She placed the postcard back in the pile, and picked up a different one, this one complete with a photograph of a ringlet coiffed child holding a doll;
On the back was written;"This is our beloved Grizelda. She is two years old now, and looks so much like Oscar's mother! I cannot wait for you to see her. We will be coming home for a visit in September. Love, Lilly"
Grizelda sighed deeply. She remembered nothing of that time; she was less than two when her parents went back to Paris and left her in her Great Grandmothers care. You see, there was already another war, and they wanted Grizelda to be safe... and well, they simply disappeared, as so many did in those days.
She placed the postcard back in the pile, and picked up a thick parchment certificate of some sort. What was this? An official document?
" By order of the mayor ...."Grizelda sat struck dumb as she read the document. It was an order condemning Magret Marigold Hawthorn to death by hanging for witchcraft.
"Wasn't Nana Opal's mother named Magret Hawthorn?", Grizelda mused to herself.
Grizelda carefully closed the trunk to look at the engraving on top. Her hand smoothed away years of thick white dust, and exposed the initials mHm on the ancient brass. This was her Great-Great Grandmother Magret's trunk! No wonder she had never been allowed to touch it!
Next was a thick envelope. Inside was a hand written letter..
