Kinnin Jars

A sense of worry lingered overhead as a mother and daughter braved a dark and stormy morning to uncover a truth they never sought. Aubrey sat in the passenger seat of her mother's van. Her dark hair covered all but the part of her face that was pressed against the window. Her tan skin was covered in chills as she complained under her breath. It was only an hour drive, but Aubrey had already mentioned at least fifty times how creepy the trip was becoming. Just a month earlier, Aubrey's great aunt had died, leaving them with no family. Now the two were going to sift through Aunt Jean's belongings on this particularly dark morning. The whole ordeal made Aubrey uncomfortable, so she tried anxiously to ease her mind.

"Are you excited for your first year in high school?" Olivia saw that her daughter was nervous and tried to help.

"Just hope I know someone - why did Aunt Jean have such a big house? She never worked, she never even had a car did she?"

"I can't figure that one out, hon'. She never worked for as long as I can remember and she was always fun and sweet, but she was private."

Olivia was a short woman. She had a medium build and thick, auburn hair that covered her back when down. Her family had always attributed their hair to their Irish roots. Her small hands gripped the wheel as they made a slow turn down the private, gravel road leading to Aunt Jeans. There were trees on both sides of the road, blocking off the house from the rest of the world. It was just a little ways down before the gravel road opened up into a clearing and the huge home was visible. Olivia looked at the silhouette against the dark clouds and wondered if Aubrey was right to want to go home.

They parked as close as they could to the steps leading onto the front porch. Each step complained under the weight of the two women, worn from decades without repair. The porch stretched out toward the corners of the home. Olivia and Aubrey stood for a moment before using the key to open a door they'd only ever had to knock on. Olivia and Aubrey took in the house for what it was now. Before, it had been filled with Aunt Jean and her many friends, but now the house stood alone and its greatness took the forefront. They stared down the length of the house from the foyer they stood in, to the gathering room, to the owners foyer and finally to the doors of the back porch which was more like a second living room. To the left, the kitchen and dining room remained untouched. Aunt Jean never was much of a cook but she loved having a fancy kitchen. Aubrey scooted slowly towards the owner's foyer. This room led to everything. She looked toward the master hallway which led to Aunt Jeans bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. Aubrey loved the 40's clothing and it must have been Aunt Jean's favorite time too because she had a lot of clothes from that era.

Aubrey wanted to explore, "How old was Aunt Jean in the 40's?"

"She was about 20 I believe - are we starting in the master hall?" Olivia walked over to where Aubrey was standing.

"No, let’s start upstairs and work our way down." Aubrey turned to face the other side of the owner's foyer. There was a staircase on the right side of the room that led to a large landing with two chairs sitting next to the window overlooking the backyard. There was a bedroom and an additional master suit that included a dressing room and bathroom. There was also a large laundry room and den. Aubrey put her foot on the first step as lightning lit up the dim stairwell. Olivia and Aubrey both took a deep breath, more afraid of their own ideas which were more or less unrealistic. Olivia took a moment to look out the window half thinking about Aunt Jean and half disheartened by the idea of letting go of such a massive home. Olivia and Aubrey didn’t have much and often visited Aunt Jean for extended periods of time when funds were low. Olivia had hoped that they could stay there, but was now afraid of possible repair costs.

Aubrey walked over to the master suit. Everything was just as they left it. Aubrey tried to remember the conversation she had with Aunt Jean during their last stay. She remembered putting a dish towel over her arm and saying, “This way madam.” Aunt Jean laughed so hard. She loved when Aubrey would pretend to be the butler at the ‘Jean Manor’. Aubrey slid her fingers through the dust on the chest drawer handles. The chest itself was built into the wall and it was always Aubrey’s favorite part of the room. Aubrey grabbed the handle to pull open the drawer, but strangely it did not open. She had gotten into the drawers hundreds of times and they were never locked. She tugged a little harder in hopes that the old wood had swelled, but she would soon regret her decision. The old wood split, throwing Aubrey off balance and sending her to the floor. She screamed, more surprised than hurt. Olivia ran to her daughter's side to make sure she was alright. Aubrey was fine, but the drawer was in shambles. Olivia and Aubrey looked up to the chest. Part of the drawer was still attached and it looked like something was stuck between the piece of drawer and the side wall. Aubrey dusted herself off and leaned in, curious as to what could lay hidden there. Gently, she maneuvered the small item away from the wood heap. Olivia pulled her sleeve over her hand and attempted to wipe the splinters away.

“A diary?” Aubrey was confused.

“A little black book? Ya’ know with names and numbers?” Olivia laughed. “Aunt Jean was pretty popular.”

Aubrey removed the elastic closure and opened the small black book. “It’s just a notebook!”

“Huh, - why would Aunt Jean hide a notebook? I mean it’s nice and all -,” Olivia leaned in confused by the strange secrecy.

The two of them flipped through small notes, showtimes for movies, grocery lists and scriptures. Baffled by their find, they looked at each but continued to search the book. Olivia began to walk off, "Come on Aubrey, we need to get to work."

"Wait!! Mom, there's a note here." Aubrey's voice was raised with excitement.

"Yes, I know there are notes in the notebook."

Aubrey rolled her eyes at her mother's sarcasm, "Mom, an actual note. It says something about finding kissing something, I can't read her cursive."

"Well she took shorthand, I can barely read it. Let me see." Olivia gestured for the notebook, and began reading. "It says Kinnin jars, Kinnin. I know that name." Before Aubrey could give it a second thought, Olivia dashed toward the door. Aubrey ran after her asking where they were going, but Olivia was halfway down the stairs by then. Aubrey caught up to her mother as she turned the corner into the master hall. Olivia dropped to her knees in front of a trunk that had been at the foot of Aunt Jean’s bed. Olivia fumbled through the keys until she found the one that fit.

Aubrey was still lost, “What are we looking for, mom?”

“There is an old family tree that my great great great grandmother did, and I am almost positive that I saw the name Kinnin on there.” Olivia gently lifted up old yearbooks and photo albums until she found the family tree. It had been redone once, but the paper inside was still yellowed and tattered. Aubrey helped her mother pull the tree out and they hovered over it. Aubrey saw the name first and pointed her mother in the right direction. The family tree read Anthony Kinnin, 1763. Underneath the date was a note in Aunt Jean’s handwriting that said ‘Alamo’.

“Alamo? That’s not even the right year!” Olivia thought surely Aunt Jean knew when that battle took place. Aunt Jean had always loved history after all.

“Mom, I know what she means,” Aubrey scoffed. It was a long standing joke that Aunt Jean had shared with her. “There is a weird stone structure at the edge of the back yard. Aunt Jean said it reminded her of the Alamo.” The two of them headed outside. They had nearly forgotten the storm which was now long gone. The sun peered at them between clouds as they trudged toward the structure. The front of the structure was shaped like a fireplace. Olivia and Aubrey searched high and low. They were sure they would see a name etched in one of the rocks, but they found nothing. They were ready to give up when the sunlight revealed something shiny hidden underneath the stones. Aubrey grabbed the stone and pulled it off the pile.

“It’s hollow!” Aubrey carefully put her hand through and pulled out a jar full of money.

“Aubrey Christine, where is your phone? Use the flashlight,” Olivia anxiously waited while Aubrey looked down in the hollow place.

“Mom! There are thirty-five jars!!”

“Thirty-five!?” Olivia tried to get an idea of how much could be down there. “I’ll go get the wheelbarrow, just be careful.” Aubrey continued to pull jar after jar out of the hole until all of them were out. Her mother came rushing back and they loaded the jars quickly. Olivia and Aubrey parked the wheelbarrow next to the door of the back porch and took each jar into the dining room. Once every jar was on the table, they both knew it was time to start counting. Olivia used the little black notebook to keep track of how much was in each jar. Hours had gone by and Olivia was getting tired. The duo was hungry and beginning to jumble up their numbers. They had done about six jars and the numbers were rather consistent. Each jar totaled around six hundred dollars.

“What’s six hundred times thirty-five?” Aubrey, tired of numbers, refused to even guess.

“I think we are looking at about twenty thousand dollars!” Olivia said the words, but her brain hadn’t yet caught up with the reality in front of her.

“Mom, we can’t sell this house! What if there is more? What if Aunt Jean planned it this way just for us!? We can’t let anyone else find it.” Aubrey was frantic and began to look around as if they needed to search the house at that very moment.

Olivia remained calm, “We’ll have plenty of time to look hon’ I’ll call the realtor.”

“Yes, tell him we need more time,” Aubrey sighed in relief.

“Or I could just tell him we’re not interested in selling.” Olivia sat up now and gave Aubrey a wink and a smile.

“Are you serious!?” Aubrey was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

Olivia had only been concerned about the repairs the house needed but with a mortgage free home and no shortage of cash, she felt at ease. “Welcome home, Aubrey!”