Page 62 of The Curse Breaker

“There you are,” Kimble whispered, looking at the piece of silver from all angles. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. One more down.” He paused, as if just remembering she was there. “Why aren’t you excited? This is what we’ve been looking for, kid.”

Tell him, the voice in her head said. You have to tell him! She forced herself to reach for her backpack. “The mark…on the hassock.”

“Yes. I made it,” he said impatiently. “I was a woodworker. I told you.”

“You said you made all sorts of things—furniture. Carvings.” She unzipped the pouch and felt around for the small bird. She held it up. “Did you make this?”

She heard him give a strangled gargle. “Where did you get that?”

Benny forced out the words. “You gave it to my mom when she was here on vacation, and she gave it to me when I was born.” The next sentence might be the hardest thing she’d ever said aloud. “She said my dad made it.”

Kimble held on to a pew and looked at her. She could see his Adam’s apple moving up and down. “You’re the key,” he whispered in shock.

The door to the chapel flew open and Grace looked from the two of them to the treasure Kimble’s hand and sighed contentedly. “Brilliant! You’ve already done my work for me.”

July 1825

For Gil,

Hello, my dear friend.

If you’re reading this, then Aggy has finally told you the truth. Please don’t hate me for what I’ve done. You mean the world to me. We may not be flesh and blood, but we are family. I could not go on if I knew any of you succumbed to the Cough.

Taking the treasure was the only way I could save you, but I also know what it meant giving up. I’ve cursed us both. You must wait for the next Blood Orange Moon to leave the island. I must live my days without you. I often wonder what would have happened to you and me if the Cough had never come to Greenport and the island had never appeared. Who would we have become? Would we journey through life together?

As painful as it is to wonder, I know I would do it all again if given the choice. Promise me, whether you’re reading this now or during the next Blood Orange Moon, you will make your new life a grand adventure, just like you always wanted. Carry me with you in your heart, and I will get to experience that life too.

My wish is that you’re reading this in Greenport, the curse is broken, and you’ve met my descendant, Everly Benedict. Is she anything like me? I hope so. If she is, I know she can run faster than you can, Gil. Try to keep up.

All my love,

Evelyn Terry

Twenty-three

Gil

Present Day

Zara was waiting outside Hooked when he emerged from the hatch in the floor of the restaurant and found the men in hard hats gone. Zara said they were on a “break” (whatever that was). Seeing his pallor, she’d insisted they eat right away. They were sitting outside at a restaurant on the water, eating off paper plates.

“Okay, spill it. What did Aggy say?” Zara pushed something called a soda over to him. It was in a paper cup and had ice. She’d bought him some fried clam strips too, which smelled delicious, but he was too nauseous to eat.

Gil reached in his raincoat and pulled out the envelope with Sparrow’s handwriting on it.

Zara’s eyes widened and she began launching questions at him. “Did you read it? What does it say? Who gave you that?”

“Aggy,” Gil said and swallowed hard. “I haven’t read it yet. I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“You’re two hundred years ready,” Zara insisted. “Read it now. You need closure!”

Closure? Gil wasn’t sure what that meant, but the envelope was burning a hole in his pocket. “Alright,” he said as Zara moved the sweet soda away to avoid “spillage.” Gil took a deep breath and read quietly while Zara sat back, her knee bouncing under the table.

When he finished, he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry.

“What does it say?” Zara’s voice was shrill.

He wasn’t sure he could find the words to express what he was feeling, so he handed Zara the letter to read herself. Thank you, Sparrow, he said, staring out at the water. I will take you with me wherever I go on this adventure. I promise. And I won’t stop till the curse is broken.