Bursting with Confidence (2 page)

"Most of this stuff looks really
old. And deadly. Like it should be in a museum or
something."

"Yeah a murder museum."

Haley laughed. "The exhibit
could be called
Murder Throughout the
Ages
."

Abigail giggled. "Good
one!"

"But seriously. Where did all of
this stuff come from?"

"Well, the Larsens are like
collectors. Mr. Larsen is a history professor at the university and
he like travels all over the world collecting stuff. His wife is a
museum curator and an antique freak. She's always going to estate
sales and auctions and stuff like that but most of the stuff here
is hers."

"Really?"

"Yeah, most of it belonged to her
family. Apparently one of her ancestors came from ancient stock.
They had titles or whatever. And I think after they moved here Mrs.
Larsen brought most of this stuff from a two thousand year old
castle her family had in Scotland."

"Whoah."

"Yeah, so it's like I'm working in
a museum or something. Hey, maybe I can like add that on my college
applications. I was the assistant assistant assistant in a private
museum. No that sounds lame."

"Not really."

"It does."

"This stuff is amazing. Look at
those swords. Hey, if there's a zombie invasion at least I'll know
which house to come to for weapons."

"Hee. Hee. That's funny. But
seriously we'll have to stop off for guns too."

"Yeah but an axe can help. Or
three."

"True."

“
Hey Haley?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, are you sure the Larsens are
okay with you having a visitor, while you babysit Peter? I mean,
some parents get real panicky when they hear about their babysitter
inviting their friends over while they’re on duty.”

“
It’s fine. The Larsens are cool
and even they know that their son can be a handful. It’s no wonder
they haven’t had another kid. Now come on and meet him. Oh, and
watch your step.”

Abigail pulled her arm from Haley's
grasp and she walked forward with a light whistle.

Haley continued her trek forward.
She walked a few paces behind Abigail and she gazed at the opened
doorways of the rooms near her during her journey
forward.

The rooms were large and dimly
lit.

Each room was filled with an
assortment of aged furnishings, old paintings, ancient tapestries,
faded silk screens and small glass cases.

A few of the glass containers were
filled with neatly displayed books and figurines.

Abigail stopped walking. She turned
around and looked behind her.

Haley was walking slowly forward
across the hall a few paces away from her. She was gazing at a suit
of armor beside her.

"Haley," Abigail said with
irritation.

Haley turned from the armor. She
stopped walking in front of a marble bust.

The marble figure possessed the
face of a young woman.

"Huh?" Haley asked absently while
staring at the carved figure's eyes.

"Stop daydreaming and let's go,"
Abigail said.

"Hey how old is this thing?" Haley
asked. She lowered her sight from the marble figure's face and she
gazed at the bronze tag that decorated the front of the stone
figure's pedestal.

Small etched letters and intricate
symbols decorated the shiny metal plate.

"What language is this?" Haley
asked pointing at the brass tag. "I mean, is it a cataloguing code
for their collection so that the Larsens will be the only ones who
know what's in it? Or is it like a cipher?"

"I dunno," Abigail responded. She
moved across the hall and stopped beside Haley.

"Maybe," Haley suggested. "This is
something the Larsens use for the insurance. Or maybe it's just
like a dead language or something. I think it’s a code though but
I've never seen this writing before."

"Scholar Haley," Abigail said in a
sing song voice.

Haley looked at Abigail. "I hate it
when you call me that."

"Well you are the smartest girl in
the junior class."

"No, Leslie Winters is."

"No
 
you
 
are."

"No, she has the highest
average."

Haley turned from Abigail. She
glanced at the marble bust in front of her for a few moments before
she turned away from the sculpture and looked around the
hall.

"I wonder if all of the tags in
here have this weird code on it. And I wonder what it means," Haley
said.

"Haley!" Abigail nearly
shouted.

Haley looked at Abigail.
"Huh?"

"News flash. We're not in class.
Does it really matter what the creepy tags on these creepy busts
say?"

"No I'm just curious. You know I'm
a sucker for a good mystery."

Abigail laughed and she pointed at
Haley.

Haley grabbed Abigail's hand and
she held her fingers tightly .

"Don't say it Abbie!"

"Say what Haley?"

"Don't call me a
sucker!"

"Okay. You're a lollipop. A
scholarly lolly! Ha!"

"Shut up."

Haley released Abigail's hand with
an impatient huff. She turned to the bust of the young
woman.

"I dunno," Haley said staring at
the stone object. "I’m just curious about this thing. I've never
seen a marble bust like this before. It's so detailed."

Abigail looked at the bust and
said, "Its probably one of the ones Mr. Larsen brought back from
one of his excavations in Rome last year."

"Oh," Haley said.

"Yeah he's always digging up
old ruins or whatever you
 
scholars
 
would call it. I think he even like found a mummy once. No
wait, that was Mrs. Larsen when she went to Egypt that one t time.
It's in the basement with the iron maiden and the
rack."

Haley turned to Abigail with wide
eyes and a gasp.

Abigail held her cell out in front
of her and she laughed shrilly while pressing at the
device.

"Gotcha!" Abigail announced. She
looked at her phone. "This is the best one yet. You look really
scared in this one."

Abigail raised her cell and she
thrust the device in Haley's direction.

Haley stared at the cell and she
saw the wide-eyed image of herself. She looked up at Abigail with a
twisted grimace.

"Abbie, delete that pic
please."

"Fo sho," Abigail said pulling her
phone towards her and tapping at it. "After I text it to
you."

Haley's cell phone
beeped.

"Awesome!" Abigail said sliding her
phone inside her pocket. "So let's go already!"

Abigail grabbed Haley's hand. She
turned around and pulled her friend behind her while walking
forward.

"I can't believe you just did
that," Haley said. "I’m not even going to read your
text."

Hee! Hee! You should read it cause
I put something funny on it!" Abigail laughed.

"Ha. Ha," Haley said
glumly.

Haley stumbled clumsily behind
Abigail with a sigh.

A faint flash of green danced in
the corner of Haley's field of vision.

Haley turned in the direction of
the sudden flash and she looked at the wall near her while
continuing her walk forward.

A large silver dagger hung from the
wall.

The handle of the knife was
elaborately carved. Thousands of glittering green stones lay
embedded in the handle. The blade of the dagger was curved and a
row of green gems lay atop the gleaming sharp.

"Man. Those look like real
emeralds," Haley whispered.

Abigail stopped walking. She turned
around and moved to Haley. She stopped beside her friend and looked
at the wall.

"You see this thing?" Haley asked
pointing at the shimmering blade.

"Yup," Abigail responded with a
smack of her lips. "That's a nice one. There's one with rubies in
the kitchen. But its longer and the blade kinda looks like a
shimmying snake."

"Are those real emeralds?" Haley
asked in a whisper.

"Prolly!" Abigail said. "Now come
on. Let's go. After we meet Peter I want to show you the rest of
the house."

Abigail grabbed Haley's arm and she
pulled her friend behind her as she turned around and walked
forward.

Haley walked forward clumsily with
her eyes were still fixed on the dagger.

"I've never seen anything like
that," Haley commented.

"Yeah there's loads of stuff like
that here. Watch your step!" Abigail said.

Abigail stopped in front of a door
near the far end of the hall. She released Haley's arm before she
ran forward.

Abigail released a loud cry before
she rushed to the door and quickly disappeared from
view.

Haley continued her trek forward
with her sight still fixed on the dagger.

After a few seconds she shook her
head and turned away from the gem-encrusted dagger with a sigh. She
looked at the space in front of her and saw an opened
doorway.

Haley peered inside the doorway
while continuing her trek forward. She saw a large dimly lit room
just before the floor suddenly disappeared beneath her
feet.

"What the!" Haley cried.

Haley looked down but it was too
late.

A stone staircase was directly in
front of her and she was already falling across the edge of the
flight.

Chapter
Two

Haley thrust out her arms but it
was too late. She was falling and had decided to continue her
clumsy descent.

After half hobbling and stumbling
down the stone steps she finally managed to land on the floor atop
her feet.

A pair of strong arms grabbed her
shoulders.

Haley looked up and she saw Abigail
standing in front of her.

Abigail gazed at Haley with wide
eyes.

"Haley are you okay?" Abigail asked
with concern.

"Yeah I think so," Haley replied.
She pulled her shoulders from Haley's grasp and turned around. She
looked at the small granite staircase behind her.

"Whose idea was it to put stairs
there?" Haley asked.

"Well you know this house is old
and most of the rooms here have like steps in them," Abigail
replied with a high pitched squeak.

"Those things nearly killed me,"
Haley commented.

The sound of a loud muffled giggle
echoed behind her.

Haley turned around and she looked
at Abigail.

Abigail was standing a few paces
away from Haley. She was looking at her friend and holding her
belly while laughing gaily.

Haley pressed her lips together.
Her cheeks flushed crimson.

Abigail stopped laughing. She
lowered her hand from her belly and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Haley but that was soooo
funny!" Haley laughed. "You…you are just so darned graceful. I
mean. You should have seen how you sailed down those stairs it was
like…it was like you were dancing!"

"Abbie it's not funny," Haley said
softly.

"It is well it was," Abigail said
quickly. She shook her head with a light chuckle. "After watching
that I guess I should have stuck it out in ballet class instead of
quitting when I did huh?"

Haley moved closer to
Abigail."Haley that's not funny! I could have broken my neck on
those stairs!"

Abigail moved closer to Haley and
she pulled her friend into a hug. "Aw, you're alright."

Haley hugged Abigail with a
petulant sigh.

"Yeah most of my major organs are
undamaged. It's just my ego that took a hit. Oh and my blood
pressure just shot way up too."

"Some snacks will fix that!"
Abigail laughed.

"More like a trip to the hospital,"
Haley said wryly pushing Abigail away from her slightly.

"Haley you always come through with
the jokes!" Abigail sniggered.

"Okay enough with all of the
laughs. We've always established the fact that I could have majorly
hurt myself tumbling down those stairs."

Abigail cleared her throat with a
coughing wheeze. "Yeah like totally."

Haley moved closer to Abigail and
she pinched her friend's left cheek.

"Oooch!" Abigail giggled rubbing
her assaulted cheek. "What was that for?"

"For not warning me about those
stairs," Haley replied.