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I rub my eyes and turn over in bed, glancing at the alarm clock on my desk across the room. It reads 4:53.
Sighing, I roll over again. I haven’t slept a wink all night. Thoughts of Eva—her surgery and the conversation we had—dominate my mind. Since when did she become the smart sibling? She used to just be a bundle of laughter, liked for her joy, but not necessarily her wisdom. One answer comes to mind.
Was I holding her back?
I know it’s a strong possibility, especially after replaying hours of memories in my head during the night. I was no role model in the days after our parents’ death. Constant worrying and discontentment characterized me as I tried to figure out how we could go back to our old life. I must have rubbed off on her, making her desire to leave our Grandparents’ house as soon as possible.
But with me out of the way, perhaps she finally saw things clearly. Now she can rub off on me.
I sit up and hang my feet over the side of the bed. The clock displays 5:15. If I won’t sleep, I might as well get something done.
While getting dressed, I wonder if Austin is awake at this hour. He seemed to be eager to show me something about those papers we found in the safe, but I kept brushing him off. Now that my overwhelming worries are largely quieted by a night of thinking and praying, the reality of paying for the growing medical bills is settling back in. I can’t control Eva’s surgery, so there’s no need for me to stress about that; it’s in God’s hands.
This treasure, though? This is very much my problem, and it’s a problem I have yet to solve.
I plop into the chair at my desk and pick up my phone, opening the text messages. I pull up Austin’s number and type, Are you awake yet?
Maybe we could look over the maps now, before leaving for work, and start planning our next expedition. Now that we can get inside whenever we want, we don’t have to wait for next week’s lesson. We could go in tonight.
My phone dings and I look down. It’s a reply from Austin. Ya u wanna talk?
I glare disapprovingly at his butchering of the English language as I type out a response. Bring the map up here.
Within a minute, someone knocks on my door. I swing it open to see Austin glaring at me, a few sheets of paper in hand. “It’s about time you let me talk about the maps Do you know how it feels to have information like this stuck inside me, and no one to tell it to?” He pushes past me and into the apartment. “It’s like being kept in a cage—“
“Austin. What’s on those papers that has you so worked up?”
He settles into my office chair and spreads out the papers. “I’m glad you asked.” He stabs his finger into one sheet. “Look.”
I analyze the pages before me. Each one contains pencil-sketched lines that form at least fifty boxes, maybe more, plus a few circles. Some boxes are spaced out, others share sides with each other. The shapes don’t seem to be arranged in any pattern but are scattered around haphazardly. There’s only one thing these can be.
“Blueprints.”
Austin nods. “My thoughts exactly. It looks like each one is of a different floor. Though none of them are marked with floor numbers, so we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”
I stare at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. “This was planned? The construction?”
“Well, yeah. It takes some real skill to be so random.”
The statement makes me pause. It makes perfect sense, really. How could Arthur Hawksley, the brilliant businessman, make something as thoughtless as the mansion? Could the odd construction have been the whole point of building the house?
I have little time to think before Austin interrupts again. “And look, some of these rooms have symbols in them. That’s probably a kitchen, because of the pan…I think that one, with the face, is somebody’s bedroom. I got no clue what this one means.”
“Do you think one of the symbols shows where the treasure is?”
“Maybe.”
I can’t help but grin. Three huge revelations in one day—one from Eva, early in the morning, plus two game-changing facts about the manor. With all this new knowledge, the treasure might as well be in our hands now.
Austin picks up on my thoughts and grins as well. “Just think—in a few days, we might be millionaires!”
Sitting on my desk, my phone buzzes and comes alive with classical piano music. I dig it from beneath maps of the Hawksley Manor to see the caller’s name. It’s Eva’s hospital again. “Just a second.” I step away from the desk and answer the call.
I exchange greetings with the same receptionist as before. My heart leaps into my throat and my pulse pounds in my ears so that I can barely hear her words. This is it. Either everything’s about to come crashing down, or the day will get even better. I take a deep breath as she delivers the news.
“Your sister just came out of surgery, and she’s doing great. The procedure went normally, and she’s expected to be out of the hospital in a week.”
My mind goes blank. “Can you repeat that?”
“Evangeline is fine. She’s awake right now. You can come down and see her if you’d like.”
My head feels like a balloon, all the stress and dread lifted suddenly. “I…I’ll be right there. Thank you.” I stumble over to my bed and sit on the edge.
“Who was that, your girlfriend?”
I roll my eyes, but even his joke can’t suppress my rising elation. “Eva is…okay. She’s actually getting better.”
“Good for her. Now, about our trip.”
I stand from the bed and walk over to the desk, grabbing my car keys from one drawer. “I’ll see you at work. Bring the maps so we can plan.”
He looks up at me with a raised eyebrow but says nothing. “Alright. See you there. I’ll show myself out.”
As I lock the door behind Austin and descend the stairs to my car, I thank God for this turn of events. With Eva on the mend and the treasure within my grasp, everything might work out after all.
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