‘Interesting, isn’t it, that there are thirteen coins?’ Miriam said. ‘It’s an unlucky number.’
‘You believe in the curse, then?’ I asked.
‘You’ve not read through our risk assessments, have you?’
I shook my head.
‘We should remedy that.’ Slim gave me a meaningful look. ‘Top of our health-and-safety list is dealing with curses.’
Becky tilted her head towards me. ‘Welcome to yet another of the grim realities of treasure hunting.’
Chapter
Seven
‘Daisy,’ Otis said as we clambered into the Jeep after saying farewell to Agatha Smiggleswith, ‘perhaps you could consider an alternative career. Treasure hunting is a far too risky a business.’
Hester was already nodding agreement. ‘Bomb disposal. That would be safer.’
‘Firefighting,’ Otis suggested.
‘Front-line operations with the military,’ she said.
‘Very funny.’ I pulled a face at them. ‘You don’t have to worry. Now we know about the curse, we can take precautions to avoid invoking it.’
‘Indeed,’ Hugo said. ‘There’s almost nothing to be concerned about.’
Hester snorted. ‘So says the man who walked around with chickens on his head.’ She flew up, landed on top of his skull and started to squawk. Loudly.
‘Hester,’ I scolded. ‘Stop that.’
Hugo raised his hand and brushed her away. ‘You know, Hester,’ he said, ‘there’s no guarantee that the skull is buried beneath the stone. It might not have been returned when thecoins were, or it might have been dug up since then. It could be somewhere else.’
‘Let’s gothere, then!’ she exclaimed. ‘Let’s go somewhere else and avoid the cursed sack stone altogether!’
‘Right now, the stone is our best lead,’ I said. ‘We’ll check there first.’
Otis joined in her protest. ‘It’ll be dark soon.’
‘You can stay here if you like,’ I offered.
They both folded their arms and glared at me. ‘We’re not letting you have all the fun!’ Hester objected.
‘And we’re the ones with experience in curses,’ Otis added. ‘We’re the ones who were trapped inside a necklace for decades because of a sorcerer’s curse.’
Good point. ‘Any tips for avoiding a fate worse than death?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ Hester said. ‘Don’t get caught.’
Hugo shrugged. ‘Works for me.’
We exchanged smiles. There was a loud beep as Miriam, driving like a demon and pulling past us with her wheels screeching, wound down the window of her Jeep. Slim ducked his head out. ‘Last one to the cursed stone buys dinner!’
‘Hugo!’ I ordered. ‘Switch on that engine and get going! They cannot beat us!’
The Jeep roared into life. ‘Don’t fret.’ Hugo put his foot down and smirked. ‘We’ll be the first ones to get cursed around here, not them.’
Hester and Otis buried their heads in their hands. ‘We’re doomed,’ Hester muttered.
