Page 80 of Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse
Shea grappled with the logic of it. “Is this because of that missing silver map?”
Penny’s face was ashen with withheld secrets. “If the map still exists—if thesilver veinstill exists—it could impact this area in so many ways. Conservation and land rights are likely to be contested—it would be opening a huge can of worms. Not to mention if someone finds the map to the silver vein, if it’s on private property, they could offer to buy the land without mentioning what they knew, and then all that silver would be theirs. There are so many ifs and buts, Shea.”
“You mean...?”
Penny nodded emphatically.
Shea completed her thought aloud. “If thereisa silver vein in these woods, then the bust of the 1870s needn’t have happened. Whoever finds the map can potentially revive it and that creates—”
“Land war potential. Conservation issues. A whole mess, not to mention a lot of locals will want to dig into it and revive the wealth,” Penny inserted.
“And lay claim to it. Which means the value of what Rebecca stole from her father is very significant.”
“Also,” Penny went on, “if you’re a local, you probably believe that Annabel’s ghost will do anything to avenge any wrongs committed against her—and against her daughter.”
Shea sat straighter on her barstool. “You’re not saying...”
Penny’s lips flattened in resignation before she answered, “They say if a person gets too close to Rebecca’s secret, they also get too close to Annabel. And Annabel isn’t a friendly ghost where her daughter is concerned.”
“Or her legacy,” Shea added.
“But no one knows if Jonathan Marks ever found the map,” Shea concluded, recounting her conversation with Penny.
Pete rested in a lounge chair in the yard not far from the lighthouse and almost directly in the spot where he’d been hit by the car. The chair was padded with pillows, and he wore sunglasses to block the setting sun that reflected off the lake. It was quiet tonight, restful, almost as though the lake were relieved to have some of its secrets revealed.
“I can’t get over Annabel being a part of Penny’s family tree.” Shea shook her head, bending forward in her lawn chair to rest her elbows on her knees. “There’s so much I could put in my book now, but then I’m not sure about the infringement on privacy. Penny wants nothing to do with the map. In fact, she doesn’t really want to talk about this with anyone.”
“I guess finding Captain Gene isn’t important now,” Pete said.
“Isn’t it? If anyone would know if the map was ever found, I would think it would be him!” Shea declared.
“Why?”
She twisted to eye Pete as though he’d not even been listening. But then maybe his mind didn’t work like hers in connecting invisible dots. “Jonathan would have known the connection between Penny and her ancestry all the way back to Annabel. As conscientious about things as he supposedly was, if he’d found the map, he would’ve known the map at least—maybe not the land where the silver vein might be—should technically belong to Captain Gene, the next of kin.”
Pete lowered his sunglasses a bit. “Captain Gene.”
“Yes. He’s Rebecca’s nephew many times removed. Technically, Captain Gene is a descendant of Hilliard, who originally owned the bulk of Silvertown.” The breeze picked up and lifted some of Shea’s curls and blew them across her face. She pulled them away, paying no mind to Pete’s silence because it was customary. “Anyway, someone must’ve killed Jonathan because he had either found the map, and they wanted it, or he knew where it was.” Shea hesitated. Her conclusion still seemed questionable. “But why kill him if only heknewwhere the map was? Did he tell his killer before he died? Or did hehavethe map, and they killed him togetthe map?”
“You’re making my head hurt,” Pete grumbled.
Shea ignored him. “The other thing is, I can’t get past the whole story of Annabel’s ghost.”
Pete seemed to agree. “Yeah, that’s weird. It’s a stretch for anyone to believe Annabel’s ghost smashed your windshield or drove that car into me.”
“Right?” Shea said.
She was enjoying the fact that Pete wasn’t off in a garage working on his cars and trucks. She had his attention, and she really liked that. She also wondered at his sudden willingnessto engage with her. Maybe it was because his convalescing was forcing Pete to have to slow down. Or maybe he had really listened to her—listened to what her needs and desires were—even though, she had to admit, she’d shown herself to be acting selfishly as well.
“Edna said that Annabel’s ghost was quiet throughout the decades until Jonathan came along. I find that suspicious,” Shea mused.
Pete shot back a quick answer. “Maybe Annabel’s ghost is only a cover. You know, for someone who’s dead set on getting their hands on that map.”
Shea’s eyes widened. She looked at Pete. “Wait...”
“What is it?” Pete asked.
“Edna Carraway is the one who first told me about Annabel being protective. Penny said Edna sometimes shares ‘dementia-inspired’ tales. And I was at Edna’s house when my windshield was vandalized.”
