I pulled gently at the tightly wadded sacking wedged in the bottom of the kettle. The kettle’s spout had been jammed with some type of clay, so the material was dirty and rust-stained but not wet. Someone had packed this well, considering there was no plastic wrap at the time.
The sack was disintegrating as I tugged.
“Just let it rip,” Julia said.
“If she does, I’m outta here,” Drew joked.
Julia snorted. “I meant the fabric, bozo.”
I focused on the sacking. It came loose with a soft tearing sound, and I drew it through the kettle’s opening.
Drew and Julia leaned over. I unfolded the cloth, and there, among several gold watches and a number of coins, was the ruby necklace. It was clogged with dirt but still sparkled as I held it up.
“Wow,” Julia breathed.
“It’s pretty big,” Drew touched the stones. “I wonder what it’s worth.”
“Far too much for you,” a menacing voice said from behind us.
The three of us swiveled instantly. I swallowed hard. Richard Ausby was no more than ten feet away. My nerveless fingers dropped the necklace. It landed in the sacking with the rest of the loot.
Julia reacted first, with the skill of an athlete born to make use of her opportunities. “Run!” she screeched at the top of her voice. She whipped the edger at Ausby, its sharp curve cleaving downward like a knife. Ausby’s eyes widened, and he quickly ducked, but unfortunately for him, Julia’s choice of weapon fell a little low. Its heavy metal handle cracked him solidly on one knee.
“Yow!” he yelled.
I grabbed the sacking with the stolen loot still inside and took off, Drew and Julia sprinting beside me. I chanced a backward glance, but Ausby was still cursing and trying to run after us with a hobbling gait. We tore across the soccer field.
“We can’t go to my house!” I gasped. “He can’t find out where I live!”
“We’ll ditch him first,” Drew puffed, “and then we’ll circle around and go back to your house through the alley.”
“He’ll expect that,” Julia objected. She looked back. “He’s coming.”
We put on a burst of speed. I clutched the sack with both hands, afraid that the fragile fabric wouldn’t stay together. As we darted across the street, a familiar van pulled around the corner and stopped.
The van’s window rolled down. “Izzy!” my mother’s voice was sharp. “Get in here. Did you forget you had a game?”
We climbed inside, and shut and locked the door. The three of us were wheezing and breathless, but my mother had no time for that. She pulled away from the curb just as Richard Ausby made it to the edge of the park. He scowled after us. I collapsed into the backseat and buckled my seatbelt.
“What were you thinking?” she scolded. “First of all, the park is closed. Why were you in there? And you knew you had soccer—I reminded you this morning. I left your soccer bag right by the closet. What else do I have to do, send up smoke signals? For goodness sake, Iz. You have to get organized. It’s a good thing you left me that note telling me where you were.”
No kidding, I thought. “Did you bring my stuff?” I asked automatically.
Mom cast me a withering glance in the rearview mirror. “Yes, your bag is in the back. Julia, your mother is bringing your uniform to the game. You girls will have to get changed once we get there. And Drew, your dad called looking for you. You’d better call him back and tell him I’ll drop you off at the game.” Mom held her cell phone up.
“Thanks, Mrs. MacAllister,” Drew said.
“Mom, there’s something we need to do first—” I said.
“I don’t want to hear it, Izzy. I didn’t count on having to drive around for twenty minutes looking for you. I still have work to finish up at home, your game starts in five minutes, and no one has eaten supper, so don’t even suggest that there’s something else I have to do.”
“But Mom, it’s really important—”
“Sorry, Iz. But unless your hair is on fire, I’m not listening.” Mom pulled into the parking lot without slowing down. Our team was hosting this game, so we were using an alternate field that Coach had managed to dig up. Mom braked hard. “Lucky for all of us, this field was only about ten blocks away. Have a good game. I’ll try to get back to watch the second half. Have fun.”
I stashed the old sacking full of loot in my soccer bag and leaped out of the van. I slammed the door shut just as Mom pulled away.
“Well, that’s just great. Now what?” Julia said.
“Now we go play soccer,” I said. “I put the stuff in with my gear. We’ll go to the police right after the game. Ausby doesn’t know where to find us. And how would anybody steal something out of my bag, when it’s piled up with everyone else’s and in plain sight? Besides, Drew can keep an eye on things.
“I don’t know, Iz. I think we should tell my dad,” said Drew.
“Me too,” I agreed. “But do you really think he’s going to listen now, right before the game? He’s going to think we’re from outer space. There’s no way we can tell him in the next five minutes everything that’s happened. And what then? Is he going to call off the game? No. All these parents and the other team would have to be told what’s going on. No, I say we wait. It’s a lot simpler. That stolen loot has been hidden for nearly a century. Another few hours aren’t going to change anything.”
“I guess you’re right,” Drew said. “I just don’t like it, that’s all.”
“Girls!” Coach shouted across the parking lot. “Let’s go! You’re late!”
Drew ran across to the field, while Julia and I found her mother and the keys to their van so we could change. When I pulled out my uniform, an odd musty smell hit me. I wrinkled my nose and peered inside my soccer bag.
“Uh-oh,” I said.