Page 41 of The Curse Breaker

Ashley pursed her lips. “Alright. But be quick.” She pulled a key out of a desk drawer. “I tell you what: To move faster, why don’t you take a tour in one of our golf carts?”

What’s a golf cart? Gil wanted to know.

Zara took the key, and Gil saw the smile spread across her face. “Thank you. A golf cart tour sounds like the perfect way to see the grounds. Let’s go!” she added, rushing back outside. Gil and Benny quickly followed.

Zara’s haste didn’t end there. She took the green hills on the golf course as fast as she could go, at one point taking air. She and Gil let out a loud cheer. A group of golfers in their white polos and ball caps looked over in disdain.

“I love motor vehicles!” Gil declared. “They are so much quicker than traveling by wagon.”

“They’re also more dangerous.” Benny gave Zara a look as she held on to her seat for dear life. She didn’t appear to be having as much fun. “I thought we were keeping a low profile.”

“Live a little!” Zara narrowly avoiding clipping a golf cart full of men going the other way. “Look! That’s the stairs down to the monument!” Zara pointed to a hill overlooking the water. Below it, there was a sandy area that looked like a beach.

As they approached, Gil could see a set of stone steps lead down to a bronze statue balanced on a large boulder. The monument sat on a small cliff over the water, and there were several stone benches around it along with beach grass and—beach roses. Just like in the riddle. Something small and fast flew past and kept going.

“That’s a piping plover,” Gil shouted as the cart neared the steps. Small birds were taking off and landing in the beach grass, which had netting around the area to protect it.

“‘A place the piping plovers know, not far from where beach roses grow is dedicated to remembering “thee,” those who have been “lost at sea,”’” Benny repeated the riddle.

Benny pulled out her phone and looked at the riddle again. “Notice how there are quote marks around lost at sea? That’s because Evelyn knew some people on that monument are not lost. They’re just on the island.”

“Sparrow is—was—” Gil corrected himself with a lump in his throat, “the cleverest.” He frowned. “But Aggy’s premonitions always made me anxious.”

“I don’t blame you, Gil,” Zara said as they took off on foot. “Though since we’re related, I have to say having Aggy’s premonition thing would come in handy right about now. Wouldn’t it be great if I knew exactly where the missing treasure was so that we didn’t have to look for it?” She sighed wistfully. “Or the answers to all my future tests without having to study?”

“I thought you liked studying,” Benny teased.

“I do, but think of all the extra time I’d have if I didn’t have to.” Zara arrived at the cliff first and headed down.

It was still drizzling, and a low fog was moving in as if it were just waiting for them to arrive to make it impossible to find their clue. Gil looked back, feeling as if they were being watched, but saw no one nearby.

“This feels peculiar,” Gil said, as the monument came into view. The statue was of a seaman and his expression made Gil sad. The figure held tight to the wheel of a ship, as if it knew the vessel was going to go down. Gil felt his good mood from the golf cart ride disappear.

Benny hung back. “What does?”

“Visiting a place that is meant to memorialize those who have died at sea, including me,” Gil fidgeted with the button on his shirt. “I am still very much alive.”

“That must be weird,” Benny said. “I’m sorry. Do you want to wait back here in case your name is on the monument? We understand.”

Gil stood looking out at the sea for a moment, the wind blowing his hair all around. “No,” he said decidedly. “I will join you. I’m here to give aid, and I will.”

Benny smiled softly and squeezed his hand. Together they met Zara at the statue.

The ground cover was made up of small and crushed shells. The monument was much larger close-up, the boulder itself taller than Benny. A plaque was anchored to the rock where people’s names were listed in two rows, everyone who had been lost at sea since the 1800s. Surrounding the boulder and at the fisherman’s feet, people had placed coins and shells in what Gil had to assume was remembrance.

“Look at the two lines at the top of the plaque.” Zara pointed to them. “‘For those lost at sea, we will always think of thee.’”

“That’s a line from Evelyn’s riddle,” Benny said excitedly. “We are definitely in the right place.”

“A Rudd place,” Gil reminded them, pointing to a name larger than the rest on the monument. It was listed at the top. “‘Dedicated to Axel Rudd. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.’” The muscles in his jaw twitched. “‘Sacrifice’? He stole from Sparrow.”

“Also, the line is sort of threatening too,” Zara added. “Like the family knew what he was after.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Benny said darkly. “There’s also something else strange.” She glanced at Gil. “I don’t see your name or Thomas’s, Laurel’s, or Aggy’s on here at all.”

Gil felt slightly ill. The Rudds were rats. “I don’t know if I should be joyful or sad about that fact. Look who is listed though.” He tapped the plaque again and pointed to a name.

Cate Callahan, August 28, 1949