The Longest Halloween, Book Two. Frank Wood

enough,” she said, heading to the door. “Lock the door behind me, Joel.”

      “Goodbye, Ma,” Joel said, closing the door behind her.

      “So you’re a working man now?” Ellis asked Joel.

      “Something like that,” Joel said. “Did you bring the game?”

      “Of course,” Ellis said, producing the small square box from his jacket.

      “Let’s get it set up,” Joel said. While the older boys busied themselves setting up the video game in the front room, Jasper and Dreyfuss fielded another video/instant message from Renee Atherton.

      “Well?” she began.

      “Well what, Atherton?” Jasper said.

      “Well, did you find out anything about Scroggins?” she asked.

      “No,” Dreyfuss answered, “I didn’t know we were supposed to be looking!”

      “What kind of detectives are you two?” Renee wondered. “It’s a good thing I’m here to tend to things!”

      “She needs to get a life,” Dreyfuss said.

      “I heard that,” Renee said, “but what I found out was that there was a pirate named Sebastian Silverbeard …”

      “We’re ahead of you, Atherton, we’ve gone through the whole story,” Jasper said.

      “Have you connected the dots yet?” she asked.

      “What dots? What is she talking about?” Dreyfuss said.

      “I can hear you, you know,” Renee said. “You don’t have to keep talking about me in the third person.”

      “Look, Atherton, if you have information …” Jasper said.

      “I do,” Renee said. “It turns out that our Mr. Scroggins has a very interesting genealogy.”

      “What’d she say? What’s a genie … whatever?” Dreyfuss asked.

      “Genealogy,” Jasper translated, “it means his family history. All right, Atherton, what’s up with Scroggins’s family tree?”

      “Mr. Scroggins is a direct descendant of one Dudley Sylvester Townsend,” Renee said triumphantly.

      Dreyfuss and Jasper exchanged confused glances. “Who’s Dudley Sylvester Townsend?” Jasper asked.

      “Dudley Sylvester Townsend was Elvira Hanson’s butler,” Renee replied. “Elvira Hanson is the name on the bottom of the map that you all found in the lost and found.”

      “It is?” Jasper asked. Turning to Dreyfuss, he said, ”Check it.” Dreyfuss scurried to unroll the document and the two boys looked over the parchment together. ”There it is,” Jasper said, pointing to the bottom of the map where, sure enough, in small script it said, Written and notarized this day 31 October 1913 for Mrs. Elvira Hanson. “She’s right.”

      “Good eyes, Atherton,” Jasper beamed.

      “How’d we miss that?” Dreyfuss asked.

      “Only I’m not sure what that means,” Jasper went on.

      “Me either, and I’ll admit that at first I thought your map was a fake but then things started to get interesting,” Renee continued, “but it’s odd, don’t you think? Mr. Scroggins’s great-grandfather and Elvira Hanson, linked by that old map of yours.”

      “Suppose there is a treasure and Hanson knew where it was. She drew this map, and if Scroggins’s great-grandfather was wise to it but never managed to discover it, maybe that’s what Scroggins is after!” Jasper finished, his voice suddenly rising in excitement.

      “Exactly!” Renee said, utterly too pleased with herself.

      “This all makes sense,” Jasper said.

      “It does?” Dreyfuss asked.

      “Sure,” Jasper said, “we all wondered who Scroggins was and why he suddenly came to Portersville, of all places, to be a substitute teacher, when he could have gone anywhere!”

      “He’s after the treasure that his great-great-grandfather’s employer hid right here in Portersville,” Renee said, “the treasure that’s due to have the curse lifted this Halloween … if the legend is to be believed, that is.”

      “What that also means is that the witch that kept the treasure hid away from the King’s descendants…” Jasper excitedly went on.

      “You’re talking about the nineteen-thirteen contretemps,” Renee cut in.

      “Contra- what?” Dreyfuss asked.

      “Exactly,” Jasper went on, ignoring Dreyfuss, “that witch must be Elvira Hanson or least somebody that Elvira Hanson knew! Good work, Atherton,” Jasper said.

      “Well, it helps to know your way around the best search sites,” Renee replied, “the perks of being a detective’s daughter, I suppose.”

      “I guess you make a good spy after all, Atherton,” Dreyfuss admitted.

      “And I’m just a dumb old girl,” she said.

      “Dreyf, I think we should tell her about Grubb,” Jasper said.

      “Are you sure?” he asked.

      “She’s in this now, Dreyf,” Jasper said.

      “If you say so,” Dreyfuss said, “but any more people get in this, that treasure’s gonna be divided into millimeters!”

      “Look, Atherton,” Jasper said, “my brother, Dreyf and I are meeting up with Old Man Grubb tomorrow around ten at his place to see about translating the map. He’s got some way to figure out what that old map would look like today against modern day Portersville. You can come if it’s all right with your folks, seeing as you … you’ve been so helpful. It’s only fair.”

      “I don’t know,” Renee coyly shot back, “I may have to check my schedule.”

      “Hey, don’t do us any …” Dreyfuss reared up.

      “I’m kidding of course,” Renee said, “I’d be happy to join you. Old Man Grubb’s place you say? I thought he didn’t like kids.”

      “He doesn’t,” Jasper replied, “but we’re the exception.”

      “All right then. I’ll see if my dad can drop me off,” Renee said.

      “All right, cool,” Jasper said.

      “Out,” Renee said, and her video/instant message window disappeared.

      “So how’s your new job and all going to work out with Polly, seeing that her new beau’s family is now your employer?” Ellis asked Joel as the two boys wrestled their respective joysticks in front of a grainy nineteen-inch television screen.

      “It’s going to be just fine,” Joel said. “She even called to make sure things wouldn’t get weird and to tell me congratulations.”

      “She did?” Ellis asked. “That’s cool then, I suppose.”

      “Why’d you call him her new beau?” Joel asked.

      “’Cause they’re going out,” Ellis said, “everyone knows that.”

      “Not everyone,” Joel said, suddenly crestfallen. “I thought that they were just friends.”

      “That was last week, ock,” Ellis said. “This week they’re beaus.”

      “What’s she see in him anyway?” Joel wondered.

      “Oh I don’t know, he’s a star athlete, the ladies love him, he’s tall and he’s got that Mediterranean thing going on,” Ellis replied