Rachel Zinn.
Though she and Rachel were both in the eighth grade, Rachel was the kind of girl who was born knowing how to talk to boys. She had the classic look: straight and silky blond hair, big blue eyes, and a short and petite build. School had just started, and already she was the head cheerleader of the junior varsity team and the president of the eighth-grade class. Not to mention her incredibly wealthy father sat on the city council and owned the fishing resort. Emily always felt invisible when Rachel was around.
They used to be friends, and Emily still wasn’t sure what had happened.
For the millionth time, Emily wished her hair wasn’t so curly and that she didn’t stand so tall. She seemed to tower over all the other girls in her grade. But even more, she especially wished the curves she’d already gotten weren’t so obvious. It was embarrassing.
She shrank behind her table and let Olivia talk to them as they looked at the pieces of Mrs. Dancer’s jewelry. But Rachel didn’t miss Emily. She smiled, put her arm through Josh’s, and hollered out, “Oh, hi, Emily.” Her smile did nothing to hide her smugness.
Josh barely glanced in her direction.
Heat burned through Emily as she looked their way. She gave a little wave, then ducked under the tablecloth and pulled out the small plastic bins with the leather cords she used for the necklaces. Maybe Rachel and Josh would leave if she kept busy.
Rachel laughed at something Josh said, then tugged him toward the enticing beef pasties booth.
Emily could finally breathe when they walked on down the sidewalk.
“You could have at least talked to them,” Olivia said.
“I was busy.”
“Yeah, right.” Olivia nodded across the way. “Here comes Mrs. Dancer. She’ll be excited to know how much we sold for her.”
The woman’s color was better as she came toward the table. “Thanks for taking care of things for me. Looks like you sold a few things.” Her smile faded when she looked down at the display. “Did you sell my Sapphire Beauty?”
“No, it’s right here.” Emily knew the piece well. It was the one she’d copied. But when she picked up what she thought was the expensive necklace, she knew it wasn’t right. It was too light. And small.
It was also her copy.
The valuable piece of Mrs. Dancer’s jewelry was gone.
The Saturday morning went from bad to worse really quickly.
Emily sat behind her own booth, Mrs. Dancer pacing behind hers. Dad and Naomi stood on Houghton Street’s curb, whispering as they waited for Sheriff Mason Kaleva to return. Mrs. Dancer kept staring at Emily with every pass, and she didn’t smile.
Surely Mrs. Dancer knew Emily had no idea what had happened to the prized Windigo necklace. She had to know.
Olivia fidgeted in the chair beside her. Olivia didn’t have a clue either.
Sheriff Kaleva returned, stepping behind the tables and motioning for Dad and Naomi to do the same. “Mary, let’s start with your statement.”
Mrs. Dancer’s hand rested against her stomach. “I haven’t been feeling well this morning but have had a steady flow of customers. When I needed to use the facilities, I asked Emily to watch my booth. She agreed. I was gone maybe fifteen . . . twenty minutes, and when I returned, my necklace was gone, and this imitation”—she held up the necklace Emily had made—“was in its place.”
The Kitchigami County sheriff turned to Emily.
Before he could say a word or ask a question, she jumped to her feet. “I have no idea what happened to her Sapphire Beauty.”
“Calm down. Let’s take this one step at a time. Did you see anyone near that particular necklace while Mrs. Dancer was away?”
Not really. Well . . . Josh and Rachel had been standing in that area. Emily turned to Olivia. “What was Rachel looking at when she and Josh were here?”
Olivia stood and shrugged. “She was more interested in making sure you noticed she was with Josh than looking at anything on the table.”
Emily’s face burned, and she avoided looking at her father. If he thought she was interested in a boy, when he’d gone on and on about her being too young to notice boys . . .
“Rachel who?” asked Sheriff Kaleva.
“Zinn.” Emily crossed her arms over her chest.
“Jacob Zinn’s daughter?” Dad asked.
Emily nodded, still not looking at him.
“Anyone else stop at the table?” Sheriff Kaleva continued.
“A lady bought a necklace and earrings of Mrs. Dancer’s. I put the money in the metal box.” Emily pressed her lips together and tried to remember.
“Oh, and that couple,” Olivia said.
The sheriff shifted to face her. “What couple?”
“When Malia Spencer came by, we were watching her, and we didn’t notice a man and woman at Mrs. Dancer’s table until the man cleared his throat.”
Emily picked up where Olivia left off. “I rushed over to help them. They were looking at several necklaces, and I finally sold one of the red ones.”
“Were they looking at my Sapphire Beauty?” Mrs. Dancer asked.
“I don’t know. They were there, and the special display is right in the center, so I guess they saw it.” She shouldn’t have let herself be distracted by Malia Spencer. It wasn’t as if she cared about surfing herself. She was terrified of going in Lake Superior—she would never put so much as a toe in there. Josh was the one really interested in surfing.
Maybe Dad was right and she was too young to notice boys.
Sheriff Kaleva turned to Mrs. Dancer. “Mary, when was the last time you know you saw your necklace?”
“Half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes before I let Emily watch my booth. I showed it to Lucy Cooper.”
Emily twirled her hair around a finger. Mrs. Cooper’s husband was in jail, and the family had moved away. The fact that they were back in town was big news to Emily.
“And that was the last time you saw it?” asked Sheriff Kaleva.
Mrs. Dancer nodded. “When I came back from the restrooms, this imitation of Emily’s was in its place in the display.”
The sheriff moved around to the front of the tables as people continued to mill about. Most had cleared for a spell before the noontime parade began.
“Emily, where was your copy of the necklace when you last saw it?”
She pointed to the center area of her table. “There. Between those bracelets.”
He glanced at Emily’s table, then Mrs. Dancer’s. “Did any of you notice someone stopping at both tables?”
They all shook their heads.
The sheriff closed the little notebook he’d been writing in and slapped it against his palm. “We’ll do our best to find the necklace, Mary, but at this point, there’s not much we can do.”
“That was my most expensive piece, Sheriff. It’s worth at least a thousand dollars.” Mrs. Dancer glared at Emily. “Why don’t you check her boxes?”
Emily’s heart skipped a beat. “Wh-what? You think I took your necklace?”
“You were supposed to be watching my booth.”
She wanted to cry and throw up all at the same time. “I didn’t take it, Mrs. Dancer. I would never—”
The woman’s eyes went even darker with accusation. “You made a copy of it. Why? Maybe you made it to switch them so you could steal my Sapphire Beauty.”
“That’s just crazy!”
“Now, Mary, we don’t know what happened to your necklace.” The sheriff stared at Emily. “Yet.”
Now she really wanted to cry.
“We’ll work the case and see what we can find.” Sheriff Kaleva nodded at Emily’s dad and Naomi, who stopped by the curb and spoke in hushed tones.
“I’m packing up and going home. The festival is ruined for me.” Mrs. Dancer pulled her jewelry from the table and slipped everything in her cases. “I had that necklace blessed by the medicine man. The Windigo will strike while the protection is gone. Mark my words, Sheriff.”
&n
bsp; “I didn’t take the necklace,” Emily whispered.
Olivia put her arm around Emily’s shoulders. “We know you didn’t. Mrs. Dancer does too. She’s just upset right now.”
The sheriff left, and Dad came behind the table. He looked stern. “How much money have you made today?”
Emily handed him her bag of money as Naomi joined them. “Almost one hundred and twenty-five dollars.”
Dad took the money and handed the bills to Emily. “I think you should give this to Mrs. Dancer.”
“For what?” Surely this was some test of Dad’s.
“That was an expensive necklace, Emily.”
Her hands shook. “I didn’t take the necklace, Dad.”
“But you were watching her booth. You were responsible for it.”
Her eyes burned. “Dad, for all I know, that necklace had been switched before I ever watched the booth for her.”
“Emily, this isn’t up for discussion.”
She marched over to Mrs. Dancer and handed her the bills without a word. Tears burned her eyes as she returned to her booth. What about her puppy?
“Get your things. It’s time to go home. Go get Matthew and Charley from Bree’s booth. We’ll meet you at the truck.”
Emily blinked away the tears as she threw her jewelry into the bins.
“It’s going to be okay,” Olivia whispered under her breath.
No. It wasn’t going to be okay. Emily wasn’t going to have the money to pay Bree for the puppy. Even worse, everyone, even her own dad, thought she’d taken the necklace.
She wasn’t a thief.
She wasn’t.
TWO
“Olivia, will you please excuse us?” Emily’s dad’s voice was stern, and he didn’t smile.
Emily looked at her hands. Wasn’t giving all her money to Mrs. Dancer enough punishment?
“Yes, sir.” Olivia shot a sympathetic look to Emily, then headed down the hall to Emily’s room. Charley skidded down the hall behind Timmy, Emily’s younger brother, and Naomi, who carried a sleepy Matthew.
Emily crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from one leg to the other, then back again. She couldn’t explain the feeling inside, only that she felt sicker than ever.
“Sit down,” Dad ordered as he sat in his recliner.
She plopped down onto the overstuffed couch, grabbed the old throw pillow, pulled it into her lap, and pressed it against her stomach.
“Mrs. Dancer is really upset, and rightfully so. That was a very expensive necklace that’s gone missing.” Dad used that voice of his that made her feel like she was five years old again.
“I’m upset too. I didn’t take the necklace, but you’re acting like I did.”
Naomi returned to the living room before Dad could say anything else. “Matthew was ready for his nap. He’s already asleep, and Timmy’s playing his new video game in his room.” She moved one of the many books she had scattered around the house and sat on the other end of the couch, smiling at Emily. “Honey, no one is accusing you of taking the necklace.”
“Then why is everyone treating me like I did?”
“The sheriff had to ask all those questions. He didn’t say he thought you took it.”
“Dad thinks I did. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made me give Mrs. Dancer all my money.” The tears burned her eyes again. She blinked them away, refusing to cry. “I almost had enough to buy my puppy.”
Dad shook his head. “I didn’t say I thought you took her necklace, Emily. What I said was that you were responsible for it. She asked you to watch her merchandise, you said you would, and it went missing while you were in charge of her booth. If you accept responsibility for something, you have to be held accountable for it.” He inhaled and frowned. “So I’m going to have to let Bree know we aren’t buying the puppy.”
Emily jumped to her feet, her whole body shaking. “Dad, you can’t do that! It wasn’t my fault. You promised!”
“Oh, Donovan,” Naomi said. “Isn’t that a little harsh?”
Dad shook his head. “Emily needs to learn about responsibility.”
“Please, Dad,” Emily begged. “Maybe the necklace will turn up. Don’t let Bree sell my puppy to someone else.”
Naomi looked at Dad. He sighed. “The puppy won’t be ready to be adopted for another month. I’ll let it ride a while. Maybe the necklace will turn up. I hope so.”
A month. She latched onto the sliver of hope. “It wasn’t my fault, Dad. You’ll see. I’m not a criminal.” When his expression didn’t change, her stomach tightened. “Oh, wait. My mom’s in prison, so naturally I must be a criminal too. That’s it, isn’t it?” She wasn’t going to be able to stop the tears.
She rushed down the hall.
“Emily—” Dad started, but Naomi interrupted. “Let her go. Give her some time to calm down.”
Emily didn’t hear the rest of Naomi’s advice to her dad. She slammed her bedroom door behind her and fell face-first across her bed. She buried her face in her pillow as the tears escaped.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia whispered.
Emily sat up and wiped her face. She hated to cry, but Olivia would never tell. “They think I took that necklace. I can tell. And even worse, Dad will tell Bree to sell the puppy to someone else if the necklace doesn’t turn up.”
“But you didn’t take it!”
“Well, you and I seem to be the only two people who know that.”
Olivia chewed her bottom lip. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to do something. The sheriff thinks I took it, so he’s not going to be looking for who really stole it.” Emily pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged on her bed across from Olivia. “I’m going to have to find the real thief.”
“I’ll help you.” Olivia held her gaze, her face full of determination. “How are we going to do that?”
Emily thought about it for just a moment, then grabbed a spiral notebook and pencil from her desk. She hopped back onto the bed. “We need to make a list of everyone we saw by both booths. Remember, whoever took Mrs. Dancer’s necklace had to take mine first to put in its place.”
“Good idea.” Olivia sat cross-legged across from her on the bed.
“Okay. First is Mary Dancer.” Emily wrote the name at the top of the page.
“Why would she take her own necklace?”
“Don’t you think it odd that she noticed it was supposedly missing as soon as she got back from the bathroom? She didn’t even check the money first, just asked about the necklace. How’d she know it was swapped out so quickly?” Emily chewed the pencil’s worn eraser. “My copy wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t so far off that she’d take one glance at it and know it wasn’t her necklace.”
“True. But, again, why would she take it?”
Emily shrugged. “Maybe she took out a loan from someone she shouldn’t have, and they’re threatening to break her legs if she doesn’t pay them back.”
Olivia laughed. “You watch too much television, Em.”
Emily grinned. “According to Dad I do.” She slumped back against the headboard. “I don’t know why she would take it.”
Charley whined outside Emily’s bedroom.
Emily threw a stuffed teddy bear at the door. “Shh, Charley. Go play with Timmy.”
“Hey, is her necklace insured?” Olivia’s mother worked as an insurance adjuster. “If it was insured, then she’d get the money if it was lost or stolen.”
Emily gasped. “That could be it! So she might have a financial reason to take her own necklace. We know she had the chance to not only take her own necklace, but also to take mine to put in its place.”
Olivia nodded. “And what was that she said about the Windigo striking?”
“She said her Sapphire Beauty would protect against the Windigo, so it probably has something to do with the legend.” Emily shivered. “That old legend is scary. They’re like vampires or zombies. What if Windigoes are where those legends come from? Maybe there’s
some truth to all of it.” The wind howled around her window the way it usually did, but tonight she could imagine the Windigo howling for her blood.
“Who else?”
“Rachel Zinn.” Emily wrote her name under Mrs. Dancer’s.
“I don’t know for sure she was looking at that particular necklace.”
“She could have been.”
“Why would she take Mrs. Dancer’s necklace? According to her own words, Rachel doesn’t wear homemade jewelry.”
True. When she’d found out Emily made the trendy jewelry, Rachel made a point to tell everyone who would listen that she would never wear such cheap-looking, homemade jewelry.
Charley whined again. What was wrong with that dog? Had Timmy gone outside to play and left Charley behind?
“If she doesn’t like it, why would she take it?” Olivia asked.
“To get me in trouble. It’s no secret she doesn’t like me. She could’ve taken my necklace and replaced Mrs. Dancer’s with mine just to get me in trouble.” She and Rachel had gone to school together since kindergarten, but ever since they started middle school Rachel had been nothing but mean to Emily.
“True.”
“I don’t know what she was looking at on either table or for how long because . . .” Heat flooded Emily’s face again. She could only imagine how red it looked.
“Because you were watching Josh. I don’t really know either . . . because I was watching you watch Josh.”
“Okay, so that’s Mrs. Dancer and Rachel. Who else?” Emily chewed the eraser.
“Em, if you list Rachel, you have to list Josh too.”
Emily didn’t even want to think about it. “Good grief, what would a boy want with a necklace?”
Olivia shrugged. “It’s worth a lot of money. He’s been talking about the Gitchee Gumee Surfers needing new equipment.”
She had a point, but that didn’t mean Emily had to like it. Nor could she ignore he’d been there. She scrawled his name under Rachel’s and moved on. “Who else?”
“That couple you helped. The man looked annoyed that you weren’t paying attention. We were watching Malia Spencer.”