Charmed

Night shadows had already fallen when Ashley Davis's taxi reached the rugged coastline of Portland, Maine. Wisps of fog floated over choppy gray water, and a blanket of heavy, dark clouds heralded the approach of an Atlantic storm. "You'll have to wait until morning for a ferry or hired boat," the driver briskly informed her as he opened the door and set down her single suitcase. "You won't be finding any transportation to Greystone Island this time of night." "I have to," Ashley answered flatly as she handed him the fare. As he drove off, Ashley slung the strap of her alligator purse over her shoulder and picked up her suitcase. Shivering in her lightweight beige knit jacket and slacks, she realized her San Francisco wardrobe wasn't going to be suitable for Maine weather, even in early September. She hadn't even considered something as mundane as the weather after she'd received the telephone call from Portland late that morning. She had been stunned when a female police officer had informed her that her sister, Lorrie, had disappeared while working on an island off the coast of Maine. "Some of her belongings were found at the top of a steep cliff about midday, and one of her shoes on the rocky beach below." The officer added that the authorities were speculating the young woman had fallen or jumped into the rough current, and that her body had been swept out to sea. Ashley was stunned. "No, I don't believe it." "I'm sorry. We'll let you know about any further developments." Not Lorrie! She'd gone to Greystone Island to catalogue some vintage clothing being offered for auction by a wealthy family who owned an estate on the Atlantic side of the island. The Langdons' island property had belonged to the illustrious family since the late 1800s, and they had decided to release a collection of vintage clothing accumulated over several generations. Lorrie had called from New York, all excited. "I've been hired by a prominent New York auction house to make an inventory and pack the collection for shipment." She'd sounded enthusiastic and confident about the assignment. During the week she'd been on the island, Lorrie had called Ashley several times with glowing reports about how well the inventory was going. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't! They'd always been very close, raised by a widowed mother who provided for her two daughters by working as a seamstress in one of the fashionable New York designer houses. Both girls had grown up with a heightened sense of fashion and color, and both had attended a Manhattan design school. After their mother's death, Ashley had left New York and started a successful business, Hollywood Boutique, specializing in original beaded bags, coin purses, and accessories. Now at age thirty, she employed three women full-time and was kept busy creating intricate beaded designs that bore her trademark. Lorrie had stayed in the New York area, working freelance for museums and auction houses offering vintage apparel. Now she's missing! Presumed dead! Ashley had left her shop in the hands of a trusted employee, Kate Delawny, and secured a seat on the first available flight. She had endured several hours of layovers in connecting flights across the country. A sense of disbelief had traveled with her every minute of the journey as she tried to absorb the shock. Now she stood shivering in the foggy night air. Her ears were filled with the sound of the pounding surf lashing the wharf. Anchored boats in a marina tugged at bowlines like captured animals struggling to get free from their chains. Lights in a nearby parking lot did little to illuminate the empty ferry station or the dark harbor-master's small building with its posted sign for the next day's public transportation. The bay was dotted with numerous crafts looking like ghostly specters on the black surf. There were signs advertising daily water trips--all daytime hourKarr, Leona is the author of 'Charmed', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373229499 and ISBN 0373229496.