Holly Read online

  Chuckling, Nick gathered their belongings and put them in the bag. They carefully and reverently returned the map to the drawer, and left the cloth over the windows and doors.

  “I’ll own Belle Chere by this time tomorrow and I’ll take it down then,” Holly said, fastening her cloak about her neck.

  Nick climbed out the window first, caught the bag Holly handed him, then helped her climb out. It was as though he had a hundred hands, all of which he ran over her body.

  When she reached the ground, she tried to glare at him, but she couldn’t quite pull it off. The truth was, she had to work hard to keep from grabbing his shirt and tearing it open.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Nick whispered.

  If the flashlight of the guard hadn’t come close to them, Holly was sure they would have ended up on the ground together.

  They scurried around to the front of the cabin, out of the beam of light, then, crouching, they ran into the trees.

  Because of the dark, because they were afraid of being seen, they didn’t turn on their lights. Instead, Nick followed Holly, often stumbling into the back of her, then grabbing her with his hands to keep from falling. However, his hands always seemed to land on her breast or hips or around her thighs.

  “Would you stop it!” She knew her attempt to sound indignant was less than successful. She wondered what in the world she was doing outside in the middle of the night. The temperature was dropping and the air felt heavy; snow was imminent.

  “Maybe we should go back,” she said. “Maybe—”

  “Someday we’ll tell our kids about this. We’ll say, ‘Remember the day we spent Christmas Eve looking for treasure?’ It’ll become folklore in our family.”

  “Maybe I’ll tell my children,” she said. “The ones I have with Prince Raine.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Lanconia. Did you know that my middle name is Raine? It’s a name that’s been in our family for generations.”

  Holly grimaced, but she didn’t let him see it. “Cousin?” she asked.

  “Cousin.”

  So much for trying to make him jealous, she thought.

  “Tell me about this tree,” he said, looking back at Belle Chere. They were far enough away now not to be heard.

  So many things had happened over the years that she hadn’t thought of the tree in a long time. She’d first seen it when she was thirteen. She’d meant to ask Lorrie about it, but he’d been distracted that day and there always seemed to be other things to talk about.

  She began to tell Nick the story as they made their way into the dark forest.

  As she often had done when Lorrie wasn’t there that summer, she’d taken a break from scraping paint and wandered around. There was a deep curve in the river that formed a teardrop of land. He’d told her that there was supposed to be an old Indian burial ground on that piece of land so she’d been curious. She’d battled her way through thorn bushes and grapevines to find an area that had little undergrowth. The tall trees shaded the ground so deeply that grass didn’t grow, and under her feet was a soft padding of years of mulch.

  She’d spent three hours walking through the heavily forested area, looking at the trees, listening, and one time sitting on a grapevine and swinging.

  As she was about to leave, she noticed an enormous beech tree that split into two huge branches several feet up. There seemed to be something embedded in the tree right where it split.

  After looking around to make sure Lorrie wasn’t near, Holly used a nearby grapevine to hoist herself up into the tree. Since she wanted Lorrie to think she was all grown up, she didn’t want him to see her climbing a tree like a child.

  When she reached the object, she saw that it was the handle of what looked to be an old sword. It looked as though, many years ago, someone had tied a sword horizontally across the split in the tree and, gradually, the tree had grown around the sword until little of it could be seen.

  “All these years and you’d think someone would have seen it,” Nick said.

  “I’m sure they did, but since the legend of hidden treasure was kept quiet, no one was looking for a marker. Besides, a sword in a tree isn’t unusual around here. By the stables is a tree with an old iron sticking out of it.”

  “Think it marks a pile of laundry that needs washing?”

  “If so, then you buy the place.”

  Nick laughed.

  Minutes later, they reached the tree and Nick shined his light up. There was little they could see, just an enormous tree with some knobby thing sticking out of the side of it. To see what it was they’d have to climb up.

  Nick put his bag on the ground. “So now what do we do? Wait for morning and rent a backhoe?”

  Holly walked around the tree. “How could anyone have planted a tree on top of a cave? Where would the roots grow?”

  “Not dumb, are you?” he said, picking up the biggest flashlight and shining it at the roots. On three sides, the roots were easy to see as they spread out across the ground. On the fourth side, the roots were growing right and left, but not in the center.

  “We’re going to have smart kids,” Nick said, grinning at her.

  “You and your wife?” she asked innocently.

  “Yes, my wife and me.”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “Okay, John Henry, get the shovel and start digging.”

  “Since all these tools have your name on it, shouldn’t you do the honors?”

  “I found the tree,” Holly said. “Besides, I’m sleepy. I think I’ll—”

  She broke off because, suddenly, the ground seemed to give way under her. It was as though she’d stepped into quicksand and was going down.

  “Nick!” she screamed.

  He was on the other side of the tree, removing a shovel from the bag, but he turned and saw Holly sinking down. Dropping the shovel, he leaped, his arms outstretched. But he wasn’t fast enough.

  In seconds, where Holly had been standing was a hole.

  Nick, on his belly, inched forward. “Holly,” he called, fear in his voice. “Are you all right?” When she didn’t answer, he inched backward, grabbed the flashlight, then crawled forward again and shined his light down.

  Holly was about ten feet below him, her cloak splayed out around her. She was sprawled on top of what looked to be a pirate’s treasure of silver ornaments, gold coins, and a few pieces of jewelry winking in the light.

  Nick kept his eyes on Holly. “Are you all right? Holly, baby, honey, answer me. Look at me.”

  She didn’t move, but she opened one eye. “Are there any rattlesnakes up there?”

  “No,” he said, so relieved he was near tears. “Unless you count me. Holly, honey, I haven’t told you this, but I’m actually a doctor.”

  She opened both eyes in surprise. “A doctor?”

  “Yes, so I want you to take off all your clothes, except for your shoes and your watch, and—”

  “You idiot!” she said, laughing.

  “It’s just that I had such a very, very good time the last time you were naked and in a pit that I want to repeat the experience.”

  Gingerly, Holly tried to sit up.

  “Careful,” he said, “that stuff is hard.”

  “What stuff?” she asked, sitting up, rubbing her lower back. “I’m covered in bruises.”

  “I’ll kiss each one to make it well.”

  “Is that what they taught you in medical school?”

  “Sort of. Well, not on campus, but off—”

  “I don’t want to hear.” Reaching behind her, she grabbed something and pulled it from under years of debris. She blinked at it a couple of times. It was black and had some kind of fungus on it, but it looked to be a candelabra. “Eighteenth century, I’d say. Probably English, but it could be French.”

  She lifted her left leg, reached under it, and pulled out something sharp that was sticking her. It was a ring. She rubbed it on her sleeve. “Look at this. I think I may have found the ring that matches the emerald bracelet