Entry 14
My thoughts came fast and furious like the wind blowing me home. Had Winks found a way on the island and off? How did Aggy know about Charlotte? Was there a way to send a message back to Aggy?
I bit the inside of my cheek and recalled things Charlotte told me—how her name kept changing, as did her daughter’s, how I never met her husband. How Papa said he had no idea her farm was sold. How the island had been calling her back. Did she mean two hundred years before?
I stopped short, breathing heavy. My lungs felt like they were on fire. Was Charlotte just like Captain Kimble? Was she immortal too?
No.
Yes, a voice in my head said. Yes. But how could I be sure?
Oh, Aggy, I miss you so much already, I thought. If only you or Gil were here. You’d know what to do.
Ask Kimble, a voice in my head said, but I pushed it away.
I didn’t know where I to find him, and even if I could, would he listen to me about Charlotte?
Did he know who she was? How could he not?
My heart beat faster. I knew Kimble was angry with me, and he had a right to be.
I’d given away his treasure and kept him from his goal of returning it so he was no longer “cursed,” as he called immortality.
Charlotte seemed to think being young and living forever was a gift.
Kimble, who’d done it for two hundred years already, saw it as a curse.
How could two people view the same treasure so differently?
I felt a pang in my chest. How did Aggy view it now that she was in the same situation? Did she feel cursed or grateful? I was thankful she was alive, the Cough that plagued her gone. But I can’t say I wanted that same fate. Was it cruel of me to decide hers for her?
I heard the rain coming as I rushed up our porch steps. It wasn’t till I swung open the front door that I realized we had company. “I’m back—oh.”
Elias Rudd and Axel’s older brother, Russell, were sitting in our parlor across from my parents.
Everyone was unusually quiet, Papa and Mr. Rudd’s hands both folded on their laps.
Papa was still in his work clothes, a grass stain on his shirt, and Mama was serving tea, but did not look anywhere near as relaxed as she had when Charlotte had come calling.
With the Cough no one was visiting indoors, but here were Mr. Rudd and his son inside. I knew the visit was important.
“Hello, Mr. Rudd. Russell,” I said, stepping into the room and remembering my manners.
Mr. Rudd gave me a terse hello.
“Hello, Evelyn,” Russell said with a small smile, and his father shot him a look.
Russell had always been kind to me. Unlike Axel.
My heart started to pound. Were they here about Axel?
“Evelyn, please have a seat.” Papa gestured to the spot next to him on the settee. “Elias and Russell came by to ask when you saw Axel last. He’s missing.”
I tried to keep my knees from shaking as I sat down.
Elias Rudd stared at me. “He is? That’s terrible.
I haven’t seen him in a few days,” I said, which was the truth.
The last time I’d seen him was when the rat promised me he’d give Gil my letter.
Instead, he’d stolen the treasure I’d placed in Gil’s envelope to save his life.
“Axel told us he was going to the beach with you and your friends,” Mr. Rudd said. “Are you saying he was lying?”
“No, sir.” I tried to keep my voice from jumping. “I was at the beach last night with some of our school friends, but Axel wasn’t there.”
Mr. Rudd searched my face. “Axel said he was meeting you to go to the island you’d found.” His eyes held a glint of something triumphant, and I wondered what Mr. Rudd knew.
“Island? What island?” Mama asked.
“Evelyn did tell me the children found a key off the beach, but I suspect it was just a sandbar that appeared after one of the storms,” Papa said. “Am I right?” He looked at me hard.
“Yes, Papa. We just called it an island,” I said, my fingers starting to dig into my skirt.
“Whatever you want to call it, my son has been missing since he said he was meeting you.” Mr. Rudd’s voice was louder now.
“Also peculiar: I received word that both Laurel Henderson and Thomas Lyons, along with Gilbert Monroe, are also missing. Now I don’t dare set foot on Agatha Bishop’s door, with the illness sweeping their home, but I bet if I did, I’d find out that girl was gone too.
All children that were with you.” He stood up now.
“None have returned, and yet you sit here, right as rain.”
Mama looked my way, frightened. “Evelyn, is that true? Were you with everyone?”
“I…was.” I tried to think fast. “Not Axel, but the others. Then the storm blew in, and we were all separated. I couldn’t find them. I came home before the weather worsened.”
“That is true, Elias,” Papa told the man. “Evelyn did not stay out long. Now you know children. Laurel and Thomas are practically adults. They might have run off. Gilbert Monroe is a good lad. I’m sure he’ll turn up as well.”
“Those children shouldn’t have been anywhere but their homes!” Mr. Rudd shouted. “They’ve all got the Cough! And yet for some reason, they went out with Evelyn, which is against the town rules.” His face hardened when he looked at me. “You’re hiding something valuable, girl. Admit it!”
“Papa,” Russell put a hand on his father’s arm. “Don’t raise your voice at Evelyn.” His father threw his hand off.
I appreciated Russell’s kindness, but I could handle myself. I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Rudd. “Valuable? How would you even know that unless you or Axel opened my letters? Axel is the one hiding something. He stole what I put in Gil’s letter!”
“Stole?” Mr. Rudd whispered. “You can’t steal something that wasn’t yours to begin with.” He pursed his lips.
Mr. Rudd knew about the treasure, and he wanted it. Of that, I was now certain. He was just like Charlotte and Axel. I knew then and there, I would do anything in my power to stop them all. “What are you most upset about? Losing Axel or something more valuable?”
Mr. Rudd’s face flushed with fury.
“Evelyn!” Mama gasped. “You apologize to Mr. Rudd at once!”
“Where is my son?” Mr. Rudd stood up and attempted to grab my arm.
“I don’t know!” I shouted, stepping back.
“Now see here,” Papa said, getting in between us.
Mr. Rudd tried to push Papa aside. Mama was yelling now. Russell was trying to hold his father back. Walter was barking. I felt tears prick my eyes.
“You are a liar!” Mr. Rudd continued. “I know you’re hiding something about Axel!” Russell tried to yank his father outside. “You won’t get away with this. I’ll see to it you lose everything if something happened to my boy! You’ll lose this farm! Everything! You hear me? The Terrys will be ruined!”
Russell dragged him out the door. He looked at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry, Evelyn. He’s…distraught. I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you, Russell.” My heart was beating so fast, I tried to hold it steady, placing my hand over my heart, which I could hear drumming. The Terrys will be ruined. I was shaking.
Papa sat down, his head in his hands, and Mama turned to look at me, incredulous. “Evelyn, what have you done?”