Waterworks (H2O Just Add Water) 🌊

6. Ida's Secret (An Original Chapter)

Grandma received word that her older sister, my Great Aunt Ida had passed away. Dad and I traveled to Sydney by car to help oversee Ida's studio apartment. Grandma and Grandpa flew down to make the travel less stressful and Grandpa didn't do well with sitting in a car for long periods since the high blood pressure incident. At least he's able to fly in a plane though.

Before leaving, I let Cleo, Emma, and Rikki know what was going on and I would be out of town for a bit. The girls gave Grandma their condolences. It surprised me Rikki too showed sympathy since she didn't show much emotion. It seemed she liked me since I tolerated her sassiness. And second, it would be a little while before I got back to early AM swimming underwater with her and the girls. Cleo assured me that she and Emma and Rikki would check on the dugongs for me. By the way, when Cleo met the dugong family, she adored them, especially the lovable calf who hugged her right away.

Plus, Mrs. Geddes let me take some time off work once learning that there had been a death in the family and that my grandma would need all the support since Ida was her only sibling.

I learned Ida had been a popular artist, mainly all over Australia. Her artworks involved a lot of under-the-ocean scenes. Several of them were on display at various art galleries. Ida's landlord mentioned that whenever people visit her, they get the feeling that they were in an elegant aquarium or the lost city of Atlantis after seeing her art. Plus, Ida had the entire apartment painted ocean blue giving off the underwater feeling.

Ebony flew down from the UK to help us out once getting the word about Ida's death. I hadn't seen Ebony in person since Mom's funeral. 

We ended up cleaning up the apartment and Dad, Ebony, Grandma, and Grandpa debated on selling Ida's art to an art gallery since finding out her artwork would cost millions. Though really, there wasn't enough room at home for all of the portraits. They didn't care about the money. Though we'd keep some of the artworks and give a few as gifts to close friends.

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I helped Grandma and Ebony with sorting out Ida's wardrobe and accessories to donate to a secondhand shop and to hold on to for sentimental reasons.

While helping Ebony sort through the jewelry pieces, I came across a similar necklace that looked exactly like the locket Cleo wore that Emma found at the bottom of the Moon Pool. Upon further examining it, I saw that it had a small jade-colored stone near the loop, like the sapphire-colored crystal on Cleo's pendant.

"You'll right Zo?" Ebony asked me curiously.

"Yeah," I nodded as I casually checked the locket.

"I have to admit, I remember Ida wearing that a lot. She often said that it symbolized her friendship with three other girls from when they were your age, even after parting ways."

Grandma came out of the closet with a box full of clothing and other materials, "Is everything ok out here? Whatcha find there?"

I held out the locket to show her. Grandma started showing an expression of realization.

"Ida started wearing that a lot when she was your age. It's funny. Your friend Cleo has the same one as that," she spoke up.

"The resemblance is uncanny," I nodded remembering Grandma's sharp eye. She must've noticed the pendant whenever Cleo and the other girls showed up at the house.

"You can have that if you want. I could never figure out how to get it open anyway. And most of everything here is going to charity shops."

"Thanks, Grandma."

Ebony helped clip it on my neck for safekeeping. Grandma's eyes started getting glossy.

"You'll ok Grandma?" I asked.