A Price Worth Paying

Chapter Forty-seven. The Secret Radio.

THE SECRET RADIO.

Sang delved once more into the box and brought out a gold coloured cardboard box and something cylindrical in shape wrapped in gold coloured silk.

"Should we be scared Peanut?" Nathan asked eyeing the box cautiously.

Sang just smiled. "It's just meditation crystals. Crystals aren't scary. They're interesting. There are some unpolished sunstones in my set. They're supposed to be a happy stone and restore enjoyment of life, good nature and whole heap of other things. I'm not sure about that but I do know they're relaxing to hold when you meditate." She said whilst removing two identical calico bags from the box.

"There's a list inside the lid of the box. I had a book or two in Illinois that listed the properties of crystals."

Kota picked the lid up and read the list. "Sang how come you never told us about everything you learned?"

"Because it was just me reading books. It wasn't important even from an academic point of view. Nothing appears on any transcript. There's no record of it anywhere. It was just me reading. I don't even know how good my grasp is of any language, or any other subject I learned for that matter."

"I wasn't supposed to talk about it anyway. Then once the books stopped arriving I didn't think about it. There was no point and it made me sad. Besides we've been busy and I didn't think of mentioning it. It's not really important, is it? It was just what I did."

"It's only a bonus for me later at College where the chances are good I'll only have to review textbooks instead of learning something new. I'll be able to work faster and get more done in a shorter time frame."

"There were no books in your room like the ones Luke and Nathan found on the shed. What happened to them, Sweetie?"

Sang sighed and stared ahead of her as if seeing into the past. "I never kept the books in my room. Ever. That was a really bad idea. When we moved I was allowed to bring one box of things with me. So I chose books. I picked the dictionaries of different languages and novels in those languages. It's in the garage not the shed. I put it there so I could get to it quietly without being caught with them."

"In Illinois I kept them in the basement because I spent a lot of time there and no one else really liked going down there. When I found out we were leaving I asked about my books. They said I couldn't bring them and to get rid of them. So I went and saw old Mr Mullany and asked if he could keep them in his shed. He said he owed me a favour and to bring them to him and he'd look after them until I could come and get them." Sang shrugged. "So I did."

"I had a choice of what to bring. I made the right choice. I couldn't fit the radio I built in the box. It would have taken too long to pull apart anyway. Besides, if anyone had looked in that box I would never have able to explain it." Sang stopped and thought briefly. "It would be funny if it was still there."

"What do you mean Sang? Still there? And what radio are you talking about?" Luke asked.

"I built a radio down in the basement out of old radios, parts from old TVs, stuff I found in the garage and shed. Marie's mother hated going down there, so it was the best place to keep it. The steps were often loose, you see, so it was easy to fall if you didn't remember which ones were dodgy."

Luke studied Sang's face carefully. "Um Cupcake? You didn't loosen those steps by any chance, did you? Because you look really guilty for some reason." Luke asked.

"Um. Well not at first I didn't, but I realised one day that she didn't like the steps because some were loose. So I might of, sort of, helped them a little, just to encourage her to stay away. Sometimes."