“On a mattress in the living room.” For now.
“Thank you for protecting my friend.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Before she could ask him any more questions, he said, “I called Tess, but she wouldn’t tell me anything. Did she find the passenger list?”
“Yeah, she emailed it to me yesterday. Give me a second and I’ll forward you a copy.”
Sounds of typing in the background. “I had a quick look and narrowed down the names, but I haven’t cross-referenced anything.”
“I’ll do it today,” Arthur said as he turned on his laptop. “Jordan found my notes and while he promised not to tell anyone, I’m not sure whether he’ll be able to resist telling Cody.”
“Crap,” Amy said. “Those kinds of rumours will spread faster than the flu at school.”
“I know.” The email arrived in his inbox, and he scanned the contents, pulling out his list and circling those names that weren’t on the passenger manifest. He lined them up with the notes of meanings and anagrams he’d already come up with and grinned, his heart racing. “They’re directions.”
“What?” Amy gasped.
“I’d guess the starting point is from the plaque,” he continued, scribbling his best guess on a clean sheet of paper. As the excitement built, he gathered his notes and laptop, and placed them in his bag. “Can I come out?”
“The others will be disappointed if we do it without them,” Amy said. “We’ve been looking for this for months.”
The urgency still beat at him. “I might be wrong,” Arthur said. “There are a couple of possibilities, and we can narrow them down while the others are at work. Save some time.” He’d have a couple of hours at the Ridge before he had to pick up Jordan from school.
“Do you have a car?”
“Sam’s is here.” And while it was an automatic, he hadn’t tried to drive it yet. It would be tricky with his leg, but he might be able to use his left foot instead. The road was fairly straight and there wouldn’t be much traffic. He hesitated, but the urgency still prodded him. He’d work something out.
“Why don’t you meet me at the gulf?” Amy suggested. “There’s a track you can take that will lead you there, so it won’t take as long. I’ll send you a mud map.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Arthur found Sam’s car keys and dumped his bag in the back seat. Then he added a couple of shovels to the tray and a few other tools they might need. He checked his phone and found the map Amy had sent. Shouldn’t take too long.
He hung up and grinned. He was going treasure hunting.
***
Arthur bumped along the track, running through the clues in his head, trying to figure out the best way to put them together. When he arrived at the gulf, he saw a dust plume coming from the direction of the Ridge. Amy was almost here. He set an alarm on his phone, so he didn’t forget when he needed to leave to pick up Jordan.
He got out and scanned the surroundings, taking his time, noting the empty beach, no movement on the island except for shrubs swaying in the breeze, and nothing except the dust plume on the land. In the distance to the west, the sky was dark, probably clouds forming for the storm that was forecast tonight. He frowned. He wouldn’t have expected them to form this early, but he wasn’t familiar with the climate up here. Opening his phone to check the weather app, he found he had no reception.
Damn.
Arthur wandered over to study the plaque again. The additional names were on opposite sides of the plaque, and their locations could be an extra clue.
Amy pulled up next to Sam’s car and got out, striding over to him. “Explain it to me.”
He showed her his notes and pointed to the names. “They might be the pacing from the plaque.”
She shook her head. “No, look at the way they’re laid out. More likely they’re a mirror of the instructions.”
She was right. “Are we going to test it?”
Amy hesitated only for a second. “All right, but no digging.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it.
A rush of love filled him. This was their adventure, their opportunity to do something together, just the two of them, and maybe build their relationship. They counted the paces, turning right and then left, and ended up about thirty metres away from the ocean, on a small mound behind the dunes and staring out at the scrubby trees and grasses. Amy brushed away some sand, but there was nothing but more sand.
The urge to dig was strong. “What do you think?”
Amy screwed up her face, her temptation clear. She sighed. “Lara would disown me if I did this without her.”
