Relic Read Online Free PDF Page A

and decided not to chance a confrontation.
    The young monk was around the side of the building, his head hanging as the three ancient monks talked to him with stern expressions. He glowered at me when we rounded the corner but turned away when one of the elderly monks nudged his arm.
    I didn’t even try to fight Becky for the front seat. She smirked but, to her credit, didn’t utter a word. She was a brat, but not a stupid brat. She knew what my mom’s cold expression meant: don’t speak. My mom clearly had something to say, and snark from anyone in the car simply wouldn’t be tolerated until she was done. When the doors were closed, Mom drew a series of shallow breaths and turned to face me.
    â€œMom, I just wanted—”
    She held up her finger, cutting me off. “Uh-uh,” she said. “Not a word.” Long seconds passed before she seemed to relax a bit. “Dean,” she said finally, “that was unacceptable.”
    â€œIt was an accident.”
    â€œI saw the footage,” she said. “You three seemed to antagonize that poor boy, and then…well, you saw it, Dean. You elbowed him in the head and practically tackled him.”
    â€œYou did?” Colin asked. He sounded more impressed than surprised, and I was pretty sure that if my mom hadn’t been looking, he’d have raised his hand for a high five.
    Lisa gave me a squinty-faced You did that? look, and I just shook my head.
    â€œIt was an accident!” I turned back to my mom. “I told you that already.”
    â€œDidn’t look very accidental from where I was sitting,” she said. “Lucky for you, Mr. Overton didn’t seem to think it was on purpose. But to me, it looked like you were really going after him.” She took a breath and forced it out through her nose. “He’s a kid too, Dean. He’s probably not much older than you are.”
    â€œWe didn’t antagonize him,” Lisa said hesitantly. “We really didn’t. We were just looking at the display and he got really upset about it.”
    My mom turned in her seat to face us. “I was just talking to some people about this, and you kids need to understand something. Those monks believe that relic has been stolen. They’ve been protesting its display for a very long time. That head is on loan from a museum in Amsterdam. Those monks followed it all the way here, and they’ll follow it to the next place too. Imagine if there was something you respected and revered so much that you’d follow it around the world hoping that people would return it to you. Now imagine people mocking it. Or gawking at it disrespectfully. How do you think you’d feel?”
    â€œI think I get it,” Becky said. “I like coprolite, and Dean makes fun of me for it. He’s pretty much made fun of all of my collections.”
    Colin snorted and tried to cover it up as a cough.
    â€œNot exactly the same thing, dear,” Mom said, “but you’re on the right track.” She turned back to us. “Now you and that monk aren’t allowed back in the museum for the rest of the summer. In fact, Mr. Overton’s talking about banning all four of the monks just to make sure nothing like this happens again.”
    It took all my willpower not to laugh. Oh, no. What am I going to do with myself if I can’t go to the museum?
    My mom sighed and turned in her seat and started the car. “Put yourself in his shoes, Dean.”
    â€œWas he wearing shoes?” Colin whispered.
    â€œI can’t believe you punched a monk,” Becky said. “Who punches a monk?”
    â€œI didn’t punch him.”
    â€œOh, right. Okay, who elbows a monk in the head and then tackles them to the floor? Plus, who gets kicked out of a museum?” She tsked. “It’s a museum, for Pete’s sake. Doesn’t exactly attract the crazies.”
    â€œTell that to that mob of