The Riddle of the Jade Collar: A Twelve Cousins Book

by Hans Alric Vakker

Overview

The twelve cousins are transported to a distant world called Al Kiam. Their abilities can bring war or peace to the land, but first they have to get along.

The twelve cousins fight about the old stone teapot Grandpapa brought back from the war in Iraq. Grandpapa says it may be magic; some of the cousins disagree while others believe his claim with all their hearts. While they go through the old ritual explained by Grandpapa, a swirl of light fills the room, followed by a wave of blackness.

As the darkness changed to light, the twelve cousins realize they are in a different world: the world of Al Kiam. Whats more, each cousin has acquired a strange, unique power, the purpose of which is unknown to them. They soon learn they are surrounded by an ancient battle that threatens to tear the world of Al Kiam apartunless they do something about it.

No matter how much these cousins may love each other, they dont always agree. Deciding what they must dofight the good fight or quickly find a way homecould tear them apart. With the fate of a world in their hands, however, the twelve cousins must learn to use their powers as one and solve the riddles of Al Kiam. By harnessing their newfound powers, they may become heroes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475975239
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/13/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	292
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Hans Alric Vakker grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He served twenty-seven years in the US Air Force as an engineer. He and his wife have six children and twelve grandchildren.

Read an Excerpt

THE RIDDLE OF THE Jade COLLAR

A Twelve Cousin's Book

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By Hans Alric Vakker

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Hans Alric Vakker
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-7521-5

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CHAPTER 1

A TEA PARTY WITH GRANDPAPA

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They had come for Thanksgiving Day Dinner. They did almost every year. Some came over the river and through the woods to get to Grandmama's house. They now were gathered in an upstairs room of the old house—all twelve. They were cousins; some were brothers and sisters. They were all were granddaughters or grandsons of Grandpapa and Grandmama.

The families got together often for the holidays. There had been six children in Grandpapa's and Grandmama's family. They'd all grown up in the old house. They'd all gotten married in the area, and now the children were raising their children in the area. This made getting together on the holidays easy. The cousins all enjoyed these holiday times to see each other. They'd play outside or go upstairs and swap stories on what had happened since the last time they'd been together.

It was a big old house in the country not far outside of Kansas City, Missouri, but located on the Kansas side of the state line. The house was in the forest and you could see deer and fox at night when you walked along the country road that led to the house. Squirrels—Grandpapa didn't like the little buggers—would chatter at you from the trees or from the roof of the house. Birds sang from the forest trees all the time. Grandmama's favorites were the red cardinals. She kept bird feeders out in the yard and birds would come down to feast throughout the year at the feeders. She was always shooing away the squirrels because they would eat all of the bird food and knock over the feeders.

Grandpapa always had a garden out back and now at Thanksgiving the only things left growing were the parsley and some other hardy herbs. The parsley always grew until the cold really came down from the north and froze it; usually when the first snow fell. There hadn't been any snow yet this year, and, in fact, this Thanksgiving Day was bright and sunny. It was a beautiful autumn day. The kids had been playing outside earlier, running through the yard that was like a park. There were swings in the trees out back, fences to walk, and stone paths that wandered through flower gardens. The pool was all shut in for the winter, but the kids could always find a lot to do in the big yard, and at this time of year, all the bugs of the summer were gone. No ticks and chiggers to bite you and cause that awful itching.

They had all come in from outside to rest and were now upstairs having a major discussion. They were having an argument actually. Aliegha was arguing with Maddy. Maddy was the oldest of the cousins. She'd just turned sixteen earlier in the month. She always thought she knew the most. And Aliegha; well Aliegha wouldn't back down from anyone even though she was only nine, a very precocious nine; so it wasn't surprising that Maddy and Aliegha were having an argument.

The rest of the twelve cousins stood and listened to the argument. Both of Maddy's brothers were there; Bradley who was thirteen and Declan who was eleven. Aliegha's little sister, Eridani who was seven, sat at the craft table working on a drawing but she was listening to the argument. Eridani was a really good artist even at her young age of seven. Alric, Aliegha's little brother, sat beside Eridani listening to the argument with wide eyes. He had just turned six years old and he was the youngest of the cousins. The four cousins who had traveled the farthest to get to Grandmama's house were standing to one side and listening. They didn't have an opinion one way or the other, but they listened to Maddy and Aliegha argue. There was Monroe, who was just behind Maddy in age. She was fifteen. Then there was Cassandra who had just turned thirteen the week before; and Amaya who was ten. Finally, there was Hans Nicolas who was seven. He was the only boy of the four. They lived on the north side of Kansas City across the Missouri River. Also listening to the argument were Tyler and Shadley who both were kind of siding with Aliegha in the argument. They hadn't traveled any distance to get to the old house since they lived with Grandmama and Grandpapa at the old house. They were twelve and ten, respectively. In all, there were eight girls and four boys, and now they all were in the upstairs playroom listening to Maddy and Aliegha argue.

Maddy was saying, "There is no such thing as magic."

But Aliegha responded with a stamp of her foot, her hands set on her hips. "But Grandpapa told me it was a magic tea set!"

"He was just teasing you," Maddy snapped back. "There is no such thing as magic!"

"But Grandpapa said he got the tea set over in Iraq during the war from an old desert trader, and he said it was a special magic tea set!" Aliegha stood straight with her chin jutting out and she was looking right at Maddy. "Grandpapa wouldn't tell lies."

"I know he got it in Iraq when he was over there for the war. I was born then; you weren't," Maddy said in a know-it-all voice. "I saw it when he brought it back from Iraq and he never said anything about it being magic to me." Maddy had emphasized the 'me' as she ended her comment, as if to say, Grandpapa wouldn't tell you something and not tell me.

Aliegha jabbed right back, "Well, he did tell me that it was magic." Aliegha emphasized her 'me' even more as if to say that Grandpapa would tell her things that he hadn't told Maddy.

"Well," Maddy said in a loud voice so all of the cousins could hear, "We can ask Grandpa"-Maddy thought she was too big to use Grandpapa like most of the littler cousins did-"and see what he says." She thought that Aliegha would back down at this point and she'd win the argument, however it was not to be.

Aliegha's face broke into a great big smile and she shot an answer right back, "Let's ask him right now and you'll see. He'll tell you all that it is a magic tea set!" She emphasized the 'all' as she answered to show she knew what Maddy had tried to do and she was prepared to back up her argument to all of the cousins. She ran from the room and down the stairs to the library and leaned out over the railing to look down into the family room. That's where the adults usually gathered, at least the men to watch football. All the women would be out in the kitchen talking. Thanksgiving always resulted in a very full house with all six of the kids and all twelve of the grand kids—the twelve cousins—there. Aliegha looked around quickly. Grandpapa wasn't in the family room. She ran down the next set of stairs to the bedroom area and quickly checked each to see if he was in any of them—nope; he wasn't there either. She ran down the last set of stairs to the main floor. Was he in the front room? A quick look—not there—and into the kitchen area she flew. He wasn't there either. "Grandmama, where is Grandpapa? I can't find him anywhere," she blurted out, interrupting the women in their talk.

Her mom, Caitlin, shushed her. "Aliegha, it's not nice to interrupt other people when they are talking."

"Sorry, mom," she said, "but I need to find Grandpapa." She turned again to face Grandmama."

"I think Grandpapa and Albert are out in the garden looking at the parsley and the other things still growing Aliegha," Grandmama answered her and smiled. Grandmama turned back to the women and said, "Aliegha has really grown in the last month ..."

There was other talk but Aliegha didn't hear it as she flew out the back door and across the deck. She could see Grandpapa and Albert walking out in the garden. She ran down the steps of the deck and across the back lawn to the garden gate. "Grandpapa, Grandpapa," she called as she ran. Some of the other little cousins had trailed along, and now a group followed her into the garden. Grandpapa was just picking a handful of parsley and he already had some sage and rosemary picked and on a plate.

He looked up as she came running up to him, "Whoa. Careful; you don't want to fall down. What is the problem? What is it that you need?" Grandpapa smiled as he stood up.

Aliegha looked up at him; the others—five had followed her out—crowded around her. "Grandpapa, Maddy says the tea set isn't magic, and you told me it was. You need to tell her it is magic." There was a general nodding of heads by the others who had followed her out to the garden.

Grandpapa looked confused for a moment; then he smiled, "Oh, the tea set from Iraq."

Aliegha nodded, "Yes, yes; that's the one," she responded. "Maddy says you were just teasing me, when you said it was magic. You weren't just teasing were you?" She cocked her head to one side and looked straight at Grandpapa.

Albert smiled and said, "I'll take the parsley, sage, and rosemary into mom. I think you've got some business to take care of here." He took the plate from Grandpapa and walked back toward the house.

Grandpapa's face got very serious as he asked, "Are all of the cousins upstairs right now except for you kids?"

"Yes, we were all up in the playroom," Aliegha answered.

"Good," Grandpapa replied. "I think it would be a good time for me to have a talk with all of you. Come on; let's go up to the playroom." He took Aliegha's hand and started back to the house. Shadley grabbed his other hand—she had always guarded Grandpapa's and Grandmama's affection—trying to insure she got her portion when any of the others got attention paid to them. It was especially so with Aliegha who had been the new baby when Shadley was just growing out of being a baby.

They went into the house and Grandpapa went to the big old antique cabinet where they kept the various dishes and souvenirs that weren't often used. "I guess we will need the tea set if we are going to talk about it; right?" he asked the six who trailed along.

Aliegha, nodded her head, "Yes, and you can tell Maddy that it is a magic tea set. You can show her!"

"Yeah, show her," one of the other cousins said.

"Well, if we are going to show anyone about the tea set, then we'll need some tea. I have some desert lime herbal tea in the pantry. That would be good to use with a tea set from the deserts in Iraq; don't you think?" he asked. There were general nods of agreement. "Shadley, do you think you can find the desert lime herbal tea in the pantry and have Grandmama heat some water up for us?"

Shadley skipped and hopped into the kitchen. She was always skipping and hopping and bouncing everywhere she went. Some of the family said it was because she'd been born on Easter Sunday and was related to the Easter Bunny. Grandpapa could hear her asking Grandmama about the desert lime herbal tea. He'd have to confirm that they really wanted some herbal tea made or Grandmama would say no. He moved some items around in the old cabinet. "Let's see; where is that tea set at?" He said under his breath. "Ah, there it is." He pulled a box out of the way and reached in and pulled the old wooden box out of the back of the cabinet. He turned to Aliegha, "We've found it. Now let's go tell Grandmama that we do need some tea made up so we can use the tea set." They went to the kitchen and verified that what Shadley had asked for was in fact Grandpapa's idea and that it was okay. They were going to have some herbal tea using the old tea set from Iraq.

"Oh," Grandmama said, "I don't think you should let those kids play with that tea set, it will get broken."

"It's okay," Grandpapa said, "I will be with them and they want to hear a story about it." He winked at Aliegha as he said that and she winked back. "We need enough herbal tea to fill the teapot from this set, and the sugar bowl. Desert tea has sugar in it, you know."

Grandmama frowned, "Those kids don't need all that sugar, especially when they are going to have all the desserts later today."

"Well, I can't teach them about other people's customs if I don't do it correctly; now can I?" Grandpapa responded.

Grandmama still frowned, but said, "Well, I guess so; but they really don't need all that sugar."

Grandpapa had already turned away and was carrying the tea set in the old box to the stairs. The kids all followed along. They made their way up the three flights of stairs to the playroom. It had been an attic when Grandpapa and Grandmama had first moved into the old house all those years ago, but Grandpapa had changed the roof around and built stairs up to it and had finished it into a playroom that stretched across the whole upper level. Dormer windows looked out on the side yard to the west and back over the house at the garden on the east side. The six cousins that had remained in the playroom were waiting for them since they'd heard the discussions below and some had watched out the windows as Aliegha had run out to the garden to get Grandpapa. Now they all were gathered in the playroom around Grandpapa and the tea set.

Grandpapa set the old wooden box on the craft table that was set up in the middle of the playroom. Everyone had gathered around and was quiet, except for Maddy. She spoke up right away. Maddy had never been shy, "Grandpa, Aliegha said that you said that this old tea set was magic. It's not magic is it? There's no such thing as magic."

Grandpapa smiled, and pulled a chair up to the table and sat down. "Let's all sit down around the table. Grandmama is bringing some desert lime tea up so we can have some tea using this old tea set, and I will tell you the story about it. Then you can decide whether or not you think there may be some magic in the tea set. How does that sound?"

There was a chorus of 'yeahs' from the twelve cousins as they all found chairs and pushed them up around the table. Grandpapa opened the old wooden case. It was old, but it was made of fine hard woods. On it desert images were carved—palm trees and camels—and the old Persian winged bull was carved into the front of the case. The palm trees and camels were carved around the winged-bull image. There were also Arabic-looking letters carved into the front of the case under the winged bull. The wood was well waxed and polished so the case shown with a satin luster. Inside the wooden case it was lined with a fine silk lining that again had palm trees and camels printed on it. The tea set sat inside with each piece snugly fit into indentations that had been made to hold the pieces of the tea set. Grandpapa started taking out each piece of the tea set and placed each one on the table. There was the teapot, and beside it he sat the sugar bowl and the creamer bowl. Then he took out each of the little tea glasses. There were twelve of them, and he sat them beside the teapot. They were more glasses than cups. Each one was only about three inches tall and maybe an inch-and-one-half in diameter. They didn't have any handles on them. Last, he took out the small round platter and set the teapot in the center of it and then he put the little tea glasses all around the teapot on the platter.

The tea set was made in the desert style of the Middle East and not like a western style tea set. The tea set was carved from stone. It was called Pakistani Marble. It was a chocolate-brown stone with swirls of tan color running through the darker stone. Some of the swirls were fossils of ancient sea creatures. The teapot, the sugar bowl and creamer bowl, and the tea glasses were all carved from the same stone and the walls of the pieces were about a quarter-inch thick. Each piece was heavy for its size because of the heavy stone it had been carved from.
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from THE RIDDLE OF THE Jade COLLAR by Hans Alric Vakker. Copyright © 2013 Hans Alric Vakker. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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