Allie helps Sam pick up handfuls of baseball cards from the floor. Rocky didn’t ask a single question about the break-in, which makes Sam question again if Rocky is capable of doing this. Making messes comes naturally for him, but this isn’t Rocky’s kind of mess. It has to be Tink.
For the next two days Sam schemes about how to get his ruby back from Tink. He asks his ancestors for guidance, but ever since Grandmother’s death it’s like they are under a code of silence. In the meantime, Sam harvests more in Grandmother’s garden. The next morning, Old John drives Sam to Raven’s store with a bushel of apples and two bushels of corn in the back of Abigail the truck. Sam receives thirty dollars for the crops and tucks the money into the pocket of his worn jeans. Afterward, he sits on the bench in front of the store waiting in case Tink shows up.
The newspaper box nearby shows the latest issue of their small town newspaper. The photograph on the front catches Sam’s eye and he moves closer to the glass. The headline reads: BOY FINDS PRICELESS RUBY.
Sam gasps. At first he thinks someone wrote the article about him, but then he looks closer. In the photograph, holding up the ruby for all to see, is Tinker Watson standing in the front of the casino.
CHAPTER 17: THE THIEF
Sam kicks the newspaper box so hard the glass door flops open without Sam having to deposit fifty cents. He pulls out a newspaper and reads the article:
Local boy, Tinker Watson, son of Stewart Watson, CEO of Cherokee Casino, recently found a rare star-ruby while hiking along Joshua’s Ridge. “I stumbled across it on the path,” Tinker stated. A local jeweler estimates the ruby’s worth at approximately twenty-five thousand dollars. When asked what he planned to do with the ruby, a happy Tinker Watson stated he planned to sell it and buy his first car.
Sam’s mouth drops open as he stares at the photograph of a smiling Tink Watson holding Sam’s ruby. He squeezes his fists. Does Tink really think Sam will let him get away with this? Yet, he already has. There are no witnesses to what happened. Buddy is the only one who saw the ruby that day in Raven’s parking lot and even if Buddy testifies about the ruby being Sam’s, what good is Buddy’s word against the word of the richest family in town?
More than ever, Sam wishes his grandmother were here. He needs her to tell him what to do next. On his own, not a single thought comes. He could talk to Sheriff Duncan, but the sheriff isn’t about to confront the son of Stewart Watson. That will assure the sheriff loses the next election. Sam rips the newspaper down the middle of Tink’s face and wads up both pieces and tosses them in the trash can.
Seconds later, as if fate wants to have a say, Tink strides down the street with Jack Raven. When he sees Sam, Tink stops momentarily before puffing his chest out like a strutting wild turkey.
“I know what you did,” Sam says to Tink, his teeth gritted.
Tink smiles. “I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”
A blood-stained bandage covers one of Tink’s arms and Sam remembers the drops of blood on his windowsill. He brushes past Sam and goes into the store. Sam follows.
“That’s my ruby, Tink. I’m the one who found it. I’m the one who did all the work digging it out and nearly killed myself falling down a mountain to get it.”
Tink takes a new flashlight off a hook near the cash register. “I don’t have time for you right now,” he says to Sam. He shoos him away, like a mosquito. Then he grabs three candy bars from the shelf and throws a twenty dollar bill on the counter, not waiting for change.
Young John isn’t around, and for several long seconds Sam considers grabbing the twenty. They could use the money. But wouldn’t that make him just like Tink?
“I need to talk to you,” Sam says, catching up with him outside.
“Give it up,” Tink says. He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Face it, Sam. You’re a loser. You wouldn’t begin to know what to do with something that v-valuable.” He laughs and elbows Jack Raven, who laughs, too. Sam gives Jack a look that stops him mid-laugh.
“Like I said to the newspaper reporter, I found that ruby on the side of the trail on Joshua’s Ridge. Now it’s safely tucked away at the bank. I bet you’re l-lying because you’re jealous. Is that it, Sam? Are you a l-liar because you’re jealous?”
Sam’s cheeks burn like they are on fire. He can’t remember feeling this angry before, but as much as he wants to pulverize Tink’s face, he holds back. Instead, he grabs the front of Tink’s shirt and drags him through the building to the back of the store. To Sam’s surprise, his former friend doesn’t put up much of a fight, and Jack Raven stays in the store to help his grandfather, Young John.
The room grows quiet as Sam pulls Tink toward the back door. Sam’s poker buddies observe, yet don’t question.
Once they are outside, Sam says, “Give me back my ruby, Tink.”
“No way,” Tink says, but he doesn’t look Sam in the eyes.
“You know it’s not yours,” Sam says. “You had to trash my house to find it.”
“You’re crazy,” Tink says. He takes a bite of candy bar, chewing with his mouth open.
Sam makes a fist but resists the urge to crack him in the nose. “Look, I know you have it,” Sam says, sounding calm even though his gritted teeth. “Just give it back. You’ve had your moment in the sun with the newspaper article, and I won’t turn you in. Just give me back my ruby.”
Tink stares at Sam like every gear in his head is working overtime. “It’s my word against yours,” he says finally. “Any way you look at it, Sam, you’re screwed. Nobody’s going to believe you. Your family’s trash. Your mother ran off, and your father’s a bigger loser than you are.”
Sam swings at him but misses. Tink cowers like the coward he is.
No need to defend Rocky’s honor, he tells himself, at least not until Rocky’s honor shows up again.
Then Grandmother’s voice rises from somewhere deep inside of him, clear as the stream he hiked along. Remember the ancestors, she tells Sam.
Hearing her voice again raises a lump in Sam’s throat, but he isn’t about to show any emotion in front of Tink. Plus, the voice is inside him now instead of outside. Is that a good thing? He wants to ask her what she means by invoking the ancestors. And what does it have to do with dealing with Tink?
“Listen, Tink, you need to do the right thing here. Your ancestors will be disappointed in you if you don’t.”
Tink laughs. “My ancestors?” he asks. “For your information, Sam, my ancestors knew how to take advantage of an opportunity, just like I did. You’ve got to c-come up with something better than that, Injun boy.”
Remember the ancestors, Grandmother says again.
This sounds like another one of her riddles, but then he thinks of what to say.
“It’s my ancestors you need to worry about, Tink. The Cherokee don’t like their sacred relics stolen. My ancestors will come after you now, until you do the right thing. You’ll pay for stealing something sacred.”
Tink’s smile fades. Sam has no idea where his words came from. They don’t sound like him and they carry more force than usual.
“You’ve stolen a sacred relic,” Sam repeats. “You’re cursed. You’ll have really bad luck, Tink, until you give it back. You can’t screw a Cherokee without consequences. Now you have a Cherokee curse on your head.”
Sam stands tall. It appears Tink is buying it. Sam glances upward. A bird circles high overhead. Is it the red hawk? Memories return of that day.
Tink huffs and walks away. He slams the store’s heavy metal door behind him so hard it bangs and swings back open. Maybe he is actually worried Sam’s ancestors will come after him. Sam thanks his grandmother for her help, remembering how she instructed him to thank the tree for releasing the ruby. A gift requires gratitude. He looks up for the red-tailed hawk, but it is gone.
CHAPTER 18: BETRAYAL
Sam follows the alley behind Raven’s and cuts through to the jewelry store. In the newspaper article the owner had said
the ruby was worth twenty-five thousand dollars. The owner knew the ruby was Sam’s, but he went along with Tink’s lie.
Was he in on the robbery, too? Sam wonders.
He peeks in the jewelry store window. The owner stands near a large display case, reading the front page of the newspaper. He looks up. Sam jerks out of view, losing his balance like he did on the mountain, falling over a large plant and landing in a cement pot in front of Lily’s House of Flowers where Miss Lily—a small woman, frail with age—bustles out to help him. Over the years Miss Lily bought flowers from Grandmother to sell in her shop.
“My heavens, Sam, what are you doing?”
Sam dusts himself off while she frets over him. Then he looks up to see the jewelry store owner staring straight at him.
“Sam, do you know Mister Thomas?” Miss Lily asks. She smiles at the jewelry store owner who hasn’t taken his eyes off Sam.
“We’ve already met,” Mister Thomas says, extending a hand.
Sam leaves the hand unshaken. “The ruby’s mine,” Sam says.
Miss Lily looks at the jewelry store owner and then back at Sam. “You mean the ruby in the newspaper?” she asks.
“Tinker Watson explained all that to me,” the owner says to Sam. “He says you stole it from him but then returned it out of a guilty conscience. You shouldn’t steal, young man.” He smiles his condescension, revealing his gold tooth.
“Sam, is this true?” Miss Lily asks. Has Tink gotten to her, too? He excuses himself to Miss Lily and takes off running toward Raven’s store.
Thieves and liars are everywhere, he thinks, and I refuse to be called one. Perhaps a year ago it was true, but not now.
Since his fall down the mountain, his life has seen nothing but trouble. If this is what it means to become a warrior, he has changed his mind. He doesn’t want any part of it.
The jewelry store owner calls after him, but Sam doesn’t stop running. He looks back only once to make sure the man isn’t following him. But why would he? Sam doesn’t have the ruby anymore. He doesn’t have anything, except memories. When Sam arrives at Raven’s store, instead of waiting for Old John, he walks up the long hill to his grandmother’s house. Tink is such a good liar even Sam is beginning to question whether he dug the ruby out from under the roots of that old oak. He needs time to think. He needs a plan.
That night, Sam’s anger at Tink and the jewelry store owner keeps him awake for hours. When he finally does fall asleep, his ancestors come in a dream. They are with Sam in a large city walking past towering monuments. Sam has the ruby with him, and he carries it to a building where hundreds of steps lead up to the door. Grandmother stands at the top, waiting for him in ceremonial costume. She holds a large basket that looks like something she created. Then Grandmother smiles at him, looking more proud than ever. In the dream, Sam runs toward her, taking the steps two at a time. He follows her into the building. Then the dream fades.
Now wide awake in total darkness, Sam sits up in bed, desperate to hold onto his grandmother’s image. In the dream, Sam has the ruby, yet the dream gives no hints about how Sam gets the ruby back. And what is he doing in a big city?
Trust the dream, his grandmother says from the dream world. Or maybe he just imagined it. Either way it feels real.
Her voice causes a deep ache inside him, making it even harder to sleep. But one thing is certain. He has to get the ruby back.
Later that morning, Sam leaves Little Bear with Old John and coasts his bike down the long hill toward Rachel’s Pass for the third time that week. He needs to do more reading at the library.
Sam knows every bump and curve of the road and rarely uses his brakes. With his ball cap and feather stashed in his back pocket, he lets his hair blow in the wind. It is longer now since Grandmother hasn’t cut it. Reaching top coasting speed, the wind stretches his cheeks into a smile, a smile that somehow makes him feel better. If he trusts the dream, as his grandmother instructed, then he has to trust he will get the ruby back. He doesn’t have the slightest idea how that will happen, but the library has something to do with unraveling the riddle. Grandmother taught him to trust hunches from the Spirit World. Hunches that draw you to a certain place or to talk to a certain person.
At ten o’clock, Sam is waiting outside the library when Mrs. Peabody opens the doors. She whispers good morning, even though no one else is around. He wonders if he’s ever heard Mrs. Peabody use her full voice. She glances at the feather in his cap as if to determine its origins.
“Red-tailed hawk?” she asks.
Sam nods.
“A noble creature,” she says.
Sam isn’t sure how noble this particular red hawk is. Based on its behavior that day it is more like a raptor with a vengeance, but Sam wears the feather proudly just the same. Though it is illegal to kill raptors to collect their feathers, this one came to Sam honestly. He only had to fall down a mountain to receive it.
Mrs. Peabody asks Sam how he is doing and Sam says fine, even if he isn’t. With Grandmother gone, life is like steering a boat without a rudder and Rocky is no help at all—if anything, he causes the boat to take on water. It is easy to understand why Allie looks to Sam to keep everything afloat, and Sam, in turn, looks to the ancestors, their newest member being his grandmother.
Sam returns to the shelf housing the gemstone books. The newspaper article identified the stone as a star ruby. A star ruby that is at present in the hands of that thieving Tink. But Sam forces himself to focus on his task. He thumbs through several books looking at the photographs. The closest thing he finds with a star pattern is a brown and gold tiger’s eye, which looks like the eye of a cat with light radiating from the middle. The fine print under the photograph gives its location as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Sam looks up references to the tiger’s eye and to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. He finds a picture of the Hope diamond, noted as one of the largest and most perfect diamonds in the world, alongside another picture of a tiger’s eye. But where are the rubies?
Sam approaches Mrs. Peabody’s desk.
“Do you know anything about the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum?” he whispers.
Mrs. Peabody smiles her surprise.
“Did you want to look up your grandmother’s basket?” she whispers.
“What basket?” Sam asks.
“The one that’s in the Smithsonian,” she whispers again, “in the Native American exhibit.”
Since when does Grandmother have a basket in a museum, other than the small local one here in town? he wonders.
“She never told you?” Mrs. Peabody whispers.
“No she didn’t,” Sam says. He pauses, leaving room for Grandmother to whisper her reasons for keeping this from him. Did she have other secrets?
Mrs. Peabody looks as confused as Sam feels. But he is ready to talk about something else. He can’t handle another betrayal right now.
“I want to research rubies,” Sam says.
“You mean like the one Tinker Watson found? Wasn’t that amazing?”
Hearing Tink’s name makes Sam automatically form a fist. Not only did Grandmother never tell him about her basket at the Smithsonian, but now everybody in town thinks Tink Watson is some kind of hero.
“I’d just like some information on the museum’s gemstones,” Sam says.
She grabs a note pad and turns toward her computer, frowning when she realizes the internet is down. She motions for Sam to follow her to the back. As they walk, she tells him about visiting the Smithsonian ten years before. In perfected whispers, she describes the woolly mammoth inside the doors. In response, Sam imagines a woolly mammoth squashing Tink Watson to a pulp under its massive foot.
Mrs. Peabody describes the gemstone exhibit that has every stone imaginable—jade, turquoise, diamonds. Her eyebrows float above her glasses with every detail. She rummages through a back shelf and brings Sam a copy of National Geographic magazine opened to an article on the Museum of Nat
ural History’s gemstone collection. A photograph of the museum is at the top of the page. Sam takes a step back before taking another look. It is the building in his dream!
After thanking Mrs. Peabody, Sam sits at a small table in the back to read the article. It includes photographs of rare and precious stones, unearthed from different parts of the world—Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, as well as in different parts of the United States. The tiger’s eye is one of them, and the man who wrote the article is a geologist who found the American tiger’s eye himself. He works at the Museum of Natural History.
Sam writes the geologist’s name on a piece of paper and sticks it in his pocket. He thinks again of his accidental discovery that Grandmother has a basket there. He recalls the dream of his grandmother and their ancestors in a big city and remembers that his grandmother was holding a basket.
“That’s it,” Sam says aloud. “Grandmother was telling me about it in the dream.”
Mrs. Peabody stands at her desk and puts a finger in front of her lips to shush him. Sam has to resist shouting with joy. He feels better now. Whatever reason Grandmother had for not telling him sooner doesn’t matter. He turns his attention back to the gemstone.
As he leaves the library, he thanks Mrs. Peabody and she whispers she was happy to help. Sam retrieves his bicycle, excited about his new information, and is halfway home by the time he realizes how steep the road has become. He stands and uses his entire body to pedal up the long incline.
Quite a difference from coming down, Sam thinks, but he doesn’t mind the work. For the first time in days he feels hopeful and he’s not sure why.
Tink stole the ruby and put it in his family’s safe deposit box with no way for Sam to reclaim it. But as long as Tink doesn’t sell the ruby right away, the dream world and Sam’s ancestors may have time to work. The Museum of Natural History is somehow a piece of the puzzle.
Sam remembers the day he was lost. The ancestors had been watching out for him that day, too. It had also started with a dream.
Circle of the Ancestors Page 8