"We had just as well go back," Verda McDonald said at last.  "We're not going to find it."

Louis glanced at the sky.  The sun was still high and the wind had died to a whisper.

"We've still got plenty of time.  We can look some more and get back before six o'clock." He paused.  "You don't eat until seven, do you?'

"That's not the point," she said.  For the first time there was a sharp edge to her voice.  "The RCMP are going to be at the lodge at four and they will want to question you."

He stared at her, the icy fingers of fear squeezing his stomach.  'Why would they want to question me?' "I think that is a question you'd better ask them."

He didn't remember how he managed to get the boat away from shore.  Nor did he remember how he got them back to the lodge.  By the time they arrived. however, the RCMP were there.  They had him come into one of the empty rooms where they questioned him at length about the diamond ring.  He answered them as best he could.

"Louis," Corporal Starr said, "have you ever seen this key before?" He picked up a small plastic bag and dumped the key ring on the table between them.

"Sure," he said quickly.  "It's mine.  Dad gave it to me when we moved into the trailer." He pointed to the initials on the narrow steel medallion.  "L.F.Y. Louis Frederick Yazzie."

"Do you know where it was found?"

Louis shook his head.  "I thought I'd lost it somewhere."

" Perhaps you didn't look in the right place.  Mr. and Mrs. McDonald's suite was broken into several nights ago.  Your key was found on the floor in the closet."

Louis felt his cheeks grow hot and moist with sweat.

"Can you tell us how it got there?" the corporal asked.

"I don't have any idea.  All I know is that I didn't leave it there."

"If you tell us the truth, it will go much easier for you."

"I am telling the truth.  That key's mine, but I don't know how it got into the room where the McDonalds are staying."

"It's only logical that you lost it when you broke into their suite, isn't it?"

He shook his head.  "I didn't break into their room and I didn't lose my key there."

"Mrs.  McDonald said you know exactly where their suite is located."

"Most everybody around the lodge knew that.  They're staying in the fanciest rooms in the place."

"Mrs.  McDonald also said you knew where she kept her key."

"In that little coin purse where she had the ring," he said.  "But whoever broke into their room didn't have to have the key.  They're on the first floor and she always kept at least one of the windows open."

"I see." The officer made a note of that.  "But you knew exactly which window was theirs, didn't you?"

"I do, but so do a lot of other people." His lips trembled, but his voice was firm.  "I didn't break into that room," he said, pulling in a deep breath.  "Besides, I don't steal."

"Nobody admits to stealing.  You'll make it much easier on yourself if you tell us when you broke into their suite and why." His voice changed.  "Mrs.  McDonald likes you a great deal, Louis.  She and her husband are not going to be unreasonable.  They want the diamond back, of course.  It's very valuable.  So valuable that they had it insured.  But with the Young Offenders' Act protecting you, and Mr. and Mrs. McDonald urging the court to be easy on you, you aren't in serious trouble.

"They just want you punished enough to stop you from stealing anything again.  We're leveling with you," the corporal said.  "But we expect you to level with us."

He continued to press Louis to admit that he broke into the McDonald suite, but he refused.  At last the officer glanced at his watch.

"I'll be back and talk to you again tomorrow.  OK?"

He nodded wordlessly.  He was thinking of Mrs. McDonald.  He knew she liked him.  But, what would she think of him now, with the RCMP officer telling him he knew Louis had broken into the rooms where she and her husband were staying?

"Could you take me to the place where Mrs. McDonald says she lost her ring," the officer asked as he left.

"When do you want to go?"

"Perhaps tomorrow.  Is that all right?"

Louis nodded.

"Why don't you talk with your dad tonight?  Ask him if it wouldn't be better for you to tell us the truth about breaking into the McDonald's suite."

"He'd say, 'If you didn't do it, Son, don't let anybody talk you into admitting you did!"'

With that Louis left the lodge as quickly as possible and hurried back to the trailer.  His mother was still there and his dad was back from work by the time he got home.

They saw something was wrong the moment he came into the trailer.

"What happened, Louis?" Rita asked, managing a thin laugh.  "You look as though you lost your best girl."

He dropped heavily into a chair.  "The RCMP think I stole Mrs. McDonald's diamond ring.  That officer even thinks I broke into their suite at the lodge."

Rita's dark features paled.  "I don't know why they pick on us!" she exclaimed.  "No matter what's stolen, someone from the reserve is responsible."

"We want them to find out who's guilty," Frank broke in.  "Like the attack on Tawana.  That was on the reserve, so it's reasonable to suppose some of our people did it."

"You'll be with me when I have to talk to Corporal Starr, tomorrow, won't you, Dad?"

"Of course."

Louis went to wash up for supper.

Rita remained motionless, her eyes glazed.  "I didn't tell you this, Frank," she said when they were alone, "but I was over to the lodge when the officer came.  I know him."

He waited for her to continue.  "He's arrested me several times.  I think that's the reason he's bearing down on Louis so hard.  He thinks Louis must be as bad as I am."

"What makes you say that?"

"He locked me up twice for being drunk and once for being high on drugs.  Not only that, he arrested me a couple of times for shoplifting." Her voice broke.  "He knows Louis is my son.  That's why he's so sure he's guilty."

"You can't blame yourself for this.  His key to our trailer was found in the McDonald suite and he had every opportunity to steal that diamond."

"You sound as though you think he did it."

"I believe him, Rita," Frank said.  "But I'm trying to look at this thing the way the RCMP will be looking at it.  And we've got to admit, it does look bad for him."

Tears flooded her eyes and trickled slowly down her cheeks.  "If he's arrested, Frank," she repeated, "it will be my fault." She stood quickly.  "I've been a terrible mother."

He stood and put an arm about her shoulder.  "It doesn't have to be that way, Rita," he said softly.

She drew away.  "What do you mean by that?"

"You know the sort of life I used to live," he replied.  "I was no example to you and the kids."

She nodded.  'How could I forget it?"

"I changed.  And you can change, too.  God can work in your heart the way he did in mine."

She shook her head.  With that she pulled away and fled to the bedroom where she threw herself on the bed.

Louis didn't sleep much that night.  Every time he closed his eyes he could see the RCMP corporal staring at him and accusing him of being guilty.  The following morning the officer drove into the yard and came to the door.

"Is Louis here?" he asked.

Frank nodded and invited him in.

"Is it all right if I look through his room?"

He turned to his son.  "How about it, Louis?"

"It's fine with me.  I have nothing to hide."

"I should tell you that I had a phone call this morning. The guy didn't give his name, but he said I would find Mrs. McDonald's coin purse behind the upper left hand dresser drawer."

"I've never had that drawer out."

"I do have a warrant, Frank," Corporal Starr said.  "I can show it to you if you want to see it."

"That isn't necessary."

They went into the bedroom and the officer pulled out the upper left hand drawer.  He shined his flashlight in the opening and removed a small leather object.

Rita gasped and gripped the door casing for support.

"That's Mrs. McDonald's coin purse!" Louis exclaimed, his eyes widening.  "But I didn't put it there!"

"Don't say that, Louis!" the corporal retorted.  "I have to have the truth.  If you lie to me, you'll just make things worse for yourself."