Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 "Lester, can I talk to you for a minute?" Nellie approached the table. Lester was putting the box down carefully on top of its plastic bag. "Sure," he said. "What's up?" Nellie touched the snake nose ring. Everything was so complicated… how could she possibly explain it all to him? Where should she start? At the beginning, of course. With Grace. Everything started with Grace. "Grace was really interested in this project, wasn't she?" Nellie said. "Oh, yah," Lester said with a smile. "She was interested in everything about old Jamaica. I remember the time she was here, when I was just a little kid. She'd ask my Granma about all the old stories, and Granma would tell her, and I'd sit there listening. It's probably what made me want to study history."

"Did she know you were working on the project?" "Oh, sure. She's the one who got me the job. She found out that a university in the States was teaming up with the Jamaican Historical Society to excavate the site. She gave a big donation and" —another smile —"got me an interview to be a researcher here. So now I work full time at the Archives and do consulting work on the project." Nellie nodded. Grace the mastermind at work again. Lester frowned. "She used to check in with me from time to time, ask how the project was going, if we'd found anything interesting. I hadn't heard from her in a few months. I should have gotten in touch myself." He looked sad. They were both quiet for a moment, remembering Grace. Nellie touched his arm. "Lester, I think we know something about Grace that you might not," she said. "Grace was interested in this project for a specific reason. There was something she was hoping to find."

Lester looked at her curiously. "What, exactly?" "This is going to sound crazy," Nellie said, "but we're not sure if she actually knew what she was looking for. All we know is, she had come across bits and pieces of it over the years. And she died before she could finish her search, so Amy and Dan are trying to finish it for her. And me, too." Lester seemed a little bemused now, but not alarmed. "Okay, I'm still with you," he said. Nellie took a deep breath. "It was really important to Grace," she said. "And also secret— she wanted as few people as possible to know about it. So what it comes down to is this: We need that box." She nodded toward the table. "We think that's what Grace was looking for. We need to take it with us"— she raised her hand to stop Lester from objecting —"but we want to make a deal." She rushed on before Lester could say anything. "We think we have at least part of what's needed to open it. You let us take the box to see if we can open it. Then when we're done with it, we give it back to you with the secret of how to open it."

She locked eyes with him. He has to say yes, he just has to. If not, the people she was working for would be extremely displeased. And they were no fun when they were displeased. Lester looked at the box on the table. Then he glanced toward the back of the hut, at one of his colleagues working on a computer. Probably his boss. He looked at the box again, and finally at Nellie. She waited in silence for what felt like hours. "Okay, here's my deal," he said at last. "Grace meant the world to me and Granma. Before you showed up, I'd have said there was nothing I wouldn't do for her." He shook his head. "I'd have been wrong. I can't do it— I can't let you take it. Not just because I'd lose my job. But because it goes against every principle of good historianship. You think you have a good reason for taking it. So does every other person or group or government in the world who's ever taken artifacts away from where

they belong." "But we'd return it! I swear!" Nellie crossed her fingers surreptitiously, praying that what she said was true. "It's not that I don't trust you," Lester said. "Really, I don't even know you. The fact that you knew Grace, and they're her grandchildren— I wish that could be enough. But it's not. I'm sorry." Nellie's heart sank to the pit of her stomach. They'd have to steal the box, and if they could manage to pull that off, then Lester, who had been so nice, would hate them, and Miss Alice would hate them, too…. Lester was staring at her so hard he was almost glaring. She held his gaze, not daring to blink or breathe, hoping her expression didn't give away that she was already trying to figure out how to steal the box. After a long moment, he seemed to make up his mind and eased off on the laser–beam stare. "You can't take the box," he said flatly, "but I can. I can say I want to do some research on it,

and they'll let me take it off the site. So here's how it goes down. Whatever you need to do with the box, you do it with me there. That's nonnegotiable." Nellie flung her arms around his neck. Not like she had to force herself— he was, after all, very… "Thanks a million, Lester! You won't regret it, I promise!" Her ebullient response drew Dan and Amy over. Nellie gave them a thumbs—up. "YESSSS!" Dan said, and made a valiant attempt to moonwalk. Nellie raised her eyebrows at Amy, who was smiling at Lester. She caught Nellie's glance and shrugged in return. Jeez, she's a tough nut, Nellie thought. I might be making progress with Dan, but she's a different animal altogether…. Grinning sheepishly, Lester disentangled himself from Nellie's embrace. He picked up the box and put it back in its plastic bag. "I'll go talk to the boss," he said. "I'll meet you