Page 8 of The Curse Breaker

Thomas and Laurel had gone off on their own too and were a little ways down the beach whispering intently and comforting one another.

“Wow, what a gut punch,” Zara said. “I feel so bad for them.”

“Me too.” Benny could only imagine how she’d feel if she learned the world had kept spinning and she’d been standing still, and that her mom, who she loved most in the world, was gone and she was alone in the world.

“Can you imagine being the same age for two hundred years?” Zara suddenly remembered Kimble standing there too and did a double take. “No offense.”

Kimble’s face was blank as he said: “Try four hundred, kid.”

“Four hundred?” Zara’s dark eyes practically overtook her face. She seemed to look at the pirate anew. “That is a lot to wrap your head around.”

“Tell me about it.” He ran a hand through his messy mop of blond hair. “It goes by faster and slower than you think.” He looked out at the water. “Faster if you don’t wallow and remember those you lost along the way.”

“But you still remember everything, don’t you?” Zara pressed. “Because my grandmother—who runs the Greenport Historical Society—would love to pick your brain about piracy and life here in the eighteen hundreds.” Zara paused and grinned at Benny. “God, I’m starting to sound like her.”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, kid, but I am not in the habit of telling anyone how long I’ve been living in Greenport,” Kimble’s voice was gruff. “My motto has always been, Don’t get attached. The only person I’ve had a real relationship with in a long while was Evelyn, and she’s been gone a long time too.”

“You’ve lived on Long Island this whole time?” Benny asked, curious.

The island’s warm sun seemed to settle on Kimble’s face. “I may have escaped being trapped on the island, but the island doesn’t let you go. It’s like a rubber band—you can only go so far before it yanks you back. Doesn’t matter if I’m on land or water. Wherever you happen to be when you take the treasure, is where you remain till the treasure is returned.”

“How far away have you gotten?” Zara played with the rope bracelet on her wrist.

“New York City,” he said, his expression clouding over. “I was looking for someone. I wasn’t there long. The rest of the time I’ve been on the North Fork. All four hundred years.” A wrinkle formed between his eyes. “I don’t even remember my birthday anymore. Who needs one when you don’t age?” His eyes crinkled warmly.

Benny was fascinated, but she couldn’t let herself be sidetracked. She held up Evelyn’s letter. “Do you remember when Evelyn gave you this? You must if you had it on you.”

He held up his left arm and showed her three red strings wrapped around his wrist. They looked worn and dirty. “I do. Only because the kid—I called her ‘kid’ even when she was older than I was—made me come up with a system so I wouldn’t forget. I use strings now for everything.” He frowned at one on his wrist. “Though I might have forgotten to do this one.” His blue eyes were shining now, taking on a glow Benny noticed all the immortal kids had too. “Evelyn was emphatic that I put the letter someplace safe, and there’s nowhere safer than the wooden memory box on my boat. I’ve had the same one for almost two hundred years.” He looked smug. “Whittled it myself, actually. I’m a pretty decent wood-carver.”

“Carve anything in Greenport we’d recognize?” Zara asked hopefully.

Kimble fidgeted slightly and dropped eye contact. “I…no. Low profile, remember?”

From all her time watching her favorite cop show, Lawyered Up, Benny could tell he was lying. “Back to the letter,” she pressed. “Did Evelyn give you just one? Or are there multiple letters? More diary entries, maybe?”

“That’s all she wrote, kid,” Kimble plucked a piece of bark off the palm tree he was leaning against and bit on it like it was a toothpick. “Why?”

Benny deflated slightly, her shoulders tensing. “Usually, she’s given me a riddle and a diary entry that explains what was happening in your time. Her time. Eighteen twenty-five.” Benny’s head hurt trying to keep things straight. “This letter tells me nothing. I need a clue to start this new game.”

Kimble nudged Zara. “Is she always like this?”

Zara looked Benny’s way. “I’ve only known her a few weeks, but I’d be this anxious too if my family fortune was at stake.”

“Fortune?” Kimble’s brow furrowed once more, the frown on his face deepening.

“Evelyn left Benny her estate,” Zara said before Benny could explain. “The house, the vineyard business, the inn and resort. All of it. If Benny found the island and saved everyone.”

Kimble’s expression darkened. “Ah. I see how it is then.”

“No,” Benny said hurriedly. “I mean, yes, I want to inherit what Evelyn left me, but it’s more than that now. Evelyn is family. Breaking this curse and saving all of you from this treasure was her dying wish.”

“Saving.” Kimble scoffed. “As if you kids could do that.”

Benny stood up straighter. “Evelyn was my age when she learned I was the key to ending this curse. Look at the game and inheritance she grew so I could do this. I wouldn’t count me out.” Benny thought she saw the hint of a smile under that grumpy facade of his.

“Fine,” Kimble placed a hand in one of his pockets. “Then you should know the treasure has a name—Tesouro Eterno. It means eternal treasure.”

“Tesouro Eterno,” Benny committed it to memory. “Now…back to the letter.” She waved it in the air again as Aggy and Gil approached, arm in arm. Laurel and Thomas were rejoining them too. “Why wouldn’t Evelyn give me a clue to start me off? If this new game is to lead to another piece of treasure, I need a way to find it.”