Page 83 of The Salted Sceptre

The reporter continued. ‘Amy Aurum is here with me in Sutton Bridge, and it would be fair to say she’s made a most extraordinary discovery.’ He held out a microphone towards her. She was rosy cheeked from the wind and the sun and beaming from ear to ear. ‘Tell us about what you’ve found, Amy.’

‘Only the greatest treasure that’s ever been uncovered,’ Amy told him. ‘I have located the lost crown jewels of King John. They’ve been buried beneath these sands for eight hundred years but they’re buried no longer. I’ve dug up a large number of gold coins, a crown,a sword, a chalice, a helmet, an orb and a sceptre. In fact, I have the sceptre right here.’ She held up a heavy-looking golden object.

Yep: that was definitely a sceptre. Arealsceptre. Its surface was dull from the centuries it had spent in the ground but I knew it would soon be cleaned up and restored to shiny brilliance. Its magical power already seemed to sparkle even through the television screen.

‘It’s extraordinary,’ the reporter breathed. ‘Do you have any idea of its worth?’

‘Its monetary worth is in the millions. But,’ Amy added, ‘its historical worth is even greater.’

‘People have been searching for this treasure for hundreds of years,’ he said. ‘It’s amazing that you’ve found it. You’re barely eighteen years old!’

She smiled modestly.

‘In fact, you’re something of a prodigy when it comes to treasure hunting, aren’t you? You come from Hammerwich, which is the location where the Staffordshire Hoard was found. And you recently dug up some of the original Hoard that had been moved to a different spot, didn’t you?’

‘It’s true,’ Amy said. ‘I did.’

‘Not only is this treasure the greatest that’s ever been found, but you must be the greatest treasure hunter that’s ever existed.’

She giggled slightly. ‘That’s something of an exaggeration.’

‘No,’ the reporter said. ‘I don’t believe it is.’

I took the remote control out of Hugo’s hands and turned off the television before I looked at him.

‘What are you thinking, Daisy?’ he asked.

I drew in a deep breath. ‘Amy is very talented.’

‘Indeed.’

‘She’s a great treasure hunter.’

‘She is.’

I shrugged. ‘I’m not sure you could say that she’s thegreatesttreasure hunter.’

‘Definitely not.’ He paused. ‘Full kudos to her, she’s done incredibly well. But there’s a lot of treasure out there that’s yet to be found. There’s a lot of history bound up in this sceptred isle. It would be foolish to give her the title of greatest treasure hunter when there’s still so much to discover.’

‘We could pack our bags,’ I suggested. ‘Leave this afternoon? Head out and see what we can find?’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Hugo agreed.

Otis tentatively raised his hand. ‘Um, what about your wedding? You’re about to get married.’

Eloise’s expression was worried. ‘Tomorrow,’ she said, in case we’d forgotten.

I looked at Hugo. ‘I mean,’ I said slowly, ‘we can get marriedanytime.’

His blue eyes gleamed. ‘Yep. We can easily postpone the ceremony until later. If you’re alright with that, Daisy.’

Wedding-schmedding. ‘First one to the Jeep,’ I said, ‘is a rotten egg.’