what was i made for, walker

044. broken promises

August knocks on Stella's door, the redhead taking a moment to answer it.

"What's up, Stel?" August nods.

"Hey." Janie grins, the two walking in.

"I thought I told you two to stop coming by campus unannounced." Stella hisses, looking both ways in the hall before shutting the door.

"Well, then text at least one of us back, all right?" August tells her.

"Yeah, no contact is unacceptable." Janie says. "We might think you died or something. Ghosting is rude, Stelly."

"Hey, did Denise Davidson ever call back?" August asks. "Or is it still weird from the breakup with Colton?"

"No weirder than the usual Walker/Davidson feud stuff always is." Stella says. August sits at the desk. "Anyway, no real heirlooms to speak of in the Davidson line."

"Hey, now. Put some respect on Marv Davidson's ring." August says.

"Hey, let's go check out those pawn shops." Stella says.

"Way ahead of you. We checked them out ourselves, and, spoiler alert, did not find the necklace." August says.

"Augie, Janie, you really shouldn't go to these places by yourself. They could be dangerous." Stella warns.

"I have a taser." Janie says with a small shrug.

"Stel, need I remind you about the..." August starts, standing up.

"Yes, I know you're in bootcamp." Stella cuts him off.

"Yeah." August says.

"But we have no idea what this woman who's after Witt might do." Stella says. "A taser may not be able to stop her. What if she decides she doesn't need us anymore?"

"Never gets old having a target on your back." Janie remarks with a small smile. She looks between her siblings who both frown. "Sorry. If I don't laugh, I'll have a panic attack, and those are really exhausting."

"Look, I get it, all right?" August says. "Witt is hiding because the world thinks he's dead. But, Stel, all I'm saying is many hands make light work."

"You sound like Uncle Liam." Stella says, starting to leave, and August laughs. "Crap." She hisses, turning back.

"What?" Janie asks.

"I promised him I would help at the rescue today, but we really need to make more headway here." Stella says.

"That's a promise you've been breaking to Uncle Liam for a while." August chuckles. Janie elbows him in the ribs.

"I know, and I feel awful about it, but horses aren't exactly front of your mind when a ghost holds you at gunpoint and asks you to go on a treasure hunt." Stella reasons. August nods.

Stella calls Liam.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, but I'm behind on assignments, and I hate to do this again, but do you mind if I skip today?" Stella asks him. "Work seems to never stop." She says. "Bye." She tells him before hanging up. "Okay, let's go."

"All right. Here you go." August hands her her jacket and she takes it.

+++

"Aw, it is so nice to see you helping out your uncle again, Stella." Abilene tells the girl as the five work in the barn.

"Even though she totally played the Mawline card." August remarks. Abilene gives him a look and August makes an awkward look to his younger sister who hides her amused smile.

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut sometimes." Janie whispers.

"Then who's gonna make you laugh so much?" August quips, smiling at her.

"I think I'll live." She argues.

"So, I understand that college is tough and the last few months have been even tougher." Abilene tells her oldest grandchild. "But the truth is, life doesn't get easier. People are gonna ask things of you, even if you're overwhelmed or in pain, and if you love or care for those people or those things, honey, you're going to have to... you're gonna have to help."

"The ranch, the rescue... all of you are really important to me." Stella says. "So, I'm sorry." She tells her. Abilene holds her hand.

"Hey, darling, could you grab my screwdriver for me, please?" Bonham asks.

"Sure." Abilene goes to get the screwdriver.

"Also, this is kind of weird, but I've been helping my friend track down this missing heirloom necklace from his great-grandmother." Stella says.

"Oh. Well, you know, your grandfather and I, we like to go antiquing from time to time." Abilene says. Bonham hums in agreement. "In fact, it was one of our first real dates." She says as the three siblings share looks.

"Oh, yeah. You know, we just picked up a porcelain vase just this last month that your Mawline couldn't take her eyes off of." Bonham says.

"Well, maybe you could help me, then." Stella says. "Have you ever stumbled onto something that looks like this?" She asks, taking the photo of the necklace out and showing it to them.

"Oh, no, not that I can recall." Abilene says. "Oh, but you know what? You could get lucky and you could find something similar at a... a specialty shop or an estate sale."

"Yeah, we've already tried that." Stella says.

"That sure is a beaut." Bonham comments. "Yeah, it looks like it's maybe, I don't know, late 1800s, if I were to guess based on its craftsmanship."

"Look at Gramps, coming in hot with the antique expertise." August chuckles.

"Yeah, well, a good craftsman recognizes good craftsmanship, when he sees it, son." Bonham says. He hits August low on the stomach making the boy grunt in pain. Janie snorts, watching her brother silently suffer.

"You said late 1800s?" Stella asks.

"Yes, ma'am." Bonham nods.

The three siblings share another look, thankfully unnoticed by their grandparents.

+++

"Okay, don't be mad, all right?" August tells his older sister. "But I did a little more research on my own, after Gramps called out how old the necklace is. We've been looking for it in all the wrong places."

"Augie, you need to stop looking into this by yourself." Stella orders. "Whatever we do next, we do together, deal?"

"Deal." August shakes her hand.

"I don't think typing on a computer at home is gonna put him in too much harm. Unless anybody evil involved in this is technologically advanced." Janie says. "Which... could be a possibility. But that doesn't add much more danger than we're already in."

Stella glares at her.

"But deal." Janie says, shaking Stella's hand.

"Now come look at this." August tells them. They walk over to him, leaning down to look at the laptop.

"It's at a museum?" Stella asks.

"Well, it was, until about five years ago." August says.

""The necklace, a 19th century handmade piece, came into the museum's possession in April of 1993 and was never recovered after the theft. It belonged to one Ofelia Rawlins.""

"Rawlins." August says.

"Like-- like Uncle Hoyt? That Rawlins?" Janie asks.

"Our favorite thief." Stella says.

"Really the only thief we like so he didn't have any competition, but yeah." Janie says.

"No way he'd let a priceless family heirloom collect dust in a museum." Stella says. "He'd have got it back."