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The Saphire Secret

© Chantel Kalil 2011

It all started one day when my beloved Louis Vuitton handbag got stolen. I freaked out because it cost three months of savings! The day my bag got stolen was only a mere indication to me that from now on my life was going to change forever…

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Chapter 1 “Ah!!” I screamed in terror as my handbag got stolen right before my eyes. I didn’t get a good look at the thief but I did notice he had a slight twitch in his right leg. I immediately called the police and within a few minutes they parked on the steep slope just a few meters away from me. “Miss Rachel Middleton?” One of the officers asked. “Yes, that’s me,” I answered. “We are from the NYPD. I am Officer McGuire and this is Officer Fitzgerald. We are just going to ask you a few questions,” he continued while Officer Fitzgerald flicked his pen and note pad from his shirt pocket, “Alright, did you catch a glance of him?” “No, he ran away quickly but I did notice the twitch in his right leg,” “That’s quite important. And what did he steal again?” Officer Fitzgerald asked. “Um, my handbag, its Louis Vuitton,” I replied. “A handbag?” Officer McGuire and Fitzgerald said simultaneously. You could see the disappointment in their eyes as they lost all interest they had in the case. It was just another stolen handbag, nothing special. But it was special; they just didn’t know it yet. “Alright, we’ll go look for him. Do you need a ride home, young lady?”

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“Actually no, my dad will be here in a minute, but thank you anyway.” I watched them drive away and waited for my dad to come. This had been one miserable day. As I turned around I glanced down and right in front of me was my handbag. Not a single scratch. Weird. Very weird. I slowly picked it up and looked at it carefully, inside and out. It didn’t seem like anything was missing. Maybe the thief dropped it by accident or something. I called the police and told them what happened and because it ‘returned’ to me the case was dropped. My dad showed up a few seconds later and before I knew it I was telling him everything. I could read his emotions as they changed from suspicion to gratefulness and I could see a tear flow down his face when I had finished. “Oh thank God you’re safe, Rachel!” He said and closed his eyes in prayer. I was lying in my bed that night, recalling my crazy misadventures that day. It was unreal but it was over. I closed my eyes and fell asleep instantly.

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Chapter 2 The next day I was at the mall with my closest friends. I only briefly told them what happened because I didn’t think it was a big deal anymore. “Hey Rachel, guess what?” Annemarie exclaimed excitedly. “What?” “Matt asked me out yesterday!” “No! You’re kidding!” I exclaimed, so happy for her. “Believe it! So, do you think I can borrow that cute aqua necklace you’re always wearing?” Annemarie asked hopefully. “Sure! Let me get it,” I reached in my ‘lost and found’ bag. “That’s funny; I could have sworn it was in here yesterday.” And that’s when it hit me. That’s what he stole. My necklace. Again, weird. It’s not like it was anything special. My dad gave it to me last year and now it was missing. Why would he have taken that? Of all things! Why me? And how did he know it was in my bag? All these questions stormed in my head. “Sorry Annemarie, I can’t find it. I have to go, see you guys tomorrow,” I walked away and dialed two on my phone. I had my parents on speed dial. However, before I pressed call, someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth with something that tasted like rotted fish. Before I knew it, I was pushed aggressively in the back of a van and with the door slammed in my face we drove away.

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“Not again!” I mumbled to myself. I looked for my bag but it wasn’t with me. He took it. He must have seen me notice that my necklace was missing and kidnapped me. Gosh, was there some sort of million dollar chip secretly stored in my aqua necklace, or what? What could he be after? The van suddenly came to a halt. When the door opened in front of me I put up a fight and hoped to free myself. This was not one of my best ideas. No matter how much I kicked and screamed he dragged me by both hands out of the van until we walked on rock hard ground. My mouth was starting to hurt because I still had something stuffed in it for about an hour now. At least I could see where I was. It was about 14:00 now and the sun was blearing on my body. We walked into a double-door entrance and he led the way. This was it, I thought to myself, he was going to lock me up and I was eventually going to die with no food or water. Or so I thought...

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Chapter 3 We walked into a dark and gloomy room. There was a chair in the middle of the room and a desk near the far end. “Sit,” he commanded. I had no choice. I sat on the chair and he walked out. After about a minute I knew I wasn’t alone because I heard footsteps approaching. A short and chubby man with a scar on his forehead walked in, followed by two other men guarding the door behind him. “Ah, Rachel Middleton; just the person I want to see,” he started, “Oh, lets get this out of your mouth,” he loosened the stuffed cloth in my mouth and it felt so weird to have it off. My jaw hurt so badly I thought I could die. He handed me some water and I practically jumped out of the chair for it. “Do you know why you’re here?” he asked. “No. How do you know me?” I asked anxiously. “Let’s put it this way, you’re dad and I had some unfinished business to take care of,” he smiled deviously. “I’m here because of something my dad did?” “Yes. Now, enough with the chit chat. Let’s get to business,” the guards handed him something small, “Ah, I believe this belongs to you,” he held my necklace in the air, dangling it with his finger. “My necklace!” I shouted, “Give it here!”

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“Oh, I don’t think I can do that. You see, this necklace is very valuable; I suppose you didn’t know that. The sapphire diamond inside is worth ten million dollars,” he smiled again. “You mean I’ve been carrying a ten million dollar sapphire for the past year and I didn’t even know about it!” I was angry and frustrated now. “That’s right, but it’s mine now.” I didn’t say anything, the fury inside me wanted to explode but instead I shut my mouth, not wanting to get hurt for something I said. My curiosity was going to kill me. I spoke but carefully. “How do you know my dad?” “I suppose I’ll tell you that,” he continued, “I am a jeweler. Your father came to me in March last year. He asked me to place this sapphire diamond in this necklace. I admired the sapphire diamond in my hand. I looked it up in one of my diamond books. It was known as a Blueberry Wonder. One of the rarest sapphire diamonds in the world. It originated from Central Asia. I knew it was exceptionally valuable. I didn’t know what to do. I eventually decided to replace it with a worthless sapphire diamond instead. The next day your father came, he looked at it and immediately knew it wasn’t the real thing. He demanded me to put the real sapphire diamond in the necklace. He stood there watching me, I had no choice, I put it in and he drove away.” he was silent for a while then continued, “I knew I had to get it back. I devised this marvelous plan and now this beauty belongs to me.” I stared astonishingly at him, speechless.

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Chapter 4 “What are you going to do with me?” I asked slowly. “I can’t let you go, I’ve told you too much. Guards!” he gestured to them and he walked out. They carried me outside. I had to think fast. I fainted on the floor and was ‘unconscious’ for a few minutes. They bought it. “Eric, she fainted! What do we do?” the one guard asked the other. “She fainted? Damn!” he shouted impatiently. He walked up and down pacing himself. “We’ll have to put her in the van and leave her somewhere,” he said. They loaded me once again in the van where I sat quietly and waited. The van stopped, I was carried outside and they lay me on the ground. “She’ll wake up, you know.” The one guard said. “Yes, but she won’t know where to go. She’s deserted, the fastest way to town is an hour from here – with a car.” “No money, no car. That’s good enough for me. Let’s go!” The van drove away and I ‘woke up’. I looked around. They were right, I’m deserted. I walked for about what seemed forever. No matter where I went, I kept walking to dead ends. My stomach grumbled, I hadn’t ate in hours but I kept walking. “Someone will come find me,” I kept saying to myself.

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I spotted a road but it seemed so far away. I looked at it thinking it was my only chance to get to town. When I reached the road I heard the distant sound of a car. I ran towards it and saw it was an RV. It was a family on vacation, it was my rescuers. The RV stopped and a lady with short blonde hair stepped out of it. “Can I help you?” ‘Um, hello. I’m Rachel and someone kidnapped me, I was left here and I need to get to town. I have no money but-“ she stopped me. She told me not to worry and that they would take me home. I was forever grateful to her. On the way home, I told the family of what had happened to me, I didn’t reveal the sapphire secret because I didn’t think it was safe to say. The lady looked at me sympathetically. “You must be starving! Here, have a sandwich,” she handed it to me and I thanked her, eating it hungrily. It was starting to get dark when we reached the city. It was still a long way home and the family was getting tired. “I know you want to get home, Rachel, but it’s getting late and it’s dangerous to travel on the road at this hour. We have to stay here the night. You can go and call your parents at the nearest gas station.” And that’s what I did. My mom picked up and perked up at the sound of my voice. I told her my whereabouts and she said that my dad is on his way.

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I walked back to the RV. The family was already fast asleep. I knew my dad would come in a few minutes so I left a note for them, it read: When you wake up, I will be gone. My dad is on his way and I’ll be home soon. I don’t know how to say thank you for everything you did but know that I will never forget you. Love, Rachel.

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Chapter 5 My dad parked on the road in front of me and jumped out, hugging me as if he hadn’t seen me in years. Tears streamed down my face. I was so happy to see him! We were driving home and I told him everything. “I should have told you the secret behind the necklace. It was your grandmother’s necklace. She gave it to me before she died. I wanted you to have it because no matter what it’s worth, you are worth much more!” he hugged me again and I understood everything now. “What about the necklace? They still have it,” I asked him. “Don’t worry about it, we can report it to the police when we get home.” The next morning the thieves were found. It was the main headline in every newspaper. “Rare diamond found!” and “Diamond thieves captured!” flooded the front pages. The diamond was sold to the museum where we could visit it anytime we wanted. For the next few days I was interviewed non-stop. Reporters asked me questions about the diamond all the time. I was starting to get a little frustrated and answered, “I don’t care about the precious sapphire. I care about being safe and with my family again. That’s the most important thing of all.”

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And that was the truth.