Discovery

Black spots danced in front of her eyes as another coughing spasm gripped her hard.

“Hey! You gonna live?” her sister asked, as she thwacked Gina on the back.

“Yeah,” she wheezed, bending over trying to catch her breath.

Andrea chuckled. “You sound convincing.”

Finally, her lungs settled down and she was able to breathe normally.

“I told you we need masks on to go through this attic,” she pointed out, as she hefted a blue tub over to an area they’d cleared for items that had already been gone through. “We’re probably breathing in fifty-year old rat poop. If I get some funky lung disease, I’m blaming you!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever. I just want to get this done and over with. Less complaining and more moving sista,” Andrea told her, as plopped down on the floor across the cold open space and began to go through a box of newspapers.

“Dear God, I think Grandpa kept every newspaper he ever read. I got papers all the way back from 1941.”

“Yeah, he was a saver, but then I think most of his generation were. Growing up during a world war will do that to you,” Gina remarked as she opened the lid of a weathered, dark red steamer trunk hidden behind a stack of boxes. Her nose twitched once again as a faint hint of roses intermingled with the mustiness of air that had been resting for decades.

A delicate handmade lace tablecloth wrapped in tissue paper lay on top. With great care, she set it aside and continued to explore the contents of the chest. Toward the bottom she found beautiful emerald green wool coat and lifted it out. It was in great condition and unable to resist the urge she slipped it on.

“Look what I found!” She did a quick turn expecting the structured, pleated waist to flare out, but instead it sat heavy against her body. Something must be in the pockets, but she didn’t find anything. She took off the coat and felt down the hem surprised at the small lump at the bottom. She checked the opposite lapel and sure enough there was an anomaly here too.

Curious, she held up the coat. There at the bottom was a series of small homemade stitches. With a prayer of forgiveness, she pulled at the thread quickly working it loose.

“Andrea, come here! Something’s been sewn into the lining of this coat.” Little by little she was able to widen the opening until she could get her finger and thumb in between the material.

Her fingers encountered soft leather.

“What is it?” her sister asked excitedly.

She felt the outside of the satin, exploring the shape and thickness of the object.

“I think it’s a small book.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

“We’re going to have to tear this seam further to get it out.”

Her sister slapped her shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting on? People don’t just sew books into coats unless they have something they want to hide. Looks like Nonni and Pappa were a lot more exciting than we knew. Maybe they were spies!”

Gina wanted to scoff, but there was some truth to Andrea’s statement. Why did they sew a book into the lining of a woman’s dress coat?

“That’s not all. There’s something else on the other side,” she informed her sister.

“Let’s go downstairs, get the scissors and find out what mysteries our grandparents have been hiding all these years.”

Without waiting for a reply, Andrea turned and headed down the attic stairs. Gina followed at a slower pace, her mind racing in all kinds of fantastical directions.

She’d never had a chance to get to know her grandmother, since she died when she was six years old. Any memories she had were hazy, watercolor fragments that suggested a small quiet woman with a gentle touch and soothing voice.

Her pappa on the other hand was a robust Italian who immigrated to America during the war. Full of laughter and sharp wit, he commanded any room he was in. She’d loved to hear him tell the story of how he’d met her grandmother.

“Five minutes after I first laid eyes on her at that embassy party she walked up to me and said, ‘my name is Teresa Accardi and I’m going to marry you.’ Knocked me off my feet, she did. A tiny little creature with gorgeous dark cat eyes that bewitched me all the way to my soul. I married her three weeks later.”

Gina was smiling as she walked into the kitchen.

“What are you grinning about?” her sister asked as she pulled scissors out of the junk drawer.

“Just thinking about how nonni and pappa met,” she replied as she laid the coat on the kitchen table.

“Everyone says she was quiet but a force to be reckoned with when she wanted something. Pappa said he was grateful she’d decided she wanted him.”

“Ok, let’s see what we’ve got.” She quickly cut apart the seams on both sides of the coat.

Out of the left side she pulled out a well-worn black leather book with gold edging. On the other side, Andrea pulled out a black velvet drawstring bag.

Deftly, she pulled the string and emptied he contents of the bag on the table.

“Oh my God!” they gasped in unison.

There on the scratched surface of her grandmother’s prized dining room, table lay a mound of rings, watches, earrings, brooches and bracelets.

Gently, they spread them out, hardly able to believe their eyes.

“What in the world were they doing with all of these jewels? Do you think they stole them?” Andrea asked hesitantly.

She shook her head. “The book. The book has the answers.”

The aged leather protested as she opened it. It seemed to be a ledger of some kind. There was a date, initials and then a series of columns with the headers of A,O,C,OR,S. There were six entries.

Some of the columns had check marks next to them while others had numbers.

“Ok, what does this mean?” Andrea asked pointing to the columns.

Gina glanced at the pile of jewelry and back at the book. “Hold on let me check something.” She pulled up the Italian translation for the words ring, earring, necklace, watch and money and got her answer.

“It’s an accounting of people’s jewelry.”

“Who? Who’s jewelry and why was it hidden in Nonni’s coat?”

“Do you remember pappa talking about his friend Josiah Zalman who died in a concentration camp?”

“Yes,” she answered her brow wrinkled in confusion.

Gina pointed to a set of initials near the top.

“So, you think that these jewels were given to nonni and pappa for safe keeping?”

“Yeah, something like that.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “How do you feel about helping me reunite these family heirlooms with their owners?”

“I’m in.”

For the next few months, she and her sister became consummated researchers. Even with the unlimited resources on the internet, it was still a daunting task that most of the time left them frustrated. Most of the records were incomplete or if the individuals did survive, they fled the country with some changing their names.

It was a gorgeous sunny day in September when they finally had a breakthrough. They’d tracked down a great great niece of Josiah Zalman.

Their first contact was through her grand-daughter, since she knew little English and their Italian was rudimentary at best.

She told them that there had been stories in the family that Josiah had given some of family jewels to a friend for safe keeping when he realized there was no hope of him escaping his fate.

She specifically asked about small ivory cameo and told them the last time she saw it it had a loose latch. They confirmed that they had it. The niece set up a video call and tearfully confirmed the cameo and two other pieces that matched up with pappas ledger.

With her granddaughter translating, she told them. “You have restored my family to me. This gift is priceless. My family thanks you. Please tell me your address, I want to send you something as a thank you.”

They gave her the address and rang off.

Andrea turned to her, tears in her eyes. “Well, we can’t give up now.”

“No, we can’t.”

Through their connection to the Zalman family, doors began to open and they found the other families in short order. Each thanked them with overwhelming gratitude.

The first check arrived at Gina’s house from Rebekah Zalman for five thousand dollars. Five more checks arrived over the next weeks.

“Twenty-thousand dollars,” her sister whispered in disbelief.

Gina understood the sentiment, she was still reeling in shock. Yes, they’d given these families back something they’d thought had been lost forever, but she felt like something had been restored to herself as well.