Mum and Dad emerged from the church a few minutes later. Cam and I ran up to them and Cam's parents.
"Mum, Dad, look!" I held up the necklace. "I got it from a shop just down the street!"
"Which one?" Mum asked, frowning at the piece of jewellery I was holding up. It caught the sunlight and glittered.
"Uhhh, 'The Antique Shop of Antiques,' was it, Cam?" I turned to her, eager.
She nodded.
"How much did it cost?!" Dad exclaimed. The stingy cheapskate.
"The man at the shop gave it to me free of charge!" I said enthusiastically.
"Oh, no, Bryn, and you just took it?" Mum groaned. "We should return it, or at least pay."
She turned and hurried down the road. Dad and I followed. Cam and her parents tailed us.
"Which one was it, again?" Dad asked. "Which shop?"
"'The Antique Shop of Antiques,'" I murmured, but as I glanced around, the shop ... wasn't ... there ... any more?
"I swear it was here!" I cried. "Where is it now? We just exited it!"
Cam leapt to my rescue. "It WAS here, it's true! I'd gone in there with her!"
But the shop simply wasn't there any more. It was like I dreamt it ... but I knew I hadn't. I had the opal necklace in my hands as proof. Tangible, real, actual proof.
Dad sighed. "I guess, you'll have to keep the necklace."
"Can't hear you complaining or trying to find the shop of the poor man who just handed it to her like candy!" snapped Mum. To avoid a row, Cam's dad quickly said, "Why don't we head back to the hotel, eh? Eh?"
"Yes, why don't we?" her mum added hastily.
Back in our hotel, I hid the necklace in my luggage. Then we went down for a bite to eat.
Fast forward to the end of our holiday. We'd seen Valletta, Mdina, Birgu, Mellieha, Saint Paul's Bay, Riviera Bay, Marsaxlokk, Gozo, and Comino.
I wore the necklace on the plane. Strangely, no one noticed my wearing a highly ornate necklace around my neck, other than me, Cam and our parents. From the plane back to London.
The city grew larger as we descended. Home at last!