The Diva Wore Diamonds (10 page)

“
I could use some Benjamins,” said Pete.

“
Bernadette and Ashley are in our tent, too,” said Dewey, after giving Pete a blank stare for a moment. “And Samantha.”

“
We coulda had two more,” volunteered Christopher, “but Mrs. Konig said six were plenty.”

I smiled at the mention of Meg’s moniker. She’d gone back to her birth name, Farthing, after her divorce ten years ago, but decided that she’d rather like to be a Konig. Fine with me.

“
I expect you six are plenty for anyone,” I said.

“
Can I see your sword?” asked Moosey.

“
Nope. I’m the tax-collector. I’ll be expecting some coins from each of you.”

“
Mrs. Konig said our coins were for the shops,” said Christopher. “And I already gave one to the leper.”

“
Right,” I replied. “But I’m the Roman tax-collector. And the tax man always gets his share.”

“
Not if you can’t find us,” said Moosey. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and gave me a crooked grin. Then he and the two boys took off like a shot and disappeared into the crowd.

•••

I spent most of the two hours walking around the bazaar, giving glaring looks to children who’d already gotten the word and who screamed whenever I showed up. Not exactly according to scripture, but precisely what I wanted to do every time I signed my tax return in April. I noticed Moosey and the rest of the tribe of Issachar, including the girls, over at Beaver Jergenson’s armorer’s tent for most of the afternoon.

There were two skits taking place on the first day, the first scheduled at five o’clock and the second just before closing at six—
The Conversion of St. Paul
and
Peter’s Dream.
At the scheduled time, the shofar sounded and all the kids ran over to the drama area and plopped down on the grass. I missed the first play, deciding instead to rendezvous with a certain tent-mother who kept giving me come-hither glances and was looking far too tempting in her coral-red Moroccan djellaba.

“
Forbidden love,” she whispered, with a seductive smile. “And with a Roman centurion. How naughty.”

“
Aren’t you afraid of reprisals from your people?” I asked, moving closer.

“
No. Just from my husband.”

“
Hmm.”

“
Close the tent flaps, my brave centurion,” she giggled.

Hence, I missed the first play, but I couldn’t miss the second one, having been assigned a dramatic role due to the fact that I was the only one with the correct costume. After St. Peter, ably portrayed by Benny Dawkins, had described his vision in which a voice commands him to eat a variety of impure animals with the admonition “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean,” I walked up, was converted and subsequently baptized. My part was easy. I had to answer “Yes” to Peter’s question, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God and will you be baptized?” then kneel down and be sprinkled. This rankled the Baptists to no end, but, as Kimberly Walnut pointed out to them, it was just a skit and besides, we didn’t have a river handy.

After the second skit, the kids hied back to their tents for clean-up, costume turn-in, and refreshments. Other than the donkey having some digestive problems, the afternoon went without incident, and a good time was had by all.

Chapter 7

The front-end loader and two backhoes made short work of what remained of the Bear and Brew. They’d worked for a few hours on Monday afternoon, knocking everything down, and by Tuesday, when I arrived in town, they were filling two large dump-trucks with rubble. The trucks would have to make a few trips, but I figured that by noon, all that would remain of the restaurant was a flat slab of cement.

I walked over and watched for a while, then walked back across the park and stuck my head into the police station.

“
Anything going on?” I asked.

“
All quiet,” said Dave. He was behind the desk reading the
Tattler
. “Have you seen this morning’s paper?”

I shook my head, and he held up the front page for me to see. The headline read “Missing Diamond Mine Discovered In St. Germaine.”

I sighed. “I’m going to get some breakfast.”

“
Hang on,” he said. “I’ll come with you.” He folded the paper and dropped it on the desk. “I already talked to a reporter from Raleigh. They’re picking up the story. The news should be all over the state by tomorrow.”

“
That’s great,” I said. “Just great.”

“
Look on the bright side,” said Dave. “Just think of the folks that’ll come into town to shop. Let’s see. They’ll need pickaxes, backpacks, burros…”

I laughed. “Seen Nancy this morning?” I asked, as we made the corner and walked the half-block to the Slab.

“
Not yet.”

“
I guess she’ll know where to find us.”

•••

We’d just settled into our breakfast of country ham, grits and scrambled eggs when Russ Stafford barged in the door, followed a moment later by Nancy. Russ sat down at the counter after making a quick survey of the occupants of the café. Cynthia dashed into the kitchen to pick up an order, so Nancy grabbed a coffee cup off the counter, poured herself a cup, and made her way over to the table. Her plate was waiting at her place when she arrived.

“
Aren’t y’all sweet!” she said in a voice that made us reach for our steak knives.

“
What?” asked Dave.

“
Aren’t y’all sweet to get me a plate?”

“
We always get you a plate,” I said with a wary look. “What’s the deal?”

“
There’s no deal,” she said, sitting down next to Dave and helping herself to the family-style breakfast. “Sheesh. I was just trying to be pleasant. My therapist said I should attempt to be a bit less caustic.”

“
Well, stop it,” said Dave. “It’s creeping me out.”

I nodded my agreement, and released the grip on my knife.

“
Hey, Pete,” Russ called into the kitchen. “
Pete!
”

Pete came out of the swinging kitchen door, wiping his hands on a towel. It was obviously his morning on the grill and he was wearing the better part of a Spanish omelette on his apron. His baseball cap served to keep his ponytail under control as well as proclaiming his loyalty to the Tampa Bay Rays.

“
Yeah?” he said, tossing the towel onto the counter. “What’s up, Russ?”

“
You seen Noylene?”

“
She’s off this morning,” said Pete.

“
Well, she’s not at home,” said Russ.

Pete shrugged. “So? Have you checked over at the Beautifery?”

Russ got to his feet and looked around impatiently. “I need to talk to her. If you see her, tell her I’m looking for her, will you?”

“
Sure,” said Pete.

Russ walked out and banged the door behind him. Pete watched him go with a shake of his head.

“
That’s the second time he’s been in this morning,” he said as he walked up to our table. “The first time, he grilled Cynthia for about ten minutes.”

“
Must need to see Noylene,” said Dave, through a mouthful of grits.

“
Brilliant detective work, Sherlock,” said Nancy.

“
I thought you were going to be a bit less caustic,” said Dave. “You might have hurt my feelings.”

“
I tried it. Didn’t work.”

“
Glad to have you back,” I said.

The cowbell clanged against the glass door again, and Wormy walked in and sat down at the counter where Russ had been just moments before.

“
Was Stafford looking for Noylene?” he asked.

Pete and I looked at each other, then back at Wormy.

“
Yep,” said Pete. I took a sip of coffee.

“
He’s been up at the double-wide,” said Wormy, his eyes narrowing. “I seen him up there twice since Sunday talkin’ to Noylene. I was in the woods and seen him. He was up there last month, too. One time, Noylene even asked him inside. He’s up to something. I knows it.”

“
Maybe he’s trying to find out about the diamond mine on Quail Ridge,” said Pete.

“
That’d be my guess,” I said. “He’s a real estate developer. Maybe he’s trying to buy the ridge.”

Wormy shook his head. “She won’t sell it. Been in the family for years. And anyway, I’ve been all over that ridge since Sunday. If there’s a cave, I can’t find it.” He stood up, walked to the front door, then turned and looked at our table. “I’m keepin’ my eye on him. That Russ Stafford’s a snake or I ain’t a capon.”

We watched him exit and head off in the same direction as Russ.

“
I expect he
is
a snake,” said Cynthia, having come back in from the kitchen and hearing Wormy’s declaration. She pulled a chair up to our table and sat. “But what’s a capon?”

“
A rooster, I think,” I said.

“
Now, tell me about those diamonds.”

“
They’re real,” I said, “and worth a small fortune. The interesting thing is this.”

Nancy and Dave stopped eating in mid-mouthful and looked at me in anticipation.

“
You all know,” I started, “that there are all kinds of gem mines up here in these mountains. The most valuable gems that come out of them are rubies and emeralds, but there’s also amethyst, citrine, topaz, garnets—a whole lot of stuff.”

“
How about diamonds?” asked Pete.

“
According to the geologists, there should be, but the only diamonds that have been found in North Carolina are now in a museum in Charlotte. Thirteen of them. No one knows exactly where they came from, but people have been trying to find out for over a century.”

“
You’re kidding? Thirteen?” said Pete.

“
Coincidence?” asked Nancy.

“
I hardly think so,” said Cynthia. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “So, other than under St. Barnabas, the only other place in North Carolina that
might
have diamonds is up on Quail Ridge.”

“
Or so says the Rev. Simon Faulks,” I said.

•••

At 3:30 in the afternoon, the crowd behind the church was already starting to gather. Bible Bazaar 31 A.D. was gearing up for the second day of revelry. I met Meg in front of the tent of Issachar. I hadn’t donned my centurion outfit yet, but I still had an hour or so before I needed to start terrorizing the children.

“
I talked to Pauli Girl,” said Meg. “There’s definitely something going on, but she won’t say what. All that she would say was that she wasn’t ever going back to Afterglow.”

“
You think she’s being sexually harassed?” I asked.

“
Or worse. She’s not even seventeen yet. What if it’s one of the adults?”