Page 16

Thirteen

Benny

Present Day

Zara arrived at Summerville in the middle of a sudden downpour. “My grandma dropped me off,” she told Benny. “She didn’t want me getting caught in the storm on my bike.” She shook out her long curly brown hair as a rumble seemed to rock the house.

Wally took her wet jacket and umbrella and offered her a warm cookie.

“Thanks,” she said and looked at Benny. “I like him.”

“Me too,” said Benny with a smile, and Wally winked at her.

“Eat your cookie and let’s go.” Ryan bounced up and down on his toes. He was clearly hopped up on sugar. “We have a riddle to solve.”

“Slow your roll. I have some news that might help.” Zara reached into her black backpack, covered in pins and patches, and pulled out a small stack of paper. “My grandma printed out these news articles from the Greenport Herald that were in the archives.” She looked at me. “Get this: looks like Elias Rudd, who owned the fish factory and the docks in the 1800s, blamed Evelyn for his son’s disappearance. Axel Rudd was never seen again after the Blood Orange Moon.”

Ryan stopped hopping. “He died because of the moon?”

“No, but the weather could have had something to do with it. Maybe he drowned.” Zara looked at Benny. “According to the archives, Axel Rudd went missing and was never found. Weirdly, he wasn’t the only kid to go missing around that time, but there’s not much known about the others.”

Benny glanced at the article. “Why would they only report Axel if there were others?”

Zara shrugged. “Maybe it’s because they weren’t from the richest family in town. Elias Rudd, however, pretty much ran Greenport and he was convinced Evelyn had something to do with his son’s disappearance.”

Benny held the printed page tighter. Evelyn knew Axel. Her new journal entry mentioned him calling on her. She also wrote about how he couldn’t find the island on his own and how she couldn’t stand him. Did she have something to do with his disappearance? “Did Evelyn ever publicly say if she knew what happened to Axel?” Benny asked calmly.

“Not that we could find,” Zara said, tapping the paper in Benny’s hands. “Her parents swore she was home the night Axel disappeared. He could have run off. Grams said kids did that back then, running off to the city. There was also an outbreak of whooping cough, which they called “the Cough” around that time. There were so many deaths between that and the Blood Orange Moon that not every person was accounted for.”

“But Elias was still convinced Evelyn knew something. Why?” Ryan wondered.

“That is where the story gets interesting.” Zara handed Benny more papers. “My grandma said she’s heard rumors for years about Evelyn and Axel searching for buried treasure together.” Her eyes flashed. “And not just any buried treasure; treasure that could make you immortal.”

“Like the Fountain of Youth?” Ryan asked, his eyes wide as rain began to pound the roof.

Zara grinned. “Bingo.” She looked at Benny. This is wild! For centuries people have gone in search of the Fountain of Youth, but I’ve never heard of it being tied to Long Island. I left a message for my parents though, asking if they ever heard anything about treasure rumored to be the Fountain of Youth. I don’t know if we’ll hear back from them though. Where they are in the British Virgin Islands has real spotty Wi-Fi.”

Benny glanced at the headline for the missing Axel Rudd. There was also an article about a Cough outbreak in Greenport. Obviously, nothing about a Fountain of Youth. But…could the rumors Zara’s grandma heard be true? Is that why Evelyn wanted her to find the island?

“Does Evelyn mention any of this in her journal?” Ryan asked.

“Nothing about a Fountain of Youth,” Benny said, being truthful. She felt a twinge of guilt again for not sharing the entries with them. Zara hadn’t asked, but Ryan had. The journals felt too personal to share yet.

“Her letter just talks about how important it is that I find the island by the deadline,” Zara said, thinking aloud. “She also mentions a curse, but I don’t know what she means by that. Do you?”

Benny shook her head. Evelyn had used the word “curse” before, but Benny still didn’t know what it meant. Suddenly she felt more confused than ever. Maybe it would help if she shared the pages. Evelyn said to be careful who you trust , she reminded herself. “The last journal page I read talks about Aggy, Evelyn’s best friend, coming to find her when she snuck off to talk to Kimble.”

“Aggy…” Zara thought for a moment. “What’s her last name?”

“Evelyn doesn’t give one, which is odd, because everyone else she writes about has a last name,” Benny said, realizing this aloud. That was odd, wasn’t it?

“Aggy No Last Name. This story gets more and more interesting by the moment,” Zara said as the lights in the house flickered from the storm. “Evelyn is tricky to figure out.”

“So are her riddles,” Ryan said. “And Benny won’t get more journal pages to read till we solve the next riddle.”

Benny shifted from one foot to the other, feeling uncomfortable. Why was she keeping the journal pages to herself? Was it Evelyn’s warning? Or something else bothering her? What’s wrong with me? she wondered. Here she was, keeping the journal pages from them, and all Zara and Ryan wanted to do was help her. The lights flickered again.

“Don’t worry! We have a pretty good generator!” Wally called from the other room.

Evelyn , Benny thought, what are you not telling me? She glanced at a painting of a black bird on the entrance hall wall and wondered who this “Sparrow” really was. She didn’t want to think the worst of her ancestor, but this new information about Axel Rudd going missing when he was with Evelyn made her a little uneasy. Evelyn was keeping secrets, and Benny was determined to find out what they were. “Ryan’s right. If we want answers, we need to solve this riddle.” Benny pulled the key out of her pocket. “Something in this house must fit this key.”

Wally walked over with a tray of cups and a pitcher of iced tea, and stared at the key. “That looks mighty old.”

“It was Evelyn’s,” Benny explained. “Any ideas on where to look? We’ve tried all the locks we can find here. Maybe this comes from the inn?”

Wally shook his head. “The inn was built much later. The oldest building is this house.” He peered closer at it. “Did you try the attic?”

Benny did a double take. “The house has an attic?”

The lights flickered some more, and the rain sounded like someone had dropped a bucket of nails on the roof.

“Wow, it’s getting bad out there,” Ryan said nervously.

Wally put down the tray and started walking toward the stairs. “Part of the rules of the house: Evelyn’s trust says the attic’s contents can’t be removed.”

“So things belonging to Evelyn are still up there?” Benny asked, excitement mounting as she rushed after him with Zara and Ryan right behind her. She grabbed her camera from a table by the stairs. “Are there doors up there? Or doors with no locks that need a key?” Her heart was thumping now. She was getting closer.

Wally chuckled. “Why don’t you check? The space isn’t finished, so I’ve had no need to go up there myself.” He reached the second-floor landing, then headed down the hall, while Benny and her friends followed.

Thunder cracked, and Ryan banged into Benny as the lights went out for a second, then came on again. It was darker on the second floor than it was downstairs.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go up to the attic until after the storm passes?” Ryan suggested. “In case the lights go out.”

“Are you kidding? When there is an attic to explore that possibly has all the answers?” Zara said, looking a bit like her grandmother in that moment.

“Yeah, we can’t wait when we’re running out of time,” Benny said as the lights flickered again and the ground beneath them seemed to rumble like a freight train.

Wally made it to the end of the hall and opened a large closet, then turned on the light. Benny held her breath, hoping to see an attic door needing a key. Instead, she saw a small square opening above their heads with a pull string. No key required. Wally yanked on it, and very narrow metal stairs unfolded like an accordion. The lights went out again and back on.

“But maybe we should turn on our phone flashlights,” Benny suggested.

“And take the cookies,” Ryan said, and she turned to see he’d brought the plate with him.

Wally held the stairs steady. “Be careful. I don’t want to tell your parents that someone got hurt up there.”

Benny went first. Zara was right behind her. “Wish us luck, Wally.”

“What if there are spiders up there? There has to be spiders, don’t you think?” Ryan asked, joining the climb. Benny could hear the wind howling now.

“There’s definitely going to be spiders,” Zara said with glee. “I’ll protect you.”

Just then the thunder boomed so loud, it sounded like the storm was directly over the house now. Ryan whimpered.

“Ryan, don’t be a baby. It’s just a storm.” Zara pressed the flashlight button on her phone and shined it upward as she reached the top step. Benny helped her up. “This isn’t…creepy at all.” Zara’s voice sounded funny now too.

Benny turned on the flashlight button on her phone and held it out to see the attic. The narrow room had low eaves and a chimney at one end of the room. Two small windows at each end of the attic barely provided any light. With their flashlights, Benny could make out several trunks, furniture covered by sheets, and paintings. A mixture of heat and musty old-stuff smell was converging in the space. The sound of rain was louder too.

“Yes! There’s a light switch,” said Ryan, pulling the chain on the single bulb in the center of the room. The light flickered on and off and popped, plummeting the room back into darkness.