The Secrets Within by Phoebe Rivers

Author:Phoebe Rivers [Rivers, Phoebe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781442468511
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

I no longer noticed people elbowing me as they pushed toward a table.

All I could see was the dog.

Everything receded as I moved toward him. Our eyes stayed locked as I stepped closer and closer.

He did look exactly like Buddy. I reached out to him. My fingers curled around his cast-iron body, and I lifted him off the table. He fit snugly in my cupped palm. I inspected the small figurine.

It was amazing. The metal figure was painted the same walnut shade of brown as Buddy’s fur. I ran my fingers over a few nicks in the paint where the metal shone through. The dog had the same pointy ears and stubby tail. Even stranger, the white splotch painted on his side kind of looked like a bell, too.

I have to show Lily, I thought immediately.

I turned the metal dog over, noting how old and intricately crafted he appeared. He was heavy, too. I wondered where he came from.

“Do you want to buy it?”

A bald man stood behind the table. He wiped his shiny face with a black bandanna.

I’ll buy him for Lily, I decided. It wasn’t her birthday or anything. It would just be a best friend present. “How much?”

He scratched his head. “I’m filling in for a friend. Bathroom break.” He turned over a few other figurines on the table—a cow, a horse, and a peacock—looking for prices, then shrugged. “How does five dollars sound?”

“Sounds good.” I was glad I still had money left. I fished around in my wristlet. “Where is this from? It’s really heavy for something so tiny.”

“Beats me. My friend’s always picking up junk from garage sales.” He reached for my five. “Not that that’s junk or anything,” he hastened to add.

I froze for a moment, tightly clutching the bill. The ponytailed woman’s jewelry had come from garage sales, and it made me see strange people and feel what they were feeling. Would this metal dog figurine do that too?

I focused on the weight of it in my palm and felt nothing else. Good. I was still solidly grounded here in Stellamar. I gave the man my money and tucked the little “Buddy dog” next to the shoe box in my brown-paper shopping bag.

My phone was in my wristlet. Glancing at the screen, I saw I had three texts from Lily, one from Miranda, two from Avery, and one from my dad. They were all looking for me.

Five minutes later I met up with my friends by the visitors’ information desk. They were spreading all their jewelry, sandals, and picture frames across the welcome desk for Lily’s great-aunt Ro to see. I left Little Buddy in my bag. I’d give him to Lily later, when everyone else was gone.

“Totally love this!” Great-Aunt Ro exclaimed. Several people wandered in to look at brochures, bus timetables, and the old photos on the walls. Great-Aunt Ro ignored them.

I pressed my back against a bulletin board, listening to Avery’s play-by-play of how she’d bartered for a hair clip, when I felt a presence next to me.

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