Chapter 2
“Yes, sir.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Finally, he opened the gate.
“Fine. Let’s see how long you last.”
For the next two hours, Annie and I worked.
My hands hurt from pulling weeds, and sweat soaked through my shirt.
Arthur occasionally watched us from the porch.
I could tell he expected us to quit.
We didn’t.
Then Annie suddenly called my name.
“Caleb!”
I hurried over.
She was kneeling beside an old rosebush, holding something covered in dirt.
A ring.
Even dirty, I could tell it was expensive. A large stone caught the sunlight when Annie wiped it against her sleeve.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
We needed money desperately.
That ring could probably buy groceries for months.
Maybe medicine.
Maybe enough to let Grace rest instead of worrying about rent.
Annie looked at me.
“Should we give it to him?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
We found Arthur near the patio.
“I think this belongs to you.”
I opened my hand.
The instant he saw the ring, his cane slipped against the stone.
“Where did you get that?”
“Under the rosebush.”
He took it carefully.
His arrogance disappeared.
“My wife’s,” he whispered.
He turned the ring in his fingers.
“She lost this seventeen years ago.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“You knew this was valuable.”
“Yes.”
“And you still returned it?”
“It wasn’t ours.”
Arthur stared at us for a long time.
Then he asked, “How sick is your sister?”
I hesitated.
“She says she’ll be okay.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
His voice had changed completely.
He walked toward the house and opened the door.
“Come inside.”
“We haven’t finished the garden.”
“Forget the garden.”
Annie grabbed my hand.
Arthur picked up his phone.
I immediately became nervous.
“Who are you calling?”
He looked at the ring, then at us.
“Someone who owes me a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
Arthur’s eyes softened.
“The kind your sister should have received days ago.”
Then he gave an address over the phone.
Our address.
I had never told him where we lived.
May you like
And when I asked how he knew it, Arthur went completely silent.
That answer made even less sense.
