Oliver looked in disbelief at Zach's right hand. He saw no ring. He checked the left hand, just to be sure.
"What do you wanna do, sport?" Zach asked, patting the back of Oliver's shoulders and jolting Oliver from the shock of unexpectedly finding no ring on Zach's hand.
"Where did it go?" Oliver asked in a squeaky whiney tone. "Where's my ring?"
Zach looked down with a puzzled expression. "What you on about, little guy?"
"Cut that out, Zach!" Oliver snapped. "I'm not a little guy!"
Zach smiled good naturedly. "That's right. I'm sure you're growing. Soon you'll be as big as your brothers."
"No, not like that," Zach said. "You had my ring on your finger. I remember! I need it back."
Zach strode through the house, choosing to disregard whatever fancy had taken possession of the 10-year-old boy's imagination.
"Zach!" Oliver protested shrilly. "That ring's very important."
Zach produced an exasperated noise. "Look, I don't have your..." He took a deep breath, having almost used a bad word in front of his charge. Oliver's parents wouldn't thank him for that. "Kid, I don't know anything about a ring."
Oliver shivered. He felt a chill, but not from the air-conditioning. Without the ring, was he stuck a 10-year-old boy?
"Are you sure?" Oliver piped up with a despairing tone. "It is a really important ring."
"Why's it so important?" Zach wanted to know.