Page 43 of The Curse Breaker

“Those children shouldn’t have been anywhere but their homes!” Mr. Rudd shouted. “They’ve all got the Cough! And yet for some reason, they went out with Evelyn, which is against the town rules.” His face hardened when he looked at me. “You’re hiding something valuable, girl. Admit it!”

“Papa,” Russell put a hand on his father’s arm. “Don’t raise your voice at Evelyn.” His father threw his hand off.

I appreciated Russell’s kindness, but I could handle myself. I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Rudd. “Valuable? How would you even know that unless you or Axel opened my letters? Axel is the one hiding something. He stole what I put in Gil’s letter!”

“Stole?” Mr. Rudd whispered. “You can’t steal something that wasn’t yours to begin with.” He pursed his lips.

Mr. Rudd knew about the treasure, and he wanted it. Of that, I was now certain. He was just like Charlotte and Axel. I knew then and there, I would do anything in my power to stop them all. “What are you most upset about? Losing Axel or something more valuable?”

Mr. Rudd’s face flushed with fury.

“Evelyn!” Mama gasped. “You apologize to Mr. Rudd at once!”

“Where is my son?” Mr. Rudd stood up and attempted to grab my arm.

“I don’t know!” I shouted, stepping back.

“Now see here,” Papa said, getting in between us.

Mr. Rudd tried to push Papa aside. Mama was yelling now. Russell was trying to hold his father back. Walter was barking. I felt tears prick my eyes.

“You are a liar!” Mr. Rudd continued. “I know you’re hiding something about Axel!” Russell tried to yank his father outside. “You won’t get away with this. I’ll see to it you lose everything if something happened to my boy! You’ll lose this farm! Everything! You hear me? The Terrys will be ruined!”

Russell dragged him out the door. He looked at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry, Evelyn. He’s…distraught. I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you, Russell.” My heart was beating so fast, I tried to hold it steady, placing my hand over my heart, which I could hear drumming. The Terrys will be ruined. I was shaking.

Papa sat down, his head in his hands, and Mama turned to look at me, incredulous. “Evelyn, what have you done?”

Fifteen

Benny

Present Day

Benny stared at Grace’s name on the monument—Cate Callahan—and then looked at Axel Rudd’s again. Neither died at sea, but the world didn’t know that.

“This is so weird,” Benny said solemnly as fog rolled in off the water again, the clouds starting to gather before another storm.

“Majorly weird,” Zara seconded. “Why did they even make a monument? If they knew Axel went searching for a treasure that is a fountain of youth, didn’t they think he might be alive?”

“Not necessarily,” Benny said. “We only found out about Gil and the others when we read Evelyn’s last diary entry in Hooked. It’s not like someone could have told them the truth.”

“Don’t be fooled. The Rudds know everything,” Gil said bitterly. “They are a dangerous and conniving family. Axel stole my coin. You say your friend Ryan knew about the treasure. Maybe he knew about the island’s secrets too.”

Gil could be right. “If only we could find out for sure.” Benny brushed aside some cobwebs surrounding the plaque. “Maybe the answers we’re looking for are hidden here in new diary entries from Evelyn.” Benny glanced at the hilltop to make sure no one was coming. “We should move fast.”

“Right. Let’s find that clue.” Zara pulled a flashlight from her pocket and began walking around the monument, searching the ground. “Can I just say, I love the guts it took for Evelyn to hide something on Rudd property,” Zara said, examining the monument from all angles. “Right under their noses.”

Gil circled the boulder, feeling it for some sort of clue. “One time Axel challenged us all to jump off the rocks into the water. It was a far drop. He said whoever did it could have three free items at the mercantile that week. Sparrow said her mama needed sugar so she did it. She was the only one. Axel was so mad.”

Benny liked that story. Fearless. It was the perfect word for Evelyn, going up against a pirate and the most powerful family in Greenport. Having the chance to play Evelyn’s game and win her fortune, Benny felt the same way. She was not only determined to win this new game, she would find a way to free Evelyn’s friends and the pirate. Benny looked at the base of the statue for anywhere that had seams Evelyn could have used to slip something inside the base. There were none. “I don’t think she would have dug into the ground, right? Because anyone could dig something up.”

“No, she’d have to put it in something more permanent.” Zara kneeled by a bench and peered underneath it as there was a rumble of thunder. Rain started to fall lightly.

Gil did the same with the nearest bench. Benny checked the third. There didn’t seem to be a compartment on them. She looked at the riddle again for clues.

“You don’t think she would have broken the monument itself, right?” Zara asked. “Like she did with the figurehead we found at the lighthouse?”