The Pendant Heist
Sophie didn’t like school very much. She had her own personal bully (or at least it felt that way to her): Dirk Chambers. He was relentless. Every day he would find some way to upset her. Maybe he would steal crisps from her lunch box, maybe he’d grab homework she was about to hand in and tear it up, or maybe he’d push her into a wall as he walked past her laughing. The worst part of it was that the teachers all knew what an awful boy he was, but let him get away with anything because he was the best football player in the school and his team had won the last county championship. Every time a teacher tried to give him detention, his parents refused to pick him up late because it was inconvenient for them. They were always saying that they could easily transfer him to another school that would treat him with more respect. Sophie knew what that meant – Dirk parent’s thought that rules shouldn’t apply to him.
One Friday afternoon, Dirk finally pushed Sophie too far. He was walking ahead of her down a hallway when he tripped over a bag that had been left on the floor. He fell face first to the floor, and before she could stop herself, Sophie let out a short laugh. Dirk heard her. He picked himself up, turned and grabbed her roughly by her arm.
“No-one laughs at me! Anyone who does pays the price!” he growled at her. At the same moment, he noticed that she was wearing a gold necklace with a small jade pendant at the end of it. “That’ll do.” he sneered, grabbing the pendant and yanking on it, breaking the chain it was hanging from.
“No! Give that back! My grandmother gave me that!” she cried.
“Yeah, well now she’s given it to me.” he informed her as he walked away. A few other children who had stopped to watch this mugging immediately continued on their way in silence. Sophie felt like crying: her grandmother really had given her that necklace, it was the last birthday present Sophie had received from her before she had passed away about six months ago. Sophie had worn it every day since in memory of her. So Sophie really felt like crying… but she didn’t. She clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. No, she decided in that moment. No, this would not stand. Dirty Dangerous Disgusting Dirk had taken a lot from her, but he couldn’t have Grandma’s pendant. She was going to get it back. She had no idea how, but it was going to happen.
She knew she had no chance of getting it from him directly. She was a Year 5 girl, he was a Year 6 boy who was an athlete and about a head taller than her. She was mad, but not mad enough to try to fight him alone. There was little chance either that he would simply leave her pendant lying around somewhere. Once Dirk got himself a trophy, he always took it home with him. Which only left Sophie with one (crazy!) option: she was going to have to go get it back from his house.
When Sophie goes to Dirk’s house, will she just ring the doorbell? Or will she try to sneak into the house somehow?
If she sneaks in, will she be discovered?
Either way, what will Dirk do once he realises he doesn’t have possession of her necklace anymore?