The Five Pearls (17 page)

The next day, Amber woke up early in the morning and hurried to Shooks Run. She angrily shook her head when she saw the stolen, broken television dumped in the creek ice. The picture tube had a small boulder through it. It took her nearly an hour to find the bag that Matt had stolen and hid. She found it tucked behind one of the bracings under the bridge. It was still heavy with heirlooms. She grabbed it up and ran away from the place.

Thirty minutes later, Amber stood on the front porch of Loomis House and rang the doorbell.
When Mrs. Powell answered, the old woman’s jaw dropped with surprise. “Yes?”
“I stole these from you,” Amber said.
The old woman took the bag and looked inside it, then she studied the girl’s face. “You must be Amber.”
“How did you know my name?”
“Your teacher. He spoke very highly of you.”
“He did?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“After what we did yesterday, he’d be disgusted with me.”
“But you’re here now,” the old woman spoke patiently.
Amber pulled out the stolen photographs of Mr. Battle and offered them to the old woman. “I took these off your refrigerator.”
Mrs. Powell touched the photos but didn’t take them. “Keep them,” she said. “They belong to you, anyway.”
“What do we do now? Call the police?”
“Over broken glass and an ancient television?” Mrs. Powell smiled. “I don't think so.” She rattled the bag of heirlooms. “I'm glad to have these back. They did mean so much once. Please, come in.” She held the door open for the little girl. “We have many things to discuss.”
She led Amber into the warm bright kitchen and prepared a pot of tea.
“You knew his secret?’ Amber asked, standing at the counter.
“Not all of it,” Mrs. Powell said. “But most.” She pulled some letters from a drawer, the ones she promised to attend to. “Your father left some unfinished business for me and you. Are you up to the challenge?”
“Is it about my baby?”
“It’s about your baby, you, today and tomorrow.”
Mrs. Powell excused herself and returned a short time later with a briefcase. She set it on the table in front of the girl. “I found it under John’s bed after you and your friends left,” she said. “It belongs to you.”
Amber stared at the briefcase. “What’s in it?”
“Open it and find out.”
“Is it good or bad?”
“Open it and find out.”

A lost, empty week drifted by. The three Tadpole boys stood under the footbridge working a dying lighter on half a cigarette that wouldn’t light. Even with a bright sun above, the bitter cold of a January wind had set in.

No one had seen or heard from Amber.
“Must be fifty below with the wind chill,” Matt said. Julio bounced up and down, his hands stuffed in his pants.

Toby took the cigarette between his fingers and was about to flick it across the creek when something caught his eye. “What’s that?” he asked.

The others looked where he pointed.
“Something shiny sticking out of the ground,” Matt said. Matt and Toby stepped across the frozen creek ice and

worked their way through the thick brush. A silver-handled spade was sticking in the ground with a note attached. DIG HERE
The boys look around the woods cautiously.
“Somebody playing a joke on us?” Matt wondered.
“Probably that creepy kid that rides the bicycle.”
They looked at the shovel again.
“Okay,” said Toby. “I'll bite.”
He set his foot on the spade and dug into the hard ground, pulling up several chunks of earth before the shovel clanged against something metallic. After a few more turns of earth, Matt dropped down to his knees and scooped out an old ammunition box.
“We hit something!” he called across the creek to Julio.
“Bring it over,” Julio ordered.
Matt and Toby traversed the creek with the box and set it on the old log.
“You guys gonna open it or just pet it?” Julio asked.
“Hell, man,” said Toby. “What if it's from somebody who don't like us? Might be a bomb in there.”
“Nobody hates us that much to go to the trouble,” Matt told him.
“I got lots of enemies I don't talk about.” Julio tried to sound important.
“Yeah, Julio? Well, I don't have any.”
Matt opened the box. Inside was a single letter. He read the writing on the envelope.
“Confidential - Five Pearls.”
“Open it,” Julio said.
“The letter says ‘five’.”
Julio tried to snatch the letter away, but Matt slipped it down his pants. “Let’s get the girls,” Matt said.
“We haven’t seen Amber all week.”
“She’ll come if I call,” Toby said.
Julio shook his head and picked up the spade. “Can I keep this?”
“What for?”
“I forgot to buy my old man a Christmas present.”

The boys walked a mile to a local teen hangout called the Boulder Street Café and called the girls from there with money they begged off a few passers-by on the street. When Toby told Amber and Marie about the mysterious letter, both girls agreed to meet them.

“I thought you quit on us,” Julio barked at Amber when she arrived.
“Maybe I did,” she said.
They all sat at a booth in the corner of the coffee cafe, the sealed envelope between them.
“It’s Mr. Battle's handwriting,” Amber declared. “Think so?” Marie said.
“Who wants to open it?” Amber asked.
“I guess I will,” said Matt. “Since I’m the only one who knows how to read.”
Julio socked him in the arm. “Just read it, fool.”
Matt opened the envelope. “It’s a letter from a bank with all of our names on it.”
“Read it,” everyone complained with excited humor.
Matt cleared his throat. “’This is to inform you that five trust accounts have been established in each of your names at our downtown branch. Five thousand dollars has been placed in each account separately for each individual with the stipulation that said five thousand dollars shall be paid any individual who can provide proof of passing a legitimate and certified General Education Diploma test no later than April fifth.’” Matt kept reading aloud. “’For verification of funds, please contact Mr. Petrie, branch manager.’”
The kids stared at each other in amazement.
Suddenly, Julio broke into a crazy laugh. “Mr. Battle's trying to bribe us from the grave!”
“Five thousand bucks!” Toby swooned.
“We get paid to learn?” Matt tried grasping the situation.
“With a deadline,” reminded Marie.
“Five thousand bucks!” said Amber. “Think of it!”
“I could buy a car,” said Matt.
“I can move to California,” said Marie.
“I can buy me a liquor store,” said Julio.
Amber snatched the letter from Matt and rose from the table. “I’m going to the bank. Anybody else?”
“Hell, yes!” said Matt, Marie and Toby.
Julio sat in the booth, his arms folded reluctantly. “You know what this means? It means we gotta study.”
“So what?” said Amber. “Get off your fat ass and let’s go.”
He forced himself out of the booth, shoved his hands in his pockets and followed them to the bank just down the street.

“Who wants to go in?” Toby asked.
“I’ll go,” Amber said.
“Why you?” asked Julio.
“Because I know how to conduct myself in the presence of

The other Tadpoles stood by the plate glass window and watched Amber as she made her way to a reception desk and asked for the bank manager. The receptionist led her across the lobby to a bald man wearing glasses. He sat right by the window where Amber’s friends waited.

“That’s him. Mr. Petrie,” Matt said.
“How do you know?” Julio asked.
“I can see his nameplate on his desk.”
Amber showed Mr. Petrie the letter. He looked at it and

smiled and offered her a seat. She pulled up a chair and they talked for a couple of minutes. She pointed to her friends outside. He waved at them and gestured to the letter followed by two thumbs up.

Amber took the letter and returned outside. “It’s legit,” she told her friends.
“Yahoo!” Matt cried, jumping up and down with joy. “I’m rich! I’m rich!”
“What are you so happy about?” Julio shook his head. “You still have to pass the test.”
“Oh yeah,” Matt said. “I forgot about the test!”

The Tadpoles marched back to Shooks Run and sat on the log.
“We need a game plan,” Amber said. “Any ideas?”
“Let’s talk to other guys who passed the GED. You know, see how they did it.”
“I can tell you how they did it. They studied,” Julio said bluntly. “They actually studied.”
“We can try,” said Marie.
“With your IQ? Ha!”
Marie kicked Julio in the leg. “I’m brighter than you!”
“That’ll be the day.”
“Come on, you two. Knock it off and think!” Toby said.
“What’s to think about?”
Julio picked up a rock and tossed it at the frozen stream. The rock chattered along, hit a tree, slid across the creek and stopped.
“We go see Wirtzy,” Matt demanded. “See what needs to be done.”
“He’ll probably have us all arrested,” Julio said.
“Arrested for what?” Amber asked. “You are so paranoid.”

Two days later, the Tadpoles met up in front of the high school and marched into the office of their nemesis – Mr. Wirtz.

“Terrible business, this Mr. Battle thing. Terrible,” he said grimly. “But life goes on for the living. I have to ask - did
any
of you learn
anything
from him you can use towards earning credits for graduation?”

“The truth is, we don’t have the time, the credits or the discipline to graduate,” Amber admitted.
“At last! The light bulb comes on in your little brains!”
“We’ve decided to study for the GED instead,” Toby said.
“The General Education Diploma? You five? Ha! You're kidding me, right?”
“Do we look like we’re kidding?” Julio stood up and towered over the man.
“Look, I don't want to sound facetious or cruel, but let’s be realistic. None of you will pass!”
“How do you know that, Mr. Wirtz?” Matt asked. “You don’t know what we can or can’t do.”
“Is that a fact, Mr. Golden?”
“Look, Wirtzy,” Julio said. “Are you going to help us or not?”
“What kind of help can I provide?” Wirtz was incredulous. “It’s you five who must learn the material. What can I do?”
“Study guides, research material,” Amber suggested.
Julio was getting angrier by the minute. “Are you gonna help us or not?”
“Oh, I'll help you all right!” Mr. Wirtz laughed. “Believe you me.” He pulled out a thick stack of booklets from a filing cabinet and dumped them on his desk. “There you go. Good luck!”
The Tadpoles sifted through the stack. There was a lot of reading.
“When do you plan on taking this test?” Mr. Wirtz asked.
“We have until April,” Toby said.
“Oh! I see! You five are on a deadline! How intriguing!” He sharpened a pencil and glared at Amber. “How far along are you?”
“Five months.”
“And you want to have your diploma before you have a baby. How adult. Even better, maybe the baby can take the test for you!”
Julio reached across the desk and grabbed a hold of the teacher. “You have no right to talk to her or any of the rest of us like that! You understand?”
Wirtz smugly looked down at the angry hand clutching his shirt. “I apologize. Now I suggest you release me before things get out of hand, Mr. Ramirez.”
“Let him go, Julio,” Amber ordered.
Julio released the teacher and sat down.
“Okay,” Wirtz decided coolly. “You guys come to me every Friday after my normal classes are out to exchange workbooks. If these are done to my satisfaction, I'll give you more. If they’re not, you don’t get any materials until the old ones are turned in. You say you want to take the test in April. Fine. If you pass it, you move on to college or a car wash and I get to wash my hands of you. Everybody wins. If you fail...”
“We won't fail,” Toby promised.
“Oh really, Mr. Chambers. Why won't you fail?”
“Because we’re five pearls.”
“Like uncut diamonds,” Marie said.
“Very cute,” Wirtz frowned.
Marie pointed a finger at the man. “Know what your problem is, Mr. Wirtz? You never saw us for our potential.”
“Gee, I guess I didn't.” He loved sarcasm. “But do any of you know the first thing about English, Math, Science and Social Studies?”
“We had a good teacher.”
“Mr. Battle, I presume?”
“He taught us not to be afraid of trying,” Julio said.
Matt added, “And that’s why we know that we can pass the GED exam.”
“Remember this,” Wirtz said as a reminder. “You may study together, but in the end you take the test alone. And be aware of this as well, little pearls. By law, you have to drop out of high school before you’re allowed to take the test. Once you drop out, I think you’ll find it very, very difficult to get back in.” He stood and clapped his hands together, then picked up the stack of study guides, offering them to the group. “Enough food for thought. I wish you all the best of luck.”
Toby took the stack and nodded towards the door. “Let’s show him what we got.”
After the students left his office, Wirtz dropped into his chair, oddly relieved. “Whatever that damned Battle did to those kids, I want some,” Mr. Wirtz laughed.

It was a bitter cold day in late January. A hard, cruel wind blew against the backs of the Five Pearls sitting along the old log with study guides on their laps.

“Can it possibly get any colder?” Julio complained. “I can't even hold this book,” Matt protested.
“Why don't you wear gloves?” Toby asked.
“That would require my getting a job to earn the money to

buy the gloves,” Matt said.
“Why not steal a pair from the mall?” Julio said as a matter
of fact.
“Malls are for losers,” Matt explained.
“Let’s face it. We need a warm place to study,” Marie
realized. She dropped her book on her lap and looked at
Amber. “This can't be good for the baby.”
“I have a place for us to study,” Amber clucked without
looking up from her reading.
“You do?” Matt jumped up. “It’s a thousand degrees below
zero and you hold out on us?”
“It’s the library, isn’t it?” Marie guessed.
“Not the library,” Amber smiled. “You may not like it.” She
rose from the log and started up the trail. “If you’re brave, I
mean truly brave, follow me.”
“She’s whacked,” Julio growled as he shook his head. “I can’t hear you,” Toby said loudly. “My ears fell off.”

The five freezing Tadpoles stooped at a convenience store to warm up before continuing on to Amber’s mystery location. Inside the store, Julio made a weak attempt to steal candy bars from the shelf but the savvy store clerk had watched his every move.

When Amber stopped at the front gate leading up to Loomis House, her friends practically fell over each other.
“Um, Amber?” Matt suggested. “We robbed this house, remember?”
“I know. Follow me, please.”
She brazenly swung open the gate, skipped up the walk to the front door, climbed the steps and rang the doorbell.
Julio lowered his head. “This is embarrassing.”
“Come on, everybody!” Amber called back.
One by one, the boys, with hands in their pockets, drifted down the walkway and onto the front porch. Marie was the last in line. She hurriedly removed her newly acquired hat from her head and stuffed it in her bag.
Mrs. Powell answered the door. She was wearing a pair of oven mittens. “Well, well, well!” the old woman said. “This is encouraging, Amber! You managed to snag the whole crew just like you said you would! Come in, come in! I have brownies in the oven.”
Toby whispered to Matt. “Brownies?”
With a nudge to each young person’s shoulder as they passed, Mrs. Powell scuttled the Tadpoles into the familiar hallway. “You may call me Mrs. Powell.” Her voice sounded delighted.
“Are you Mr. Battle’s mother?” Matt asked.
“No, I’m not.”
“Then, how did you know him?” Marie asked.
“All your questions will be answered in due course.”
“So, lady. You gonna give us a lecture?” Julio asked.
“About what, dear?”
“Breaking and entering...”
“You left out burglary, young man…”
“Oh, yeah. That, too.”
“No… A lecture would be a waste of time,” Mrs. Powell reasoned. “Don’t you agree?”
Her steady eyes moved from kid to kid. All had downcast eyes and seemed extremely embarrassed.
“You gonna call the cops, then?” Julio asked.
“No,” Mrs. Powell said with assurance. “Even though it did cross my mind, I figure you owe me one now. You certainly owe Mr. Battle one. Follow me into the kitchen. It’s time we chitchat like adults.”