Page 55 of In the Pursuit of Haven
Clutching the railing, I stared through the fathomless distance and felt so small and insignificant. I needed more strength, more direction, more hope.
“Please God, show me how to do this!”
Like this lighthouse, I needed a beacon, something to lead Jessie back home to me.Tomorrow! A way has to come. I know it.
I wasn’t alone.
Haven had left me her secret room, her journals, her letters, her mystery board. Even our shared miseries would be my guide on this journey.
Tomorrow would open up new pathways. It had to!
Chapter Sixteen
The next day, I tried to get lost in organizing Haven’s things so that I’d stop worrying about Jessie. Even though he’d returned the locket to me, I was taking no chances at losing it and fastened the chain against my neck, tucking the rubies under my collar.
The heavy jewelry swung against my skin as I worked. We had the living room packed up and I began tackling the kitchen as my thoughts ran to what all these clues meant.
The Dimond rattle that we’d picked up on Brown’s Island was nothing like this locket. I’d always been confused as to its origin, especially as I’d discovered more about the local artifacts, but if the treasure had originated from that ship in the Caribbean, then the weapon would be a macana used by the Taíno people—they were Aztecs who’d sailed to Hispaniola in 1200 AD from Venezuela.
And that fit!
I couldn’t remember every detail on it, but like the locket, it had a loopy “S” down the side that had always reminded me of a serpent—the notch on its tail had made me think it was a rattlesnake.
There weren’t rattlesnakes in the Caribbean. If this artifact hailed from there, then one of Crabb’s compatriots had put on the intricate detail as an afterthought.
So who had done it?
Crabb and Phips were men of action—sailors, privateers, not engineers or map makers. There was someone else who’d been in on this with them, and the question was why? Why hadn’t they just split the treasure and gone their separate ways? Had they feared discovery from the British who might confiscate the loot from them, since they were mere colonists at the time of the discovery?
“Did your friends ever figure out what the Dimond rattle was?” I asked Jessie.
He glanced up quickly from a box where he was packing the pots and pans. “They’re not my friends.”
“Fine, you’re on a break,” I said, “so why was the rattle so important?”
He shrugged and went back to packing.
“Is it why you think you don’t need the locket?” I asked.
His head whipped back up. “Can we talk about something else?”
So, in other words “yes.”He thinks he’s found something more important.I taped up my box, my movements turning extra rough as I finished that and left the room to find another one.
My hand went back to the locket. There was still a big part of this mystery left unexplored. Crabb had divulged a secret to the witch, who I’d bet my career on was Ann Dolliver—thanks, Haven. Unfortunately, her secrets had been buried with her.
But where? Where had she been buried?
I’d stayed up late again last night trying to figure out where that was. She’d died in Edward and Sarah Bishop’s care in Bristol, but further research told me that she had no gravestone. Anywhere.
Had she confided in anyone? Did she have friends who didn’t think she was a lunatic?
I sighed, pulling another box into the kitchen. A knock sounded on the door, and pushing off the floor with my knee, I left to answer it. A package sat on the doorstep. Seeing the postal worker at Haven’s mailbox, I waved.
He returned my greeting in his friendly way. The man traveled over to the island once a week, and had once confessed to Haven that visiting her was the highlight of his job. That might’ve also been because he had a little crush on her. Then again, who didn’t from her generation?
Picking up the package, I noticed that it wasn’t addressed to Haven or to the new lightkeepers; it had my name on it. Who knew that I was here packing up, beside Bette Ann?
Had she sent me more chocolates? My heart lightened at the unexpected gift. It was definitely the right size and weight. Taking the padded envelope into the breakfast room, I ripped off the top and found a small satin container inside. Not chocolate, more like a jewelry box. Fascinated, I opened the hinged case and gasped when I saw the other half of Crabb’s locket.
