Inside the small bathroom, she took a moment to calm her pounding heart. It wasn’t fair his touch affected her like this. He didn’t get short of breath or all tingly when he saw her.
She wet her hands and used the water to dampen the more significant clumps of hair sticking out, and used her fingers to comb through it. The blue had seemed like a good idea, but it faded quickly, particularly because she spent most of her days in the ocean. Perhaps next time she went to the hairdresser she should go back to her natural light brown tones.
With her hair as tamed as it was going to get, she left the bathroom and trekked across the red dirt to the homestead. Maggie was begging for breakfast at a camp site with younger kids who were already awake, and Flotsam and Jetsam were resting under a tree.
Voices floated out of the house through the fly screen door. Bennett ate his breakfast on the verandah. He wagged his tail as he saw Georgie and she patted him before slipping inside to find the kitchen full. Her family was always up at this time. Work started at first light to get as much done as they could before the heat of the day hit, and it was an hour’s drive into town where Lara went to school. Even Ed and Tess were awake and dressed, but Georgie put it down to Tess’s excitement at the treasure hunt because Ed was not a morning person.
Lara handed Matt a mug of coffee and then spotted Georgie and held up the other mug she’d made. “Here you go, Georgie.”
“Thanks, La La.” Georgie sniffed the strong aroma before taking her first sip and wandering to the table. Brandon, Darcy and Amy were hunched over a photocopy of the journal they’d made last night while Ed read the copy of the Dutch captain’s journal.
They hadn’t finished when Darcy had ordered Lara to bed. “Find anything interesting?” Georgie asked.
“Yeah. After he was rescued, he lied about the exact location of the shipwreck. In those days, the people in charge only dealt with the captains. He was planning to return at a later date to take the treasure for himself.”
That was interesting.
“But what about the other sailors on board?” Matt placed bread into the toaster. “They would have known about it.
Ed smiled. “The captain salvaged and buried the treasure at night when the others were asleep. Only he knew he was carrying such precious cargo.”
Darcy frowned. “But the company would have known he was lying when they got there and found no treasure.”
“When they returned to the wreck, they probably thought someone else had beaten them to it,” Tess said.
“The journal ends the day before he leaves on the salvage mission,” Ed said. “He says if he doesn’t return, he’s left clues in his journal for his family.”
“What are the clues?” Lara said.
Ed shook his head. “If they’re in there, I missed them. Maybe they’re lost in translation.”
“They must be there if Lilian found them.” Matt took the toast that popped up, and added two more slices to the toaster. He handed Georgie one piece of toast and sat at the table to spread his slice with butter.
Her heart clenched as she passed him Vegemite and got jam for herself. She’d bet her car he didn’t realise how much the subconscious action meant to her.
“Can we go yet?” Lara asked.
“We need to decide where to search,” Faith said. “We can’t dig up the whole Ridge.”
“Does it say how deep they buried it?” Georgie asked.
“No,” Tess answered.
This was like looking for a needle in a quarter of a million acre piece of land.
“It might be over by the windmill,” Darcy said. “There’s an old well which probably dates to Lilian’s era and some bush tomatoes grow there.”
“What about the shelter aspect?” Faith asked.
“It’s close enough to the house.”
“Not that close,” Georgie said.
“There has to be something marking the spot, otherwise they’d never have found it again,” Amy pointed out.
She was right. It was a long shot, but they had to start somewhere—and Lara was dancing around the kitchen, too excited to sit. If nothing else, it would burn some of her energy.
“Let’s go!” Lara shouted.
