“Well, now you know, but further talk of your sister’s gifts will need to wait because we have numerous matters to attend to before we head off on a mission to find Norma Jean, who has certainly outdone herself this time.”
“Neither you nor Annaliese will need to go after Norma Jean,” Seth said.
It was less than encouraging when his mother sent him a rolling of her eyes even as Annaliese crossed her arms over her chest.
“There’s every need because Norma Jean ran away on my watch,” Annaliese argued before she lifted her chin. “As a co-headmistress, even a temporary one, it’s my job to return her to Chicago, and hopefully do so in a timely fashion. It’ll hardly benefit the academy’s reputation if it becomes known we have the propensity for losing students and don’t bother to retrieve them.”
“I believe I can help with that timely business,” Louisa said, sending a nod to Annaliese. “I got a good look at the three maps on that desk, and I know which one I would have pursued—the one that leads to some uncharted islands down past the Keys.Since I mentioned it seemed the most credible of the three maps to Norma Jean, I’m sure that’s the one she decided to follow.”
“Why would you think that map was the most credible?” Seth asked.
“Because I’ve read more than a few articles about pirate history around the Keys, and that’s where I would have buried a treasure if I’d been a pirate.”
“I suppose it’s a place to start,” Annaliese said before she squared her shoulders. “And now, if all of you will excuse me, I need to find my mother and Seraphina and explain this new development. After that, I’ll fetch those copies of the maps Drusilla left behind in case something happened to her and then pack a bag.”
Velma released a bit of a hiccup. “You won’t be able to fetch the map you need, Miss Merriweather, because Norma Jean wandered into Mrs. Whittenbecker’s office earlier today and borrowed it, although know that she has every intention of returning it once she returns from what she’s calling her quest.”
“I must say it does appear as if Norma Jean believes she’s dotted all her i’s and crossed all her t’s,” Louisa began before her eyes began to twinkle. “But unfortunately for her, even though I’m sure she took the map so we wouldn’t be able to follow her, what she doesn’t know is that she inherited her gift of memorization from me.”
Seth blinked. “You have a gift for memorization?”
“Indeed, and that gift can be evoked by me simply closing my eyes, which will then allow every detail on that treasure map I glimpsed to come into focus. I can then pen a quick sketch of it, and once I’ve done that, as well as packed a bag of course, we can get on our way to fetch Norma Jean home because yes, I’m coming with you, and no, that’s not up for debate.”
Sixteen
Annaliese shifted on the seat of the Pullman car, one she felt as if she’d been sitting on for months instead of a few days, setting aside the glass container that held the spiders that had finally emerged from the sac Seth had given her before they’d left Chicago.
Normally, after she observed a spider for a day, two at the most, and then completed her notes and drawings, she returned it back into the wild. However, she found herself reluctant to part ways with these particular spiders as they were the sweetest little spiders she’d ever seen—although she knew full well that sweetness was a direct result of Seth having given them to her.
There was simply something about a gentleman who’d realized she would appreciate the spider sac over the crimson leaves he’d originally been intending to give her that left her feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, even with them being in the midst of what they’d been referring to as abring-Norma-Jean-homequest.
In all honesty, that quest was turning into a marathon event instead of the sprint they’d assumed it would be. The sprint assumption had been formed after they’d discovered exactly what train Norma Jean had taken that was bound for Florida—information they’d gleaned because Miranda, the mermaid lady,was a lady who attracted attention, and more than one person had seen her getting on a train with Norma Jean by her side.
Regrettably, by the time they’d been able to get two private Pullman cars—one being Seth’s and one loaned to them by Elena Zambarello, who’d been furious to learn the part two of her daughters had played in the skunk diversion plot—attached to a private engine, almost five hours had passed from the time Norma Jean’s train had departed from the station and Annaliese’s train got underway.
Given that their train, being private, wasn’t required to make any stops, Seth, after doing some of his mathematical calculations, figured that they’d be able to overtake Norma Jean’s train within two days’ time. However, even though his calculations had been accurate, and they’d caught up with Norma Jean’s train in Tennessee, they soon discovered that a wrench had been thrown into the mix because Norma Jean and Miranda had changed their travel plans and had departed from that particular train to board another.
Why they’d done that had been anyone’s guess, but precious hours had been spent trying to uncover exactly where they’d gone next until Flick, who’d decided to join them since he was currently unemployed and wanted to have an opportunity to see Miranda one last time, ran across another strongman who went by the name of Brutus at the Tennessee train station.
Brutus, it turned out, had always been infatuated with Miranda and hadn’t hesitated to tell Flick how he’d run across the woman he’d been dreaming about for years, and run across her in that very station.
Unfortunately for Brutus, Miranda hadn’t hesitated to turn down the man’s impromptu proposal of marriage, stating she was an independent working girl now—or more specifically, a reputable chaperone—on her way to escort her charge to Pensacola. According to Brutus, before he’d had time to plead his case regarding the whole marriage business, the young ladywho was with Miranda—that being Norma Jean, of course—hauled Miranda away from the strongman, saying something about their travel plans being on the hush-hush before they’d disappeared from Brutus’s sight.
Equipped with this latest information, Annaliese had been anxious to get back on the tracks, but, unfortunately, their departure got delayed after Harriet, being Harriet, tried to relieve a lady of her pearls while waiting to board a train and had been caught monkey handed.
Hysterics on the part of the pearl-clutching lady had immediately commenced, and it wasn’t as if Annaliese could blame her because it wasn’t a usual circumstance to be waiting for a train and have a monkey jump on your back.
Accusations had been hurled at Annaliese by the pearl-clutching lady, who’d decided that Annaliese was the mastermind behind Harriet’s attempted theft. Authorities had been summoned, but thankfully no charges had been filed after Annaliese offered to pay the lady a large sum for her troubles, as well as promised the lady she’d keep a closer eye on her misbehaving monkey.
After offering the lady one last apology, Annaliese had tugged a rather chagrined Harriet back to their Pullman car, which had gotten on the tracks again, this time heading toward Pensacola. Bad weather had then delayed their progress with catching up with Norma Jean, which was why they were still trundling toward Pensacola three days later.
“I think I’ve found something,” Louisa suddenly declared, drawing Annaliese’s attention before she gestured to one of the newspapers she’d been reading that she’d picked up at the train station in Tennessee. “It’s right there, the reason Norma Jean changed her route.”
Annaliese rose from her seat and walked over to Louisa, taking the newspaper and scanning the article Louisa pointed out to her. “What does a retired sea captain have to do with Norma Jean changing her plan?”
Louisa wrinkled her nose. “You need to read the entire article, dear, not simply skim it, because that particular sea captain now spends his retirement sailing wealthy adventure-seekers around the Gulf of Mexico.” She settled back against the settee. “I’m convinced, since Norma Jean is a voracious reader of newspapers, that she read this exact article at some point during her time on a train. She would have then realized that sailing through the Gulf of Mexico would get her to that unchartered island faster than if she sailed around the tip of Florida.” Louisa smiled. “After that, she would have realized, since she’s in possession of a great deal of Seth’s money, that she has the funds available to hire that retired sea captain.”
Annaliese frowned. “I suppose that’s plausible, but only if Norma Jean actually read that article, but ... if she’s capable of recalling everything she reads or sees, don’t you think she would have realized sooner that the Gulf of Mexico would get her to the island faster than sailing around the tip of Florida?”
