The Tower on the Pendant

A bell tower without a bell, etched on a golden pendant, distinguished by uneven ribbing below its belfry of asymmetrical arches - an heirloom passed down through four generations of Prestons. Rarely did a day go by that the pendant, held by a fine golden chain, did not grace its current owner, Savina Preston, a businesswoman who relished a job that took her around the world.

The travel was her gift to herself, both for having survived a past devastation and to brace for the life-altering ch...