Page 18

Fourteen

Benny

Present Day

“Did you see that?” Ryan was freaking out. “We got up to the attic and BOOM ! The lights go out. Creepy. Definitely creepy!”

“Or it was it just an old light bulb?” Zara guessed, but even Benny had to admit her heart was beating faster now.

“Power is out,” Wally called up to her. “I’ll see what’s taking the generator so long.”

“Great,” Ryan mumbled. “This sounds like the start to every horror movie.” He started to fan himself. “Is it hot up here? It feels hot up here. And sometimes when it’s hot or I get really anxious, I pass out.”

“Yeah, I remember that from science class,” Zara noted. “That day we were dissecting fetal pigs, I literally lifted my scalpel and boom ! You were out like a light.”

“Because it was hot,” Ryan said hurriedly. “Not because I was nervous about… Ugh. I can’t think about that day. The smell of formaldehyde alone…”

“Just focus on the riddle,” Benny told him, her voice soothing. “A door with no locks that needs a key to get through.”

“Even though it doesn’t make sense,” Zara reminded her.

“Good riddles are never easy,” Benny said, shining her light over several portraits. She picked up one to examine. It was a painting of a boy on a beach with sandy blond hair and a bright smile. In his hand was a small purple cloth pouch. The style of the painting was similar to the self-portrait Evelyn had done of herself that hung in the library. She saw the insignia on the bottom right: EVELYN TERRY 1850. That’s the same year the trust was made Benny realized She flipped it over to see if the painting had a fake back or any openings. That could be where the next answer was waiting. Nothing was there.

“Who is that?” Zara asked, shining a light on the canvas.

“I’m not sure, but it’s another one of Evelyn’s. She painted it the same year she set up the inheritance. I think she painted all of these.” There was another painting of two people behind the first one. These individuals were also on a beach. They looked older—a teen boy with brown hair wearing suspenders and a collared shirt, and a girl with long black hair, her arms wrapped around his waist. They were holding purple cloth bags too. The girl was looking up at the boy and smiling. It was also dated 1850.

“It feels like a series of paintings all with different people in the same spot on a beach. Maybe the island?” Zara crouched down and moved the painting aside to reveal another painting. This boy, with dark eyes and jet-black hair, had a serious expression. The sky above him was stormy like his eyes, which seemed angry. Unlike the others, he did not have a small bag in his hand.

“I think this is Axel Rudd,” Zara said. “There’s a drawing of him in one of the articles I gave you, and this is very similar.”

Benny’s felt her shoulders tighten. “It does look like him. That’s odd, right?”

“Odd to paint a picture of someone whose dad thinks you made him disappear?” Zara asked. “Yes.”

“Maybe she felt guilty,” Ryan suggested.

“Or she didn’t do it, and this proves he was her friend,” Zara argued.

Benny wasn’t sure either of them were right. Evelyn’s journal mentioned her not being fond of Axel. Why would she paint a portrait of him? We’re missing something. What are you trying to tell me, Evelyn? “Still not what we’re looking for though,” Benny reminded them and left the painting behind to sort through a box of mirrors and other trinkets. “Let’s spread out and search.”

They turned in different directions and began examining boxes. Their phone lights bounced off the walls as did the lightning, making Benny feel like they were at a light show. She was afraid to miss something, so she looked through every box of clothing, at every old toy and hat. They worked quietly for a bit, listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof. Thunder cracked loud overhead, and Ryan shrieked. The next sound Benny heard was breaking glass.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Ryan said as they all rushed over to see what he’d broken.

“RYAN!” Zara moaned again. “If you break something, Evelyn is going to haunt you!”

“Seriously?” Ryan asked, eyes wide. “You are kidding, right? Okay, I’m starting to feel woozy. The heat up here is getting to me.”

“There are no ghosts, Ryan.” Benny flashed her light on a coatrack, which held top hats and assorted ladies’ headpieces. “Just a lot of memories up here.” She leaned down and picked up the frame Ryan had knocked over. “Thankfully, you only broke a picture frame.”

“Which has a map of Long Island in it,” Zara pointed out.

Benny felt her fingers tingle. It was a map dated 1825. Was this Evelyn’s too? It had frayed edges, and one corner was burned. Even the ink on the map had started to fade. On the top right side of the map was a compass star, and there were small images of boats in the water. Benny spotted something peculiar.

“Look!” she said suddenly. In the center of the two forks was Shelter Island and a small island named Gardiner’s Island, but then there was another body of land right off of Greenport, and it had been labeled with an X and handwritten words: EVELYN’S ISLAND . “Here’s where she thinks the island is.” The island was tiny compared to Shelter Island and so close to the shore, it looked like one could swim to it. She lifted her camera from around her neck and took a picture of the map.

“There’s the island,” Zara marveled. “At least where Evelyn thinks it should be.”

“Maybe the key she left you is a metaphor for a map key?” Ryan was wearing one of the top hats from the coatrack. “I mean it’s a map with Evelyn’s island on it, so technically that’s a key, right?”

“I see your point, but I don’t think so. The key has to fit a lock.” She checked the back of the map, but it was clear. “No. If this is where the answer to the riddle is hiding, there has to be something up here we’re still missing.”

THUD.

Something hard, like a tree branch, had fallen on the roof.

Ryan stumbled backward, the hat tumbling off him as he crashed into a piece of furniture behind him. He reached out to stop himself from falling and wound up grabbing the sheet over the furniture instead. He yanked it clear before he fell.

“Ryan! Again? Seriously!” Zara moaned.

“Wait! This could be good! Look at that dollhouse,” Benny said, feeling a prickling sensation in the back of her neck. “It is a miniature version of this house!” Her heart started to beat fast as she rushed over to examine it. “And it has a front door that has no lock, but…”

Zara gasped and dropped down beside her, examining the small doorknob on the door. “The knob has a picture of a key on it.”