Page 63 of A Treacherous Treasure

“We won’t let the men leave us out, will we?” Caroline said.

“But we have to do this all secretly,” Benjamin said, glaring at Caroline and then Margaret. “You cannot tell anyone, and you cannot let anyone suspect why you are coming out in the woods, or they might follow you.”

“We are not imbeciles,” Caroline retorted.

“No one said you were an imbecile,” Benjamin said, rolling his eyes.

“We all need to take care not to invite suspicion,” Thomas said, trying to head off the inevitable argument. “That means we don’t let the servants see us leaving at the same time, and we’ll keep the shovel hidden in the woods rather than taking it back and forth.”

They all nodded.

“Mrs. Heywood could return at any time, so we cannot go back to Heywood House.”

“Even me?” Margaret asked.

“Of course you may go back.”

She looked relieved.

“So we will go home and get a shovel?” Caroline asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll go with you,” Margaret said.

“It’s a great deal of walking, there and back here,” Benjamin said.

“You better go and tell your mother where you’ll be,” Thomas said. “Then you can meet us back at the spot where the treasure is buried, if your mother gives you permission.”

Margaret clasped her hands together, a huge smile on her face.

They parted and Thomas couldn’t help wishing Rebecca could be with them, but she would still be hobbled by her injured ankle.

Chapter Eighteen

Rebecca was still on the sofa when Mrs. Heywood returned from her outing. Mrs. Westbrook had just left in the carriage, having been told by Margaret that Caroline, Benjamin, and Thomas would not return to Heywood House, but would walk home.

Her former mother-in-law greeted Mother but ignored Rebecca, perhaps because of the way she was seated on the sofa, which caused her back to face the doorway. She didn’t even ask why they were in the drawing room instead of the sitting room. Instead, thankfully, she moved past the doorway and up the stairs, a footman following her and carrying several packages.

As it grew late and the sun was going down, Mother said, “It will be time for dinner soon and Margaret is still not home. Perhaps I should go and try to find her.”

“No, Mother, please don’t,” Rebecca whispered. “It’s not safe for you to walk alone, and you might get lost in the dark.”

“I could send a servant, the footman or groom, to look for her.”

“You will only draw suspicion. Besides, Margaret is safe, as she is with Thomas, Benjamin, and Caroline. They will not let anything happen to her and will make sure she gets home safely.”

“Very well. I suppose you are right.”

Mother, who was generally very calm and seldom seemed distressed by anything, paced in front of the windows facing the back garden.

A servant came in and stoked the fire and lit the candles. Soon afterward, darkness descended over the windows. Should Rebecca allow her mother to send a servant to look for Margaret? Might it not seem suspicious that she was not home, if indeed anyone realized she was not there? She was still a child, after all.

They both heard the back door open. Mother went scurrying into the hallway, and Rebecca heard them whispering. Moments later, Margaret and her mother came in.

“We found it,” Margaret whispered, her eyes and her smile equally wide with excitement. “Benjamin and Thomas dug up the little tree, then dug down about two feet and there it was, a wooden chest.”

Rebecca’s heart leapt inside her. “Did you open it? What was inside?”