Lizzie Rose – March 1999

Lizzie had taken her niece Tabitha to her share of magic-centric events here in Crystal Cove and it had never been an issue. However, when her half sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, the Councilman Conrad Chase, arrived at Lizzie’s houseboat to drop off eight-year-old Tabby this time, something seemed off right from the get-go.

“Now, we feel that we shouldn’t have to tell you this, but we don’t want you filling our daughter’s head with all sorts of crazy ideas while she’s here.” Conrad offered something close to jazz hands as he said this.

Lizzie couldn’t help but bite back her smile and ask, “What kind of crazy ideas do you mean, Conrad?”

She knew perfectly well what Conrad Chase was afraid of. Anything to do with magic or prophecies or anything with even a hint of the supernatural scared the pants off her brother-in-law. Elizabeth, meanwhile, gazed around the boat in awe, as though she might be willing to believe in at least a little bit of it. If she hadn’t married Conrad, perhaps.

People used to make a big deal about the two sisters having the same name. But first of all, they were only half sisters, and second, they did not have the same name at all. Elizabeth would never have allowed herself to be nicknamed Lizzie or even Beth, and Lizzie had never gone by anything but her nickname.

Conrad cleared his throat. “You know exactly what I mean. Tabby’s been bragging about her ‘magical aunt’ and not just with the family, either. She’s been saying these things in front of colleagues and embarrassing me, and we all know she’s too old to believe in this sort of thing.”

“Too old? To believe in magic?” Lizzie raised an eyebrow at her brother-in-law. She had invited the three of them to sit down and visit on her boat, but Conrad and Elizabeth had insisted they had to get on the road headed south as soon as possible. This trip was only for one night, but Lizzie suspected their hurry had a lot more to do with their fear of being trapped anywhere they might accidentally experience something they didn’t understand than an actual deadline.

If only they knew it wasn’t a matter of chance or accidents. Magic took a lot of hard-won belief and focused energy. And hope. That was the most important ingredient, and neither of these two had much stored up in that department.

“You know I’m always happy to have my niece as a guest in my interesting life.” Lizzie always teased Conrad with a statement like this, making no promises at all. She didn’t want Tabby to grow up with the same kinds of fears her parents had if she could help it.

Conrad turned and murmured something to Elizabeth that was too low to hear. But Lizzie could make out her half sister’s response.

“What are we going to do about it now, Conrad? The wine tour is adults-only.”

Lizzie did feel bad. If Conrad didn’t act so uppity every time he stopped by her town, maybe she’d be able to calm his fears a little more, rather than ruffle his feathers. But as it was, she couldn’t seem to help herself.

She figured this was the least she could say to try and put their minds at rest: “I’ll take really good care of Tabby, as always. We’ll have a great time together walking beaches and eating good food. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Conrad and Elizabeth shared one more short look, and then in silent agreement, they backed out Lizzie’s door and over the gangplank to what they considered safety.

“Do call us if you need anything,” Elizabeth said, which was clearly only a formality.

Lizzie smiled and nodded to this, determined not to provoke Conrad any further. She truly did enjoy the yearly visits from her niece, especially as she was getting older, and she wouldn’t put it past her brother-in-law to cancel his trip altogether if she kept pushing him.

Tabby was on the front deck looking at fish over the port side of the boat. It was always her first order of business when arriving in Crystal Cove.

“Tabby, honey. Say goodbye to your parents,” Lizzie told her.

Tabby pulled herself away from her sea gazing to give her mom and dad each a hug. Thankfully, that was enough to send them off.

As soon as they’d driven away, Tabby looked up at the upper deck of the boat and the wide expanse of the sea with awe and wonder. “What are we going to do while I’m here, Aunt Lizzie?”

Lizzie had two clients booked for the next day, but she was never one to bog down her niece with matters of business. “What would you like to do? Should we sail around the world? Or fly over Crystal Cove on magic broomsticks? Or look for treasure along the seashore?”

Whether or not Tabby truly understood that the first two options were exaggerations, Lizzie knew she’d pick the third option. She always did.

She jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Let’s look for treasure!”

That option was not an exaggeration. Lizzie had been searching the beaches for treasure since she’d first moved to Crystal Cove. Her search was based on rumors and folktales, but something deep down inside her knew there was truth behind them. She just didn’t know exactly where to look. She felt as excited about this option as her niece, because what if it was just a matter of having a little new hope in the form of a little girl who brought the treasure to light?

“Let’s get you settled and then we’ll take a walk along the beach,” Lizzie suggested.

Tabby quickly agreed. She went inside to lay open her suitcase near the loveseat in the main cabin, while Lizzie made a couple of sandwiches and some juice for their trek. Lizzie didn’t often have guests, and her boat really wasn’t big enough for it. She only had a half-size fridge and not a lot of cupboard space for dishes. If Tabby’s brother and sister ever chose to come along and stay with her, she might have a real problem, but Tabby was the type of little girl who fit right into any situation and was never a bother.

Twenty minutes later, the two walked on the beach near the marina and Tabby searched for her kinds of treasures, which included crabs, sand dollars, and all manner of shells—broken or unbroken. Lizzie’s treasures were a lot fewer and farther between. She collected sea glass when she could find it, and Tabby loved to look at the collection as it grew. Lizzie let her because sea glass wasn’t very spiritually powerful or dangerous, but Lizzie’s sights were set on something much more precious.

The stories about Crystal Cove included some longtime legends about an offshore underwater volcanic eruption hundreds of years ago that had left magic blue crystals all around the town. It was, in fact, how the town came by its name. No one Lizzie knew had actually ever seen one of these crystals or even knew anyone who had seen one, and yet Lizzie couldn’t quell her belief that they existed somewhere. It was just a matter of finding them.

Besides, why else would so many witches be naturally attracted to this town? A new one moved to town every other month.

Lizzie carried the basket of growing treasures while Tabby chomped down both sandwiches and got her hands and feet dirty between the rocks. The tide would be out in the early afternoon the next day, and that would give her a chance to run in the sand and search for larger crabs, starfish, and giant kelp.

When Tabby finally tired, they moved closer to the water to place the sand dollars back into their habitat. Many tourists liked to keep sand dollars, thinking of them as just unusual and pretty seashells, but Lizzie had taught her niece that they were actually living organisms, similar to sea urchins, and they wouldn’t survive away from the water.

When Lizzie first explained this, it was her niece who had stated matter-of-factly, “Well, then we’d better hurry and put them back, right?”
Tabby had a good heart. As much as she loved treasures from the sea, she wouldn’t keep a single one if it would be harmful to anyone. Having her niece for a yearly visit reminded Lizzie of the importance of selflessness and having goodwill toward others.

After washing up at the boat, Lizzie took Tabby out to her favorite Mexican restaurant in Crystal Cove. For such a small town, there were a surprising number of restaurants, and they ate at a different one each time Tabby visited. Tonight Miguel and Tomas even played their mariachi music among the tables, which made Tabby clap her hands and squeal with delight.

“And who is this beautiful little lady?” Miguel asked after their first song.

“This is my niece, Tabitha,” Lizzie told them. “She’s just here until tomorrow.”

“We’re searching for treasure on the beaches!” Tabby explained. Lizzie couldn’t help but picture her saying something similar in front of Conrad’s uptight colleagues.

“Well, if anyone can find the hidden treasures in Crystal Cove, it’s Lizzie Rose,” Tomas said. He motioned to Miguel. “Should we play a special song, just for the little treasure hunter?”

Miguel nodded and they started in on what sounded like a nursery rhyme, declaring, “We’re going on a treasure hunt. We’re going on a treasure hunt . . .” When they finished the first verse, they went into a Spanish rendition, and Tabby’s eyes sparkled.

Lizzie loved watching her niece’s delight, and she loved that her town was coming alive in warmth and beauty to welcome her.

The next day, Lizzie was torn about what to do with Tabby during the two readings she had already booked. She hated to cancel on her regular clients, but she also couldn’t stop thinking about Conrad’s stern instructions to her. In person, she loved making Conrad squirm and, in fact, often couldn’t help herself, but now that he wasn’t around, she faced the fact that he could easily keep his middle child from visiting if he heard too many stories involving her magic.

Lizzie sat Tabby down at the table at breakfast to talk over the day’s plans. She’d kept her crystal ball packed away for the Chases’ arrival and had not pulled it out yet for her clients, so Tabby and Lizzie had lots of room to eat their pancakes.

“Your Aunt Lizzie has a bit of work to do today,” Lizzie explained.

Tabby looked up from her smiley-faced whipped-cream-covered pancake. “You’re doing some mind reading?”

Lizzie snickered to herself but didn’t let it show. “Fortune-telling, yes.”

Tabby’s face lit up in a smile that matched her pancake. “Okay.”

In the past, Lizzie had allowed her niece to quietly read on the loveseat while she told fortunes, but as Tabby was getting older, and with Conrad’s stern warning, she was hesitant to do that this weekend.

“Listen, sweetie. These ladies who are coming, they’re a little more private than my usual clients.”

Tabby looked at her with wide trusting eyes, which made it really difficult to keep up this little fib.

“I was thinking we could set up your sea treasures out on the front deck and you could play with them out there while I work?”

Tabby shrugged like this was no big deal. “Sure.”

And with that, Lizzie had no idea why she’d been so worried. Tabby was nothing if not accommodating. Because she’d been so easy about it, Lizzie even placed her large shell full of sea glass out on the front deck for her.

“You’re going to let her play with that?” Mrs. Braverman asked when she arrived on the Lady of Fortune. She arched her eyebrows so high they almost touched her gray hairline.

“Oh, Tabby knows to be careful with it. Don’t you, Tabby?”

“Of course, Aunt Lizzie.” She turned a brilliant green piece of sea glass over in her hands, her attention rapt on it.

Mrs. Braverman sighed in clear disagreement but followed Lizzie into the cabin without another word, nevertheless.

An hour later, Lizzie had given some insight to both Mrs. Braverman and Mrs. Shutsma. It had been easier to get words for them today than it had been in a long time, so thankfully Lizzie had lots of energy left over to take Tabby back to the beach, as promised.

But when Lizzie went out onto the front deck to let Tabby know it was time to get changed for the beach, her niece was looking off into the distance and again had the green sea glass in her hands.

Lizzie had a strange feeling come over her—a mix of nervousness and hope. Did her niece feel something from the sea glass?

Lizzie’s father had been the one who had first taken Lizzie to have her fortune read, sparking a keen interest in magic at an early age. Elizabeth’s mother had been the pragmatic one in the relationship, once they’d married. Lizzie always knew she took after her dad, and yet when he died of a heart attack at only fifty-one, it seemed no one had much patience for any of Lizzie’s qualities that reminded everyone of her dad.

When she was seventeen and finished high school, she had moved out of the house to find her own way and eventually landed in Crystal Cove—the only place she’d felt at home since losing her dad.

For all these years, Lizzie had felt like a loner in her family, out of place, and even an annoyance to the others. At least right until this minute, when Tabby turned with a sparkle in her eye and said, “I think we should explore a different beach today, Auntie. One over that way.” She pointed past the rear of the boat.

“Oh, yes? Do you think so?” Lizzie moved closer, surveying her niece. “Do you feel that in your bones?”

Tabby nodded hyperactively.

There wasn’t much in the way of enjoyable beaches in the direction Tabby was pointing. There was a seaside stilted restaurant that blocked the path from walking too far along the shore.

Regardless, Lizzie said, “Let’s do it! Get your old clothes on and we’ll go as soon as you’re ready!”

Lizzie hadn’t visited this area of the beach while the tide was out in many years, and she had to admit, it was nicer and more spacious than she expected. When the tide was in, you couldn’t get around the base of Norma’s restaurant, and so it only left a small patch of about thirty feet of beach on either side. Today was nice, with a large enough expanse of sand that Tabby could run. Her treasures weren’t as abundant on this beach, though, and she only found a single sand dollar and lots of sticky kelp that she didn’t want to touch.

“We probably still have time to get back to the other beach before the tide starts coming in,” Lizzie suggested.

But Tabby shook her head. “I think we should look around here more.”

She pulled the green glass from her pocket and turned it over in her hands. Back at the boat, Lizzie had said she could bring that one piece along on their treasure hunting since she seemed to like it so much.

As much as she didn’t want to upset the cart with Conrad, she had to ask. “Do you feel something from that sea glass, sweetie?”

Tabby nodded without hesitation. “It feels like magic.”

“It does?” Lizzie’s eyebrows shot up, and she tilted her head, truly curious. “And what does magic feel like to you?” Her niece had so much trust and hope, Lizzie truly wanted to know.

“It’s like you know what to do, without even having to try.” Tabby didn’t explain further and took off past Norma’s restaurant toward the other side of the beach.
Did she feel like she should go over that way, Lizzie wondered? Was there something special to find there?

In fact, there was. Soon, Tabby was enamored with a purple starfish right near the waterline that she seemed to have gone straight for. But when Lizzie got close, her attention was suddenly rapt on something else. At her feet, something glinting and shiny blue peeked out from under a barnacle-covered rock. She reached down to tilt the rock out of the way, thinking it looked shinier and sharper than sea glass, while Tabby prattled on about a nearby baby starfish she’d found near its momma.
Lizzie touched the blue crystal at her feet, and immediately a shock of electricity moved through her. She picked it up, and Tabby’s words resonated within her. It’s like you know what to do, without even trying.

It was exactly how she felt. And her niece had led her here.

Tabby turned right then, as though she could sense her aunt thinking about her. Without hesitation, Lizzie folded the small jewel into her hand, out of sight. She just knew she should.

“Do you think this sea glass is magic?” Tabby asked, holding out the green piece, as though she was perfectly willing to share it.

Lizzie couldn’t stop hearing Conrad’s instructions in her head. Don’t fill our daughter with crazy ideas! And yet, she knew what she had to say. “Yes, sweetie. Yes, I do.” More so, Lizzie was quite sure her niece had a special gift, one that her parents wouldn’t share or even understand. “You take that sea glass home with you tonight and it will always help you know what to do.”

Tabby’s face lit up like the noonday sun. “Do you mean it?” When Lizzie nodded, Tabby squeezed the glass, and her whole body, in excitement. “I’ll bring it back every time I come to visit,” she assured her aunt. “And you can teach me all about its magic.”

Later that night, Conrad and Elizabeth picked up Tabby on their way back to Portland, looking no more pleasant than when they’d dropped her off.

Lizzie hadn’t warned Tabby, as she should have, to keep the green glass and its magic to herself. The moment her dad stepped onto the boat, Tabby leaped toward him, threw her arms around him, and declared, “Daddy! Daddy! Aunt Lizzie gave me a piece of magic sea glass!”

She prattled on about how the sea glass had led them to a certain beach and a very pretty starfish, but Conrad wasn’t hearing any of it. He glared hard over Tabby’s shoulder at Lizzie.

“. . . and Aunt Lizzie told me I can bring it home and it’ll always tell me what to do—”

Her dad snatched the sea glass out of her hand, and Lizzie watched in horror as he pitched it in a high arc over the back of the boat and far out into the water.

“No! Daddy, no!” Tabby ran for the back railing, already in tears.

“A piece of glass won’t tell you what to do, Tabitha. Your parents will tell you what’s best. Any adult should know that.” He shot one more glare at Lizzie and then marched over to pick a very upset Tabby into his arms. She struggled to get back to the sea and her lost glass as he carried her off the boat.

Lizzie would never have the opportunity to teach her eager new student about the magic of Crystal Cove. That was the last time she ever saw her niece.