The Magic Half by Annie Barrows Page B

bellowing from the end of the driveway. “Go!”
    Quickly, Miri shoved the glasses case down her shirt. Scrabbling the brown lumps back into the box, she plucked out the bracelet and put it in her pocket. She would give that to Mr. Guest to return to Adelie Kent’s family.
    “No way! You cheated!” Ray was hollering as Robbie bolted into the backyard. “You totally cheated!”
    Miri turned to watch Robbie run a victory lap around Ray.
    “You were already running when you said ‘Go,’” argued Ray. “I saw you.” He threw himself down on the lawn. “I got heatstroke.”
    Now Robbie noticed her. “Whatcha doing, Miri?”
    Miri looked at him, thinking. Should she hide the box, keep it a secret? Should she make up a lie, fight to keep it hers alone?
    Why? What was the point?
    She had Molly and magic. She didn’t need to have the treasure, too. Finding it was the good part anyway. She had the special—her brothers could have the extra.
    Robbie made a farting noise. “What are you— catatonic? Wake up!”
    “It’s the stolen stuff,” she said quietly. “I found it.”
    Ray sat up like he’d been jerked on a string. “What?”
    The boys scrambled across the lawn, bumping into each other as they knelt beside her. “Where?”
    “Here. It was under this board.” Miri pointed to the rotting plank.
    Together, her brothers’ wide eyes moved from the battered metal box to the weed-choked hole. Ray whistled softly. “Wow.”
    “Mir,” said Robbie, “How’d you know—?”
    “It was here?” Ray looked at her with awe.
    Miri couldn’t resist torturing them. “I just had a feeling,” she said mysteriously. “I was sitting in the car this afternoon, and all of a sudden, I had a vision of where it was.”
    “Aw, come on, don’t give us that,” began Ray, but Robbie hit him on the arm.
    “Shut up. Don’t argue with her.” He turned to his sister respectfully. “Can we open it? Huh?”
    “Sure,” said Miri, enjoying her power. She didn’t tell them she had already opened it.
    Robbie reached out, but Ray was quicker. He yanked the lid off unceremoniously. The familiar rotting smell wafted up as they stared into the mess of brown lumps. “What’s this? Looks like dog turds,” he said, poking them with his finger. “But hey— check it out—jewelry!” Ray pulled out the watch and then the other pieces, and laid them reverently on the grass.
    “Whoa,” Robbie said quietly. For a long moment, the two boys stared in silence.
    Then Ray said, “How much you think we can get for them?”
    “They’re antiques,” said Robbie. “People pay a lot for antiques.”
    “Thousands?”
    “Maybe,” said Robbie. “Hey look, a ring!” He picked up the ring. “It’s gold.”
    “Got to be worth something.” Ray sounded like he had a college degree in jewelry.
    Miri watched as Robbie inspected one of the wads of brown paper. “Ray,” he said, slowly peeling the mess apart. “Dude.”
    “Huh?” Ray was prying open one of the lockets. “It isn’t dog turds.
    It’s money!”
    Miri leaned over. In the middle of the wad, you could see that the paper had markings on it. It did look like dollar bills. And it made sense that Horst would keep money in his secret hiding place.
    Ray dropped the locket and picked up a brown lump. “Money,” he said softly. “Think we can spend it?”
    Robbie fingered the lump. “Maybe. Maybe if we dry it out. Or maybe we can sell it to people who collect old money.”
    Ray grinned. “Yeah! It’s probably worth even more that way! We can get an iPod!”
    “Or an Xbox,” said Robbie dreamily. “Or both.”
    “Sure. We’re rich!” Ray rubbed his hands together and cackled gleefully, like a cartoon villain. “Rich, rich, rich.”
    Robbie stopped. He looked at Miri, his round blue eyes thoughtful. “But it’s yours, really,” he said.
    “What?” Ray stared at him in astonishment. “You’re crazy! It’s not hers!”
    “She found it,” Robbie said stubbornly.