Josie frowned and bit her lip impatiently.
“I, Madeleine Richael Fullbright, swear never, ever to marry so long as I live. Now your turn, Josie,” Maddie said.
Finally! “I, Josephine Linet Hale, swear never, ever, ever, ever to marry so long as I live.” She jumped up and put a hand on her heart. “I promise to be a pirate!”
Catie shook her head. “Now you, Ashley,” she said before Josie could say more about her plans.
“I, Ashley Gweneira Brittany, swear not to marry for as long as I live. But you know what this means, don’t you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “We’re going to be spinsters.”
Josie hadn’t considered that. Spinster was such an ugly word, but then some people thought pirate was an ugly word, too.
Catie said, “I’d rather be a spinster than beaten and locked in a closet.”
“It won’t be bad to be unmarried if we’re all unmarried,” Josie said. “Nothing is bad as long as you’re not in it alone.”
“So we’ll make it fun,” Catie said. “We’ll be the Spinster’s Club!”
Josie wanted to cheer. “That’s right! We’ll stick together. No men or mean girls allowed.”
Catie was the first to stick out her hand and Josie was the first to take it.
TEN YEARS LATER
Josephine Hale stuck her head out her bedroom window and waved to her cousin Ashley Brittany. Ashley waved back, giving her a carefree smile.
Josie retreated and tried to quiet her beating heart. Really, she had to settle down. Her mother was always telling her that.
Her mother told her a lot of things.
But now Ashley was here, and this was it. How could Josie possibly settle down?
She stuck her head out the window again, annoyed to see Ashley had stopped to exchange a word with the gardener. Why couldn’t her cousin hurry? Of course, Ashley didn’t know what she was hurrying for. She didn’t know that Josie had finally found the map.
Oh, Ashley would be green when she saw it! Josie was finally going to be a pirate—or at least live off pirate treasure.
That was if Ashley ever made it into the house.
Josie peered out the window once more, searching for Ashley, but then the door opened behind her and Ashley strolled in. She wore a morning dress of light green cambric, the long, loose sleeves tied with ivory ribbons. She was dressed in the height of fashion, as always. And as always, one could tell she couldn’t care less. There was a splattering of mud on her hem, her skirt was wrinkled, and two of her sleeves’ ribbons had come undone.
But Ashley could have been dressed in a sack, and she would still be the most beautiful girl in any room. With her golden hair, her porcelain skin, and her eyes of pale, sea green, she put Josie to shame without even trying.
Not that Josie had tried very hard today, as she was wearing trousers and a man’s work shirt and coat. And anyway, Josie didn’t care about being beautiful. She wanted to be independent.
Ashley took in Josie’s appearance in one encompassing glance and sighed. “What have I stepped into now?”
“Welcome aboard, matey,” Josie said in her best pirate brogue.
Ashley raised her eyebrows, and Josie spoke quickly, before Ashley could jump to her own conclusions. “I found my grandfather’s pirate treasure map,” she blurted out.
“Really?” Ashley began to pull her gloves off, but Josie grabbed her hand and dragged her downstairs. Josie’s mother was somewhere in the house, and if she saw Josie dressed like this, she’d have her daughter’s head.
“I haven’t seen it for years,” Josie said, pulling Ashley in her wake. “I thought my father threw it out when my grandfather died.” She pulled Ashley to the side of the stairs so they wouldn’t collide with a maid dusting the banister. “But he just hid it,” she whispered, so the maid wouldn’t hear.
“That’s very exciting, Josie, but where are we—”
Josie skidded to a stop in front of the library door. “So do you want to see it?”
Ashley raised a golden brow. “Will we get in trouble?”
