Curse of the Granville Fortune (12 page)

“Give that back. It was my grandfather’s lighter.” Trent ripped it from my fingers.

Morgan let out a primal yell, startling everyone. Even the trees shivered. “Run for it!” He didn’t wait to see if we were following orders. He took off, leaving us to fight our way through the branches that narrowly missed grabbing hold of him. Garret took his boot off and used it to hit the trees as we ran. He looked funny, hobbling along with one shoeless foot, but it worked. Most of the skinnier branches broke on impact. We made it past the living trees and were forced to stop when we came to the mouth of a large, pitch-black cave blocking the path. This wasn’t the way Holly and I had gone after we’d fought off the trees the first time.

“Now what?” Holly asked, out of breath.

Morgan flipped through the maps. “None of the maps show this cave! We must’ve made a wrong turn. We have to go back!”

“No way!” I blurted out. All eyes turned to me. I had to think of something and fast. I scanned the outside of the cave. It was huge, almost like the cave cut through the mountain bordering the outer edge of the forest. The path led straight into the cave, which meant we had to go inside. “I think the cave might actually be a tunnel,” I said.

“A tunnel?” Noelle asked.

“The path leads into it. I doubt it’s a dead end. All the other trails have been connected or led somewhere. This one must, too.” I shrugged at Morgan. “Unless you want to give up the search, we have to go in there.”

“No one’s giving up!” He stepped toward me, stopping inches from my face. “If you’re wrong about this, I’ll make sure you don’t get past those trees on our way back.”

I forgot how to breathe. I was guessing. I had no idea how to read the maps or how to navigate the forest.

Trent whipped out his lighter and led the way into the cave. We could barely see, and we had to make a human chain to avoid stepping on each other. I was holding on to Holly and Noelle’s trembling arms. We walked through the darkness, guided only by the faint flicker of Trent’s lighter.

“Looks like we’re going down,” Trent called from the front of the line. “There are some steps, and they’re steep.”

Holly and Noelle squeezed my arms. My foot slipped a little on the first step. The stones were really uneven. Holly was lucky she had Dad and me on either side of her. She never would’ve made it down these steps on her own without falling. At the bottom, the tunnel opened up into a pretty big enclosed space. We were underground.

The walls were rusty brown and looked like dust clouds hardened into solid forms. Trent stopped to point at a small red arrow drawn on the wall. “It’s written in blood,” he said.

“Aristede must have marked the way through the tunnel. Keep moving,” Morgan said, pushing Trent along.

Our feet stirred up the dirt on the ground, making it even harder to see. A fluttering sound overhead drew everyone’s attention to the ceiling. Brown fruit bats hung upside-down in huge clusters. Holly’s nails dug into my arm as a bat darted through the dark alcove. Once we got past the bats, the trail narrowed and wound through a darker labyrinth of eerie rock formations. The tunnel started to look like a giant mouth with enormous jagged teeth.

I heard Holly gulp. “Keep the bad thoughts to yourself,” I whispered. The last thing we needed was her saying something that’d make us all cave food.

I struggled to breathe. The air inside the cramped tunnel was hot and humid. The ceiling sloped downward, and we had to hunch at the waist. After several more steps, Noelle and Holly let go of my arms. We were facing a solid rock wall.

“What?” I murmured. The sides of the cave had opened up so we had a little room to turn around. I twisted to the right and saw Morgan advancing on me, his knife drawn.

“I told you you’d pay if this wasn’t the right way to go!” he said.

“Trent, shine that lighter on the wall over here!” Dad yelled. “There’s another trail marker.”

Trent awkwardly made his way through the group and lifted his lighter to the wall. A faint red arrow pointed straight up to a circular hole in the ceiling of the cave. The space was just big enough for a person to squeeze through. There were no steps like there had been at the entrance. We were going to have to climb out.

“Garret, you go first,” Morgan said. “Trent, you’ll go last since you have the lighter. We’d be in the dark without you.”

Garret reached up, placed his hand in a recessed spot on the wall, and began to climb. We took turns scaling the walls until we were finally out of the tunnel. The air on the surface felt unusually cold after being underground. I swallowed painfully. My mouth was as dry as cotton, and I could taste the gritty dirt from the cave floor that covered most of my body. We all looked like we’d climbed out of our own graves.

Morgan’s eyes narrowed on me. “I guess it’s your lucky day.”

I didn’t think any of us had an ounce of luck thanks to our ancestors and the curse. Noelle gave me a half smile. I felt bad that she’d gotten wrapped up in all this when she wasn’t even cursed.

We moved quickly through the trails. Every time Morgan recognized a part of the forest from one of his maps, he pushed his way to the front of the group and studied the map to determine the next path to choose. After a while, the group came to a sudden halt.

“Get into the cover of the trees!” Garret whispered as he sidestepped behind a tall oak.

I imagined all sorts of wild beasts ferocious enough to scare a crew of armed thieves. Someone grabbed my arm, and I was shocked to see it was Dad. He pulled me behind a bush. I looked directly into his eyes, hoping to see even a glimpse of the father I’d always known, but he stared far off into the woods. I turned to see what he was looking at. The hairiest looking beast I’d ever seen stood next to a large boulder. It had wiggling furry arms all over its body.

Holly gasped and buried her head in my shoulder. “What is it?”

“I’m hoping it goes away before we have a chance to find out,” I said, but I barely got the words out of my mouth before the creature started coming right at us.

The creature wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before—even in this place. The Grimaults had their knives drawn, ready to fight, but I could tell they were scared. Beads of sweat streamed down Garret’s face. I hoped the thieves wouldn’t take off running for their lives, leaving Holly, Noelle, and me unarmed and helpless against the beast. Noelle stared wide-eyed in horror. Her entire body shook. As the creature got closer, I heard a strange chittering sound and a loud squawk. Large wings rose up from the creature’s head. Some sort of slime dripped off the beast’s body, leaving a gooey trail on the ground.

“Ew!” Holly covered her eyes.

A man’s face appeared beneath the wings. It wasn’t a giant hairy beast at all. It was a man, about forty years old, with a vulture perched on the back of his neck and squirrels covering him from head to toe.

“Well, if it isn’t Sticky Fingers Sam, or should I call you Sweetcheeks?” Garret said, stepping out from behind the oak tree.

Noelle sobbed uncontrollably. She’d gotten really upset when Trent told us what Morgan had done to Sam. Seeing him in person now must have been too much to handle.

Morgan stormed up to Sam with his knife raised. “We left you for dead, and believe me you’re going to wish you were!”

As soon as Morgan came near Sam, the vulture swooped down from Sam’s neck and landed on Morgan’s head. It pecked furiously at his hat.

“Get it off!” Morgan yelled.

Garret ran to his father and swung his knife at the vulture. Morgan’s eyes widened, and he ducked each time Garret swung the knife.

Sam threw his head back and laughed. He whistled loudly, and the vulture returned to his shoulder. “It looks like my friend doesn’t like the tone you’ve taken with me, Morgan.”

“Don’t talk to my father like that,” Edward said. I was startled by the forcefulness in his voice. He’d been unusually quiet for a while now. “You’re not one of us anymore. You’re a thief and a traitor!”

“Ah, yes, I’m a thief, but who here isn’t?” Sam asked. His eyes lingered on Noelle for a moment, and then he glanced at Holly and me. “Recruiting them a little young, aren’t you, Morgan? Looks like you could use me back on the team.”

“You can’t seriously think—” Garret began.

“Silence!” Morgan shouted. He stepped between Garret and Sam. “How did you escape? When we left you tied to that tree these animals were feasting on you!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. These animals were feasting on the honey you covered me in. Some of the honey dripped onto the ropes you used to tie me. When the squirrels nibbled the honey, they chewed right through the rope, and my watch incidentally.”

“Even if you were free from the ropes, you still had hungry animals to get away from,” Garret said, keeping his distance.

“I didn’t need to get away from them. They liked me. I was giving them food. All I had to do to keep them from turning on me was continue feeding them. So, I kept taking sap from the trees and rubbing it on my clothes. The next thing I knew, I had loyal protectors.”

“Why didn’t you leave the forest?” Garret asked.

“Because I provided you with information about the Granville fortune, and I want my reward. I’m not leaving here without it.”

“You’re not getting any of that fortune! It’s ours!” Trent yelled.

“Still got quite the temper, huh, Trent?” Sam said. “The fact of the matter is I know these woods better than all of you. While you’ve been staying at your campsite, I’ve been living out here. I know my way around in the dark. You need me.”

Morgan scratched his chin. “You think you know where the fortune is?”

Sam shook his head, and I swore the vulture shook its head, too. “No, but I’ll easily recognize the clues on your maps. Plus, the animals in this forest love me. I’ll keep them out of your way.”

Morgan stared at Sam, contemplating what to do. No one moved, and I thought I saw Dad and Sam exchange a look.

I leaned close to Holly and whispered, “Why would anyone want to rejoin a group of thieves? Especially after they tried to kill him?” She shrugged.

Before I could say more, Morgan spoke. “Fine. You’ll help us. Now, let’s go. I want my fortune.” He motioned for Sam to lead the way.

Garret walked slowly to Morgan at the back of the group. “Dad, are you sure about this?”

“I have no intention of sharing my fortune with that traitor, but I do like the idea of having Sam’s help to locate it. I’m going to let Sam think he’s part of the team again until the fortune is found. Then, I’ll dispose of him,” Morgan said.

“Morgan’s desperate to find that fortune,” I whispered to Holly once we were heading to the next location on the maps.

“Sam must know Morgan’s not the type to forgive and forget. Why is he doing this?” Holly asked.

“I don’t know, but I almost feel sorry for Sweetcheeks.” Noelle sniffled. “Don’t worry. He’s probably not as scary as he looks,” I said, trying to reassure her, but she kept her eyes locked on Sam.

“This is ridiculous! Sam doesn’t deserve any of the fortune!” Trent complained.

“Trent’s mad because Sam made him look bad,” Edward whispered to me.

I jumped. Why would he tell me this? We didn’t exactly like each other, and my name wasn’t Grimault. “How?” I asked.

“Trent’s the one who introduced Sam to my dad. They met at the pool hall downtown. Trent must’ve been running his mouth about the fortune, and Sam said he thought he could help. Sam did have some useful information for us, so Dad let him tag along. But after just a few hours, Garret caught Sam stealing from us. Dad blamed Trent for bringing Sam here. It’s been downhill for Trent ever since.”

“That explains a lot,” I said. “Why are you telling me this?”

Edward shrugged. “I don’t know. It can’t hurt to tell you. It’s not like Dad’s going to let—”

“You figure we’re dead meat, so why not tell us what’s really going on?” I asked.

Edward shook his head. “Look, I was trying to be, you know, nice. I think Dad should let the three of you go. There’s no reason to keep you hostage. We’ll be out of here as soon as we find the fortune.”

Holly scrunched up her forehead. “You really don’t want your dad to hurt us?”

“No,” Edward said.

“Then why’d you try to catch us earlier?” I asked, remembering how mean he’d seemed when I’d first met him.

“You stole my food, and I burned my foot because of you. You would’ve been mad, too.”

I couldn’t argue. I would’ve reacted the same way in his place.

“He doesn’t want to be here,” Noelle said, joining our conversation. “That’s why I’ve been talking to him. He doesn’t want us to get hurt. He’s only following his dad’s orders.” She smiled at Edward.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trent reach toward his belt. He took a piece of bread from his pocket. Just as it touched his mouth, two squirrels leaped off Sam and stole the bread from Trent’s hand. “Hey! Get your syrupy paws off me!” As if they were offended, the squirrels clawed at Trent’s hand a few times and jumped back onto Sam. “Ow!” Trent wiped his hand on his pants. “You better keep those creatures to yourself or I’ll—” He didn’t get to finish his threat because the vulture on Sam’s shoulders turned and squawked at him.

Sam laughed as Trent backed away from the vulture. I smiled again. I was starting to like Sam.

Sam really was helpful when it came to finding the clues on the maps. The search went much quicker. Before long, we came to a large tree in between two paths.

Morgan cleared his throat. “This is the final map, so the location of the fortune is hidden somewhere on it.” He studied the map for several minutes. “This doesn’t make sense. All of the other maps indicated which paths to choose by adding something that didn’t exist in the forest to the correct path. I can’t find what was added on this map.”

Sam took a turn studying the map, but even he couldn’t decipher it. “There isn’t anything added to either of the paths on the map. Are you sure this map isn’t a fake?”

“This map was drawn by my father. I know for certain it’s authentic. Keep looking!” Morgan yelled. His patience with the search had obviously run out.