“The letters said there was a box or something inside the hidden room…” Marley trailed off and wandered around,peeking under and over the enclosures with a bright gleam in her eyes. “It’s got to be around here somewhere.”
“Look at this.” Jack was behind the bookshelf, shining his phone into the darkness. “There’s some kind of chest back here.”
Emma wandered over to him and peered into the darkness. “You’re right. I see it.”
“Here, let’s shift the bookshelf forward a little.”
Grunting, all three of them yanked and tugged until the bookshelf screeched forward, the sound echoing back to them. Marley’s eyes widened as she glanced over at the door and waited. When no one came, Jack squeezed himself behind the bookshelf and coughed. He returned with a wooden chest, setting it on the floor and pointing the phone’s flashlight at it.
It had a few intricate carvings on the side and a small lock on the latch.
Emma sank to her knees and tugged on the lock, a startled gasp falling from her lips when a false drawer in the bottom came free. Slowly, she drew it open, her eyes watering when a puff of dust rose to greet her. She waved a hand in front of her face and waited for her vision to settle. As soon as it did, she saw a few rolled-up pieces of paper and more letters in her grandfather’s familiar handwriting.
She held her breath as she reached in and took them out.
Marley pulled out a packet of gloves from her pocket. In silence, the three snapped them on and held their findings up to the light.
“Maps,” Emma breathed, pausing to rise to her feet. “These look like maps. I wonder what they’re for.”
“And there are more coded messages here,” Jack whispered, drifting closer to her. “Think your friend would be willing to help a little longer?”
Marley had her phone in her hands, fingers typing furiously. “Already ahead of you. I’m messaging her now.”
Emma blew out a breath. “We should leave this in the library where they’re properly preserved. I can take the chest back home.”
“There’s an old camera in the back. It’s used to document and photograph old documents, but we haven’t used it in a while.” Marley tapped her chin. “I’m going to see if I can find it.”
Jack’s eyes were on the side of her face. “Do you think your grandpa left clues to help dig up the treasure?”
Emma spun around to meet his gaze. “I don’t know, but Marley is right. This is exciting.”
And it felt just like old times—especially when Marley returned with the camera, and the two of them hung back, exchanging small smiles.
They stayed in that room for a while, theorizing and mapping out scenarios about the kind of historical treasures they could unearth and the impact it could have on Rockport as a whole.
For the first time since coming back to Rockport, Emma was comfortable in her own skin.
It didn’t feel like she was trying to force a round peg into a square hole.
Being back with Jack and Marley felt good—right, even—and she wanted to hold on to the feeling forever. But when Jack’s phone rang, and a voice drifted closer, calling out for Marley, the magic dissipated, forcing them to file out of the hidden room.
As Emma walked back to her car, her earlier giddiness was starting to fade away too, replaced with a cold, hard knot in the center of her stomach.
One that felt eerily familiar.
She didn’t want to leave Jack and Marley again, not with how devastating leaving was the first time. It had nearly killed her to walk away from them, and she knew they’d felt the impact as deeply as she had, especially with how close they’d all been.
You can’t pretend that nothing has changed, like the three of you are still kids in high school with a whole future to look forward to.
Things had changed.
Shehad changed.
Her life in Boston wasn’t what she’d envisioned for herself, and she spent a lot of nights questioning her path, but it was the life she’d chosen.
She’d worked hard for it, and Jules had a whole year of university left.
Emma couldn’t just drop everything on a whim and move back to Rockport to try and recapture the nostalgia and magic of her youth.
