Hidden Treasures by Judith Arnold Read Free Book Online Page A

but chose to ignore it. “While digging in the area of the zucchini plants, Randy and I unearthed the box. I’ve put it in a safe place, and it’s going to stay there until an expert evaluates it.”
    “From Harvard,” Jed added quietly. “There’s a question about whether they found the box on my land.”
    Meryl glanced at him, then turned back to Erica, her eyes even brighter. “Really? You were poaching on his property?”
    “Of course not.” Erica bristled. Why was Jed stirring Meryl up? “The garden is on my land. I bought this land from his grandfather. Mr. Willetz has nothing to do with it.”
    “But I’m here,” he said cheerfully, climbing the steps to join her and Meryl on the porch. “Let’s go have a look at the box.”
    “Who’s this expert from Harvard?” Meryl asked, clicking her pen. “Do you have a name?”
    Erica sighed. It wasn’t as if she had anything to hide.Avery Gilman was highly esteemed in his field. Maybe if people reading the Gazette realized that she had connections to one of the nation’s foremost authorities on Colonial artifacts, they wouldn’t railroad her the way she felt she was being railroaded right now.
    “Avery Gilman,” she said. “ Dr. Avery Gilman. One L.”
    Meryl jotted down the name and gave Erica another watermelon smile. “Now, how about let’s have a look at this box and get some photos taken?”
    “Yeah, how about it?” Jed chimed in.
    Erica sighed again. She really wanted to protect the box—from publicity, from prying eyes, from the sort of attention that could put it at risk. If it was a genuine artifact, it could be priceless. If it was a piece of junk, hyping it in any way would be ridiculous.
    But, as Jed had pointed out, everyone in town knew about the box already. And maybe if she played along, if she let Meryl write a story about it, complete with a front-page photo, Rockwell would embrace Erica even more completely, letting her feel like a genuine part of the town. When in Rockwell, do as the Rockwellians do—even if what they did was go nuts over a dirty old box.
    “Okay,” she said, allowing herself one final sigh before she scooped up the knife and opened the kitchen door. “I’ll show you.”

CHAPTER FOUR

    “C HECK IT OUT ,” Fern said, jerking her chin toward her desk. She was over at the sink, filling a paper cup with water for the small, wan child standing beside her. “Front page.”
    Erica drew in a deep breath and entered the nurse’s office, a glum little room tucked behind the bigger, brighter janitorial-staff room at Rockwell Regional Primary School. Fern had tried to perk the room up by adorning the walls with posters. The most prominent one featured a tooth with a cartoon face drawn onto its crown and its roots extended to resemble feet. It appeared to be dancing with a toothbrush that had a face superimposed on its bristles and tiny arms and legs protruding from its handle. The tooth and the toothbrush looked as if they were having a grander time than the girl at the sink, who had apparently just lost a tooth and was not in the mood to dance. “It’s bleeding,” she whined. “It’s bleeding in my mouf .”
    “Rinse your mouth out,” Fern instructed her as she handed her the cup of water. “One rinse ought to do it.”
    “It’s bleeding,” the girl moaned, as if her condition was critical. “Don’t lose my toof .”
    “I won’t,” Fern assured her.
    “I need it.” The child took some water into hermouth, coughed and sputtered it out into the sink. “I need it for the toof fairy. Don’t lose it.”
    “I won’t lose it,” Fern said with admirable patience, thrusting her cupped palm under the girl’s nose. “See? I’ve got it right here in my hand.”
    Erica was glad she wasn’t a school nurse. She wouldn’t want a job that included holding saliva-slick milk teeth that had popped out of the gums of six-year-olds. Fern Bernard’s other professional responsibilities included scrubbing