Mansion?â I asked. âWhy did it go to Beedie and Japhet?â
âJaphet had connections. He got his magistrate friend to declare Phinny dead on the strength of the hand and Tom Tempestâs account. Besides, Phinny was a pirate, an outlaw. If he ever did come home, he never showed his face.â
âWhat happened to his treasure?â asked Cole.
âNobody knows anything for sure,â said my cousin. âJust rumors.â
âWhatâs the treasure supposed to be? Jewels? Pieces of eight?â
She shrugged. âAll I know is the story: Thereâs supposed to be hidden treasure,â said my cousin. âMaybe even a map.Nobodyâs ever found either one, though.â
âCan we look?â Cole flashed his magic smile at Cousin Hepzibah.
âPlease doâI hope you find it. Sukie, dear, why donât you show Cole around?â
âRight now? Itâs almost dinnertime, and I have a lot of homework,â I said.
âNext time, then,â said my cousin, holding out her hand to Cole. âIt was lovely to meet you, child. Come again soon.â
âThanks, I will. I canât wait to see more of this house. I always knew it would be cool in here, but I had no idea
how
cool.â
âIâll show you out,â I said.
â¢Â â¢Â â¢
âWhat are you doing here
really
, Cole?â I asked as soon as we were out of the room. âAre you after Cousin Hepzibahâs treasure?â
âDepends what you mean by
after
. You said your family needed money. If we find it, you could get a phone and we could text each other like normal people. Maybe you could even buy back your old house.â
The thought made me ache with longing, as if someone was squeezing formaldehyde through my own heart. âExcept itâs
Cousin Hepzibahâs
treasure, if it even exists.â
âI bet she would use it to help you, though. She seems really nice. You sure we donât have time for a little look around before I go?â
âSorry.â
âAll right, see you in the morning, then. Oh, wait.â He dugin his book bag and pulled out my lab notebook. âBetter take care of this. Ms. Pitch would kill us if we lose all that dataâwe only get one heart.â
â¢Â â¢Â â¢
âI like your friend,â said Cousin Hepzibah when I came back. âWhat a thoughtful young man. Handsome, too, and so fond of you.â
âFond of
me
?â
âOf course. Didnât he come out of his way to return your notebook? He says heâs been making better grades in science since you became his lab partner.â
âHe told you that? I donât know, Cousin Hepzibah. Iâm not sure I trust him. He and his friends used to call me names and throw food at me in the cafeteria. They didnât stop until Kitty gave them food poisoning. She really doesnât like him.â
Cousin Hepzibah shrugged. âWell, thatâs ghosts. They canât change, so they donât understand when the living do.â
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Thorne Mansion Library
I spent the next few afternoons after school searching the Thorne Mansion library for clues to Hepzibah Toogoodâs treasure.
The library was a large, dark room that was lined floor to ceiling with bookcases. Ladders rolled along a railing so you could reach the upper shelves. A pair of old armchairs covered in cracked green leather flanked the fireplace, and inlaid cabinets guarded the windows, making deep nooks for window seats. With a few more lamps and a lot less dust, I thought, I could make it into a very inviting room.
I found a pair of table lamps made from Chinese vases in the attic and brought them downstairs. They threw cozy circles of light.
My Thorne ancestors loved to read everything, apparently: sermons, essays, and poetry, but especially fiction. They favored American writers. Their shelves were crammed with multivolume sets of Hawthorne,
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker