.” He gets up from his seat and we all leave the room. Michael and Maida walk in front of me, their long legs covering ground much quicker than I can.

“Ellie.” Chelsea shouts before we walk back outside. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

“What for?”

“For talking to Michael, for telling him the truth. We’re going to move. I can’t wait to get out of this place. I will miss you though.” She looks relieved.

"I'll miss you too." I smile at her and leave the building. We continue on to the bank. “Why didn’t you tell me about the safety deposit box?” I ask.

“I’d forgotten all about it.”

“Do you know what’s in it?”

“No, you were insistent that I didn’t know. You said you wanted me to have a copy of the key in case something happened to you.”

We enter the bank and stand in front of the counter again, the little man is still waiting there. “Where did you go? I was going to show you my collection.” He looks genuinely upset, gazing at Maida as if she has done something horribly wrong.

“I, just went to get my friend here,” She grabs Michael’s arm and pulls him toward her, “he loves coins as well!”

Michael tries to escape her grip. “What?” He looks bewildered.

“I had no idea you liked coins Michael!” A look of delight on the little man’s face. “I’ll go grab them again.” He shuffles through a door behind him, disappearing from view.

“What’s going on?” Michael asks.

“Nothing.” I answer. “It’s not important, let’s just open that box.”

The old man comes hobbling back shortly after, a leather bound book in his hands. “These are my most prized possessions.” He says proudly.

Maida leans over to look at them. “Oh wow, impressive.” I feel bad for the old guy, getting tricked by us. After a few minutes of feigned interest we ask if we can open the safety deposit box, Michael shows him his ID, even though he knows exactly who we both are and then he leads us into a room protected by a heavy metal door. We go to the furthest corner, the man takes a key from a chain inside his pocket, Michael hands his key to him. He unlocks it, sliding the box out and laying it on the table behind us.

“I’ll leave you.” He looks at Maida. “Would you be interested in seeing some more of my coins?”

“Uhh.” She grimaces, looking trapped. “Sure.” She follows the man.

“Did you ever check out what was in here?” I ask my brother.

“Nah, as I said before I honestly forgot all about the thing, it was months ago.”

Michael lifts the lid on the box. We both tilt our heads over and look inside. He grabs something from the box and lifts it up.

“Well, there’s a precious possession right here.” He holds up a VHS tape.

“What is it?” I grab it from him. “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. I used to love this movie.”

“Enough to put it in a safe deposit box?”

“I guess?” I open the case and look at the tape. "Aww. It’s not the right movie, it’s one of those two hour recordable tapes you can get from the supermarket."

Michael takes it from my hands. “Damn. Maybe you recorded some soaps or something?”

“I have always been partial to some Young and the Restless, because I too am young and restless. I’m not ashamed.” I grab the tape back and put it in the case. “What else is in there?”

“We have some notebooks?” He puts them on the table.

“Okay.” I flip through one. “It looks like my writing.”

“There’s a map.”

“A map?”

“Yeah, of the town.”

“Okay.”

“That’s it.”

“Why did I want to get a safety deposit box with you, what did I say to convince you?”

“You seemed really worried, said it was something about insurance.”

“Insurance?”

“Yeah, I just assumed you needed some documents for actual insurance but this junk isn’t what I expected.”

I wondered if I'd asked for his help because I knew I was in trouble?

"It's not junk, there must be something important in here. Do you have a VCR?” I ask.

“Yeah, back at the house.” He answers. “I have to get back to work. Here go watch your video.” He pulls out some keys from his pocket. “The alarm code is on the keychain.”

“That doesn’t seem smart.”

“Chelsea never remembers the thing.”

I grab the contents of the box and put it under my arm.

“Thanks brother!” I say as I exit the room.

“Don’t mention it. See you later.” He waves goodbye.