Gem Stone Read Free Page B

her mouth, Gem paused briefly to consider Creeper's warning, and the curious look on Misty's face. Misty's curiosity won out. "Some guys skulking around. I don't know. Remember the other night at dinner, when I told you about the green stuff on the stream?" At Misty's blank look, Gem shrugged. "Whatever. But that's why I went to take pictures."
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    " One guy? Two? What were they doing? Poaching?" Misty leaned forward, her face alight with interest.
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    Gemma's mouth was full so she shrugged.
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    " Maybe they're convicts?" Misty leaned even closer, her face alive with imagination.
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    "Yeah. Like that would be hard to find around here." Gem rolled her eyes.
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    Misty giggled. "Wouldn't that be awesome if you had stumbled on a crime, in progress?"
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    "No. Not really." Gem shook her head. Misty was simple, given to a wild imagination. That's all there was to it. No. Figuring out the crime and catching a criminal would be dangerous. And Gem, wasn't into heroics. She wanted an education and a future. And each of those things needed the other.
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    And she wanted to reinvent herself. Her juvie records could disappear after some stupid, but simple, legal process and as long as she stayed trouble-free after that, she'd have a chance.
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    That's all she wanted – a chance. She could do this. And here, in this place, it was easier.
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    She stared down at her empty plate. She hadn't eaten it all. Had she?
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    With a snicker and a nudge at Gem's empty plate, Misty said, "Man, you have got to be full now."
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    "I guess so." Gem stood up while grabbing her plate and cutlery. There were rules here and cleaning up was everyone's responsibility.
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    Ten minutes later, they were done. Gem hung up the wet dishtowel, bent down to scratch Major, the old beagle of Doris's. Then she headed back to her room. She pulled out her camera to study the last bunch of photos.
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    Misty bounced at her side like a happy puppy.
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    "So now what? TV? There might be one of your favorite cop shows on? Foosball? Read another mystery or what?"
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    It was impossible to stay mad at Misty for long. Gem grinned.
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    "Basketball?"
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    Misty rolled her eyes. "Not again. Why are you so basketball crazy?"
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    "Why are you so boy crazy?" countered Gem, fiddling with the display screen on the back of her camera. Turning it sideways, she checked out a couple of photos and deleted both. That was the joy of digital. She could pick and choose with the click of a button. She clicked forward to her last series of pictures. There. That one was too fuzzy. That one was dark. That one… She stopped. Something about it made her look more closely. That one needed to be seen on a full-size screen.
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    "I'm going to the computers," she said leaving Misty standing in the middle of Gem's bedroom.
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    "Great. Can I come?"
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    While they walked, Gemma tracked through the photos on the camera she'd picked up from a pawn shop a few weeks earlier. Most pictures weren't good enough to keep. There were a couple that might be clear enough to see details if she had the right software. She really needed to update her old laptop.
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    Once they reached the huge recreation room, set up with video games, table games and a computer center, she headed for her favorite computer and plugged in the USB to her camera. Misty grabbed the computer next to Gem's. Reid and Stephen were on two other computers, too engrossed to speak to them. Gemma looked around. There was no sign of Mark.
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    All the kids came here in the evenings. If not for video games, then computer games. John had scrounged a bunch of older pieces of equipment and turned the basement into a kids' room. With limited Internet service, getting on and staying on had become a challenge. Because there were only five kids at the home now, it wasn't so much of a problem, but if new kids were coming next week…it could be a different story. Heavier demand meant less time for