Froggy dropped the box onto a rock and sat down beside it. Cassie began unwrapping the oilskin cover. As she peeled it off, Froggy stared in surprise. It didn’t look like much. A squat, sturdy tin box, its lid secured with a stout lock. He joggled it experimentally. But it was locked fast. He studied the lock. It was buckled, twisted almost out of shape, probably from his flight through the air and the hard landing that had followed. He picked up the box, running his fingers over the lock, wondering if it would be possible to prise it open somehow.
‘Your hands!’ Cassie gasped as she noticed his raw scratched skin, the cuts up his arm where he’d scraped against the barnacles.
Froggy looked down. His legs, too, were scratched and bleeding. No wonder everything hurt! He grinned at Cassie. ‘Never mind that!’ he said. ‘What about this lock? How are we ever going to get into this damn thing?’
‘Look!’ Cassie pointed to the back of the box, almost grabbing it from him in her excitement.
The force of the box striking the sand had been enough to twist the hinges almost off their base. Froggy wiggled them, but the remaining screws held fast.
‘I need my penknife. It’s in my pants pocket.’ Suddenly conscious of his state of undress, he pulled the box onto his lap, covering himself. ‘Could you get my clothes, please, Cassie?’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Cassie scrambled back up the path. It didn’t take her long. She held out the bundle to Froggy.
‘Thanks.’ He fumbled for the knife in his pants pocket. For the first time he was glad he hadn’t managed to swap it for the rabbit. He found the screwdriver attachment, snapped it open and twisted the few remaining screws that held the lid in place. The hinges swung free. Froggy’s hands hovered over the lid. Now the time had come, he was almost afraid to open it.
Cassie’s hands seized the lid, but sensing Froggy’s reluctance she swiftly let go.
‘You open it,’ she urged him. ‘It’s your treasure, Froggy.’
He lifted the lid. Instead of glittering jewels winking their fire and ice at him, all he could see were some small chamois pouches resting on a leather box.
He took up the first pouch and opened it. Cassie peered eagerly over his shoulder.
It was what Froggy had dreamt of: a diamond pendant and matching brooch, some necklaces, bracelets, and several gold and silver rings encrusted with a rainbow of jewels – icy diamonds and blood rubies, deep blue sapphires, yellow topaz and brilliant green emeralds. Froggy lifted them out carefully.
‘Oh!’ Cassie’s voice was reverent. ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ And she sifted cautiously through the glowing treasures.
‘I want you to choose something for yourself,’ Froggy said.
‘Oh Froggy, I couldn’t!’
‘To thank you,’ he added quickly. ‘To thank you for helping me work out our family history.’
Cassie hesitated, tempted. ‘But it’s like stealing,’ she said at last. ‘All this belongs to your family now.’
‘We don’t know that,’ Froggy contradicted, feeling suddenly depressed. ‘Those lawyer people don’t believe our story. I suppose they could always come back and claim this for the estate. Then we’d get nothing!’
‘That’s not fair!’ Cassie said indignantly.
‘Well, we don’t know what’ll happen. Choose something, Cassie. And don’t tell anyone, okay? I just want you to have something to remind you …’
He swallowed self-consciously as Cassie chipped in, ‘That ghosts are real?’
Froggy laughed. ‘That you helped to solve a mystery.’
‘Okay.’ Cassie considered for a moment. ‘Actually, apart from what happened just now, it’s been fun,’ she said.
‘What would you like?’ Froggy pulled out another bag and opened it up. It contained an old fob watch and some medals. There were gold coins, assorted cufflinks and more jewellery in the other pouches.
‘Do you think I could keep this?’ Cassie had found a pendant, strands of gold delicately woven, holding a gold sovereign in its clasp. The image was of the young Queen Victoria. It was plain, but beautiful.
‘Of course.’ He fastened the slender gold chain around her neck.
‘Oh Froggy, thank you! It’s perfect.’ Cassie reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Froggy thought he would stop breathing.
‘What’s that at the bottom?’ Cassie rested a hand on the leather box.
Froggy lifted it out tentatively. ‘Gold bars?’ he suggested hopefully.
They stared in astonished disappointment at the leather bound book in Froggy’s hands.
‘It’s not a box, it’s a Bible!’ His tone was full of disgust as he inspected the dark brown embossed cover and turned the gilt-edged printed pages. ‘Why would Tad’s father keep this with the family treasure?’
‘It’s very old, but it looks kind of new,’ Cassie said doubtfully as she flicked through the cream pages, which were unmarked by handling or the weather. ‘They must have been very religious to take such good care of it.’
‘Well, I guess they were weird in those days.’ Froggy looked around, still hoping Tad might appear. After waiting all these years, surely he’d want to see the family treasure … the family treasure? Suddenly full of hope, Froggy opened the Bible and shook it hard. ‘Nothing hidden in it either.’ He threw it down.
‘You shouldn’t do that!’ Cassie patted it. ‘This has to be at least a hundred years old!’
‘Older,’ Froggy said grimly. ‘But it’s not very exciting, is it? Not very exciting at all!’ His voice was bleak with disappointment as he stared across towards the frothing waves that guarded the cave and remembered all that he had gone through. And for what?
‘There’s still the jewels and the watch and coins and everything.’ Cassie tried to cheer him up.
‘Yeah,’ he said moodily as he remembered Tad telling him that his father had always laughed when he’d talked about the family treasure. No wonder!
‘But they couldn’t have been all that religious!’ Cassie said suddenly.
‘Eh?’
‘In their personal lives, you know? I mean, Tad told you his father left them for a younger woman. And they had an illegitimate baby. Religious people just didn’t do that sort of thing. Not in those days.’
‘Well, there’s no treasure hidden inside the Bible. I’ve already proved that!’
‘Maybe there is,’ Cassie said thoughtfully, ‘only we don’t know what it is. Give it to me, Froggy.’
He handed it over and turned gloomily to the jewellery once more. What good was it anyway? Just something for rich old ladies to dress themselves up in! He felt a crushing sense of disappointment. This wasn’t turning out as he’d hoped at all!
‘Froggy! Look at this!’ Cassie thrust the Bible into his hands. ‘The treasure’s here after all, right under our noses!’
Froggy looked down. The Bible was open at the inside front cover. It was covered with small black writing – the Dearborne family tree.
Froggy scanned it, stopping at a familiar name: Thaddeus Dearborne 1869. There was a line drawn after Tad’s name, and no more entries after that. Froggy’s eyes moved upwards to Tad’s father’s name.
Charles 1840 m. Florence Hughes 1865.
Charles Dearborne, Florence Dearborne … CD and FD. The same initials as on his mother’s locket!
Froggy studied the family tree with interest. Cassie peered over his shoulder. He could feel her warm breath fanning his cheek.
‘So what?’ He shrugged. It was interesting, but not enough to get excited about.
‘So, look!’ Cassie pointed to the right-hand page. In the same handwriting that had recorded the Dearborne family tree was inscribed a new family tree, with a brief notation above it.
May, 1881. On board SS Northumberland bound for Sydney, Australia, to start a new life in the colonies.
Charles Dearborne and Mary-Anne Guildford Thaddeus b. 1869 Joseph b. 1879
‘So?’ Froggy frowned, puzzled.
‘Don’t
you see? It proves Tad was on board, that he came out here with them, and that Joseph belongs to both of them! It also gives proof of Joseph’s real age. And we’ve got proof that they all stayed at the Quarantine Station. The lawyers will have to look at that carving now!’ Cassie danced around excitedly. ‘That’s what Tad’s father was on about, don’t you see? This Bible is the family treasure! It’s our proof about the Dearborne family. Charles Dearborne must have had it in the back of his mind that if things didn’t work out for the family over here, they could always go back and prove their heritage through the Bible, just as you can now.’
‘But it’s all written in the same handwriting,’ Froggy objected. ‘The lawyers could say that any one of us wrote it.’
‘But we wouldn’t know all the details.’ Cassie was determined not to give up on her idea. ‘Charles Dearborne must have copied all that old stuff from their original family Bible before he left. I’ll bet that’s still back in England. It’ll probably have his handwriting in it, too, so they’ll be able to compare it with this one. And they’ll be able to date this Bible.’
‘Reckon you’re right, Cassie.’ Froggy was starting to feel excited now that she’d convinced him.
‘But we’ll still have to prove that Joseph became part of the Davidson family, who stayed at the Quarantine Station at the same time,’ Cassie pointed out.
‘Easy,’ said Froggy. ‘The name Catherine’s right for our family tree for a start, and the Quarantine Station records will prove the rest of it – that Catherine must have swapped her dead baby for Joseph and then pretended he was her own child. And that’s where we came from, and why we have the same webbed feet and everything!’
‘Of course!’ Cassie grinned as she thumped Froggy on the back.
He wished she wouldn’t do that. But he couldn’t get mad with her. Not after this!
‘You reckon we can do it?’ he asked.
‘Damn right I reckon!’
15
‘What about Tad? Did you see him at all?’ Cassie asked. She was busily packing everything back into the box while Froggy changed into his dry clothes.
‘No.’ Froggy felt an aching sense of loss. ‘I guess he hasn’t forgiven me for letting him drown again.’
‘That’s silly!’ Cassie protested.
‘I thought I heard him talking to me while I was swimming, though.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He … sort of tried to tell me things.’
‘And?’
‘I called him “chicken”!’ Froggy said gloomily.
Cassie snorted. ‘He does what he wants,’ she said. ‘He always has. Forget him, Froggy. He’ll come back when he feels like it. Meantime, we’ve got much more important things to worry about, like how to explain all this to your parents when you get home. They’re going to think you’re a raving lunatic!’
‘Come home with me,’ Froggy suggested. ‘They might believe two rather than one. And at least we’ve got the family treasure to show them!’
‘Your mother’s going to have a fit when she sees you!’
‘Yeah. Well, we might just tell her I had to swim for it. We don’t have to go into all the details,’ Froggy said hurriedly.
Cassie grinned and fingered the pendant around her neck.
‘Don’t let anyone see that!’ he warned, and Cassie hastily pushed it down inside the collar of her school uniform.
Froggy picked up the box and tucked it under his arm. He was exhausted after his ordeal and dreaded the explanation to come. But most of all, he missed Tad. Why hadn’t he come to see the treasure? Had he drowned for good? Or was he just cranky because Froggy had called him ‘chicken’?
‘Come back, Tad!’ His mind sent the message. But there was no reply.
‘We’d better get going.’ He wondered where he’d find the strength to stagger home.
Cassie seemed to sense how he felt. ‘Here, I’ll carry the box.’ She leaned over and yanked it out of his grasp.
‘You don’t have to …’
But Cassie wasn’t listening to Froggy’s halfhearted protest as she turned and trudged up the path.
Froggy’s father was busily typing at the computer as they walked into the house.
‘Sshh. Let’s not disturb him. We’ll go to my room and wait till my mother comes home, then we won’t have to tell everything twice.’
All Froggy could think about was lying down and going to sleep. Or maybe raiding the fridge and then having a sleep. All that exercise had made him hungry. He grinned weakly at Cassie. ‘Why don’t you ring and let your mum know you’re staying here for dinner? When you’ve done that, we’ll get something to eat and …’ He yawned and collapsed onto his bed, pointing Cassie in the direction of the phone.
Froggy woke to find his father, mother, Nan and Cassie all staring down at him. His mother was frowning in alarmed disapproval over the state of his hands.
‘I haven’t told them anything,’ Cassie said quickly. ‘I told them they’d have to wait to hear the story till you woke up.’
Froggy shook his head to clear it. Hear the story? He hardly knew where to start!
He got up and followed everyone into the lounge room. And then he began, with interjections from Cassie, to tell them all about Tad and Joseph and the mix-up at the Quarantine Station.
‘You’re trying to tell us you saw a ghost?’ His father wheeled himself closer to Froggy and stared into his face. ‘You’re saying a ghost boy told you all these things?’
‘Yes.’ Froggy remembered Tad’s words. ‘Dad, did you ever see Tad? I mean when you visited …’
‘Did you see this ghost boy, too?’ his father interrupted, swinging around to confront Cassie.
‘No,’ she admitted.
‘There you are then! Ghosts, my foot!’ It sounded as if his father had just proved something to himself, but Froggy noticed he hadn’t answered his question. Had his father seen Tad? If he had, it was obvious he wasn’t going to admit it!
‘Just let Fred tell the story in his own way.’ Froggy’s mother laid a restraining hand on her husband’s arm.
‘It’s all very well telling us these things, but I don’t see how you’ll ever convince the lawyers,’ Nan remarked.
‘What do you mean?’ Froggy’s mother turned on her. ‘There’s plenty of information there for the lawyers to research.’
‘Uh … we’ve already tried that,’ Froggy admitted.
‘I told you not to bother the lawyers!’ his father exploded. ‘I don’t know what they’d make of a cock-and-bull story like that!’
‘Dad, it’s okay. We can prove everything I’ve told you.’ Froggy had saved the best until last and now he opened the tin box and handed the Bible to Nan.
She held it so Froggy’s father could see, and together they stared in fascination at the Dearborne family tree.
‘You’re trying to tell me we’re really Dearbornes after all? Descended from some rich English family?’ His father’s mouth twitched in a smile of disbelief.
‘Well, Joseph was illegitimate,’ said Froggy, ignoring the look that passed between his father and mother. ‘But at least we can prove that Tad came over here. They’ll just have to take our word for it that he drowned.’
‘At the same place you got all those cuts and scratches?’ But Froggy’s mother sounded more concerned than disapproving.
‘He did very well,’ Cassie said helpfully. ‘You must admit that thanks to Froggy, you can prove you’re all part of the same family now.’
But Froggy’s mother’s mind was still on other things. ‘And you say that this locket I’m wearing belonged to the Dearborne family – in fact, to Tad’s mother?’
Froggy nodded, giving Cassie a warning look as he watched her hand creep up to the chain around her own neck. ‘We’ve got some other things too,’ he said, picking up a couple of the small leather bags and tipping their contents into his mother’s lap. She gave a cry as the jewels cascaded out and then, like Cassie, she ran her fingers
through them, her face soft with pleasure.
‘And a fob watch and gold coins and medals and things.’ Froggy handed the other bags to his father.
‘Our inheritance?’ his father questioned.
‘Only if the lawyers can prove our claim,’ Nan warned.
‘Seems watertight to me,’ said his mother, ‘as long as Joseph’s illegitimacy isn’t a problem.’
‘I wonder how much the Dearborne estate is worth, anyway.’ His father was looking at the Bible once more.
The Dearborne estate! Froggy’s eyes widened in excitement. He’d forgotten all about it!
‘Even if we can prove our identity, there are a lot of us to share the estate. At least half of us Davidsons are really Dearbornes.’ Nan shook her head in disbelief. ‘I suppose we’ll have to change our name!’
‘Will we have to share the treasure around?’ Froggy asked anxiously, and his father laughed and leaned over, ruffling his hair.
‘If Joseph’s claim to the family estate holds, then I’m the first born of the first born. That should help,’ he said. ‘But really, it doesn’t matter as much any more. You see, I’ve had some news of my own, today.’
He paused and they looked at him expectantly.
‘You may have wondered what all the typing was about.’ His father looked a little self-conscious suddenly. ‘You know I’ve always enjoyed telling stories. Well, I’ve had plenty of time to think during all those weeks in hospital, and I had this idea for a murder mystery. That’s what I’ve been writing. I sent it off to a publisher, and I had a letter back today.’ He paused, savouring the moment. ‘They like it!’ he said, beaming triumphantly. ‘They want me to make some changes, but they’ve accepted it. So you see, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t go gallivanting off to England to find out about the Dearborne estate. I’ve got work to do!’
Nan looked sideways at him, and smiled slightly.
She knew all along, Froggy thought. Maybe that explained her frequent absences. Had she been avoiding his mother, or getting out of his father’s way, so she didn’t distract him while he was writing?
‘James, that’s wonderful!’ Froggy’s mother jumped up and kissed him. ‘Well done!’ It was clear the news was a surprise to her as well as to Froggy.
Ghost Boy Page 13
