The Lost Silver Heirloom
A story in the Plot Twister and Thought Sifter series by Beverley Paine
How this works: New stories emailed to your inbox or within the Substack app, designed to be read aloud and shared with your children. Each story comes with a link to a set of Plot Twister and Thought Sifter Conversation Cards you can use as part of your homeschool English curriculum.
I write stories about ordinary homeschooled children living ordinary lives playing games, exploring outdoors, solving problems, making mistakes, asking questions and learning together: stories designed to spark conversation, encouraging children to think, wonder, create and connect.
About the author: I home educating my three children between 1986-2004, and they’re now homeschooling theirs! Stories about everyday children living life without school are hard to find, and I firmly believe that homeschooled kids need to see themselves and their lives represented in children’s fiction, so that’s what I write!
Find my other homeschool resources at Always Learning Books.
I hope you enjoy The Lost Silver Heirloom, a story about Zara, a twelve-year-old homeschooler, whose search for her missing treasure reminds us that our first assumptions aren’t always the right ones.
To listen to an AI narration of this story, click the “Play” icon (triangle ▶️) in the top-right corner of your screen.
The Lost Silver Heirloom
by Beverley Paine
Zara’s heart thumped.
Where is it? she thought frantically, tipping everything out of her backpack onto her bed and rifled through the contents.
It has to be here!
It wasn’t.
She sank onto the floor, crumpled and defeated.
The slender silver bangle, embossed with a flower pattern, had belonged to her grandmother.
As a boy in England, during the celebrations at the end of the Second World War, Grandad had found the silver bangle lying in the street. He’d kept it safe until he met Grandma years later, then given it to her as a birthday present.
When Grandma died, Grandad gave it to Zara. He said it was a special treasure. That it meant peace.
“Look after it,” he’d whispered.
And now it was gone.
She’d worn it to the homeschool meet-up at forest the previous Thursday. While she helped build the cubby house, the bangle stayed safely tucked inside the sleeve of her sweater. Every now and then she felt it pressing gently against her skin.
The family always visited Grandad at the nursing home on Saturday mornings. He had trouble hearing and his sight was fading, but Zara was certain he’d notice she wasn’t wearing it because he always gently held her hand for a moment when she arrived.
He’d know.
Zara frantically looked around the room again. Did she take it off when she got home? She couldn’t remember.
She peered under the bed and double-checked her jewellery box. Looked once more in the bathroom, where she sometimes left her earrings before showering. And dug deep into her jacket pockets, hoping that’s she’d slipped it off and left it there. She hadn’t.
Just then, Kai poked his head around the bedroom door. “Wanna play a game of chess with me?”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” snapped Zara.
He frowned. “I was only asking.”
“Well, don’t!”
Kai shrugged his shoulders and backed away.
A minute later, Mum appeared. “I’ve just been talking to Kai...” she started to say but stopped.
Zara was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, silent tears rolling down her face.
“Oh, love.” Mum sat on the bed and placed a hand gently on Zara’s shoulder. “Anything I can help with?”
Zara shook her head. “I’ve lost Grandad’s bangle,” she sobbed.
“Oh, that’s sad,” her Mum said. “I know how much it means to you. How about I help you look for it?” Zara blew her nose and wiped the tears from her face. “I tell you what,” her Mum said. “Something I do when this happens to me is run the whole thing through my mind like a movie. Let’s do that.”
Zara nodded and closed her eyes. “When we got home, I came inside, and dropped my bag on the floor by my bed...”
“What happened next?” asked her mum softly.
“I went and filled the dog’s water bowl.”
“And then?”
“I got changed.”
“What did you do with your dirty clothes?”
“I put them in the...” Zara stopped and opened her eyes wide. “The washing basket!”
She jumped up and raced to the laundry. The basket was sitting on the floor by the machine. Zara dug through the clothes carefully. But there was no bangle.
Zara looked up at her mum standing in the doorway. “I thought we’d solved it,” she said sadly.
“That’s okay,” said Mum. “Just keep watching the movie.”
Zara closed her eyes again.
“I helped unpack the picnic basket.”
They went to the kitchen and checked the cupboard in the pantry where Zara put the leftover flour from the damper. Then checked the dishwasher where she’d stacked the picnic plates and cups.
Nothing. It was hopeless.
Zara shook her head.
“What else?” her Mum said encouragingly.
“I went out to feed the chickens, and then came inside to wash my hands because they smelled funny.”
“Were you still wearing the bracelet then?”
Zara looked down at her bare wrist. “No, I don’t think so…”
They hurried outside. Zara’s bantams, Fluffles and Zoro, stopped pecking the grass and followed them expectantly to the chicken coop. As Zara lifted the heavy lid off the metal food bin a puff of sweet, powdery grain dust rose into the air.
She remembered it clearly now, the moment she slid up her sleeves and plunged her hands deep into the grain, enjoying the slightly sticky feel of it, before using the scoop to feed the chickens.
And there, half-buried in the pellets, was a sliver of silver.
Her bangle!
Eyes shining with relief, Zara grabbed it and showed it to her mum. “I found it!”
On Saturday, at the nursing home, Grandad gently took her hand, just as he always did. His frail fingers rested on the cool silver band, tracing the familiar pattern of the embossed flowers.
He smiled softly up at Zara.
She beamed back.
All illustrations in the Plot Twisters & Thought Sifters series are original AI-assisted pencil sketches created with ChatGPT from scene descriptions written by Beverley Paine.
I’m dropping Notes most days and would love to connect with you that way — you can add a comment or like. Don’t forget we can keep the conversation going on any of my posts by adding a comment there too.
If you’re homeschooling in Australia, don’t forget to download my FREE Resource Directory for a bumper list of educational and curriculum providers and suppliers, as well as comprehensive guide on getting started how to register as a home educating family.
Whatever your approach, your lifestyle or education philosophy, I’m here to support you. Take what you need, leave the rest. I want you to lean on my experience because I’ve leant on others — we are in this together, growing and learning from each other!
That’s all for now! Until next time, Beverley
What a beautifully written story! Thank you for starting a series featuring home educated children. You're right, it’s so important for children to be able to see themselves in books and stories featuring home educated children that are this heartfelt and beautifully written are few and far between.