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“He promised not to eat any of your berries,” Simon replied.
The old woman scowled. “There’s something about that boy. I still don’t like him,” she mumbled before returning to her house.
Simon and Mia laughed as Charlie shook his head. “It was just a couple of berries. Why can’t that woman understand that I was a hungry growing boy.”
“Come on,” Simon said. “The footmen have checked the area and there is no sign of anyone nearby.”
Mia picked up a shovel and then scanned the area to determine the last place she dug. She’d marked it mentally by the right side of the cottage. Twenty paces from that. Today, she walked thirty paces from the house.
“Mia, how deep do you normally dig?” Charlie asked.
“No more than a foot.” She turned her head back to him and noticed he measured off the distance of a foot between his hands and showed Simon. When Simon saw her gaze, his cheeks turned red with embarrassment. Was this an issue related to his difficulties with mathematics? He was a very intelligent man and had talent with his landscapes.
Mia returned to digging her area to lessen Simon’s discomfiture. She’d never heard of a person with difficulties like his. Her mother’s books might shed a clue onto what is causing the problem, or at least give him some comfort if there was nothing to be done about it. There was a child of a former tenant who had a similar issue with words and reading. That boy had also been extremely intelligent but had difficulties learning from books.
After scooping out a pile of dirt, Mia bent down and searched the pile. A few pebbles and rocks but nothing much was in the soil. She searched the hole and found nothing there either. The next hour went the same way, many holes but nothing of any value. Unfortunately, neither had Simon or Charlie.
“This is mad,” Charlie said, tossing his shovel to the ground. “There is nothing here!”
Mia understood his frustration better than anyone. “Charlie, I’ve dug this land many times. I have only found four items. It takes time and patience to dig and discover something.”
“Who’s to say there is anything left to find? For all we know, Lambert or Davies already found the rest of the gems.”
Simon shook his head. “I doubt it, Charlie. The only disturbed land was this general area.” He pointed to land directly behind Mrs. Perkins’s home. “I think we need to spread out more. If this was an encampment, there could be items over a much larger area of land.”
Charlie nodded sharply before picking up his shovel again. “Very well, I shall dig over here.”
They dug for a few more hours before giving it up for the day. Maybe Charlie was right and there was no more treasure. Mia sighed as she placed her shovel in the small outbuilding. Her back and arms ached from the exertion, which seemed all for naught. The only one who seemed unaffected by their disappointing day was Simon.
“Why aren’t you upset that we didn’t find anything?” She asked as he assisted her onto her horse.
“Because unlike you and Charlie, I never expected we would find anything. I used to gamble, Mia. What are the chances that we would find something valuable in all this land?”
Mia nodded. “I suppose quite small.”
“What you found in the past was purely luck.” He jumped up on his horse and led the mare around.
She didn’t want to believe him. Something deep inside her told her there was more out here.
“Besides, this land is vast. If there had been a battle here, more would have been uncovered when they tilled for the spring crops.” Simon urged his horse to
a slow trot.
She hated when logic overran her feelings but Simon made far too much sense. Charlie rode ahead at a fast gallop either out of frustration or to give them some peace. It didn’t matter which was the reason, Mia enjoyed the slow trot home.
Home.
“What are you thinking about? You have the oddest look on your face.”
“I was just thinking that we were heading for home. It’s rather strange to think of your big house as home.”
“It will be in just a few days.”
“I know.”
Simon pulled up and grabbed the reins of her horse. “Are you all right with this idea of marriage?”
She reached over and caressed his cheek with her gloved hand. “Yes. Can we walk home? I need to stretch my limbs.”
