Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Thanks, Nana.”
I placed my tea on the counter before hurrying into the living room. The space smelled faintly of lemon polish and old books, sunlight cutting through lace curtains to scatter across the wooden floor. I crouched by the credenza, tugged open drawers, and sifted through layers of half-forgotten clutter—playing cards, old photographs, dice, a few scattered Scrabble tiles. Finally, under a stack of faded paper, I found a map.
The paper was creased and soft from age, marked with faint pencil lines and bright crayon swirls from when we were kids. Someone, probably me, had drawn a big X in purple where we thought the treasure might be. I smiled despite myself, running a thumb over the marks. “Thanks, Nana,” I called.
“Wait, don’t you want tea?” she hollered back.
I paused. “Oh. Yeah.”
She rolled her eyes as she came into the doorway, holding a travel mug. “You’d forget your own head if it wasn’t attached. Here.” She handed me a silver Yeti.
“Thanks,” I said, taking it gratefully. The mug was warm and heavy in my hands.
“Tell me you’re not going to do anything dangerous,” she said, giving me that sharp look only grandmothers could manage.
“Not at all,” I said honestly. In fact, I was probably on the wrong track. But still, it was all I had right now.
Her eyes narrowed. “Anna.”
“It’s just a theory.” I leaned in to kiss her nose. “Trust me, Nana.”
She sighed but smiled anyway. “All right. Stay out of trouble, would you?”
“I’ll do my best.”
My heart felt lighter as I jogged out the front door, steam from the mug rising in the crisp air. The sky was pale blue again, streaked with thin clouds that promised a calmer day. I took a long sip of the tea and hurried back to my Fiat, the map folded safely under my arm.
For the first time since the explosion, the fog in my mind started to clear. The map, the tunnels, and the missing boxes were all connected somehow. I didn’t have the full picture yet, but as I started the car and pulled onto the road, one thing was certain.
I was onto something.
Chapter 28
I drove down the river road, the tires hissing against wet pavement, and hooked left toward Shanty’s Peak. The rain had eased to a drizzle, soft and persistent, mist curling up from the trees. I’d ridden this route a hundred times on my bike as a kid while chasing legends, camping with cousins, pretending the hills held gold. But now, my hands stayed tight on the wheel, the folded map on the seat beside me tugging at my thoughts.
The lines on the paper were faint and warped with age, but the angles of the ridges matched the ones I knew by heart. It wasn’t labeled, but I was sure of it. It had to be Shanty’s Peak, close to Bear Mountain.
I slowed, squinting through the fogging windshield as the road narrowed and turned to gravel. When I spotted a faint turnoff that looked like it hadn’t seen a vehicle in months, I eased the Fiat to the side and cut the engine.
The silence hit first with the low whisper of the wind and the steady drip of water from the trees. I stepped out, boots sinking slightly into the muddy ground. The forest around me was dense, alive with the hush that comes after a storm.
Following the map’s faint lines, I moved between the trees. The ground was slick, the trail uneven. Ferns brushed against my jeans, and the scent of moss rose with every step. I searched for the two jagged rocks that had been drawn on the map, the ones my cousins and I had never found as kids. Back then, it had been a game. Now, it felt like something heavier.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, rolling low and slow across the valley. I kept walking until the path vanished into thick underbrush. My foot caught on a tree root, and I stumbled, catching myself against the rough bark of a cedar. Its trunk was wide and ancient, the kind of tree that had probably been standing when Silverville was still a mining camp.
Wait a minute. What was that?
I pressed a hand to the bark and just breathed for a moment, the rain pattering softly around me. Then I brushed bushes out of the way, finding a bear trap. An illegal one. Grabbing a stick, I wedged it between the trap’s teeth and snapped it shut.
Something rattled in the bush. Adrenaline flooded through me.
I glanced at a barely there trail leading into the trees and then paused, noting a weird wire strung inches off the ground. Taking a deep breath, I inched closer, bending down.
What would happen if someone accidentally tripped on the wire?
A bird cried in the distance.
Something loud sounded down the trail.
Instinct bellowed, and I ran. Fast and hard, back to my car. Who had booby-trapped that area?