Hell. Sam wasn’t equipped for this kind of conversation. Why would she even ask him? “Perhaps you have to be an adult for some things they do.”
“You don’t need to be an adult to go for a full moon ride.”
“You’ve got school tomorrow.”
“And they all have to work.”
He wasn’t winning this conversation. “I tell you what. How about we go for a ride on the next full moon on a weekend?”
Her face lit up. “Really? You’d go riding with me?”
“Absolutely.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her he was a hopeless rider.
“When’s the next full moon?”
He got out his phone and found a website which had the details. “December has a full moon on Saturday.”
Her face fell. “That’s months away.”
“Well, maybe there’s one during the school holidays,” he said, tucking his phone away. “Now tell me about this book. What’s happened so far?”
Lara clapped her hands. “It’s about a healer who’s trying to find the cure for a contagious disease, and there are dragons in it!” With Lara distracted by the book, he read her a couple of chapters. It was an engrossing read, and he almost kept going at the end of the next chapter, but Brandon came to the door. “You two finished yet?”
“Uncle Brandon!” Lara protested.
Sam inserted the bookmark. “Good timing.”
Lara held up her arms and Sam hugged her. The girl killed him with kindness. She reminded him a little of his youngest sister, the one who’d always been excited to see him when he had a break from the army. “Night, La La.”
“Don’t forget about our ride.”
“I won’t. You tell your dad about it, and we’ll organise something.”
Brandon hugged his niece and then turned out the light. “See you in the morning, La La.”
Sam followed his friend into the lounge.
“What did you promise her?” Brandon asked.
“A night ride by the full moon in December.” He grimaced. “Darcy won’t mind, will he?”
“No, he’ll think you’re sweet for offering, as long as you don’t back out of it and disappoint her.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He sat on the brown sofa, noting two old journals on the coffee table. “What were you going to tell me about?”
Brandon nodded at the journals. “Guess what we found in the cellar?”
Sam’s eyes widened and he reached for one of the books. “You seriously found something?” He’d been there when they’d uncovered the cellar which had been hidden for decades, but there hadn’t been anything more than junk down there. Carefully he opened the cover and read. “This journal belongs to Lilian Stokes.” He glanced at Brandon for clarification.
“The very first Stokes at Retribution Ridge. It tells the story of her journey here from England and reveals the truth of our heritage.”
Sam waited for him to explain.
“The real Reginald Stokes, her husband, died in the mutiny when they were shipwrecked on Retribution Island. Lilian was in love with an Irish convict named John and he took over Reginald’s identity.”
“I always knew you were a scoundrel,” Sam joked.
“There’s more. Reginald, the real one, had come into possession of a Dutch captain’s journal. The Dutch captain also wrecked on the island a century earlier, but he had on board treasure from the Dutch East Indies Company.”
