Читать книгу The Longest Halloween, Book Two - Frank Wood - Страница 8

“And I just thought that you should know,” Renee was telling Jasper and Dreyfuss in a video/instant message window that appeared at the bottom of the screen of the small laptop. Jasper and Dreyfuss had arrived at the Franklin flat that afternoon and had hurried to get online.

“Thanks for the warning, Atherton,” Jasper replied. “You’re a cool dude, for a girl that is.”

“All right, I’m out,” she said and her window disappeared.

“She’s got that military thing down, huh?” Dreyfuss remarked.

“But what do you suppose Scroggins wants with the map?” Jasper asked.

“No idea,” Dreyfuss said.

“I got a call from Mrs. McClafferty earlier this afternoon, Joel,” Joel’s mother said as she and Joel cleared the small kitchen table of the evening’s dishes. “She said that you really impressed her in your interview.”

“Did she say anything else?” Joel asked, his excitement mounting.

“Not much, “Joel’s mother replied, “unless you count the fact that she’d like you to start working for her in the patch first thing after school next week.”

“Yesss!” Joel yelped with a fist pump.

“I’m so proud of you, Joel,” she said.

“I … I can do it, can’t I?” Joel paused.

“You can,” his mother giggled, “but your grades have to stay up, understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Joel said.

“When you worked for Mr. Grisson, it was over the summer; but it’s fall now, so you need to stay on point,” she went on. “And we’ll probably need to drop by the store and get you an extra set of jeans. Mrs. McClafferty said she already had a pair of gloves and some boots that you could borrow.”

“That’s lame, don’t you think?” Joel asked.

“Joel you’re working in a pumpkin patch, not the Gap,” his mother said.

“Yeah but …” Joel began.

“Joel, you’ll be fine,” she said, “it’s not a fashion show.” She took a deep breath and the tone of her voice changed. “I also heard from the vice principal today,” she said.

Joel rolled his eyes. “Really?”

“He said that you and Ian Samuels were getting into it at school,” she said.

“Ma, it was his fault,” Joel exclaimed. “He’s a bully!”

“I’m not denying that, Joel,” his mother said. “Just keep your distance. Mr. Hairston said that if he didn’t know you, you’d be spending this weekend in detention.”

“Ma, I don’t know what you expected me to do. He called me out in front of everybody!” Joel protested.

“That’s pride, Joel,” his mother said, “and I’ve told you about pride … it goeth before a fall.”

Joel’s phone sounded and Polly’s face appeared on the screen. Good save; he knew that once his mother started quoting scripture, the disagreement was over.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,” Polly’s voice sounded. “So look, I just want to clear the air between us … especially now that you’re going to be working at Ian’s family’s farm. I just don’t want things to be weird is all, Joel,” she said.

“Me either, and they won’t be,” he said. “It’s not like you’ll be out in the fields moving pumpkins.”

“Right,” she agreed briskly. “I just wanted to check, is all … and to say congratulations on geting that job.”

“Thanks,” Joel said.

Polly went on, “Ian’s not all that bad, Joel. I think if you gave him a chance, you’d really like him.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Joel said, “and you need to be really careful, Polly. I trust that guy about as far as I can throw him!”

“Which isn’t very far, is it?” Polly said snarkily, then bit her lip. “I’m sorry Joel, that was mean.”

“You always were quick with the comeback,” Joel said.

“Joel, I am sorry,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Joel said, “I’ve got to go anyway.”

“I guess I … uh’ll see you around, then,” Polly said.

“I guess so,” Joel said, “thanks for the call.”

“Sure … we’re still friends and all, right?” she asked.

“Of course,” Joel said, “see ya.”

“See ya,” Polly replied and clicked off. Joel ended the call on his end and heaved a sigh.

“You all right there, son?” his mother asked gently.

“Yeah, fine,” Joel said. “She just wanted to say congratulations is all.”

“That’s nice of her,” his mother remarked.

“I suppose,” Joel returned. “Better get this trash out.”

“Jasper, don’t forget to take a bath this evening,” Mrs. Franklin called into the back room.

“All right, Mom!” Jasper called back.

“Dreyfuss, do you have a towel and washrag?” she continued.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dreyfuss called back.

“My mom’s really big on staying clean,” Jasper said to Dreyfuss. The two were seated in front of the laptop shared by the brothers.

“Mine is too,” Dreyfuss replied. “Must be a mom thing.”

“Here it is.” Jasper’s deft little fingers flew over the keyboard of the small laptop, which cast his and Dreyfuss’s faces in a warm blue light. “Sebastian Silverbeard was a feared and terrible pirate who spent his last days of villainy here in the quiet port town of Portersville before disappearing sometime in the early nineteenth century,” Jasper read aloud. Jasper was an excellent reader. “Many in the town never knew his sordid background and his life as one of the eastern coast’s most vicious pirates.”

“What’s sordid mean?” Dreyfuss asked.

“I think it means bad,” Jasper replied and continued reading. “While his exploits were many, the story that has become most associated with him was that of the great Halloween Face-off with the king whose land Silverbeard had plundered.”

“How come they don’t teach us history like this in school?” Dreyfuss asked.

“I know,” Jasper agreed.

“The details may never be known,” Jasper read on, “but legend has it that Silverbeard and his crew, exhausted from their flight from the authorities of the day, came to rest in a small town near Lisbon, Portugal. The citizens there were kindhearted and took the pirates in, fed them, gave them clothes and a place to sleep. But the pirates repaid their hospitality with wickedness when they raided the city’s one bank and made off with the city’s prized treasure.”

“What jerks, huh?” Dreyfuss commented.

“When the king of that city returned and learned what had happened, he swore vengeance on Silverbeard and all his crew,” Jasper read on. “The king, who was also rumored to be a powerful sorcerer, cast a spell on the treasure chest that the pirates had stolen, forbidding it from opening for a hundred years. The king had ten sons, all of whom were werewolves. He sent these sons after Silverbeard’s crew, and one by one, every crew member was found and destroyed by these werewolf princes … everyone but Silverbeard and his cook, who managed to escape with the treasure chest that could never be opened for a hundred years.”

“The King never heard from his sons again, and became so consumed with capturing Silverbeard that he left his kingdom one Halloween to travel to America. His ship went down in a horrible storm,” Jasper read. “Little is known of what happened to the king after the storm, and his body was never recovered.”

“At the conclusion of the first one hundred years after the curse had been pronounced, apparently there was a scuffle related to the treasure in which descendants of the king attempted to procure the treasure, but they were stopped by a courageous witch who hid away the treasure at great cost to herself,” Jasper continued. “Nothing more has been ever heard of this treasure since that time.”

“That’s it?” Dreyfuss asked, incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right? It ends there?”

“What do you expect?” Jasper said. “Wikipedia.”

“Say, if the treasure chest was cursed to open on Halloween every one hundred years,” Dreyfuss began, “and the first time that it was opened was when the witch stopped the King’s demendents …”

“You mean descendants,” Jasper cut in, “and that was on October thirty-first, nineteen-thirteen.”

“Then the second hundred years would be one hundred years from nineteen-thirteen,” Dreyfuss went on. “So that’s …”

“Halloween this year, I know,” Jasper said.

“What about Halloween this year?” Joel’s voice startled the boys from their study.

“Joel, come look at this,” Jasper said, “It’s all about that pirate, Sebastian Silverbeard.”

“Are you guys still on about that treasure map thing?” Joel asked.

“It’s more than just a map, Joel, there’s a whole story behind it,” Jasper replied.

“And it’s epic, too!” Dreyfuss added.

“Look,” Joel said, “I don’t think you guys should get your hopes up about that map. Even if it is real, what makes you think that there will still be a treasure? And if there is, it probably won’t be worth anything. Treasures don’t usually just sit for one hundred years—somebody, sometime before then, would find it. Remember all that excitement and energy over that dead gangster’s safe? Once they opened it up, it turned out there was nothing in there but some lint and rust.”

“You never know, stranger things have happened,” Jasper returned weakly.

“Jasper, you’re not going to become super-duper rich off of some old treasure map,” Joel shot back. “Dad always used to say that nothing worthwhile in life comes easy—and if it does, don’t trust it!”

A knock came at the door and Joel rose to open it for Ellis. “What’s up, El?” Joel greeted his best friend.

“I don’t know, what’s up with you, Jo-el?” Ellis loved to emphasize the last syllable in Joel’s name. “You took off mighty quick after last period.”

“I told you I was interviewing for a job this afternoon,” Joel said.

“And he got it, too.” Joel’s mother came flurrying into the room wearing her outer coat and carrying a heavy bag.

“Oh, hello, Mrs. Franklin,” Ellis smiled sweetly.

“Ellis, why do you always remind me of Eddie Haskell?” she asked.

“Who?” Ellis asked.

“Skip it,” Joel’s mother smiled and then turned to Joel. “Joel, I’m off to the church. You boys have plenty to eat in the refrigerator. Keep things quiet around here and stay inside until I get back.”

“Yes Ma,” Joel said.

“No other guests, Joel, am I understood?” Joel’s mother asked.

“Yes Ma,” Joel said, “all we’re doing is video games and pizza.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Franklin,” Ellis chimed in, “I’ll make sure the young’uns act proper.”

“Yes,” she said, “thank you, Ellis. How’s your mother?”

“Oh, just fine,” Ellis said, “I’m sure you’ll see her this evening at church.”

“Good enough,” she said, heading to the door. “Lock the door behind me, Joel.”

“Goodbye, Ma,” Joel said, closing the door behind her.

“So you’re a working man now?” Ellis asked Joel.

“Something like that,” Joel said. “Did you bring the game?”

“Of course,” Ellis said, producing the small square box from his jacket.

“Let’s get it set up,” Joel said. While the older boys busied themselves setting up the video game in the front room, Jasper and Dreyfuss fielded another video/instant message from Renee Atherton.

“Well?” she began.

“Well what, Atherton?” Jasper said.

“Well, did you find out anything about Scroggins?” she asked.

“No,” Dreyfuss answered, “I didn’t know we were supposed to be looking!”

“What kind of detectives are you two?” Renee wondered. “It’s a good thing I’m here to tend to things!”

“She needs to get a life,” Dreyfuss said.

“I heard that,” Renee said, “but what I found out was that there was a pirate named Sebastian Silverbeard …”

“We’re ahead of you, Atherton, we’ve gone through the whole story,” Jasper said.

“Have you connected the dots yet?” she asked.

“What dots? What is she talking about?” Dreyfuss said.

“I can hear you, you know,” Renee said. “You don’t have to keep talking about me in the third person.”

“Look, Atherton, if you have information …” Jasper said.

“I do,” Renee said. “It turns out that our Mr. Scroggins has a very interesting genealogy.”

“What’d she say? What’s a genie … whatever?” Dreyfuss asked.

“Genealogy,” Jasper translated, “it means his family history. All right, Atherton, what’s up with Scroggins’s family tree?”

“Mr. Scroggins is a direct descendant of one Dudley Sylvester Townsend,” Renee said triumphantly.

Dreyfuss and Jasper exchanged confused glances. “Who’s Dudley Sylvester Townsend?” Jasper asked.

“Dudley Sylvester Townsend was Elvira Hanson’s butler,” Renee replied. “Elvira Hanson is the name on the bottom of the map that you all found in the lost and found.”

“It is?” Jasper asked. Turning to Dreyfuss, he said, ”Check it.” Dreyfuss scurried to unroll the document and the two boys looked over the parchment together. ”There it is,” Jasper said, pointing to the bottom of the map where, sure enough, in small script it said, Written and notarized this day 31 October 1913 for Mrs. Elvira Hanson. “She’s right.”

“Good eyes, Atherton,” Jasper beamed.

“How’d we miss that?” Dreyfuss asked.

“Only I’m not sure what that means,” Jasper went on.

“Me either, and I’ll admit that at first I thought your map was a fake but then things started to get interesting,” Renee continued, “but it’s odd, don’t you think? Mr. Scroggins’s great-grandfather and Elvira Hanson, linked by that old map of yours.”

“Suppose there is a treasure and Hanson knew where it was. She drew this map, and if Scroggins’s great-grandfather was wise to it but never managed to discover it, maybe that’s what Scroggins is after!” Jasper finished, his voice suddenly rising in excitement.

“Exactly!” Renee said, utterly too pleased with herself.

“This all makes sense,” Jasper said.

“It does?” Dreyfuss asked.

“Sure,” Jasper said, “we all wondered who Scroggins was and why he suddenly came to Portersville, of all places, to be a substitute teacher, when he could have gone anywhere!”

“He’s after the treasure that his great-great-grandfather’s employer hid right here in Portersville,” Renee said, “the treasure that’s due to have the curse lifted this Halloween … if the legend is to be believed, that is.”

“What that also means is that the witch that kept the treasure hid away from the King’s descendants…” Jasper excitedly went on.

“You’re talking about the nineteen-thirteen contretemps,” Renee cut in.

“Contra- what?” Dreyfuss asked.

“Exactly,” Jasper went on, ignoring Dreyfuss, “that witch must be Elvira Hanson or least somebody that Elvira Hanson knew! Good work, Atherton,” Jasper said.

“Well, it helps to know your way around the best search sites,” Renee replied, “the perks of being a detective’s daughter, I suppose.”

“I guess you make a good spy after all, Atherton,” Dreyfuss admitted.

“And I’m just a dumb old girl,” she said.

“Dreyf, I think we should tell her about Grubb,” Jasper said.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“She’s in this now, Dreyf,” Jasper said.

“If you say so,” Dreyfuss said, “but any more people get in this, that treasure’s gonna be divided into millimeters!”

“Look, Atherton,” Jasper said, “my brother, Dreyf and I are meeting up with Old Man Grubb tomorrow around ten at his place to see about translating the map. He’s got some way to figure out what that old map would look like today against modern day Portersville. You can come if it’s all right with your folks, seeing as you … you’ve been so helpful. It’s only fair.”

“I don’t know,” Renee coyly shot back, “I may have to check my schedule.”

“Hey, don’t do us any …” Dreyfuss reared up.

“I’m kidding of course,” Renee said, “I’d be happy to join you. Old Man Grubb’s place you say? I thought he didn’t like kids.”

“He doesn’t,” Jasper replied, “but we’re the exception.”

“All right then. I’ll see if my dad can drop me off,” Renee said.

“All right, cool,” Jasper said.

“Out,” Renee said, and her video/instant message window disappeared.

“So how’s your new job and all going to work out with Polly, seeing that her new beau’s family is now your employer?” Ellis asked Joel as the two boys wrestled their respective joysticks in front of a grainy nineteen-inch television screen.

“It’s going to be just fine,” Joel said. “She even called to make sure things wouldn’t get weird and to tell me congratulations.”

“She did?” Ellis asked. “That’s cool then, I suppose.”

“Why’d you call him her new beau?” Joel asked.

“’Cause they’re going out,” Ellis said, “everyone knows that.”

“Not everyone,” Joel said, suddenly crestfallen. “I thought that they were just friends.”

“That was last week, ock,” Ellis said. “This week they’re beaus.”

“What’s she see in him anyway?” Joel wondered.

“Oh I don’t know, he’s a star athlete, the ladies love him, he’s tall and he’s got that Mediterranean thing going on,” Ellis replied without missing a beat, “but that’s just a guess.”

“Thanks for clarifying for me,” Joel said glumly.

“That’s what I’m here for, man,” Ellis said.

“You ready for some pizza?” Joel asked.

“Always ready for pizza, Jo-el,” Ellis replied.

“Hold my spot,” Joel said, jumping to his feet and heading into the kitchen.

In the next room, the computer sounded. “It’s another instant message,” Dreyfuss said.

“What does she want now?” Jasper asked, before noting that the message wasn’t from Renee.

“Ahoy matey,” suddenly appeared in the empty window box. “This be the ghost of one Sebastian Silverbeard.”

“What the—?” Jasper said.

“It’s a joke,” Dreyfuss said.

“This be no joke, matey, but a warning to the both of ye it be,” appeared onscreen.

“This isn’t very funny,” Jasper said.

“Exit out,” Dreyfuss said.

“It won’t let me,” Jasper said.

“The map be mine and mine alone. Ye’d do best to turn it back in afore I have to come and get it! Ya don’t want that, matey, won’t be very pretty if’n I have to do that.”

“We don’t want any trouble,” Jasper nervously typed in response to the screen.

“I shouldn’t think ye would, matey. I’ll send me courier to fetch it up for me in one hour’s time. That be all for now.”

The instant message window vanished. Jasper and Dreyfuss sped into the kitchen where Joel had just put the pizza in the oven, both talking a mile a minute.

“Wait a minute! One at a time,” Joel said crossly.

“I wondered where the Lollipop Guild was,” Ellis said, joining the fracas in the kitchen.

“Sebastian Silverbeard just text messaged us!” Jasper gasped.

“Jasper, Mom told you about talking with people you don’t know over the internet!” Joel snapped.

“You want to get yourself serial killed?” Ellis joined in.

“What?” Jasper said.

“Joel, this guy texted us! Jasper tried to exit out but he—he—he wasn’t having it!” Dreyfuss said. “He said he was sending his carter here to pick up the map in an hour!”

“His courier!” Jasper corrected.

“Let me see what you two are talking about.” Joel led the way back to the room, followed by the other boys. Sitting at the laptop, he tried to recover the prior instant message.

“It says that the only text message you’ve gotten in the last hour is from a Renee Atherton,” Joel said.

“Renee, huh?” Ellis joked. “Little man, you starting your playing young, huh?”

“Jasper, she’s probably punking you guys,” Joel said.

“Look!” Dreyfuss shouted. The boys gathered around the laptop’s screen and saw, to their amazement, the Wikipedia entry about Sebastian Silverbeard wiped clean from the bottom up, every line, every image and every citation vanishing right before their eyes.

“What kind of crazy carrier y’all got up in here?” Ellis said.

An instant message appeared again. “Remember, matey, one hour!”

The boys recoiled from the screen violently as the instant message faded out again.

“Now do you believe me?” Jasper cried, fear in his eyes. “He’s coming for the map!”

In a moderate-size apartment, not too far away, near the edge of town, sinister smiles spread over the masked faces of the motley crew of pirates who had just finished dressing for the night.

“There be your address, mateys,” Mitchell Allister said, smiling from behind a small laptop. “All yours, for a simple click on an innocent attachment.”

“Call Josiah,” one of the pirates said, “tell him we’re on the way!”

“Rendezvous at the Adeline May!” another voice called out amidst a flurry of activity.