One Less Problem Without You Read Online Free Page A

pictures of Prinny’s mother here and there, even though Prinny’s dad kept taking them down, because she insisted it was important that Prinny feel her mother’s presence in the house.
    Prinny never told anyone that she did. Constantly. Sometimes she even saw her mother. But even at that age, she knew she couldn’t say that without scaring people.
    So Prinny went with Marie into the thick stale air, and watched as she opened the trunk. “This, child, is what we call a treasure chest.” She sat down on the floor and patted the dusty wood next to her.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œYour mama’s things.”
    â€œYou mean like clothes and shoes?” Prinny tried to work out how there could be more when the people had come and taken away rack after rack of clothes that smelled of her mother’s familiar Jean Patou Joy perfume, “for charity,” as her dad and Leif had said.
    Yet for a moment, Prinny’s heart leaped at the idea of smelling that delicious, comforting scent one more time, of perhaps wrapping herself in one of her mother’s garments, untouched since Mama herself had carefully put it away. She wanted to try on the strappy, high-heeled shoes and see if they fit yet.
    In fact, she was diving fully into a fantasy of clopping around the attic in her mother’s shoes, looking for a mirror (there had to be one up here; wasn’t there a mirror, cracked or otherwise, in every spooky attic?) when Marie handed her a box.
    Prinny took it uncertainly. It was a small box. Not a shoe box. Too small, even, for a filmy scarf to fit in it. “What’s this?”
    Your legacy. Your history. Your gift.
    â€œCards,” Marie said reverently. “Cards that tell the future!”
    Suddenly the box felt like it was trembling, and Prinny dropped it, though it was probably her hand that had trembled. It was now. “Did they tell Mama she was going to die?” She knew they had. She just knew it.
    Marie appeared to consider. “Maybe. I don’t know what your mama learned from them.”
    Prinny suddenly felt scared. “Why are you showing me this?”
    â€œOh, child.” Marie moved toward her and put a meaty arm around Prinny’s narrow, bony shoulder, pulling her into her ample bosom. “Because these are the tools of magic . This is a gift your mama has left for you, and finally we have found it.”
    â€œMagic?” Witches sprang to mind. Of course. “Magic” was not a bad word in Prinny’s mind. Not at all. Magic was something she wanted to believe in. No, she needed to believe in it. It was her only way to connect to her mother and to the happy life she felt had already eluded her.
    â€œCome look.” Marie started taking things gently out of the box. “Look at this bag of pretty stones she collected.” She handed it over to Prinny.
    It was a mesh bag, about the size of a paper lunch bag, at least half full of pretty stones, some cut, some smooth, some sparkling in the dim light, and others dull, receding like little rock shadows at the ocean’s edge. “What are they for?”
    â€œAll different things,” Marie said, helping Prinny open the bag, then taking them out one by one. “This one is rose quartz. That’s a magic rock to help you find love.”
    â€œBut Mama had Daddy!”
    Marie smiled. “Maybe this is why.” She curled her fist tight around the rock and held it to her chest for a moment. “It’s very powerful. Also for self-love. You know it’s important to love yourself, don’t you, child? If you don’t, how’s anyone else gon’ to?”
    Prinny didn’t understand that concept, but she didn’t care. She liked the idea that she had found some magic talisman that had given her mother and father to each other, and when she touched it, it buzzed against the tender skin of her palm. She would save the stone, she determined right