“I swear! I used the money to help buy a new metal detector. A really nice one. So I could look for the treasure. I guess I can sell the metal detector and use the money to pay you back.”

“How much money of ours did you take?” Helen asked.

The girl looked up, thinking, then counted with her fingers. “About eighty dollars, I think. Actually, maybe closer to a hundred? I’m not sure ’cause I didn’t do it all at once. It was a twenty here, five or ten there, you know?”

“Jesus,” Nate said again, shaking his head, rubbing his eyes.

Helen was amazed that she’d taken so much. They’d been careless with their cash—she and Nate sharing money, passing it back and forth, sticking it in pockets, and both running off to the general or hardware store several times a day for little things they needed.

“Wow,” Helen said. “Well, the stolen money is definitely a problem. We’re going to need you to pay us back somehow.”

“At the very least!” Nate added.

They were silent a minute, both of them watching Olive, who continued to twist at her nightgown worriedly.

“What if I work it off?” Olive suggested.

“What?” Nate scowled at her.

“I’m a really hard worker, honest! And I know a lot about building stuff. My dad and I, we’ve been renovating our house for a long time. I’m really good with tools and I’m a lot stronger than I look. I can frame walls and hang Sheetrock. I can even do some electrical and plumbing.”

“I don’t know,” Nate said. “I don’t think—”

“We could definitely use some help,” Helen said, turning to him. “We’re behind schedule, right? And if Olive’s got building experience, the work will go faster if there are three of us.”

Olive nodded, looked hopefully at Helen. “I can come after school tomorrow. A trial. To prove that I’m not messing with you—I’m actually really good at building. And if it works out, if you want me to keep helping you, school’s out for the summer next Wednesday, then I can come all day. Until you feel like I’ve done enough to pay you back. I’ll work all summer if I have to, just to make it up to you. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll sell my metal detector and get you the cash.”

“What do you say, Nate?” Helen asked.

“I don’t know,” Nate said. “The kid just tried to burn our house down.”

“Let’s not exaggerate,” Helen said. “She wasn’t trying to burn the house down.”

“Look,” Olive said, looking right at Nate, “I know what I did, it was really wrong and downright shi—I mean downright crappy. I thought…well, who cares what I thought? I’m so, so sorry. Please, let me make it up to you.”