Finding Pony Brown
Image by Dariusz Sankowski from PixabayWas it the way the sun struck the map on this particular day? Or the angle I was standing at?But I saw it. Exactly what I’d been missing for the last eight months.
Penelope Brown disappeared the day I was planning to propose. Her playful nature was what I loved about her, but when she went missing, it felt like a test—like she was hiding, and I was supposed to find her.
The cops ruled out foul play, and her credit cards went unused. Her clothes were gone, and a packed bag was at the end of the bed for me.
The only clue was this map spread across the table with three Polaroids taped to it. Each had the same message: “Always Smile!” Signed, Pony Brown—that’s what Penelope’s friends called her.
I once thought Always Smile was an anagram, but the best I could come up with was, “Yes, a sawmill.”
The map was archaic, using ancient names for countries, like Castille, Granada, and Aragon. It even displayed mythical places like Hy-Brasil and Atlantis. The photos were of major European capitals, Rome, Paris, London.
None of it made any sense. Until today.I saw the Eiffel Tower like an arrow, and couldn’t unsee it. Down the center of the Coliseum was another, and on Piccadilly, or whatever, was a third.
I grabbed a pencil and extended the lines into a triangle over the map. They corners touched over Hy Brasil, Atlantis, Tunguska.
“That one’s not mythical,” I said. I could almost hear her teasing laughter as I searched for a ruler. A little geometry, and I’d found the center point of the triangle. A little town in the forests of Bohemia called Sägework.
There was nothing on a modern map at its location, so I looked up the word in case the meaning was important.
The English translation was Sawmill.
“Yes, a sawmill.”
I grabbed my bag. “I’m coming, Pony.”
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