The Billionaire's Curse
Page 24
“Well, from my inspection of the records it looks like the original property here—the combined Avonleigh and Beaconsfield—was once owned by a very ancient ancestor of yours. It looks like your family crest is directly tied to the cult that built that burial chamber.”
Gerald nodded. “That’d explain why the crest keeps popping up everywhere. Mrs. Rutherford said my great-grandfather was always at Major Pilkington’s mother to buy Beaconsfield from her.”
Professor McElderry brushed some crumbs from his whiskers. “Dorian Archer may well have known about the existence of the diamond casket and wanted to secure it,” he said.
Sam put down his cup and reached across the table for the plate of scones. “So what’s the story with you and the archer wind vane? How come you were looking for that?”
McElderry bristled. “The major wasn’t the only one with access to old books. I work at a museum, remember? My research had shown the casket was somehow linked to the solstice. I’d asked old Jervis to keep an eye out for a vane that matched the one at Beaconsfield. Every antiquarian worth his salt knew about the diamond casket—I was just closer than anyone else to finding it.”
“Except for us,” Sam said. “And to be fair, Major Pilkington and Mr. Chesterfield did get there first, and—”
McElderry pushed his chair back from the table and grabbed his hat. “Did I mention that you might well be the stupidest boy in the entire world?”
He left without thanking Mrs. Rutherford for the afternoon tea.
The next morning as Gerald, Ruby, and Sam sat down to another magnificent breakfast, with plans for a swim in the pool straight after, Mrs. Rutherford delivered a letter to the table.
“This morning’s post, Master Gerald,” she said.
“Who’s writing to you?” Sam asked through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.
Gerald tore open the envelope and removed a single sheet of paper. He looked over the contents, then laughed.
“What is it?” Ruby said.
“A credit-card bill,” Gerald replied. “For a lot of pizza and coffee.” He glanced at the twins’ matching confused faces. “Long story, but it’s how I got to meet you and start this adventure.”
“Is it just the start?” Ruby asked. “Do you think we’ll see Sir Mason Green again?”
Gerald had taken his wallet from his pocket and was idly spinning the black plastic card in his fingers.
“He said he’d be back.”
Sam shoveled another forkful of egg into his mouth. “A guy with that much money could disappear for a long time. He’d have cash stashed all over the place.”
Gerald slipped the card back into his wallet and took out the photograph of his great-aunt and the small mirror that she’d left him. He looked first at Geraldine, then at his own eyes in the mirror.
He still had no idea why his great-aunt had started him on this journey. And he never wanted to see Sir Mason Green again. But there was a gnawing feeling in his gut.
Gerald looked at Sam and Ruby, who had resumed an argument from the night before about who was the strongest left-handed (it had ended in an arm wrestle and a shock victory to Ruby). He smiled. If there was ever to be a showdown with Green, he hoped Sam and Ruby would be there with him.
“Come on, you two,” he said. “Race you to the pool!”
Three chairs tipped back as they tumbled out onto the terrace and into whatever else the summer could throw at them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks first, and most importantly, to my family—Kathryn, Sam, Ruby, and Ella (and Pippin the cat)—for giving up holidays and agreeing to up stumps and move city so this book could finally be completed.
To three people who deployed the right words at the right time: Ali Lavau (who was there at the very beginning), Colleen Lewis von Eckartsberg, and Frank Leggett.
To my parents, Phil and Dorothy, and my sister, Nicola, who all taught me the value of perseverance.
And, finally, to everyone at the Text Publishing Company—in particular Michael Heyward, Jane Pearson, Penny Hueston, Anne Beilby, Bridie Riordan, and Kirsty Wilson.
About the Author
RICHARD NEWSOME makes his debut with this novel, which won Text Publishing’s inaugural Young Adult Writing Prize. The book started out as a bedtime story for his children, and he finally set it to paper over the course of ten years. In researching the story, he traveled across England, studying many of the places that appear in the book, and he traveled to India for the second book in the trilogy. He lives in Sherwood, Australia, with his wife and three children. Visit him on the web at www.richardnewsome.com.
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Credits
Jacket art © 2010 by Jonny Duddle
Jacket design by Joel Tippie
Copyright
THE BILLIONAIRE’S CURSE. Text copyright © 2009 by Richard Newsome. Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Jonny Duddle. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newsome, Richard.
The billionaire’s curse / Richard Newsome; illustrated by Jonny Duddle
p. cm.
Summary: When thirteen-year-old Gerald finds himself the heir to twenty billion pounds from an aunt he never met, he inherits with it a mystery surrounding his aunt’s death and various artifacts in the British Museum.
ISBN 978-0-06-194490-1
[1. Mystery and detective stories. 2. Inheritance and succession—Fiction. 3. London (England)—Fiction. 4. England—Fiction.] I. Duddle, Jonny, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.N486644Bi 2010 2009042518
[Fic]—dc22 CIP
AC
EPub Edition © March 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-199832-4
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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