Too Young (The Jewel Project #1)

Chapter 19.2 - Jessie's Trial

Jessie stepped out of her tent, her stomach bubbling with excitement. She'd actually found something. She didn't get to take another step when Sam bumped into her. He'd obviously been pacing outside the entrance.

"Did you find anything?" he asked urgently.

"I actually did." She took out a piece of paper. "Traps seen before past two, twice met fourteen, eight, then be safely on your way. I see you've taken the numbers to be the distances between the traps, probably measured in rock slabs. I agree with you. We'll know for sure once we get inside and see the layout of the floor. What I disagree with you on is your interpretation. You said," she took out another piece of paper, "that the trap repeats itself – this trapdoor thing – get passed it and we're set. I think there's two of them. Past two – the last trap is two traps ago. And the next two are eight whatevers apart. So there's an extra trapdoor – a total of three."

Sam stared at her stupidly. He grabbed her notes and read them. "How did I miss that? I could have gotten all of us killed," he mumbled.

"Don't get all worked up. Your interpretation made sense, too. Here, I made this for you." Jessie shoved another piece of paper in his hands. "It's my thought process for the entire thing. It matched yours most of the time."

"Marvelous," Sam mumbled, already heading for his tent.

Jessie watched him departing and dropped on a log, her heart beating faster than usual. She'd made a difference. Sam seemed impressed with her work.

"Hey, what's up?" Jimmy dropped next to her, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Not much. Did you finish the traps?" she flung her leg on the other side of the log.

"Yup. I might've just built the world's largest bear trap. I'll have to show everyone exactly where it is and how to safely pass it. It's quite deadly, this one." Jimmy dropped the rag and mounted the log, too.

"How come you can build all this stuff? You're just one year older than I am."

"Says the girl who has enough medical training to put back a dislocated shoulder." He smiled cheekily.

Jessie sighed. "I took as many courses as possible. The less I stayed home, the better. My parents kept nagging me about that."

Jimmy put his hands on the log, between them, and leaned forward. "You don't really get along with your parents, do you?"

"I know what you're going to say, but don't judge. I know I should be grateful that I have parents, but I sometimes think I'd be better off without any." She looked away.

"I'm not judging. I'm sorry you're not getting along. It must've been tough, growing up without love," Jimmy said soothingly.

Jessie jerked to attention. Kyle had told her about Jimmy and Tom being orphans before. She had expected a sermon on the importance of family. "You've had it worse than me. At least I have money. Tons of it. You had no parents and no means to—"

Jimmy put his finger on her lips. "I had Tom. He's worth more than all the money in the world."

Jessie lowered her eyes. "I know money is not important. Some time ago I made a point of bankrupting my parents. I hoped it would get them to appreciate their feelings more. I feel sick about it now. I mean..." She stood and pulled her jeans back. Jimmy stood, too, looking over her shoulder.

He let out a low whistle. "Niiiice."

"Nice?" Jessie turned to face him. "It's not nice! What I paid for these jeans could feed a family for a week."

Jimmy frowned. "Wait, what were you showing me?"

"The tag."

"Oh." He shrugged. "I have no idea what a Fendi is."