“Probably.”
“Oh, good. Then absolutely.”
With a smile, Josie slid the oak-paneled library door open and poked her head inside. “All clear.” She slipped through the doorway, closing it after Ashley followed. “It’s over here.” Josie gestured to the wall of bookcases. Standing guard before the imposing bastion of knowledge was an oak desk. It was a showpiece as were most of the books. No one ever came into the library except Josie.
The girls crept across the room, Ashley’s slippers shushing on the thick carpets. A grandfather clock ticked away the hour in the corner. There was a small stepladder at one side of the bookcase, below the volumes of Shakespeare, and Josie slid it along the wall until it stood under the collection of biblical sermons and writings. She stepped onto the stool and reached as high as she could, her fingers grazing a worn copy of Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women. She handed the volume down to Ashley.
“Tell me this isn’t what we came for.” She scowled at the book and set it on the desk.
Josie winked at her and reached through the gap, pulling a large, ragged volume out. It was heavy, and she was glad when Ashley reached up and took it from her.
Unfortunately, her cousin wasn’t expecting the book’s weight. The volume slammed on the desk with a loud thump. Both girls froze, staring at the paneled door.
The clock ticked on, oblivious, and after sixty tocks, Josie stepped down. They were not caught yet. She indicated the desk chair, and Ashley took it, while Josie perched on the top of the desk. Josie flipped the book open, turning the pages slowly until she reached the center. There, folded and yellowed with age, was the parchment. With two fingers, she lifted it out.
“Is this it?” Ashley whispered.
Josie closed the book, shoved it out of her way, and spread the parchment flat on the desk. The map was familiar to her: the wavy lines to indicate water, the jagged coastline, the three islands. At the bottom was a compass whose ink had been smeared so north was unclear, and at the top—what should have been the middle—was a clean rip. The map had been torn neatly in half.
Ashley leaned back in the chair. “So your grandfather really was a pirate.”
Josie nodded. “Of course, he was. I told you.”
“But your parents always say that story is nothing but rubbish.”
“Well, look for yourself.” Josie pointed to the map. “Does that look like rubbish?”
Her grandfather had first shown her the map when she was only five. She’d been sworn to secrecy because Nathan Hale said the treasure was bad luck. Even talking of the treasure was bad luck. So for thirteen years she had kept the secret.
Until now.
Ashley frowned at the parchment. “But if this is a treasure map, where’s the X? I thought X always marked the spot.”
Josie inclined her head in admiration. Obviously, she had revealed her secret to the right person. “That, Miss Brittany, is a good question.”
Ashley bowed from the waist, and said in an imperious tone, “Thank you, Miss Hale. I thought so.”
Josie lifted the document and pointed to the edge. Minuscule fragments of the paper had frayed out from where the map had been folded over and over and then torn in half. “The X is on this portion of the map.”
“The portion you don’t have.” Ashley’s eyes gleamed with excitement in the dim light of the room.
“Precisely.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“I do.” Josie jumped off the desk and crossed to the large window on the outside wall. With a flourish, she threw the drapes wide. A cloud of dust billowed out, and both girls dissolved into coughing fits.
Ashley, who was farther away, recovered first. Waving a hand in front of her face, she croaked, “Well, I can see those curtains haven’t been aired since the time of your grandfather. Is the X in the dust?”
Josie’s eyes were watering, and she wiped away the moisture before replying. “No. I was attempting to show you that.” She pointed out the window at the white bricks of the neighboring town house.
Ashley rose and squinted at the window through the hazy light. “Who is he?”
“Not who, but where,” Josie corrected. “That is where I suspect the other half of the map to be hidden.”
Ashley raised a brow. “In that house?”
Josie gave her a mischievous smile. “Do you know who lives next door to this, my grandfather’s house?”
