#mtk4fun

It was a mystery that needed to be unraveled. But it would have to wait. She had too much to do. Katniss spent the rest of the day sorting her mother’s belongings into piles. Toss. Donate. Save.

Tired, she surveyed her work. The Toss pile was the largest. It wasn’t a true pile because it included furniture that was spread throughout the house that she had stuck yellow post-its on.

She wanted to dispose of it as quickly as possible. The memories the items evoked were too painful. Especially the old couch that she and Peeta used to make out on.

The Donate pile included cake pans that reminded her of the times Peeta used to bake for her, towels they’d used when she taught him to swim in the lake, and blankets that they’d cuddled under while watching t.v.

The Save pile was the smallest. It contained a few family photos taken long ago when the future was a shiny and wonderful dream, not the nightmare it had turned into.

She’d put the photo with the key on top of the save pile; now she picked it up to look at it. What a strange picture for her mother to keep. She turned it over and studied the key. It was small and gold and didn’t look like it would fit a door lock. And she hadn’t found any locked boxes in the house.

Could the key open a safe deposit box at a bank? Maybe if it did, that would explain what the numbers meant.

Fortunately there was only one bank in town so it would be easy to find out if she was right.

After a good night’s sleep, surprisingly free of nightmares, she drove herself to First National.

She pushed the key across the counter. “Does this belong to one of your safety deposit boxes? I’ve been cleaning out my mother’s personal effects and I came across it.”

The red-headed girl picked it up and turned it over. “It doesn’t look like our current key, but we changed the boxes a couple of years ago and issued new keys to all of our customers. Maybe it’s one of the old ones.

“If you take a seat, you can ask the manager. He’s with a customer now.”

She was reading about car loans when she heard his voice.

“Katniss.”

Oh, no.

She’d hoped to avoid Peeta completely while she was in Panem. Just her luck to run into him at the bank, but maybe it was providential. Peeta might be able to solve her mystery.

“Why are you here?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Instead of answering his question, she handed him the photo of her mother and his father with the four numbers written on the back of it, along with the key that had been taped next to the numbers.

“Why would my mother have this?”

Peeta took one look at the photo and went pale.