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Alyssa popped up from the table and wandered around it, gaping at something on the far wall.
“What’s wrong?” Maggie followed her lead, walking alongside her until they reached an ornate cabinet, one meant for display rather than proper storage. It stood on the far end of the dining room, featuring some of the most gorgeous china Nancy had ever seen— probably worth much more than the beautiful china they currently ate on. It was probably hundreds of years old.
“Look at this,” Alyssa said, pointing at a crest at the very top of the cabinet, beneath which was a keyhole. “It’s the secret society’s crest.”
Beside her, Kostos abruptly stood from his seat, his hand around his neck. “Does this have something to do with your scavenger hunt?”
Maggie turned to nod. “We found a photograph of our grandmother wearing this crest. Behind that photograph was a key.”
Alyssa pulled a necklace out from beneath her dress, on which hung a very old, ornate key. She then whipped the necklace from her neck, placed the key in the keyhole, and turned slowly. Everyone in the dining room watched, captivated, as the cabinet opened to reveal a small, ornate box.
“Oh my gosh!” Janine cried.
Alyssa’s hands shook as she removed the box from the cabinet and carried it toward the dining room table. From the kitchen came the sound of Rico announcing, “Five minutes till dessert! Prepare your palates!” Nobody responded.
“This is it,” Alyssa breathed. “The next clue.”
“Or maybe it’s the final one?” Janine suggested, hopefully.
Slowly, Alyssa removed the top of the box. In the box was a folded-up map, incredibly old, an antique, which she unfurled very gently. Upon the map, someone had drawn driving instructions, directly from outside of Venice, to the countryside outside of Florence, where there was a dramatic X in black ink.
“It’s like a treasure map!” Nancy said.
“There’s something else,” Alyssa said, reaching for another folded-up piece of ancient paper. Again, she unfolded it to reveal blueprints for what looked like an enormous villa— four stories, sprawling grounds and gardens, a ballroom, three kitchens, and twenty-two guest bedrooms. It was captivating.
“Look at what it’s called,” Maggie whispered.
“Paradiso Terrestre!” Alyssa cried, her eyes widening as she turned to Nancy to explain. “That was the painting we saw in the Gallerie dell’Accademia!”
“This house must have been built where that X is on the map,” Janine said.
“And it must have belonged to Teresa,” Alyssa breathed. “We have to go there. We have to see it! It’s a part of our inheritance. I know it.”
ChapterFifteen
Janine and Nancy went to the pastry shop the following morning to get everyone breakfast. Janine couldn’t help but watch her mother’s face as they breezed through the city, taking it all in as they went, her eyes alight and her smile never fading. When they reached the bakery, Janine impressed Nancy by ordering in Italian, then shrugged and said, “We’ve been here long enough for me to figure that out. But I can’t begin to have a real conversation.”
In fact, everything about the morning felt exquisite and completely gorgeous, until they walked through the front door of the villa and heard Alyssa sobbing.
“Alyssa?” Janine hurried through the foyer and ducked into the kitchen to find Alyssa at the counter, her hands over her eyes as her shoulders shook.
“They’re gone. They’re gone,” she muttered over and over again, at a loss.
Janine and Nancy looked at one another with confusion.
“Who’s gone, honey?” Janine asked.
“The blueprints! And the map.” Alyssa threw her hands down and glared at them. “Did you leave the front door open? Did someone come in?”
Janine was flustered. “I’m sure you just put them somewhere else?”
“I put them with the Italian books from the library,” Alyssa said.
There was a creak on the staircase, and a moment later, Maggie appeared, looking stricken.
“What’s going on? I heard screaming.”
Alyssa explained the situation: the lost map and blueprints, the assumption that someone had entered the house when Janine and Nancy had gone out for breakfast, and now, the fear: “Whoever took them is on their way to the house right now. Maybe there’s something there. A historical document, or something the secret society wants to hide, or some kind of treasure?”Alyssa made a fist. “It means that someone was watching us. Someone wanted us to lead them to the next clue.” Her face was stony. “Maybe it was Rico? He was here last night, watching us.”
