Naki turned toward her. “Your mother had one perspective.Your father might have had another. A family is like a big house. Each person peers into it from a different window and sees a different view.” His voice was calm, but the words had weight, as if he was offering her a view into a world she hadn’t considered.
She shrugged, but it was a shrug that felt hollow. All those years, her dad knew where she was. “Why were you coming to get me?”
“Ranger Rivers has the envelope.”
“So let’s go get it. See if Chase missed any clues.” She glanced up at the sky. “There’s still plenty of daylight left.”
“There’s no longer a need to hurry.” He gave a slight shake of his head. “Chase got the envelope first and went straight to the newspaper. He’s running the story tomorrow morning.”
Scout looked out at the water. She wasn’t entirely surprised. She took a deep breath and reached into her ranger hat, pulling out the two small brass boxes tucked neatly inside, handing them to him. “Well, at least two clues can be checked off the list.”
Naki turned them over in his hands. “How did you locate them?”
“I tried to think the way you thought. To look for the nuance.” She grinned, and he grinned back, andgood night! The stern look left, replaced by tenderness. She had to make herself look away, just to keep her thoughts on track. “The one at Cadillac Mountain was a little tricky. Chase was sure the clue meant the summit area, but I did what you suggested and went below the summit and waited for the sunrays to hit the boulders. One boulder sort of jumped out at me.”
“Well done.” He had an approving look in his eyes.
“And I found the other one there near the tide pools.” She pointed, but they were no longer visible. The tide had swept in and hidden them.
“What was the clue?”
She pulled a piece of paper out of her shirt pocket and read the clue: “‘Where the earth bows to the sea, and the sands stretch pale beneath the crag’s shadow, seek where the waters gather to cradle the light of the sun and moon.’ Chase was focused on the crag’s shadow—so we were climbing in the direction of an eagle crag.”
“Extremely dangerous.”
Sure was, especially in a lightning storm.“Then, after Chase left, I was on the trail and, well, I got kinda stuck at a spot.” She skipped the part about shouting at the Almighty. “I looked down at the ocean, and the clue suddenly seemed as clear as day. The waters gathering, the sands stretch pale. I came down the trail and went straight to Sand Beach. It was hidden in a clever spot—tide pools below, but in a crevice facin’ the beach, which would have protected it from waves and weather.”
“And in a place where a woman’s hand could have hidden it.”
She held up her hand. “Exactly right. Small but not too small.”
“Thanks to my partner’s research efforts, we think we know why she did it.” He shifted on the sand to face her. “Scout, I’d like you to come to Penobscot Indian Island.”
Oh, she wouldlovethat! “When?”
“Now.”
“Now?” Why not? Since there wasn’t pressure to find the rest of the gold, she did have time to spare. By tomorrow, she’d probably be back to leading Baker Island tours, and she wouldn’t see much of Naki again—if at all.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pink ribbon, gathering her hair to tie it back. As she looped the fabric into place, she became aware of his gaze—not just watching, but lingering. “I lost my ribbon up on the trail,” she said lightly. “But I remembered to carry a spare.”
Still, he watched her.
There was something different in his expression now, something softer. The usual intensity in his eyes hadn’t faded, but a warmth had crept in alongside it, as if he were seeing her in a way she hadn’t expected. She would have given anything to know what he was thinking. She fit her ranger hat on, and Naki looked away. The moment was over.
“I’d like to take the gold to Ranger Rivers first. And I need to ask him if it would be okay to use the jeep for non-park business.”
“This errandispark business.” Naki rose to his feet and reached down to give her a hand. “First stop: Ranger Rivers’s office. Then to Penobscot Indian Island. There’s someone special to me whom I’d like you to meet.”
Someone special to him? Someone like ... Naki’s partner. That thought sank like a stone in her heart.
Maisie pressed her phone to her ear, walking slowly on the Village Green as she waited for a bus to arrive. “It’s just a big mess here, Mom. Pops is in amood.” She scuffed her sneaker against a crack in the sidewalk. “Frankie looks at every girlbutme.”
“Hold on. Frankie?Frankie Franklin from Grand Teton?He’s in Acadia? The same Frankie Franklin you never stop talking about? Maisie, you never told me he was going to be there.”
Maisie winced. Yeah, she had left that part out when she campaigned to visit Pops.
“What does Frankie have to say about his dad?”
