Chapter 5

Madison settled in her seat and pulled out the book. The long flight will give her the time she needs to go over the photos in it and try to figure out which one Katherine was referring to. The evening flight would take her to Minneapolis for an hour and a half stopover before connecting to Bradley International.

Flipping through the pages, she pored over the photos carefully. The Vitruvian Man? No, nothing of that drawing made her think of the pendant. It was not the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper, either. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. After a couple of hours, she put the book down and tried to rest.

Her seat mate was already sleeping. Earlier, he had been trying to be helpful by shouting whatever the flight attendant said to her. "SHE WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU WANT COFFEE." Madison wasn't sure if he thought she didn't understand English or that she was deaf. At least he was leaving her alone now.

"So you like da Vinci Code, yes?" He was up again.

"Well, I actually liked Angels and Demons better, but yes, I like a good thriller."

He looked at her, surprised. "You speak English well."

"I'm American."

"Ah! Sorry for my behavior earlier but I thought you were a foreigner."

"Why?"

"Well, you look.....mixed."

"Mixed? Oh...my father is Scottish, my mom Japanese. They met in Tokyo while my dad was stationed there."

"So, that explains your exotic looks."

Madison never thought of herself as 'exotic', but then in Hawaii, where many cultures came together, she didn't really stand out.

"Your mother is typical Japanese lady, yes?"

"Well, no. She's quite untypical. Although I never really thought about it until I met my aunt."

Her father and his brother, Uncle Paul, had both married Japanese women. Her mother was a social butterfly, always flitting from parties to functions, heading committees and joining neighborhood boards. Joanna's mother was a homebody. Taking care of her husband and children were her top priorities. She remembers well when she was living with them. Aunt Toshi was there when they came home from school, always ready with a snack. Dinner was always on time, clothes were always washed and pressed, and her home was always immaculate. She envied Joanna and her stable home life.

How is it that Madison grew up to be so uptight and introverted while Joanna was the carefree one?

"You do know the secret of that book, yes?" The question brought Madison out of her reverie.

"Sure. It's about Mary Magdalene."

"Oh, if you think that is what the secret is, then you have not really read the book.....or understood its meaning."

"Its 'meaning'?" "It's a mystery novel. Fiction. Although there are certain parties who feel Dan Brown is trying to deface Christianity, it is what it is. Fiction."

"Yes, the plot may be so, but read it again and you will see something that you did not the first time you read it."

"Why don't you just tell me what the secret is?"

"Because it holds different meanings for different people. You must find out what it is for yourself."

With that, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

*****

After the short layover, the flight touched down at Bradley without incident. Her mysterious seat mate had hurried off the plane without so much as a goodbye and Madison was left wondering about the 'secret' that was in this heavy tome.

Coming out of baggage claim, she was met with a fierce hug and a squeal. "Maddie, you're finally here!" "God, you're looking good!"

She hugged Joanna and stepping back, studied her. What the hell has been going on in her life?

Madison took in Joanna's platinum blond hair, cut short and spiked. Her low cut halter top nearly spilling out its contents was just shy of the top of her skin tight jeans. Jeans obviously a size or two too small for her. Heavy silver belt and huge dangling earrings completed her look. Kind of. Joanna's makeup was the second thing Madison noticed. Dark, heavy eyeliner rimmed her lids, as if she had drawn it on with a black Sharpie. On the top of that, electric blue eye shadow clung sparkling. I didn't know they still made colors like that.

"Joanie, you've.....changed."

She had been outrageous as a youngster, but her fashion sense had always been on the conservative side, especially with Aunt Toshi making all of her clothes. Maybe it was late life rebellion. Whatever it was, Madison found it distracting. This was not the Joanna she knew.

"Anything interesting happen on the plane?"

"No, except this guy I was sitting next to kept trying to translate whatever the flight attendant was saying. He thought I didn't understand English. Weird, since he was the one who was clearly the foreigner." Madison laughed as she recalled his accent.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Middle Eastern, I think."

"You mean you actually flew with an Arab?!"

"Joanie! He was nice." And strange.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man standing quietly by, not saying anything until Joanna beckoned him over.

"Maddie, I want you to meet my friend, Mike. Mike, this is my cousin, Madison."

Mike smiled and shook her hand but did not say much other than the usual niceties. He picked up Madison's suitcase and followed them to the car. Putting it in the trunk, he turned to Madison, "I thought you might like to see a couple of places before we head to Joanie's mom's house for dinner. I mean, if that's okay with you, Joanie."

"There's nothing she wants to see here, Mike. Geez, we're going to Europe for chrissake. What's there to see in Hartford?"

"I've never been here before, Joanie. Mike, I would love to see some of the sights, thank you."

Mike grinned at that and hurried to open the doors for the ladies. God, he's so timid. But Madison said nothing.

As Joanna was getting in, Madison saw of flash of yellow on her lower shoulder.

"What was that? A tattoo?" "Joanie, when did you get that?"

The tattoo was, of all things, of Sponge Bob Squarepants. It totally clashed with the outfit she had on, but again, Madison chose to keep quiet.

"About a year ago. It's cool, huh? You should get one, Maddie."


Actually, Madison already had one.

*****

"Rich, I don't know about this, man."

It was just a couple of days away from the event and Jon was still bitching about it.

Richie was exasperated. "Look, you've been going on and on and on about this that you're starting to sound like a sewing machine."
"Besides, there might be some cute chicks we could meet", he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

"I thought you were over that stage, how old do you think you are, anyway?"

"I've read that I'm beautiful at any age." He grinned again, showing off his dimples.

Jon stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"Where the fuck are you getting all this crap from?"

When the contest was announced, Richie had decided to go with the flow and just have some fun with it. He had come upon a fan forum dedicated to the band and was amazed by the things he read there. Holy crap! I wish our lives were as exciting as they make it out to be. The little tidbits that he threw out at the guys confounded them and he was reveling in that. Sooner or later, they would beat it out of him, but for now he was smug in the knowledge that only he was aware of the forum. The most entertaining thought, however, was how the girls will react when they discovered that he was a regular lurker.


What he didn't know was that he would soon be starring in a story of his own.