Did he?
‘I have an affinity for such things,’ Amy said airily. ‘I can sense feelings in the same way other people can smell farts.’
Otis coughed at her words and Hester nodded knowingly. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘That might be true. But this affinity of yours has probably got more to do with you overhearing our conversation.’
Otis agreed. ‘I told Hester that we had to stop arguing because it wasn’t fair on you, Daisy, especially when you were so tired after getting no sleep last night.’
Hester chipped in. ‘And I said we should stop arguing because Hugo was already scared enough by everything that was going on and Otis was frightening him even more.’
Hugo blinked. I looked at Amy. ‘Yeah.’ She shrugged. ‘Alright, I did overhear them.’ She grinned. ‘But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.’ The bolshy teenager had a point.
‘For the record,’ Hugo said, ‘I am not scared of Otis.’
‘Nobody’s scared ofOtis,’ Hester retorted. ‘But you’re scared when he shouts and argues because of what it might mean for his state of mind and the effect that Athair is having on him.’
More likely Hugo was scared of the effect that Athair was having on us all. Not that I said that; instead I frowned at Hester, silently telling her to stop blabbing everything about us in front of a complete stranger.
Hugo also gave her an exasperated look though he didn’t actually disagree with what she’d said. ‘Go on, then,’ he said to Amy. ‘What’s your problem? And how can we help?’
‘Simple,’ she said. ‘I lost my favourite necklace in some woods near here a couple of weeks ago. I need someone to find it for me. That’s what I wanted to advertise in Alan’s shop.’
‘Why don’t you go and find your necklace yourself?’ I asked, puzzled.
‘There’s a spider or two in the woods and I’ve got a touch of arachnophobia. They freak me out and every time I try to enter the woods, I get a bad case of the willies. I start to sweat, myhands shake.’ She shuddered. ‘Even the thought of spiders is too much for me. The day I lost my necklace, I saw one of them – in fact, that’s how I lost my necklace. I was going for a wander, saw a huge spider, freaked out and ran out at high speed. My necklace must have fallen off when I was running away.’
I felt a wave of empathy for her; small, dark spaces made me feel the same way.
Amy regarded Hugo implacably. ‘Anyhow,’ she said, ‘it’s obviously fate that I bumped into you because you’re a treasure hunter. In fact, you’re the best treasure hunter in the country. You’ll be able to find my necklace for me.’
‘Perhaps,’ he said, but his eyes gleamed with typical confidence.
I scowled. ‘He’s not the best treasure hunter.’
‘Iam,’ Hugo said without missing a beat.
‘I will find your necklace, Amy,’ I declared. ‘Spiders don’t bother me.’
She smiled innocently and I suddenly realised she’d manipulated me; I’d all but promised I’d do what she wanted. She really was smart – or I was very stupid. ‘As long as one of you finds it, I’ll be happy.’ Amy clasped her hands together. ‘So tell me, what do you need from me in return?’
I grimaced. Unfortunately we didn’t have a great deal of information to pass on. ‘There is a rumour that some of the treasure from the Staffordshire Hoard is yet to be discovered,’ I said, hedging my words.
Amy stared at me. ‘I thought we’d already been through this. It’s gone. It’s in a museum. There’s nothing left here.’
‘But maybe 2009 wasn’t the first time it was discovered,’ Hugo said. ‘Maybe somebody else found it first and dug part of it up.’
‘That’s stupid. Why wouldn’t they dig itallup?’ she asked.
Good question. ‘We don’t know,’ I answered. ‘It might not have happened recently. In fact, the part of the hoard which is missing might have been removed up to eight hundred years ago. Maybe there are some old local tales that might be relevant.’
‘Or someone who’s eight hundred years old and remembers it being dug up the first time,’ Amy said sarcastically.
I managed to avoid looking at Hugo. ‘Yeah,’ I replied. ‘Or that.’
She folded her arms. ‘On reflection, I think that you’ve got the easier gig,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll do my best. But I’m not promising anything.’
‘That’s all we can ask,’ Hugo told her.
I nodded fervently. There was next to no chance that she’d find out anything, but a deal was a deal; we’d look for her necklace.
