Page 10 of The Curse Breaker

“Gil knows Sparrow as well as I do,” Aggy said with a knowing smile. “And it would be good to have someone from our time, other than the captain, go with you.” She nodded to to Gil. “You should go with them to Greenport.”

Gil’s eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed. “I don’t know… I don’t want to leave the rest of you behind.”

“You’re not,” Aggy said decisively. “You’ll be a good aide to Benny and Zara. There is no one more trustworthy than you.”

Benny was pretty sure she saw Gil falter when Aggy said that.

“Alright,” he agreed. “I’ll come. I might be of assistance in finding these clues you speak of. I played many a game with Sparrow. And then, when we find this dragonfly”—he turned to his friends—“we will find the missing treasure and leave this island together.”

“Great!” Kimble clasped his hands together. “What are we waiting for? Let’s move. Evelyn has one coin for sure that I know of.” He paused. “There are more out there, however. I’ll deal with those.”

“How many more?” Benny asked. “What’s missing?”

Kimble sucked his teeth, thinking. “You find what Evelyn is hiding, and let me do the rest, kid,” Kimble said evenly. “Once I can get ahold of...I mean, every last piece is accounted for, I can place them back in the chest, and then this curse of immortality should lift from all of us.”

Curse of immortality. Now wasn’t the time to bring up the fact that not everyone would see immortality as a curse. All Kimble had to do was watch one vampire movie, and he would see there were many people who would kill to get ahold of a treasure such as this. Was this the danger Evelyn meant?

“We’ll rendezvous at the cave entrance in Greenport in a couple of hours to discuss what we’ve found out,” Kimble instructed them.

“To the cave!” Zara said, reenergized, beckoning Gil to follow. He stopped to hug Thomas and Laurel, then followed quickly. Kimble was right behind him.

Benny hesitated. She could sense people were still holding back—Kimble, Gil. Even Aggy. She could feel Evelyn’s best friend staring at her. Aggy was studying her the way Benny usually studied others.

“Go ahead,” Aggy said, as if she anticipated this moment. “Ask me what you want to know.”

Aggy really did have the gift of sight. Benny pressed her hands into her thighs, afraid. “Why did you tell Evelyn I was the one who could break the curse?” Winks wound her way around Benny’s legs. “I know she and I are related, but I still don’t understand why I’m the key.”

Aggy’s mouth ticked up ever so slightly, as if she was biting back a smile. “I can’t tell you that. But I promise the answer is coming soon enough.”

Everly—

This diary entry was written before the Blood Orange Moon, but I didn’t want you to read it before you found the island. Now that you have, I think you’re ready to know the danger finding the island brings. All will be clear soon, I promise.

With deep love and respect,

Evelyn Terry

Entry 3

From Evelyn Terry’s Private Journal, Dated June 5, 1825

I was late, and I knew Mama would be mad. I rushed back from the island, thoughts of the fort on my mind as I ran down the path to our farm, trying to come up with an excuse. When our farm came into view, I noticed Mama was rocking on the porch swing with a woman I didn’t recognize.

“Evelyn!” Mama waved when she saw me. “Join us!”

I did as I was told, continuing up the path, my boots, tied by the laces, bouncing in my hands. Mama hated when I walked barefoot, but I hated slipping wet, sandy feet into leather boots. Not that Mama knew I had been at the beach today. For once, she looked so happy, I didn’t think she would even remember to ask me where I’d been. She and the woman she was with were laughing. They looked like old friends.

The woman was younger than Mama; her skin didn’t betray her with wrinkles or laugh lines. Wisps of her beautiful red hair fell out of a white cap that was tied loosely around her neck. As I got closer, I could see the green dress she was wearing was made of a fine satin. It looked worn from the sun, the stitching fraying at the hem.

Neither looked up as I reached the top step. Mama’s sewing sat in a basket on the table next to her; it looked as if she hadn’t done any mending at all.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Mama said. I noticed she’d put out the nice white sugar for tea, which meant Mama was clearly entertaining, something she rarely did, and never during the day, when chores and the farm were the priority. Papa had forbidden any of us from leaving the farm because of the Cough, but that didn’t keep us from talking to visitors.

Mama motioned to her friend. “I want you to meet our new neighbor. Mrs. Carthright. They bought the farm down the road.”

“It’s Calpert,” the woman corrected Mama, still laughing from whatever joke the two had just shared.

“Calpert,” Mama repeated. “Forgive me, Calista.”