Curse of the Granville Fortune (8 page)

“It’s worth a try. Trent will use his knife to hack up the hay, and even if we don’t get away, we’ll be right back where we are now. No matter how mad Trent gets, he won’t do anything to us until Morgan wakes up.”

“I guess, but does that mean we’re going to leave Dad here?” Holly asked.

“No,” I said without hesitation. “We’re going to search for him. Garret’s supposed to patrol all night for intruders. Maybe Dad’s on patrol, too.”

“That would explain why he wasn’t in any of the tents,” Holly said.

“We’ll keep looking for your father, too,” I said to Noelle. “These guys are thieves, and I’ll bet they’re also liars. Who knows if they’ve really met your dad?”

Noelle looked at me through swollen eyes. “Thanks.”

I took a deep breath. My plan had the potential to backfire badly, but it was the only thing I could come up with. I chose my words carefully and pointed to Trent’s bed. “Trent’s bed looks like a—” I looked at Holly and silently communicated an apology, “big yellow bear wrapping him in a hug.”

Immediately, the hay bent and twisted into the form of a large bear. It wrapped its arms around Trent. The bear growled in response to Trent’s snoring, and Trent startled out of his sleep. Holly, Noelle, and I jumped up and ran for the tiny space between the tent door and the bear-hugging duo. I grabbed Trent’s bandana and shoved it in his mouth to keep him from screaming. We burst out of the tent and sprinted into the woods.

“I hate to say it, but we’re going to have to get back onto one of the paths if we want to find our way through these woods in the dark,” I said.

“If you want to find your dad, our best chance is to get back on the trail that circles the camp,” Noelle said.

Holly slowed to a stop. “No way!”

Noelle and I stopped, too. I couldn’t hear the thieves or the growling bear, so I figured it was safe to take a second to think. “She’s right, Holly. Look, we’re getting the hang of this forest, and we’ve gotten away from the thieves more than once. We can do this. Dad would do it for us. It’s probably why he’s in Braeden Forest in the first place.”

“Are you sure about that?” Holly asked, crossing her arms. “Can you really forget about how he’s never around anymore? And what about the secrets he’s been keeping? Why would seeing him here make you forgive him all of a sudden?”

“That’s not what I’m doing. I’m still mad at him. It’s just—” I couldn’t explain how I felt because I didn’t understand it myself. “Let’s not argue. We need to move before the sun comes up and someone sees us.”

“I think the path is somewhere over there,” Noelle said, pointing to our right.

We managed to find our way back to the path. After about ten minutes, I began to move more confidently through the forest.

“Hold up, J.B.,” Holly said. “I don’t think we’ve been on this section of the path before.”

Something tightened around my ankle, and I was swept upside-down. I looked at Holly and realized I was dangling from a tree, caught up in some sort of rope netting.

“Are you all right?” Noelle asked.

“I’m fine. The thieves must have placed traps along the trail so no one would find their camp.” I struggled to sit up in the netting. The rope was rough, and it dug into my arms and legs.

“Garret mentioned something about traps when he caught us earlier,” Holly said. “How are we going to get you down from there?”

“We need something to cut the rope. Look for a sharp rock.”

Holly searched the ground, feeling along the grass and dirt. “It’s still kind of dark. I can’t really see well, but I don’t think there are any sharp—” Holly screamed and grabbed Noelle’s arm.

I watched helplessly as they both were scooped up into another net. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend I was anywhere other than dangling from the trees with no way to get free.

It was bad enough that
I’d
gotten caught in a net, but I didn’t think things could get any worse now that Holly and Noelle were dangling beside me. If I’d had even a little luck, Holly would’ve found a sharp rock before she reached headfirst into the trap. Or, at least she wouldn’t have pulled Noelle into the trap with her so one of us would’ve been free.

“Ow! That’s my foot!” Holly whined.

“At least you’re not upside-down!” Noelle said, squirming in the net.

“Would you two knock it off?” I was sick of their arguing.

“Quit moving around!” Holly yelled.

“I wouldn’t be stuck up here if you hadn’t grabbed me! So lay off!” Noelle said.

The only time they’d gotten along was when Garret told Noelle about her dad. Holly must have forgotten all about that because she was back to her usual self. “Fighting isn’t helping. We need to find a way out of here.”

They stopped squirming. Holly blew a few strands of hair out of her face. “How do you suggest we get down from here, big brother?”

“I don’t think getting down is going to be a problem,” Noelle said.

“Did you think of a way to get out of these nets?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Noelle’s voice shook. “I’m pretty sure
he’ll
cut us down.” She pointed down the path.

I shifted my weight and saw a shadowy figure walking our way. “Please be Dad,” I muttered. Deep down, I knew the person walking toward us wasn’t my dad. The panic in Noelle’s voice meant she knew it, too.

“Garret,” I mumbled as he walked up to the traps.

“You? How did you get away from Trent?” Garret asked. His face twisted in a combination of confusion and anger.

“I guess we
were
clever enough to escape again!” Holly said, using Garret’s words against him.

“Wait until I cut you down from there!”

“You can’t hurt us. You can’t do anything without your father’s orders,” I said, hoping it was true.

“Not a problem. I’m dying to see what he has planned for you.” Garret yanked the knife from his belt loop and swung it at the rope tied around the tree trunk.

I landed hard on my back. “Ouch!” I thrashed around for a minute, trying to get out of the net, but I couldn’t find an opening anywhere. I looked up at Garret, and the smirk on his face said it all. He hadn’t cut us free. He’d only cut the nets down from the tree. “How are we supposed to go back to the camp if we’re stuck in these ropes?” I asked.

“Simple.” Garret grabbed hold of the two nets and dragged them behind him.

“Ow!” Holly winced. “Great, where was that sharp rock when I needed it earlier?”

“What was that about not being able to hurt you?” Garret asked. He laughed like a crazy person as he dragged us back to camp. He struggled to pull our weight, but apparently causing us pain was worth the struggle.

Luckily, we hadn’t gotten far before we were captured because Garret didn’t have to drag us for long. I was grateful I was wearing long sleeves and jeans. Otherwise, I would’ve been cut to shreds by all the gravel and fallen tree branches Garret pulled us through—no doubt on purpose.

Edward walked into the camp from the other direction the same time we did. He stared directly at us. I was about to tell him to stop staring when Trent came running out of his tent. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his hair stuck out in all directions. He yanked the bandana out of his mouth and rushed over to us. “I’m going to kill you little brats!”

Garret stepped in front of him, letting the ropes fall to the ground. “You were supposed to guard them!”

I had to smile, even if only for a second. At least I’d succeeded in getting Trent in trouble.

“My bed attacked me while I was—” Trent stammered.

“While you were what?” Garret didn’t wait for an answer. He shoved Trent in the chest. “You fell asleep!”

“Maybe I would’ve been able to stay awake if you and Edward hadn’t kept me up all day yelling and finding stupid ways to prove who’s tougher!” Trent yelled, regaining his confidence.

“What’s going on out here?” I turned my head to see Morgan standing in the entrance of his tent. One look told me he wasn’t a morning person. He squinted against the sunlight and scowled at me.

“I caught these kids snooping around last night and—” Garret began.

“
You
caught them? Don’t you mean
I
caught them?” Trent said.

“Yeah, that’s right. You caught them and then let them escape! I found them in one of the traps!” Garret yelled.

“Enough!” Morgan’s voice echoed through the trees. “Who are these children? Cut them free.”

Edward rushed over to help Noelle to her feet. I stared at Morgan, wondering what he was going to do to us.

“Don’t even think about moving,” Morgan said. “If you want to live, you’ll do as I say. I’m a very busy man, and I won’t have three kids getting in my way.”

“Uncle Morgan, I’d be happy to take care of them for you,” Trent said. I suspected he was trying to suck up so he wouldn’t be punished for letting us escape.

“That won’t be necessary. We won’t be staying here much longer. We’re only missing one piece of the treasure map. We still don’t know the exact location, but I think we might be able to begin our search. It seems that one of the maps drawn by Gerard is a fake. I’ve come to the conclusion that our new friend Bruce may not be a friend after all. The map he brought is different than the others.”

“No!” Holly had tears in her eyes.

“Shh!” I warned her. “Don’t say a word.”

Luckily, Morgan was so caught up talking about the fortune he didn’t hear Holly. “The only remaining piece of the puzzle is the map drawn by Aristede. I had a feeling it would be more difficult to find since it’s the oldest,” he said.

“Let’s look at all the maps together. Maybe we won’t need Aristede’s if we can figure out the clues in the rest,” Garret suggested.

Morgan took six maps from his pocket and laid them on the ground in front of the fire. I watched as the thieves studied them. The only one who wasn’t looking at the maps was Trent. He was keeping a close eye on Holly, Noelle, and me. There was no way to escape. I wasn’t really upset that I couldn’t get away. I wanted to know more about the fortune. It was the key to ending the curse.

Finally, Morgan spoke. “In each map, one part of the forest is drawn incorrectly. The clue is in which path to take. A large tree blocks this path in Bernard’s map, but there is no such tree in the actual forest. Therefore, that’s the clue. We must take that path.”

“That’s just what your father told you,” Trent said. “We don’t know if it’s true.”

Morgan turned and glared at Trent. “What was that about my father?”

Trent gulped. “Uh—I just meant that we don’t really know where the clues are hidden in the maps. We need to see that part of the forest before we can be sure.”

“I hate to agree with Trent,” Garret said, “but we can’t be sure where the clues are until we see them for ourselves. Like you said, no one, aside from Aristede himself, knows the true location of the fortune.”

Garret was defending Trent! Things were getting weird, and I wanted to get out of here. Having the maps would make it easier to find the fortune, but these guys were crazy.

“I see your point,” Morgan said. “Though I’d be more careful how you say things about our family in the future, Trent.” Morgan placed his hand on his knife. The message was clear. Another comment like that and Trent would find himself at the sharp end of a knife.

“Yes, sir,” Trent said, looking as surprised as I was that he’d escaped punishment.

“Now, we do know that each map contains something that isn’t present in the forest and that’s the clue,” Morgan said, returning his attention to the maps.

“Hey, that’s like our painting,” Holly said. “There were two paths, but when we entered the forest, one of those paths was overgrown with trees.”

“What did you say?” Morgan asked as if she’d said the most interesting thing in the world.

Holly grabbed my arm and stepped closer to me.

Noelle’s head snapped up, and she squinted at me.

“They thought we had a painting of theirs when we caught them earlier,” Garret said.

“But you didn’t. It was one of your treasure maps,” I said. Noelle stared at me so intently my cheeks got warm.

“We were trying to locate the part of the forest drawn in Bernard’s map,” Garret told his father. “In case we weren’t able to recover the final piece of the treasure map.”

“Why did you think we had your painting?” Edward asked me.

I didn’t know if I should tell them the real reason, which was that the painting and the maps looked very similar. The last thing I wanted was to help the guys who were holding us captive and who may have hurt Dad. Then, I thought of something. If the thieves wanted the painting, they’d have to help us find our way back to the entrance of the forest where we’d left it.

“We’re waiting!” Morgan stomped his foot in the dirt.

I took a deep breath. “We thought you had our painting because the maps you’re trying to gather look like it. Only ours is a painting.”

“What part of the forest is illustrated on this painting?” Morgan spoke so fast I had trouble understanding him.

“It’s the entrance by the park,” Holly said.

Noelle smiled, and I couldn’t make sense of her sudden interest in the fortune.

“The entrance,” Morgan repeated, looking over all six maps. “Of course! That’s the missing piece. We need to know where to
begin
the search!”

“We’ve been assuming the search began by the seaside entrance,” Garret said. “That must be why we couldn’t locate any of the areas drawn on the maps. We have to start at the park.”

“Yes! It makes sense now!” Morgan yelled.

“But, Dad, why would one of the pieces be a painting?” Edward asked. “Why is it different from the others?”

“Because Aristede was a painter!” Morgan said, grinning so wide he looked insane.

After reading Dad’s journal, I’d had a feeling the painting was a clue, but I never thought it’d be something like this. What I really didn’t understand was how something so important to the Grimaults had ended up in
my
living room.

“How did these kids get our ancestor’s painting?” Garret asked, reading my mind.

“I’m not sure,” Morgan said, “but they’re obviously special.” He smiled at Holly and me. “Consider yourselves my guests of honor. You’ll be coming with us on our search.”