• Chapter One
    Tuesday, July 7th, 2009. Asher Home.

    “But Dad, this is really important! Our school could get new textbooks and maybe even a new library before next year if we raise enough money!” my sister, Philadelphia, says, the conviction in her voice stopping Dad for a moment before he continues to the kitchen to get another beer. Raleigh, our golden retriever, barks once to voice his opinion in the matter. Del’s bright blue eyes mirror mine as we both follow Dad.
    Dad opens the beer and takes a swig, and my dark reddish brown colored hair falls in my face as I look down at my feet. I know he’s not going to help us out on this. He doesn’t care whether our school gets new textbooks. All he cares about is having enough money for more booze. Note to self: Don’t become an alcoholic. It’s much cheaper.
    “Tell you what,” Dad says, turning to Del and me, “why don’t you go through some of the junk your grandfather left to you. Most of it’s still in the storage area in the basement. If you can find something in there worth selling, then you can use the money to help your school or whatever.”
    Del and I exchange surprised and excited glances, and I know she’s screaming inside just like I am. We both thank Dad and run towards the door, Raleigh hot on our heels.
    “Oh, you might need this,” Dad says, throwing us a flashlight. I catch it and give Del a look like: what have you gotten us into this time?
    She just laughs, thanks Dad again and walks out the door.
    “What was up with that?” I ask as soon as the door is closed.
    “What do you mean, Phoenix?” Del asks absent-mindedly, taking the flashlight from my hands and playing with it while Raleigh nuzzles her hand to play with it too.
    “I mean with Dad letting us use Grandpa’s stuff to earn money!”
    “Oh, that. I was wondering the same thing!” Del agrees, tromping noisily down the stairs. I’m right next to her, although making the trip at a bit softer pace. Raleigh bounds ahead down the steps and waits at the bottom for us.
    “I think that’s the first time he’s ever mentioned Grandpa’s stuff,” I say.
    “I think he hated Grandpa and he’s glad to see his ‘junk’ go,” Del says flatly. I nod slowly. Sometimes Del can be like that, a little pessimistic about Dad. But, then again, I don’t blame her. I feel the same way; I just don’t have the guts to say it, even when he’s not around.
    We’re now down to the first floor, and we quickly walk through the short hallway, Del scampering ahead while I slip through more cautiously, Raleigh by my side faithfully. I’m cautious because the last time we made noise coming through this hallway grumpy old Mrs. Reed yelled at us so loud that even Dad heard all the way up on the third floor! Not that he cared of course.
    We turn left at the end of the hall instead of heading straight out the door like usual and we both spot the familiar ‘BASEMENT’ labeled door a few steps away. There’s no light in this part of the hallway so that just adds to the eeriness of the situation as Del puts her hand carefully on the basement door.
    CREE-EAK!
    Looks loud, right? Now imagine that word taking up an entire page. I think that would accurately describe the noise that the door made as Del opened it.
    Del gives me a look like: I can’t believe I just made that noise and Mrs. Reed didn’t beat our heads in!
    With that she turns the flashlight on and shines it into the cellar. I think both of us start laughing at the same time just out of the shock of the basement and the complete and utter silliness of the whole situation. Well, maybe Del’s laugh is that. My laugh is more like an ‘I can’t believe I have to walk down there but I know Del is going to make me so I’ll stick it out but don’t think I’m going to be happy about it’ sort of laugh.
    This is a basic description of what the basement staircase looks like, so you’ll understand my lack of enthusiasm: stone steps, all jagged and messed up, spider webs, wood walls that looked like they’ve rotted, spider webs, narrow enough where only one of us can go at a time, spider webs… Oh, and did I mention there were spider webs?
    “If this is any indication of what the basement looks like I think I’m so excited I might not be able to go down,” I say sarcastically.
    But Del just kind of smirks like she knows I won’t back down and starts down the stairway. And I don’t. I follow her down like a good little idiot. But I smile anyways; I’m not too freaked out because Del is with me. And besides, Raleigh is already halfway down the steps.
    “You know, this looks like something out of a horror movie Del” I say, trying not to flip as I brush a spider web off my arm.
    “Actually,” Del says, turning around and shining the flashlight up her face to freak me out, “I was thinking it reminds me of that movie with Nicholas Cage…”
    “National Treasure?” I finish for her and she nods. “The first one or the second one?”
    “The second one, duh!” Del says and I just smirk
    “Well then, Miss Gates, lead the way to the treasure!”
    “Whatever you say Riley,” she retorts.
    I slap Del’s arm and we continue down the stairway. Finally we reach the bottom, (Raleigh waiting at the bottom of course) and start walking down an equally narrow hallway that has equally as many spider webs. Storage areas fill both sides. There’s only five, and we quickly find ours. Del unlocks the door, and we step inside.
    “Wow, look at all this stuff!” Del exclaims, shining the flashlight on the room as she kneels down to get closer to the ‘treasure’ she’s found. Raleigh slips in beside her, his tail thrashing back and forth as he sniffs at the treasure.
    “The air tastes stale,” is my first remark. “How long do you think it’s been since anyone came in here?”
    “I don’t know,” Del says, clearly not interested in the taste of the air. Picking up an old photograph and blowing the dust off it, she says, “This must be Grandpa and Grandma!”
    I kneel down next to her and take the picture. “Yeah, must be,” I reply, my hand falling into place on Raleigh’s back by habit.
    “I bet there’s loads of stuff we can sell here!” Del says, digging through the pile of old shirts, photographs, and different odds and ends. “Come on, let’s raise some money!”
    Raleigh and I quickly join her, picking my way a little slower through the pile. I’m excited about raising money, but not excited enough to dig like Del. I know whether we do it fast or slow we’ll find something good.

    About an hour later, Del and I are still in the basement with Grandpa’s old stuff, Raleigh sleeping on the floor beside us. We’ve found a few things to sell; an old watch, a really old newspaper and a pair of glasses.
    As Del, being her side-tracked self, looks through old photographs and asks me who I think these people are (like I would know any better than her), I sift through the last of Grandpa’s things and ask Del if she thinks they’d be worth anything. Once and a while Raleigh stirs or barks softly, obviously in the middle of a good dream.
    Finally at the end of the pile of stuff, I breathe a sigh of relief as I pick up the last ‘treasure’, a dusty old jewelry box. As I brush off some of the dust I see that it really is gorgeous, covered in beautiful designs drawn with gold and silver.
    “Hey Del, check this out!” I say excitedly, showing my sister the jewelry box. Raleigh hears the excitement in my voice and pops his golden head up. Del touches it lightly, then lifts it from my hands.
    “Aw cool!” Del says. “I bet we can sell this on Craigslist for a bundle!”
    “Yeah,” I agree. Gently, I lift up the cover. We both gasp as we see what’s inside. It’s a ring, and it’s gorgeous; a pure gold band with tiny Safire, Jade and Ruby pendants all around. A threadlike strand of pure silver weaves around the stones making the entire piece seem to glow. We stare at it for what seems like hours, and even Raleigh doesn’t make a peep.
    “It’s a ring,” I finally say to break the silence.
    Del looks at me with that smirk she does. “Really,” she says sarcastically, “I thought it was a bazooka.”
    I just give her an ‘Oh-you’re-so-funny-ha-ha-see-look-I’m-laughing-not’ look, and she smiles at me innocently. My sister…
    “Come on; let’s get some of this stuff on Craigslist before it’s too late,” Del says, patting my arm. I smile and we both get up, taking our new-found treasures with us.

    It takes us only a few minutes to list Grandpa’s old stuff on Craigslist. We sit on the bottom bunk of our bunk-bed with our laptop, both of us taking turns adding different things to the listings. Raleigh lies on the floor beneath us.
    I love our room. It’s pretty small, but it really is awesome. The walls are red, and the carpet is plushy and soft. All over the walls we have posters of rock bands and guitars we wish we had. There’s one desk, black, with a fuzzy red and black checkered lamp and a bunch of junk that neither of us ever bothers to clean up. That kind of stuff litters the floor of the room, too, but neither of us cares. It’s the perfect room for teenage twins.
    Finally, as we finish the last listing, Del and I high-five and rush into the kitchen for a root beer float reward. Raleigh gets up sleepily and follows us. Dad left while we were on the computer, so we have the house to ourselves. Sucking ice cream and root beer, we amble back into our room and plunk down on our bean-bag chairs; mine red and black checkered and Del’s orange and black checkered.
    Raleigh decides to get into my lap, and I smile as he plunks himself down. He’s actually small for a golden retriever, but still a little big for my lap. He’s cute though, so I deal with it.
    After a few minutes of talking and eating, I ask Del, “I wonder how long it’ll be before we get our first call…”
    Just as Del opens her mouth to respond, the phone starts ringing. We exchange a ‘wow that was random but extremely funny’ look and start laughing.
    “Raleigh, phone!” Del says. Raleigh jumps out of my lap, snatches the phone off the desk and brings it to Del. I smile; that’s just one of the many tricks we’ve taught Raleigh. That one Del taught him, because I hate answering the phone.
    “Hello?” Del says into the phone. “Hi, Mr. Graves.”
    I try to think if I know the name Graves. It doesn’t ring a bell.
    “The ring?” Del says, standing up, “Yeah, it’s still up for sale. Would you like to… Oh… oh, I see… yeah, that makes sense. 6 o’ clock? Yeah, I think they’ll be open… Of course that’s fine with me! Alright, thank you Mr. Graves. Goodbye.”
    As soon as Del hangs up the phone I jump up. “Well?!” I ask excitedly.
    “He wants to buy the ring! He saw it on Craigslist and he wants it! I’m meeting him at the jewelers down the street because he wants to have it checked out to make sure it’s real and stuff.”
    “That’s awesome!” I say, hugging her excitedly.
    “I know! We’ll meet him down there at six and…”
    Suddenly we both stop and our faces fall. It’s five forty-five now. We were supposed to go to the library today. We both love to read, especially me, and Mom would always buy us whatever books we wanted. But, as you’ve probably guessed, our family is a little tight on money. Well, I guess more than a little.
    So Del and I both agreed a long time ago that we would go to the library instead of buying the books we wanted. We usually go every Tuesday, but we’ve missed the last couple, and Del sort of promised that we’d go today. It’s a rule between us never to break promises.
    “It’s okay, Del, I don’t mind. Selling this ring is way more important than going to the library,” I say. I realize that my voice doesn’t sound very convincing.
    “You know what; forget the ring! We have plans!” Del says. She doesn’t sound very convinced either.
    Slowly, I put my hand on Del’s shoulder. “I know how much raising money for the school means to you. I know how important it is to you. I would never want to get in the way of that.”
    Del sighs and looks at the floor for a moment. Then suddenly her head rises, and she’s smiling. She has an idea.
    “I have an idea,” she says. What did I tell you? But I already know what she’s thinking.
    “Please, Del, don’t worry…”
    “No, no, listen this is perfect! You can go to the library with Raleigh because the Jewelers won’t allow dogs, and I’ll sell the ring and then meet you there, okay? No biggie!”
    “And have you go alone? No way!”
    Del just looks at me slyly. I know she’s got something else up her sleeve.
    “I heard something…” she says slowly, slyly smiling. “And it has to do with a certain book that a certain someone has been waiting for…”
    “No,” I shake my head in disbelief.
    “Yes!” Del replies, smiling widely.
    “They replaced Pride and Prejudice?!” I practically squeal in delight. The book is my all-time favorite and I used to have my mom’s book from when she was my age, but eventually I read it so much that the book just came apart! The library did have it, but they lost their copy. I haven’t read the book in close to six months (an all time record for m) because they didn’t have it; but now they do!
    I sigh, completely torn.
    “Come on, sis,” Del says, putting her hands on my shoulders, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me! Go read your book, and have fun! I’ll be there in no time!”
    I smile gratefully. I don’t need any more convincing. “Alright,” I finally give in, and Del gives a whoop of triumph. I punch her arm playfully as we move into the kitchen. Checking the clock, we decide it’s time to head out.
    “I’ll see you at the library,” I say to Del as I grab a couple books I need to return and she grabs the ring. “And if you’re not there soon…”
    “I will be! I will be!” Del repeats for emphasis as we both grab our messenger bags (mine black with red and Del’s black with orange) and I grab my skateboard. We both rush out the door, locking it tightly behind us.
    Once outside, Del turns right and I go left. Raleigh looks back and forth between us, not sure where to go. But one call from me reassures him and he quickly walks by my side.
    Del starts walking backwards and waves to me as I hop onto my skateboard. I give her a mock salute and then we both go our separate ways. I push hard against the concrete sidewalk, my leg pumping the skateboard forward. Raleigh rushes to keep up, his tail wagging happily. All I can see is the cover of an all-time favorite that I can’t wait to get my hands on.