Chapter Sixteen
I was more than a little surprised to see a bunch of tough thieves running away from a fight. I was even more surprised that Morgan had listened to me, especially since my plan involved creating another rock wolf.
“Uncle Morgan must be losing his mind!” Trent mumbled under his breath.
“Dad?” Garret said in a low voice. “Trent should be punished for his lack of loyalty to you, and I’d be happy to carry out any punishment you see fit. But, I can’t help wondering why we’re taking these kids with us. We don’t need them.”
I gulped. Garret was right. They didn’t need us. I leaned closer, hoping to find out Morgan’s reason for keeping us around. Luckily, they were too busy to notice me.
“Until we know how they got Aristede’s painting, they’re staying in my sight,” Morgan said. “I can’t believe they’d stumble upon something as important as the last remaining piece of my treasure map.”
Morgan looked in my direction, so I stepped closer to Holly.
“Why does he keep looking at us? It’s creepy,” Holly whispered out of the corner of her mouth. She hadn’t overheard the conversation between Morgan and Garret, and I figured that was a good thing. Keeping her on a need-to-know basis was probably my best bet. I couldn’t have her freaking out and getting us in any more trouble. “Oh no, he’s coming over here,” she said.
Morgan walked alongside me for a while without saying a word. I hated not knowing what he was up to. Holly stared at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Morgan.
“Hungry?” Morgan asked, holding out two pieces of bread.
“Thank you,” I said, taking Holly’s piece, too, so she didn’t have to move any closer to Morgan.
“So, where did you say you got the painting?” he asked.
“I didn’t say.” I was trying to keep the edge out of my voice, but it wasn’t easy to be nice to this guy when I was imagining all the things he could do to Holly and me once he got what he was after.
“Oh? I could’ve sworn you said something about it. Well, where did you get it?” His tone still sounded friendly, but his smile was completely forced.
“At an antique store in town,” I lied. I took another bite of bread and tried to act casual. Holly immediately looked at me. I sighed and bowed my head. I knew she hadn’t meant to, but she’d just given me away.
“An antique store?” Morgan’s face turned twelve different shades of red, and he balled his hands into fists. His voice wasn’t friendly at all anymore. “You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you? Each map was carefully hidden where only a Grimault could find it. There’s no way the most important map would be hidden in an antique store where anyone could buy it. Now, tell me the truth!”
Noelle widened her eyes at me, and I got the feeling she wanted me to make up another lie. A better lie.
“Well, we—”
“J.B., look!” Holly said. She dropped her bread on the ground and pointed up ahead. I expected to see a wild animal, but instead I saw my dad walking toward us. “D—” Holly began, but I shoved the rest of my bread into her mouth to stop her.
“Bruce!” Morgan growled. He put one hand up, motioning for everyone else to stay where they were, and he marched up to my dad. “How dare you show your face after you tried to pass off that phony drawing as a piece of my treasure map?”
My hands shook. I was sure the Grimaults were going to attack my dad.
“Let me explain,” Dad said, putting his hands up in surrender. “Edward and I determined the map I brought may have been fake, so I headed home, planning to search my father’s belongings for another map. But I never made it home because I took a wrong turn and ended up heading in the opposite direction. I found this at the other end of the forest.” He handed the painting to Morgan.
He really was helping Morgan. But if he found the painting in the park, then he was heading home. He hadn’t taken a wrong turn. Something wasn’t right. I studied his face, but his expression was blank—unreadable.
Trent, Garret, and Edward pointed their knives at my dad, waiting for their orders. Noelle stepped toward Holly and me. Morgan studied the painting, and I thought his eyes might pop out of his head. He smiled and said, “It’s signed AG! At last! The final piece! Bruce, you took a big chance returning here after your map turned out to be a fake.”
Dad reached out and shook Morgan’s hand. “As I told you earlier, I’m here to help you find the fortune. It belongs with its rightful owner.” Morgan’s eye twitched slightly, but he nodded in response.
Dad kept talking to Morgan as if Holly and I weren’t there. How could he pretend not to recognize us? I stared at him, trying to find some sign that he’d come to save us.
“New recruits?” he asked, pointing at Holly and me. “Your family’s bigger than I thought.”
“Oh, don’t worry about them. They had the painting and were going to help us find it, but we don’t need them anymore thanks to you.” Morgan slapped my father on the back.
“What do you mean you don’t need us anymore?” Holly asked with a shaky voice.
Noelle crept back over to Edward and whispered something in his ear. He shrugged in response.
“I have the painting. Why should I keep you kids around?” Morgan said, still mesmerized by the painting.
“Dad!” Edward said in a panic.
“Oh, fine. The other girl can stay. She hasn’t been a problem like these two.” He glared at Holly and me.
Was that what Noelle had whispered to Edward? Was she trying to protect herself? I had to get Holly and me out of here. Unlike Noelle, we didn’t have anyone protecting us.
A rush of adrenaline sent my brain into overdrive. “You can’t get rid of us because you still don’t know how we got the painting, and we’re not going to tell you until you agree to let us go,” I said.
“You’re making demands of me?” Morgan’s face turned red. “Tell me how you got Aristede’s painting or I’ll kill you both right now!” He drew his knife and shook it at me.
“Wait!” Dad said, taking a step toward me. “Perhaps you might let me try getting it out of them.”
Morgan furrowed his brow. “What makes you think you’ll have better luck?”
“I have children of my own. Ones who aren’t as disciplined as your boys are. I know how to talk to them.”
“You might have kids, but that doesn’t mean you know them or that you know how to be a father,” Holly said, her eyes filling with tears. I was too angry to cry. Dad had basically said Edward and Garret were better kids than Holly and me.
Morgan moved toward Holly, but Dad put out his hand to stop him. “Please, let me try. You have more important things to focus on. You’re about to locate the fortune.”
Morgan nodded. “Fine, but while you’re at it, lead us in the direction you came from. I need to find the back entrance to the forest. The one by the park.”
“Follow me,” Dad said. He turned to Holly and me. “You two can help me lead the way.”
I thought I saw Dad wink at me, but I wasn’t sure if it was just wishful thinking. I looked at Holly to see if she’d noticed it, but she was staring at the ground. We walked in silence until we came to a clearing. A clearing that I knew well.
“The park!” I yelled.
Holly smiled. “Maybe someone will see us! Mom probably has the police searching here.” She waved her arms in the air, but Garret yanked them down to her sides.
“Another move like that and you’ll be wolf food,” he growled in her ear.
I pulled Holly away from Garret. “Don’t touch her!” He wasn’t the least bit afraid of me. He stepped closer and curled his upper lip.
“Let me through,” Morgan said, pushing his way to the front of the group. I was relieved by the interruption. “Let’s see here. What’s present in the painting but not in the forest? Oh, yes! There should be another path around here.”
“You have the painting, and we’re out of the for
est. Now let us go,” I said.
“So you can run home and tell your mommy all about us? No, you’re not going anywhere. I know a nice cave a little way back where we can leave you two. You’ll let me know which rock wolf won the fight, won’t you?” Morgan laughed, and Garret smiled in amusement.
I thought about telling Holly to run for it, but we were outnumbered. She’d never get away.
“Do you know where the other path is?” Dad asked me.
“What?” Morgan said, his mood changing in a split second.
“I thought they might know where the other path is. It’s their painting, right?”
“It’s my painting!” Morgan corrected him.
“Of course it belongs to you. What I meant was they had the painting, so they might be more familiar with it since they had it in their possession.”
Morgan glared intensely at Holly and me. “Do you know where the second path is?”
I wasn’t sure if we should tell them anything since Morgan wasn’t going to let us go anyway. I looked at Holly, and she shrugged.
“Well?” Morgan yelled, showing his complete lack of patience.
Holly jumped and nodded at me. She wanted me to cooperate, and I didn’t see any other option.
“Yes. We took that path,” I said.
“I suppose we should keep them around,” Dad said. “They could be useful.”
“Fine,” Morgan grumbled. “But keep them out of my way.”
Dad nodded. “I’ll take charge of them for you.”
“Show us the path from the painting,” Morgan ordered.
“It’s to the right of this one. Those tree branches are covering it up.” I pointed to the spot where the path was overgrown.
Trent, Garret, and Edward uncovered the path, and Morgan made me lead the way. Dad had saved us from being thrown to the wolves, but he still pretended not to know us. I hoped he was keeping the secret for the same reason I was—so no one got hurt by the Grimaults.
I barely paid attention to where I was going. My mind was too clouded to think straight, but I was forced back to reality when I heard Noelle’s piercing scream. I whipped my head around to see one of the creepy trees Holly and I had brought to life now had Noelle tightly locked in its gnarly bark arms.