Merry beamed at Betsy from the crowd. She adjusted the cute little hat they’d bought for a dollar so she wouldn’t get too much sun. Merry was surrounded by Ryda’s family. A whopping seventeen of them had showed up to wish her a happy graduation and to welcome her into the career world.
“They can’t wait until another family member can start adding to the college fund. I have a bumper crop of cousins who are going to be seniors next year.” Ryda told Betsy and Merry as they walked back to their apartment after the ceremony. “That’s one of the only reasons they’re helping me move out and back home. If I’m not spending money on rent, I afford to add a bigger portion.”
Merry and Betsy were still figuring out how they were going to fit all the new baby gear and Betsy’s luggage into her car. It had finally become evident that they were going to have to get a trailer or a van. The Road Trip of Ought Seven had been called officially called off. Merry didn’t seem to mind, which made Betsy happy. She had almost forgotten the reason Merry was here was to go on the trip. Instead she was going to be helping with the baby until Betsy could get herself settled. Though how she was going to support her new child, Betsy didn’t really know. She could probably get a job working in the information center in Hensley. It was probably better to con tourists than to work in the retail or restaurant trade until Betsy could find something more permanent and suited to her skill set.
“I have a gift for you… and don’t think it was easy to get.” Ryda handed Betsy a plain brown envelope.
“Just open it after my family leaves, please.”
Betsy smiled and stashed it in her room until two hours later when all traces of Ryda had been removed from their apartment. Betsy still had one more week before the university kicked her out. A last hug from Ryda and about a dozen of her relatives, and Merry, Betsy and Polly were left on their own.
Betsy sat down on the couch, and held the envelope out in front of her. She knew what she hoped was in there, but if it wasn’t what she thought it was, Betsy didn’t want to feel that Ryda had let her down.
“It’s not going to open itself,” Merry said as she brought another load of boxes out of the bedroom.
Betsy opened the brad and slid the piece of paper out to look at it. She sighed with relief. “It’s official. I’m now the proud mother of my very own official baby girl.” She held up the birth certificate for Merry to see. A card slipped out of the envelope.
“My sister managed to pull a few strings and break a few laws to get this for you… so burn this card as soon as soon as you read it. Oh, and now I owe my sister a huge favor, which means you owe me five huge favors so in ten years, if I ask you to come paint my house, you better remember and come lickety split. P.S. Don’t forget to burn this piece of very incriminating evidence. And if the FBI come looking for you, I will not admit knowing you.”
“What a mate!”
“Hey, I’ve committed a few crimes for you.”
“Yeah, but I think forgery and possible attempted kidnapping could be a little higher on the felony scale.”
“No one will come looking for her. You know that.”
“But Ryda doesn’t know that. For all she knows, you could have gone completely nutter and stolen that baby out of her crib.”
“Yeah, but would you have done it for me if you’d have had the connections?”
“I would have stolen you the baby because I’m your best mate and that’s what best mates do.”
“Exactly.” Betsy was beginning to think that Merry was a little jealous of Ryda, which was ridiculous, of course.
“As your best mate, however, I must tell you this basket is hideous, and should be left here with the rest of your outgrown, I’m not longer in college, I’m an adult stuff.” Betsy carefully put the birth certificate back in the envelope and then looked at the basket Merry held out to her. She stared for a moment, then realized what it was.
“That’s Polly’s basket. The one Adeo brought her in.”
“Oh.” Merry looked a little sheepish for calling it ugly.
“I totally forgot about it, but you’re right. I don’t think we need to take it with us, but we should probably take the blanket.”
Betsy lifted the blanket out of the basket. It was softer than it looked. “It’s monogrammed. HRH P.”
“That is a definite keeper. There’s something else in here.”
Merry lifted a small leather drawstring pouch out of the bottom of the basket. Stamped into the side was another monogram, but on this one, the HRH was followed by an A.
“Adeo did mention something about providing for her. I just didn’t think to look.” Merry dropped the basket on the floor and felt up the bag. Her eyes got very large.
“I don’t think there are marbles in here. But if these aren’t rocks, I’m going to start hyperventilating.”
“Well, I never asked what the currency of Shudador was. Whatever he gave us could be totally worthless in this world.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Giddy, Merry headed to the coffee table and sat down on the couch. Betsy sat down beside her and watched as Merry pulled the draw strings and upended the bag so the contents spilled out. Betsy’s stomach did another flip when she saw the faceted stones, some the size of marbles, bounce a few times as they hit the coffee table. Merry picked up a light yellow tinted one.
“In any universe, a girl’s best friend.”
“You think they’re worth anything? I mean, I wouldn’t think that Adeo would give me glass, but I don’t know if any of these are diamonds. They’re not clear white.”
“I don’t know much about rocks, but I do know that the most expensive diamonds aren’t white. And if those are diamonds, you could be one rich lady.”
“It’s never too early to start saving for a college fund. Why don’t we take a few of those and get them appraised before we start making plans.”
Even though plans were already running through her head. It would be wonderful to be able to not have to worry about money. She could stash away a large chunk for a college fund for Polly. She could pay off her own student loans. She could buy a house with a yard and afford piano or ballet or tennis for Polly.
“There’s something else in here.” Merry reached her hand and into the bag and pulled out a ring. It was made of an odd blue metal that swirled back and forth over a simple band. There was no stone, but when Merry held it out to Betsy, she could see there was an inscription inside. With trembling hands, Betsy took the ring and read.
“B, Eternally Yours, A.”
“For a man who does the horizontal tango and then runs, leaving you with his progeny, he’s awfully romantic.”
Betsy couldn’t help but to slip the ring on her left hand. It fit perfectly. Somehow she’d known it would. She sighed heavily, knowing it was the closest thing she’d ever get to a wedding ring. Of course she couldn’t wear it as one. Grudgingly she switched it to her other hand.
An hour later, Betsy, Merry, Polly and four of the stones were on their way to the most reputable looking jeweler in the phone book. Betsy and Merry were finally getting down the science of traveling with an infant. They had a huge diaper bag stocked with everything from safety pins to wipes. The car seat was installed correctly, and the pram, as they had taken to calling, was securely stored in the trunk.
“So what’s the cover?” Merry asked as they found a parking spot near the store. “They’re gonna want to know where you got the rocks.”
“We don’t say anything unless they ask. If they do, then my grandmother has just died recently, and we found them while cleaning out her house. That’s innocent enough, isn’t it?”
They walked into the store and the three clerks standing behind the counters eyed them from head to toe. They were definitely not impressed with what they saw, because, although there was no one else in the store, they began to look busy, fast.
Merry certainly wasn’t going to put up with that.
“Oi! Which one of you lazy blokes does the appraisals?”
Caught like deer, the three clerks looked wide eyed and startled at Merry’s loud question. When she waved at one of them, he finally stumbled into a back room out of sight. He quickly returned with an older man, dressed in a fine black suit.
“Good afternoon ladies. What can I help you with?”
“Her grandmother died,” Merry blurted out. So much for telling them as little as possible.
“We found some stuff and were wondering if you could appraise them for us.” How crass that sounded, now that she thought about it. Her grandmother had supposedly just passed on, and yet here she was trying to make a fast buck. Perhaps that hadn’t been the best cover.
“Please sit down.” He ushered them to a table to the side of one of the display cases. Betsy rolled the pram next to the table and sat down. She reached in to the pram and took out the four gems that they’d selected to appraise. She placed them on the black lining of the table and watched the jeweler’s eyes get wider with each stone she placed.
“We were wondering if you could tell us what they were, and what a good asking price for them would be, if we decided to sell them.”
Charles, as his name tag declared, examined the stones carefully at first with a magnifier at the table. Then he took them toward the back and examined them with a microscope.
“Your grandmother. May I ask her name?”
“Elizabeth.” Which was true.
“And her last name?”
“Smith.” Which was also true. Though her gram had died when Betsy was twelve.
“And may I ask where she acquired the stones?”
“We’re not sure. We just found them,” Merry added. Charles looked Betsy in the eye. It was unwavering, and she could tell that he didn’t believe a word of it.
“Without provenance on these gems, I don’t believe I’ll be able to find a buyer. You could, however break the stones down into several smaller stones for more commercial use, but that could also significantly decrease their value. I don’t see any sort of marks or serial numbers on them, and the facets are also unusual. Then there is the size.”
“What’s wrong with the size?”
“Gems of this size are usually given names, and kept in museums. To have a new one just spring up in the house of someone’s dead grandmother is a little unusual to say the least.”
This was not going well. Betsy had made up her mind to disappear the moment he tried to go in that back room. He was probably going to call the cops. Though she’d done nothing wrong, it might take a very long discussion with the police to sort things out, and she really didn’t want to have to pay bail. Funds were quite low after her baby stuff spree.
“You want the truth?” Merry asked. “You see that baby down there?”
“Merry, please.” Now the guy was not only going to think they were criminals, they were going to think them crazy too.
“Her father abandoned them. Just, here have some boxes of my old gran’s stuff, I’ve got more important things to do than raise a child I brought into the world. I have places to go and people to screw and see you later, sucker.” Merry was beginning to get worked up, and she was only encouraged by her new audience. The clerks had finally begun to pay attention her now.
“So we go through his gran’s junk and find these four rocks. We realize they might be worth a little money so we come to get them appraised. Now, this girl is my mate, but her ex boyfriend is scum of the earth, and I’ve always thought so. He’s refused to pay any kind of child support, so you can imagine, if he finds out about the stones, the ass is going to want half, at least, if not all of the money.”
“If you’re worried about the stones being stolen, they’re not. If you’re asking if we’d like to keep these quiet, the answer is a resounding yes.”
Charles eyes darted from the rocks in front of him to the two of them, to the baby, to the three clerks staring with wide eyes, then back to the rocks.
“I can’t help you,” he said regretfully. Betsy could tell he didn’t want to let the stones out of his sight. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed them a white business card, face down. “But I might know someone who can.”
Sensing that he didn’t want the clerks to know exactly what was going on, Betsy smoothly took the card and placed it in her pocket without looking at it. She removed the stones from the table, one by one, and smiled sweetly at Charles.
“Thank you for your time.”
They didn’t speak until they were back in the car.
“I have a feeling, that if you can avoid the slammer, you’re going to be a very rich woman.”
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