Precious and the Zebra Necklace

by Alexander McCall Smith

  THE NEXT MORNING they had a large breakfast with the cousin and the cousin’s wife and children. The cousin had three children, one of whom was the same age as Precious. They had never met before, even if they were distant cousins, and it was very exciting to discover and meet a new relative. After breakfast, as they sat in front of the house, enjoying the warm morning sun, Nancy told the cousin about how she had come to own the necklace and the photograph.

  When she had finished, the cousin’s wife sighed. “That is a very sad story,” she said. “Can you show me these things?”

  The photograph was passed over, and then the zebra necklace.

  “My father said that these hills are near this place,” said Precious. “Is that true?”

  The cousin’s wife peered more closely at the photograph. “Yes,” she said, looking up at Precious. “Those are our hills. They are only two or three miles away. Those are definitely our hills.”

  Precious gave Nancy a nudge. “You see,” she whispered. “We are in the right place.”

  Now she asked the really important question. “Do you know who that lady is?” she enquired.

  The cousin’s wife looked at the photograph again. She passed it on to her husband, who also examined it closely. They both shook their heads, which made the girls’ hearts sink.

  “I’m afraid not,” said the cousin. “We do not know that person.”

  Precious pointed to the necklace. “That is something that belonged to her,” she said. “That was her necklace.”

  The cousin’s wife took the necklace in her hand and felt the smooth carved beads. “Zebras,” she muttered. “They are very pretty creatures.”

  “Have you ever seen it before?” asked Precious.

  The cousin’s wife shook her head again. But then she said something that made both girls sit up straight. “I haven’t seen this particular necklace,” said the cousin’s wife. “But I know the woman who makes them.”

  This was a very important clue, and Precious Ramotswe, as a budding detective, was very interested in clues. “Who is this lady?” she asked.

  “She lives on the edge of the village,” she said. “She is a very old woman now, and she doesn’t make these necklaces any more. But this is clearly her work.”

  Precious turned to Nancy, who was shivering with excitement. “Perhaps that lady will remember your mother,” she said.

  “I can take you to see her,” said the cousin’s wife. “I know her well, and she will be very happy to see you. She doesn’t get many visitors, you see, and when you don’t get many people coming to see you, then there is always a welcome for anyone.”

  They found the old woman sitting outside her house. When she saw them approaching, she clapped her hands together, greeting them with a broad smile that was almost entirely toothless.

  “You are very welcome, girls,” she said. “Tell me: where have you come from?”

  Precious and Nancy told her about Mochudi, the village in which they both went to school. As they spoke, the old woman nodded to show that she liked what she was hearing. “It sounds like a very fine place,” she said. “I have never been anywhere else, but if I ever do go somewhere, then I shall certainly go to Mochudi.”

  The cousin now raised the subject of the necklace. “This girl,” she said, gesturing to Nancy, “has a necklace she would like to show to you.”

  At a signal from the cousin, Nancy took the zebra necklace out of her pocket and handed it over. The old woman took it, her eyes shining with pleasure. “But I remember this,” she exclaimed. “This is the best necklace I ever made. It took me a very long time.”

  “Do you remember who you sold it to?” Precious asked.

  For a moment she feared that the old woman would shake her head and say no, but she did not. Instead there came a very unexpected answer. “Of course I remember,” she said. “I made it for my own daughter. I gave it to her because she loved zebras.”

  There was silence. I made it for my own daughter ...

  Precious saw that Nancy was shaking. She reached out and took her hand. Then she turned to face the old woman again.

  “Do you think she may have given it away?”

  The old woman looked indignant. “Of course not. She kept it.”

  Precious wanted to know a bit more. “What happened to her?” she asked.

  The old woman’s face clouded over. “It is not a happy story. She went away and was married to a man I never met, because they lived so far away. They had a child – a daughter. They called her Nancy. I never met her either. Then something terrible happened.”

  They waited. Nancy was looking at the ground; she was not sure she wanted to hear of this terrible thing. But the old woman seemed determined to continue. “They were accused of cattle theft. They went to prison for four years for stealing cattle. The girl went to live with other people, and her mother and father never saw her again. The girl was looked after by these kind people, but they moved away and nobody knew where they had gone. I think the parents were ashamed too and might have thought it better for the girl to be with those people. They were ashamed, you see, about being sent to prison, even though they said they never stole those cattle. And I believe them, by the way.” She paused. “You see, I did tell you it was going to be sad.”

  “And the girl?” Precious asked.

  “I have no idea,” came the answer.

  “I think I know the answer to that,” said Nancy.

  Precious remained quiet. She had never imagined that this would happen. Nancy had found the answer to her quest – but would she ever have thought that it would be this? Precious looked enquiringly at Nancy, wondering what she would say.

  “I am that girl,” said Nancy. She did not say this in a loud voice; she spoke softly, but loud enough for the old woman to hear her perfectly well.

  The old woman blinked. Then she looked up at the sky, as if she were struggling to find words and might find some up there.

  “You are that girl ...” The old woman said, so softly as if to be talking to herself. “You are that girl.”

  “Yes,” said Nancy. “I think I am. That necklace was my mother’s. And my name is —”

  “Nancy,” whispered the old woman.

  “Yes.”

  The old woman let out a wail of joy. Then, rather unsteady on her feet, she stood up and folded Nancy in her arms. “You are my granddaughter,” she whispered. “And now you have come to me.”

  The old woman began to cry – not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy. Nancy cried too – the same sort of tears that were being shed by her grandmother. For we do not only cry when we are sad; we can cry when our hearts are so full of joy and happiness that there are no words to show how we feel – and it is left to tears to do that.

  That was not the end of the story of the zebra necklace. Precious had found Nancy’s grandmother for her, but the search did not end there. The two girls went home with the nurse the next day. On the way back to the car they stayed very close to one another, of course, as there are some mistakes you do not want to make twice.

  The old woman had told them where Nancy’s parents now lived. It was not far from Mochudi, and so Precious was able to ask her father to take them there a few days later. Nancy had spoken to the people who looked after her and had told them the full story. They were pleased with what had happened.

  “You always have a home with us, you know,” they said. “But it is important for you to find your parents, and we are happy that this will now happen. And if you want to live with them, then we shall understand.”

  Obed Ramotswe drove them there in his truck. It was only half an hour away, along quite a good road, with no bumps – and no elephants either. When they arrived, Precious said that she would sit in the car with her father while Nancy knocked on the door of the house. But that was not what Nancy wanted.

  “You are the one who solved this mystery,” she said. “That’s why I want you to come with me – and your father too.”

 
So it was that the three of them stood outside the small house that morning and knocked on the door. It was only three knocks – knock, knock, knock – but Precious knew that for Nancy knocking on that door was the most important thing she had ever done in her life.

  A woman came to the door. She looked surprised to see visitors, and it was obvious that she had no idea who was standing before her. Then a man appeared behind her and peered at the visitors too. Both the man and the woman had kind faces.

  Nancy opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again before any words came. Reaching into a bag she had brought with her, she took out the necklace and held it out before her.

  The woman stared at the necklace for a full few minutes. Then her gaze moved up and fell on Nancy. She knew.

  In Botswana there is an old custom. If you are very, very happy – not just happy in the ordinary, everyday way, but much happier than that – you show your happiness by making a lovely wooh sound. You repeat it – like this: WOOH! WOOH! WOOH!

  That is the sound the woman made, right there on the doorstep. Then she rushed forward and hugged Nancy so tightly that Precious thought her friend would disappear altogether. Love can do that, you know – it can make you disappear. That is because love can cover everything, including things that are sad. So love – and kindness – can cover up hate and unkindness and make them go away. It can do all of that – and more.

  Everything worked out well for Nancy. Her parents were overjoyed that they had been united again with their daughter, and Nancy, of course, was very happy to have found them. From that day onwards, she stayed with them, although she often spent the weekends, and the occasional weekday, with the kind people who had looked after her all that time. “I am very lucky,” she said. “I am a girl with four parents!”

  Precious was happy, too. It was one of her best cases, she thought, and later, when she grew up and became one of the best private detectives in Botswana, she always remembered how well it had turned out.

  And there is one more thing. To thank Precious for the help she had given them, Nancy and her newly found family gave her a special present. You have probably guessed what it was. Yes, a zebra necklace, specially made by the grandmother. It was beautifully crafted, of course, as is anything that is made with love.

  Other books in this series featuring Precious Ramotswe, available in print and eBook, are:

  Precious and the Monkeys

  Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill

  Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion