Page 47 of The Curse Breaker

“Kimble,” Grace said under her breath. “Give it to me.”

“Don’t!” Gil said before Benny could stop him.

Ryan frowned. “There was no riddle? Evelyn always gives a riddle.”

It made Benny sad to think she’d considered Ryan a friend once. Now she saw his only goal was to help himself. Benny’s heartbeat was fluttering fast as she handed Grace the box, and the woman studied it from all angles, then opened it and revealed the velvet sack with blank pages inside. “Can we go now?”

“Go,” Grace said. “You will be seeing me again soon.” She grinned triumphantly. “And just know, if I beat you to whatever Evelyn hid, your deal with Vivian expires, and you’ll have to deal with me instead.”

“That isn’t what we—” Vivian started to say.

Grace dismissed her. “Understood?”

Benny maintained eye contact with Grace, refusing to look away first. She also refused to acknowledge her threat. “Good luck,” she said instead and led the others over to their bikes. They were all quiet as they biked down the lane, afraid to even speak till they were off Rudd property. Benny felt like her legs might give out from under her.

“That was terrifying,” Gil said with a shudder.

“How did Kimble deal with her?” Zara wanted to know. “She’s a menace.”

“I know. Let’s get out of here so we can read the pages,” Benny told them. “My house isn’t far.” Evelyn’s house, she corrected herself. Evelyn’s. Evelyn’s. You haven’t won anything yet.

They didn’t stop till they hit the gravel driveway. They put the bikes in the garage and headed inside. The house was quiet, her mom and Wally both out, which was good. They had the place to themselves. Benny grabbed a writing pad and a pen and got out her phone to look at the screenshots.

“Do you think they’ll figure out Sparrow used invisible ink?” Gil asked.

“Grace will probably figure it out before Ryan, but yes, eventually,” Zara agreed. “We need to move fast.”

Benny felt ill. “Should we read the journal pages first or decipher the clue?”

“The clue will take longer. Let’s quickly read the diary first,” Zara suggested.

They read quickly, the tide clock on the mantel annoyingly reminding them of the passing of time. Evelyn wrote about Charlotte (who they now knew was Grace) having a piece of treasure and offering to help her get back on the island after it disappeared. Was that really possible? The second entry was about the Rudds showing up at Evelyn’s looking for Axel. Things got heated. Zara let out a small yelp.

“The ‘don’t trust her’ note we found is about Grace!” she exclaimed and made a mind-blown gesture. “I can’t believe it.”

“Either can I,” Benny agreed, her heart pumping hard. She looked at Gil. “Did you know Winks could get on and off the island?”

“I didn’t,” Gil said, looking shell-shocked. “I don’t think Laurel or Thomas knew either.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But if the cat could carry notes on and off, who’s to say this was the only note she carried?”

“That’s what I was thinking too!” Zara said with glee. “Winks could be like a carrier pigeon!”

Benny jotted down more notes. “That means Aggy and Evelyn could have kept up a correspondence the whole time Sparrow was alive.” She shot a look at Gil. “I mean…”

Gil’s face crumpled. “It’s alright. I thought that too, which feels unfair. How could Aggy keep that from us?”

“I’m sure Aggy and Evelyn had their reasons,” Benny said, squeezing his hand.

“Perhaps.” Gil swallowed hard, lost in thought.

“I was just thinking about that red cord we saw around Wink’s neck—maybe that has something to do with him being able to get on and off the island. Wasn’t there a charm hanging from it?” Zara asked suddenly. “Did you have pet tags in the eighteen hundreds?” she asked Gil.

“Yes,” he said. “Not all animals, of course, but I knew some that did.”

Zara wrote down pet tag on a sticky note. “We need to see that tag.”

“I don’t think I ever looked at it,” Gil told them. “What about Grace? If she reads Sparrow’s diary about Aggy warning Evelyn who she really is…”

Grace can’t beat us to the treasure. “What we need to do is decipher the riddle fast,” Benny realized. “Let me read it aloud.” Benny looked at the page on her phone.