23. The Ring

Chapter 23

The Ring

A lice pinched the brim of her hat and adjusted it a few times before settling on the right position. She turned her attention upstairs and tapped the railing. Her eyes focused on the winding staircase, waiting for Hugo to emerge from the bedroom. Alice dreaded this day, the one-year anniversary of Elizabeth’s death, for Hugo’s sake.

“Everything okay? It’s getting late,” she yelled up. “We should get going.”

“Yeah,” Hugo replied. “I’ll be right down.”

A concerned Galahad brushed up against Alice in the entryway as she pulled on her black and purple tailcoat.

“It’s okay, Gally,” Alice said as she secured the last buttons. “You need to stay upstairs until we get back, okay?”

Galahad met Alice face-to-face. It did small bobs up and down, expressing its own separation anxiety about Alice leaving without it.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said as she brushed down the slant of the broomstick handle. “When we get back, I’ll take you for a ride. Okay? ”

Galahad weaved back and forth in excitement before begrudgingly heading up the stairs past Hugo coming down. It shut the bedroom door.

Hugo jogged down the steps. He was dressed in all black; dress pants and a long sleeve button up shirt complemented his black leather jacket and boots. He dressed like he was going to a funeral or at least reliving one.

“I think I’ve delayed long enough. Max is up there in her cage. Max and Gally can keep each other company.” Hugo adjusted his jacket while walking past Alice. “Your reflection was not happy we were leaving Max up there with her. Something about the noise from her barking.”

“Ignore her. She complains all the time,” Alice replied. “Are you driving or do you want me to?”

“I’ll drive,” Hugo replied as he frantically searched the console table, moving items and then putting them back. “Have you seen my keys?”

“Where’s the last place you put them?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m looking for them.”

“Do you want me to drive?”

“No. I want to drive. I need to. I just need to find these stupid keys.” Hugo went into the living room. “You didn’t move them, did you?”

“Why would I move them?”

“I don’t know. I can’t find them.” He rearranged things in a futile attempt to locate them.

Alice rolled her eyes. If there was one thing she disliked the most in the world, that was her things being rearranged from their perfect spots. She thought for a moment and then went into the kitchen. There, hanging by the back door, was Max’s leash. She removed the leash to find the keys dangling underneath.

“Found them!” she shouted.

Hugo rushed into the hallway. “Where were they? ”

She emerged from the kitchen. “The last place you put them. Hanging beneath Max’s leash.” She handed the keys to Hugo. “Do you need to talk about something?”

“No. I’m fine.” He stuffed the keys into his pants pocket. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t you use that ‘I’m fine’ with me,” Alice scolded Hugo. “We don’t do fine.”

Hugo brushed his hair back a few times. “I’m fine, really.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine. It’s just—”

“You can’t fool me. You’re not fine,” Alice replied.

Hugo lowered his head and sighed. “I’m good. I’m just… nervous. I’m feeling a lot of things right now. Today is dredging up a lot of emotions, and I don’t know how to process it.”

Alice hugged Hugo. “It’s okay. Someone smart once told me it’s okay to not be okay. This is a big day for you. I’m proud of you for going.”

“I know. I haven’t been back there since we buried her. I was okay with it, but now I feel like I’ve done something terrible, and I don’t know what to do,” Hugo said with a voice that held back tears.

Alice pulled back from Hugo and grabbed his shoulders. Her emerald green eyes locked with his icy blues. “Look at me,” Alice commanded. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I know this is a very emotional day. It will be okay. I’m here for you. We’ll do this together.”

Hugo nodded. He took in a deep breath. “I think I’m ready. It’ll be good to visit with Elizabeth again.”

Alice kissed Hugo on the cheek. They turned and proceeded to the front door.

Hugo stopped. “I need to get something.”

He headed back down the hallway.

“What are you getting?” Alice said with a worried look.

“I’m not going to put it on. I just want it with me,” he replied as he entered the living room .

Alice frantically followed Hugo and stood at the living room entrance. Hugo hurried over to Alice’s memory shrine and picked up the black box that held his wedding ring. He opened the box, expecting to find his black, onyx ring. It was empty. He snapped his attention to Alice with a panicked expression.

“Where’s the ring?” Hugo asked.

“I’m sure it’s safe,” Alice replied.

He showed Alice the empty box. “It’s not here. Where’s the ring?” He frantically checked the box again, hoping he had overlooked it in his panic.

“Maybe it fell out. Did you look at it recently?” Alice asked.

Hugo dropped to the floor, peering under the bookshelf. The area was dark and held onto its secrets. “I haven’t touched it since Christmas.”

He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He scanned the entire area, but his search was fruitless. He crawled along the floor, checking each and every bookshelf. He stood back up. Dust and dog hair now covered his black dress pants.

“Look at my pants,” he said before trying to swipe them clean.

Alice snapped her fingers, and the pants cleaned themselves. He turned his attention back to the memory shrine. He moved things out of place.

“Why is there so much stuff here?”

Alice grew annoyed. She could tolerate a lot, but she drew the line at messing with her things. “Let me help you.” She moved to get Hugo away from her ancestral items. She put things back where they belonged.

Hugo checked under the couch. Nothing. He haphazardly threw the pillows and cushions across the room. He shoved his hand into the crevice of the couch, desperately trying to find his wedding ring.

Alice rolled her eyes at the mess he was making. She snapped her fingers. The cushions and pillows flew back into their rightful places. A cushion pinned Hugo’s hand against the back of the couch.

“Maybe you should forget the ring,” Alice suggested .

Hugo withdrew his hand and leered at Alice with anger. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Like what?”

“You’d like me to forget this whole thing,” Hugo yelled, flailing his arms about. “You’d like me to forget her.”

“How dare you?” Alice placed her hands on her hips. “I’m going to chalk this up to this being an emotional day.”

“ Where’s the ring ?” Hugo shouted.

Alice lowered her head to hide her eyes beneath the wide-brimmed hat. She bit her lip, preventing her from saying anything she would soon regret.

Hugo clapped his hands together before placing them on his hips. “So, you do know, don’t you?”

“You don’t need the ring, Hugo,” Alice replied.

“You don’t know what I need,” Hugo shouted in a fury Alice never heard before. Her body tightened. “You don’t know how difficult this is for me. I want one thing. One thing that will help me, and you took it from me. Hand it over.”

“No,” Alice was quick to reply. “You don’t need it. Even though it was gone, you kept reaching for it. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Hugo threw his hands into the air. He stormed to the front door.

“Hugo!” Alice shouted as he opened it. “Let’s talk about this.”

The walls of the house shook as he slammed the door behind him. Alice ran after him.

The springtime air was breezy and slightly warm for this time of year. The sky grew a colorful orange and yellow as sunset approached. Hugo charged down the front steps. Alice was quick to follow him out the door. He let out an audible huff as he strode off the steps onto the walkway. He cut across the grass toward his silver car parked in front of his house.

“Hugo!” she shouted. “Hugo, let’s talk about this.”

He continued toward his car. “What’s there to talk about?”

“I tried to help you. ”

He stopped and turned back. “How is this helping me? Huh? How?”

“I…” she struggled to get the words out. “I didn’t want to see you hurt again.”

“This. This hurts worse.” He pointed at her with both hands open, like he was accusing her of a grievous crime. He stood there for a moment. “How do I know you didn’t plant that box on Christmas? That note?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Alice replied. Her expression changed to hurt, and tears formed in her eyes.

“How do I know that with all of your magic… Wait, I’m sorry, magick with a K… that you haven’t put some spell on me, and you’re slowly making me forget about her. And you’re”—he struggled to find the next words—“you’re changing everything. Maybe I never wanted to change a thing or move on.”

“How dare you?” Alice asked in a soft tone. “After all we’ve been through, this is how you act?”

Hugo licked his lips and peered off into the distance for a moment. He focused back on Alice. “I’ve got to go.”

He pulled his keys from his pocket and continued into the car. He slammed the door shut behind him and started the engine.

“Hugo, wait!” Alice yelled.

The car pulled away. She ran after it. In the heat of the moment, with all the emotions coursing through her body, she raised both of her hands. “Hugo, wait! ”

She snapped her fingers. An explosion of purple arcane magick erupted from under the hood. The car rolled to a dead stop. Alice cupped her hands in shock at what she had done.

Hugo exited the car and glared at Alice. His eyes widened with unmistakable furious anger. He stood there motionless, silent, and in disbelief at Alice.

“I’m sorry,” she said through her hands. She slowly dropped them. “I’m so, so sorry. I… I just acted. ”

“Fix it,” Hugo said in a low command. “ Fix it now! ”

Alice snapped her fingers again. The car revved back to life.

“We’ll talk when I get back,” Hugo said. He grabbed the car door, slammed it behind him, and sped off down the road.

Alice was left there in the middle of the street, crying and alone.