Page 350 of The Maxwell Brothers
"I can't wait. You told me so much about these hunts that I'm curious to see how they are."
"Let's go."
"Oh, shoot," Rose said, "I need to go to the toilet. I think Amy spit up on me, and I want to clean up a bit so I look good for the final picture at the end."
"Sure."
"Babe, can you hold her?" she asked Mark.
"Of course."
"Or I can," Declan offered.
My eyes bulged. My sister went to him, and he immediately took Amy, resting her on his arm.Oh, this image right here.I wasn’t sure if I was swooning or melting or both.
"You're good with kids," Mom remarked.
"I had time to practice with my niece."
"How old is she?"
"Ten." Declan told them a bit more about Paisley. Rose returned only a few short minutes later, taking Amy back.
Dad clapped his hands once. "Okay, everyone in the backyard."
I did a small pirouette, happy about how the day was going. I was smiling from ear to ear when we stepped outside.
"So, who's participating?" I asked, looking at Declan.
He held his hands up. "No, no. I'm observing," he said. Of course my grumpy lawyer wouldn't participate, but I loved him anyway.
"We are," Mark said, referring to himself and Rose.
"I'll hold Amy," Mom offered.
"So it's just the three of us, huh?" I said, rubbing my palms together. "Dad, are you timing us?"
"Of course. Liz, your packages are black. Mark, yours are yellow, and Rose, yours are red."
"Got it," Mark said.
I looked around the yard, and I immediately saw the black bump near the nut tree. The second I stepped off the porch, I entered scavenger hunt mode. My eyes were on the prize. I crouched next to what I thought was a package, but instead, it was a black gift bag. A small one. I looked inside. It was empty except for a piece of paper with an arrow. I made sure not to move it before tracing the direction of the arrow with my eyes.
Okay, 45 degrees south.I turned the bag around to see if there was anything else, any other clue. No time to analyze. I needed to get to my next spot. I blocked out whatever my sister and brother-in-law were doing. They would only be distractions, and I needed to focus on my path. It didn't matter what they did. I practically ran to my next stop, crouching down and grabbing…
A black velvet pouch—tiny and also empty. I had no clue what this meant. The sheet of paper with the arrow was hidden in the bush behind it, pointing to 90 degrees west. I broke intoa run and couldn't help myself—out of the corner of my eye, I tried to spot my sister and Mark. Neither of them was in my periphery, but I didn't look more because I didn't want to waste time.
Instead, I ran to the next clue. I looked on the ground and found nothing. And then I looked in the hedge and saw the small jewelry box.
"Hey," Declan said from behind me.
"Oh my God. Why would you do that?" I exclaimed, putting a hand on my chest. "You scared me."
"Sorry, I just thought you may need help."
"Finding clues?" I said.
"This is the final one."
