Curse of the Granville Fortune (7 page)

“I’m not going to stand around and wait to be caught again,” Holly said, tugging on my arm. She turned to Noelle. “If you’re coming with us, then let’s go.”

I broke loose from Holly’s grip. “Hang on. Someone else came out of that tent.”

Noelle gulped. “It’s Morgan.”

He looked about fifty and wore a long trench coat. He had a red scarf around his neck and a large knife—twice the size of Garret’s—hanging from his belt. The knife wasn’t the most disturbing thing about him. He had enormous bushy black eyebrows that looked like giant caterpillars, a grisly black beard, and a mustache that curled at the ends.

Noelle, Holly, and I ducked behind the bushes.

“What do we have here?” Morgan asked, walking over to the fire.

“Sorry to wake you,” Garret said, “but I figured you’d want to hear what Bruce has to say as soon as possible.”

Morgan nodded and addressed my father. “I’m Morgan Grimault. My boys and I arrived about a month ago to search for the fortune my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Aristede hid in this forest. Edward tells me you’re the son of my father’s friend Eli, and you’ve brought me a piece of the map showing the location of the fortune.”

Dad stood up and removed a paper from his pocket. “That’s right. I know the search is a family affair, but my father came across this and asked me to bring it to you.” He handed the map to Morgan.

“Let’s see.” Morgan examined the map by the light of the fire.

“All of the maps are drawn to look slightly different than the real forest. Once we find all of the differences, we’ll know where to look for the fortune.” Morgan stroked his beard as he studied the paper.

“So, each map is part of a larger treasure map?” my dad asked.

“Exactly,” Morgan said, and his face twisted in anger. “This map wasn’t drawn by Aristede. He drew the first one, and I can’t locate the fortune without it. We must still be missing one map!” He threw the map to the ground and stormed back to his tent. Garret followed him. Trent shrugged and went into his own tent.

“I was certain I had the only remaining map,” Dad said. Worry lines creased his forehead.

“Dad’s been searching all his life for the maps his ancestors left behind,” Edward said. “They were hidden in places where only our family would find them.”

“Are they all drawings of the same part of the forest?” Dad asked.

“No. Each map shows a different section of the forest. They contain things that
aren’t
in the forest. The additional items are the clues to where the fortune is buried. The older maps are more difficult to read because the forest has changed over time, and some things that used to be in the forest might not be here now.”

“How do you know some maps are older than others? Weren’t they all drawn at the same time?”

Edward shook his head. “Aristede drew the first map, and with each generation of Grimaults, someone else has drawn a map. The fortune was meant to remain hidden until now.”

I turned to Holly. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would Aristede leave the fortune for someone else?”

“Maybe he wanted his family to be cursed like he was,” she said.

Noelle’s eyes widened. “How do you know they’re cursed?”

“Because we are, too. Thanks to our ancestor who stole the Granville fortune.” Holly practically spit the words out.

Noelle squinted at Holly, and this time I wasn’t sure what Holly had done to provoke it.

“Let’s just keep an eye on Dad,” I said, motioning toward the camp.

Edward was still explaining the maps. “My grandfather was the last person to draw a map. When he died, he left the map to my dad as the first clue to the location of the fortune.”

“How did each generation know what to draw?” my dad asked.

“They were each told a part of the story about the hidden fortune so that they could draw the necessary map. Aristede told Ulysses every part of the story except for what Aristede drew himself. Then, Ulysses told Gerard the remaining part of the story with the exception of what Ulysses and Aristede drew. And so on. No one, except for Aristede, ever knew the exact location of the fortune.”

“So if Aristede was Morgan’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, that means there must be a total of…” Dad paused as he counted out five great-grandfathers, a grandfather, and a father on his fingers. “Seven maps.”

“We thought the map you brought was the final piece since it was the seventh, but one of the maps must be a fake because Aristede’s is still missing.”

“There must be some way to figure out which map is fake.”

“Dad carries a list of his ancestors so we can keep track of the maps we still need. I know where he keeps it. Wait here.” Edward headed toward Morgan’s tent and disappeared inside.

“Something isn’t right,” I whispered. “For someone trying to help the Grimaults locate the fortune, Dad doesn’t know much about it. And our name isn’t Grimault, so how did Dad or Grandpa get one of the maps?”

Edward returned with a slip of paper in his hands. “We’ve been recovering the maps from the most recently drawn to the oldest. Take a look.”

Dad and Edward had their backs to me, so I figured it was safe to move a little closer. I ducked behind a tree and motioned for Holly and Noelle to follow.

“How do you match the map to the person who drew it?” Dad asked.

“They’re initialed in the bottom right-hand corner.”

Dad picked up the map Morgan had thrown. “This one has the initials GG. That means it was drawn by…” he looked at the list of names, “Gerard Grimault.”

“But we already found his map. See, it’s checked off,” Edward said.

“So, one of the maps with the initials GG is a fake.”

“You better hope it isn’t the map you brought,” Edward warned. He led my father into one of the tents.

“Let’s go,” Holly whispered.

“Dad may be in trouble. Didn’t you hear Edward? The map Dad brought must be a fake. I knew he wasn’t really a thief.”

“What are you talking about? You saw the look on Dad’s face when Morgan said the map wasn’t the last piece they were looking for. Dad was as surprised as the rest of them.”

“There must be some explanation we aren’t seeing. I’m not leaving here until I find out what’s really going on!”

“What do you plan on doing? You can’t storm into those tents and tell Dad to take us home. Those guys would kill you!”

“I’m not going to talk to Dad or any of those other thieves—”

“
Other
thieves? I thought you said you didn’t believe Dad
was
a thief?”

“I don’t. That’s not what I meant!” I balled my hands into fists. “If Morgan thinks Dad’s map is a fake, he might hurt him. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Holly threw her arms in the air. “You can’t fight a group of armed thieves.”

“I’m not leaving Dad alone with these guys. If you don’t want to stay and help me, then leave. Find your own way home!” Tears burned my eyes. Noelle stepped away, giving Holly and me some privacy.

“Do you really want to risk our lives for him? He’s never there for us.”

She was right. Dad had missed so many important events in our lives. But what about the good times? I had to hold on to those, no matter how angry I was with him.

“We’ve been focused on Dad, but this isn’t just about him,” I said. “It’s about the curse. We need to end it, with or without Dad’s help.”

Holly nodded. “You’re right.”

With or without Dad’s help. Why did I have a feeling it’d be without?

Holly, Noelle, and I were no match for a gang of thieves. Still, I couldn’t sit there and do nothing, so I took a deep breath and tried to gather all the courage I could. Then, I led us through the trees surrounding the camp and started searching for Dad.

“He’s not in there,” I whispered after peeking into a tent.

“We saw Dad go in there with Edward. We only turned our backs to the camp for a minute. Where could he have gone?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer Holly’s question because a heavy hand slammed down hard on my right shoulder. I turned to meet Trent’s evil stare.

“What do we have here? Garret and Edward said they found two kids wandering around earlier, but it looks like we have another now.” Trent grinned eerily at Noelle.

“Let go of him,” Holly said. She was trying to sound brave, but her voice was shaky.

Trent grabbed Holly by her ponytail. “I heard what you did to Garret, so don’t get any ideas about trying to bite me. I’m much stronger than he is.”

Holly winced as Trent yanked her hair.

I squirmed, trying to get free, but Trent was even stronger than the others. His muscles were so huge they looked like they were going to burst right through his shirt. What was Morgan feeding these guys? They definitely didn’t get this strong off bread and water.

“Trent? Is that you?” Garret asked. He yawned as he walked out of his tent.

“Yeah. I found those two little snoops you were talking about earlier, and they’ve got another one with them now,” Trent said.

Garret grabbed Noelle’s arm and turned to Holly and me. “Not very bright, are you, stumbling into our camp twice in the same day? You don’t really think you’re clever enough to escape again, do you?”

“We were clever enough to steal your bread and water,” Holly said.

Garret’s face reddened. He stormed over to me and ripped the canteen from around my neck. It felt like my head was going to come off with it.

“I’ll show you what we do to thieves around here!” he said, throwing the canteen on the ground.

“Aren’t you all thieves?” asked Holly.

I didn’t know where Holly’s newfound confidence was coming from, but I was worried she was going to get us killed.

“What did you do with my father?” Noelle asked. “He came here yesterday.”

Garret and Trent exchanged glances and started laughing. “Sweetie, nobody comes here and lives to tell about it,” Trent said.

“No!” Noelle slumped forward like she was in pain. Garret had to hold her up. I wanted to reach out to her, but Trent’s grip was too tight.

“What are you going to do to us?” Holly demanded.

“I’ll let my father decide that in the morning,” Garret said. “In the meantime, you’ll spend the night in Trent’s tent.” He turned to Trent. “I’m on patrol tonight, so you’ll have to keep an eye on them.”

“Fine,” Trent said through gritted teeth. I could tell Trent resented having to take orders from his younger cousin, especially since he’d been assigned to babysit for the night.

Once we were inside the tent, Garret made Trent repeat his orders back to him three times before he was satisfied enough to leave. The only things in the tent were a duffle bag and a bed, which was actually a bale of hay. Trent moved his bed to block the entrance to the tent.

“Sit over there against the far end,” Trent said. He removed his boots and sat on the bed. “I’m staying right here, so don’t get any ideas about trying to escape. You’ll never get past me.”

I walked across the tent and sat against the canvas. Noelle rested her head on her knees and continued to cry. Surprisingly, Holly put her arm around Noelle’s shoulders. Even
she
sympathized with Noelle’s loss. I glared at Trent. “We’re kids. Can’t you let us go?”

“That isn’t my decision, not that I would anyway. I suggest you get some rest. Who knows what Uncle Morgan will do with you in the morning.” Trent started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.

Trent lay back on his bed. “I was thinking about what Uncle Morgan did to Sticky Fingers Sam. He said he had some information that might help us find the fortune, but Garret caught him stealing from us. When Uncle Morgan found out, he covered Sam in honey and left him tied to a tree near the seaside entrance to the forest.” Trent was laughing so hard I could barely understand him.

“What happened to him?” I asked, my words getting caught in my throat as I imagined what else Morgan might have done to Sam.

“Don’t really know. Uncle Morgan nicknamed him Sweetcheeks because the squirrels and vultures were eating the sweet honey off Sam’s cheeks when we left him.”

I didn’t see how anyone could find that funny. They’d left that poor guy to die. These thieves were getting more horrifying by the minute.

Noelle wiped her face with her sleeve. “You killed him!” She jumped to her feet and lunged at Trent.

Holly grabbed Noelle’s arm, but Noelle easily broke free. I put her in a bear hug from behind. She fought me, swinging her arms at my hands. We shocked each other again, and luckily it snapped Noelle out of her attack. She slumped into my arms. Holly got to her feet and helped me sit Noelle down.

Trent sat straight up on his bed. “I’d keep her under control if I were you. We wouldn’t want the little sweetie to get hurt.”

Noelle scowled at Trent. I was afraid she was going to pounce again, but instead she asked in a weak voice, “Why did you do it? Why couldn’t you just send him away?”

“We couldn’t take a chance of letting him get out of these woods alive. This camp is a secret. No one who comes across it ever gets out alive.”

I gulped, and Noelle’s sobbing got louder. We’d been safer in the woods on our own, even with the forest preying on our fears, than we were with the Grimaults. I sat huddled against the wall for a long time, thinking about how hopeless the situation was when I heard the faint sound of snoring.

“Trent’s asleep,” I whispered.

“So?” Holly said. “He’s blocking the entrance.”

She was right, but we couldn’t stay here and wait for whatever it was Morgan was going to do to us. I stared at Trent’s bed, thinking the enchanted forest could actually help us for the first time.

“Holl, I’ve got a crazy idea.”

“I’m listening, but I’m warning you I’ve had my fill of crazy in the past few days.”

“I think we might be able to use the forest to help us get away from Trent.” Holly and Noelle looked at me like I’d completely lost it. “His bed is a bale of hay. Maybe we could make it change into something that’d hold him back long enough for us to run away.”

“But it’d be blocking the doorway, too,” Holly said. “We’d have to fight our way around it.”