Chapter 2: The Name She Buried
Father Daniel looked as though someone had struck him.
He stared at Lily for several seconds, then at Mara, then back at the silver half-moon resting against the child’s chest.
“Rebecca,” he said again, but this time the name came out broken.
Lily stepped closer to Mara.
“Who is Rebecca?””
Father Daniel bent slowly and gathered one of the envelopes from the floor.
His hand was trembling.
“No one you need to worry about,” he said.
Mara almost laughed.
It came out as a sharp breath instead.
“Then why did you just look like you’d seen a ghost?””
Father Daniel straightened.
“Mara, not here.””
“Why not here?””
“Because there are people in the parish hall.””
“And?””
“And because some things should stay private.””
Mara stared at him.
She had known Father Daniel for nine years.
She had trusted him with funerals, confessions, family fights, hospital visits, and the kind of secrets people only whispered inside churches.
But she had never seen him afraid.
Lily tugged on Mara’s sleeve.
“Can we go somewhere else?””
Mara looked down.
The child’s face had gone pale again.
“Yes,” Mara said.
Father Daniel moved toward the office.
“Bring her inside.””
Mara followed.
The office was small and warm, with old books lining one wall and a radiator ticking beneath the window. A crucifix hung above Father Daniel’s desk. On the corner sat a framed photograph of the church staff from years ago.
Mara noticed the photograph immediately.
There were five people in it.
Father Daniel.
The old choir director.
Two volunteers.
And a young woman standing near the church steps.
Mara stopped breathing.
She knew that face.
Even after twenty years.
Even older photographs couldn’t erase the curve of those eyebrows, the stubborn set of her mouth, the tiny scar near her chin.
Rebecca Ellison.
Mara’s little sister.
She walked closer to the photograph.
“You kept this?””
Father Daniel closed the office door.
“Yes.””
“You told me you didn’t have any photographs.””
“I said I didn’t have many.””
“You said you threw them away.””
“I was wrong.””
Mara turned slowly.
“Why are you lying to me?””
“I’m not.””
“You just told me Rebecca was no one.””
Father Daniel’s eyes flicked toward Lily.
The girl sat on a wooden chair with Mara’s coat still around her shoulders.
“Father,” Mara said quietly, “who is that child?””
He didn’t answer.
“Who is Lily Gray?””
Father Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“I don’t know.””
Lily looked up.
“You do.””
Father Daniel froze.
“I’ve seen you before,” she continued.
“Where?””
“At the church.””
“When?””
“My mother brought me once.””
“What did she look like?””
Lily hesitated.
“She had red hair.””
Mara felt the room tilt.
Rebecca had red hair.
Not bright red. Not the dramatic copper people noticed from across a room.
A soft reddish brown.
The exact color Mara remembered from childhood photographs.
Mara looked at Lily.
“Your mother’s name.””
The girl shook her head.
“I told you. She said her name was Lily’s Mom.””
“That’s not a name.””
“It was to me.””
Father Daniel pulled out the chair behind his desk.
He sat down heavily.
Mara noticed a file on the corner of the desk.
Brown paper.
Old.
A typed label had been folded across the front.
MARA ELLISON.
Her stomach dropped.
She reached for it.
Father Daniel caught her wrist.
“Don’t.””
Mara looked at his hand.
Then into his eyes.
“Let go.””
“Mara—”
“Let go.””
He did.
She picked up the file.
Her fingers shook as she unfolded the flap.
Inside were newspaper clippings.
A photograph.
A police report.
And one handwritten page covered in Father Daniel’s unmistakable handwriting.
The top newspaper clipping was yellow with age.
YOUNG WOMAN MISSING AFTER MIDNIGHT.
Below the headline was a photograph of Rebecca.
Mara stared.
She had seen the article hundreds of times.
But this copy was different.
Someone had written across the bottom in red ink.
SHE DID NOT LEAVE WILLINGLY.
Mara looked up.
“Who wrote this?””
Father Daniel said nothing.
“Father.””
Still nothing.
“Who wrote it?””
He swallowed.
“I did.””
Lily slid from the chair.
“Is that my mother?””
Mara looked at the photograph.
Then at the girl.
She wanted to say no.
She wanted to say the impossible thing in front of her couldn’t possibly be true.
But the pendant was still there.
And Rebecca’s eyes lived in Lily’s face.
Mara crouched.
“Lily, how old are you?””
“Eight.””
“When’s your birthday?””
“December third.””
Mara’s heart stumbled.
December third.
Rebecca disappeared twenty years ago on a cold December night.
Mara looked at Father Daniel.
“Exactly twenty years?””
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
The room became very quiet.
Lily frowned.
“Why does everyone look scared?””
Mara stood.
“Because somebody has been lying.””
Father Daniel rose too.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
“From the people who were watching your family.””
“My family?””
“Mara—”
“You keep saying things like that. Watching my family. Protecting me.
Rebecca. Tell me the truth.””
Father Daniel walked to the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
For several seconds, he watched cars pass on the street.
Then he said, “Your sister came to me three nights before she disappeared.””
Mara’s breath caught.
“What?””
“She was terrified.””
“Why?””
“She said she had discovered something about your father.””
Mara stared at him.
“My father?””
Father Daniel nodded.
“She told me he had been keeping records.””
“Records of what?””
“I never found out.””
“You never found out?””
“He burned them before I could see them.””
Mara’s face hardened.
“My father burned records?””
“Yes.””
“What kind?””
“I don’t know.””
Mara stepped toward him.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I’m telling you what I know.””
“No. You’re telling me fragments.””
“That is all I have.””
“Then tell me the rest.””
Father Daniel turned.
“There was a man.””
Mara waited.
“Your sister said he had been visiting your father for years.””
“Who?””
“She never told me his name.””
“Did you see him?””
“Yes.””
“What did he look like?””
“Tall. Gray coat. Dark hair. About forty.””
“That could be anyone.””
“There was something else.””
Father Daniel looked at Lily.
“He was wearing a silver pin.””
“What kind?””
“A half-moon.””
Mara’s mouth went dry.
She touched the pendant at Lily’s neck.
“No.””
Father Daniel nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
Mara took a step back.
“Rebecca had the other half.””
“She did.””
“You knew about the pendant?””
“I gave it to her.””
Mara stared.
“What?””
“Your mother had two silver crescent pendants made when you and Rebecca were children.””
“I know.””
“Your father wanted them destroyed.””
“Why?””
“Because he said they were connected to something that could ruin him.””
Mara’s mind raced through old memories.
A Christmas morning.
Rebecca laughing.
Two identical silver moons in small velvet boxes.
Their mother saying, “One for each of you. Never lose it.””
Mara had lost hers years later.
Or so she thought.
Until a week ago, when she had opened the old wooden box in her attic and found it sitting exactly where she had left it.
She had assumed the memory had been wrong.
Now she wasn’t sure.
“What happened to Rebecca’s pendant?”” Mara asked.
Father Daniel’s gaze dropped.
“It broke.””
“When?””
“The night she disappeared.””
“And she gave one half to Lily?””
Father Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
Lily spoke from behind them.
“My mother said she got it from someone she loved.””
Mara turned.
“Who?””
Lily frowned, trying to remember.
“She said he gave it to her before he died.””
Father Daniel went completely still.
“He?””
Lily nodded.
“Mom said he was my real father.””
Mara looked at Father Daniel.
His face had changed.
“What?”” Mara whispered.
He didn’t answer.
“Father.””
“I didn’t know.””
“You just said Rebecca was terrified because of our father.””
“I didn’t know there was a child.””
Lily looked between them.
“What’s wrong?””
Mara walked toward her and knelt.
“Nothing is wrong with you.””
“But my mother told me never to tell anyone.””
“Tell them what?””
Lily’s lips trembled.
“She said my real father was killed because he tried to help her.””
Mara felt every hair on her arms rise.
“Who killed him?””
Lily looked toward the office door.
Then she whispered, “The man with the moon.””
A floorboard creaked outside.
All three of them turned.
Father Daniel moved first.
He crossed the office in two strides and locked the door.
Mara stood.
“Who’s out there?””
No answer.
Father Daniel pressed one finger to his lips.
Then came a soft sound.
Three knocks.
Lily’s face went white.
“No,” she whispered.
Mara moved toward the door.
“Stay back,” Father Daniel said.
Three more knocks.
Slow.
Patient.
Deliberate.
Mara felt a terrible pressure building in her chest.
Then a man’s voice came through the wood.
“Father Daniel?””
Father Daniel closed his eyes.
The color drained from his face.
The voice continued.
“I know you have the girl.””
Lily grabbed Mara’s hand.
May you like
And beneath her fingers, Mara felt something cold and metallic slide into her palm.
The other half of the silver moon.
