LEAD ME ON Julie Ortolon (mind reading books .TXT) 📖

he was laughing outright. “You might have been run over by a one-eyed octogenarian in a souped-up wheelchair?”

“Yeah, I kind of liked that one, too.” She gave him a cheeky grin as she took a seat across from him, licking sugar from her fingers.

“Okay, I’ll knock your grade down to a B for laziness, but I’ll add a plus for knowing how to spell octogenarian.”

“You’re going to grade me?” Her eyes bugged out. “Sheesh, this is worse than school.”

“Remember that the next time you want to run away.” He leaned across the table to hand her back the paper, then snatched the ball cap from her head.

“Hey!” She grabbed for it, but he put it on the chair beside him.

“No hats at the table.”

“That only applies to boys.”

“You dress like a boy, you follow the same rules. And don’t slouch.”

“Jeez,” she grumbled, but sat up straight.

He saw Allison struggle not to smile as she continued clearing the table. Settling back in his chair, he sipped coffee as he pondered how to handle the next two weeks. Remembering how he and Diane had been at that age, he knew the only way to keep an adolescent out of trouble was to keep them busy. Too bad his parents hadn’t cared enough to figure that out. “So, Chloe, how’d you like to help me with my book?”

Her eyes narrowed in speculation. “What kind of help?”

“Research assistant.”

She snorted. “Sounds like more homework.”

“What if I said the job includes scuba diving?”

“You mean it?” Her face brightened.

“What I need researched is how to hunt for sunken treasure. I figured we’d start by checking out the shipwreck here.”

“Man, you got it!”

Allison cocked her head with interest. “Does this mean you’re setting another book here on Pearl Island?”

“Yes and no,” he answered. “Galveston isn’t remote enough for what I need, so I’m moving Pearl Island to somewhere off the coast of South America. But I’d like to use your ghosts for background color, if you don’t mind.”

“You’ll have to ask Marguerite and Jack, not me.” Alli smiled.

“Since I didn’t hear any ghostly moans or chains rattling last night, I assume Marguerite’s fine with the idea. As for Jack, I guess I’ll get his opinion when we check out the ship.”

“Wait a sec.” Chloe held up her hand. “What’s this about ghosts?”

“The house and cove are haunted by two ghosts,” Scott explained. “Since they were in love, the general belief is they’re trying to find a way to reunite before they can pass on to the hereafter.”

“Really?” Chloe’s eyes went round. “That is like way cool. So when do we go diving?”

“As soon as you finish breakfast we’ll check into renting equipment.”

“We rent gear here.” Allison glanced at Chloe. “If you’re certified.”

“I got my open water certificate on my last birthday,”

Chloe answered proudly. “Since I’m finally twelve.”

“All right.” Allison eyed the girl as if measuring her body. “If you need to borrow a wetsuit, I think mine will fit you.” She turned to Scott. “Would you like me to ask Adrian if you can borrow his?”

“No,” he said, imagining her brother’s reaction to the idea. Adrian would probably want to weight it with lead and toss Scott in the middle of the gulf with no air tanks. “I’ll dive in my swim trunks.”

“Are you sure?” Alli said. “You’ll be much warmer in a wet suit.”

“I’m positive. Now, on to more important matters.” He turned to Chloe. “After the dive, we need to head for the library and start looking for a plausible treasure for my adventurers to be going after.”

“Why not use Lafitte’s missing treasure?” Allison suggested.

“The one that supposedly went down with Jack’s ship?” He shook his head. “No, I want something more distinctive than a chest of Spanish doubloons.”

“Well,” Alli said, “the story of Lafitte’s treasure in connection with Jack and Marguerite is actually twofold. There is the traditional treasure people speculate Jack inherited from his grandfather, who was one of Lafitte’s men. But there was also Marguerite’s necklace, an enormous teardrop-shaped pearl that once belonged to Jean Lafitte. It was given to her by the voodoo midwife who birthed her, as part of the blessing that gave Marguerite her magic.”

“Whoa, wait a minute, sit down.” Scott came to attention and pointed to a chair. “Let’s start from the beginning. First, how do you know all this?”

“Marguerite wrote about it in her diaries.” Setting the dishes aside, Allison took a seat beside Chloe.

“Marguerite kept a diary?” Scott flipped open his legal pad to a clean page.

“Several of them. We have the originals, which are written in French, and the English translations my great-grandmother did.”

“Okay, so tell me about this necklace.”

“Marguerite’s mother was a—” Allison stopped and looked at Chloe.

“Professional woman,” Scott supplied for her, since the woman had been a French prostitute.

“Exactly.” Allison nodded in thanks. “She planned to give her baby to an orphanage. The old voodoo woman who acted as midwife didn’t want that to happen, because she feared the child would be neglected or abused. So she named the baby Marguerite, which means ‘pearl,’ then blessed her saying, ‘Whoever keeps this pearl shall have good fortune.’ Then she draped a pearl necklace about the baby and told the mother the necklace had to stay with the child in order for the blessing to work.”

“So that’s how she came to be considered a good-luck charm.” Scott shook his head, jotting down notes. “I’ve never actually heard the whole story.”

Allison nodded. “The mother was greedy enough to keep the child, just to see if the blessing worked. Sure enough, a wealthy patron of the... establishment fell madly in love with her and set her up in a house with a generous allowance. His own fortune grew dramatically, so the mother told him the story of Marguerite’s birth, which proved a powerful incentive for him to keep both of them under his protection. There are other stories of how Marguerite brought wealth to everyone around her, but for her the blessing was more of a curse.”

“Why