The Princess Club / Family Secrets / Mountain Madness by Catherine Marshall Read Free Book Online Page A

woods behind her though, just to be on the safe side. “Would you stop actin’ like a scared rabbit?”
    At the edge of Dead Man’s Creek, the girls stopped to catch their breath. The dense greenery around them rustled with every breeze. The sun dappled the creek with sunlight.
    â€œI could have swore I heard somebody a-whisperin’,” Bessie said nervously.
    â€œWe doubled back just to be sure,” Clara reminded her. She sat on the bank and let her dusty feet cool in the creek. “Even Lundy Taylor would have had himself a hard time followin’ us.”
    â€œI still don’t see why we had to come all the way back here with Prince Egbert,” Bessie complained.
    â€œNow that Miz Christy’s done teachin’ with him, we owe it to him to set him back in his rightful home,” Clara said. “Could be he has a wife and kids, you know.”
    â€œLet’s just get this over with,” Ruby Mae said curtly. She didn’t like coming back here any more than Bessie did. For some reason, returning to the spot where they’d found the gold made her feel guilty.
    â€œYou know, that talk about the gold with Miz Christy got me to feelin’ kind of bad,” Clara murmured as they walked along the bank.
    â€œYou’ve been usin’ your head too much again,” said Ruby Mae. “I can tell by the way your forehead gets all crinkled up.”
    â€œAin’t crinkled.” Clara felt her forehead, just to be sure. “But all that talk about the Golden Rule and all . . .” She sighed. “This bein’ princesses is awful complicated, ain’t it?”
    Bessie nodded. “Lizette wouldn’t even talk to me this afternoon. You’d a thought I had the typhoid or somethin’, the way she run off.”
    â€œAnd last night,” Clara confided, “I heard my ma and pa arguin’ out by the woodpile. Somethin’ about how to spend the cash-money. My pa wants a new roof and a floor. And my ma wants to save some of the money for later. My pa started to yellin’, sayin’ how are we even goin’ to have a later if’n we don’t have a roof over our heads? It was somethin’ awful to hear.”
    â€œFor a blessin’,” Bessie said, “this gold sure is a passel of trouble.” She paused. “What’s that? Did you hear anything? Kind of a rustlin’ noise?”
    â€œYou’re imaginin’ things,” Ruby Mae said.
    â€œAll I’m sayin’ is,” Clara continued, “this gold sure does seem to bring out the argufyin’ in people.”
    Suddenly, Ruby Mae stopped. A flash of white under some reeds by the edge of the creek caught her eye.
    She bent down and fished her hand in the icy water.
    It was a white handkerchief.
    â€œWhat’d you find, Ruby Mae?” Clara asked.
    Ruby Mae stared at the white clump of fabric in her palm. “Nothin’ much. A man’s handkerchief. Or maybe it’s just a piece of fabric off’n a shirt. Can’t rightly say.”
    The other girls joined her. “Can so say,” Clara said. “That’s a man’s handkerchief for certain.”
    â€œIt looks like the one Mr. Halliday was carryin’ with him,” Bessie said.
    Ruby Mae wrung out the little piece of fabric. “Prob’ly lots of people carry handkerchiefs.”
    â€œNot in these here parts, they don’t,” Clara said. “Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
    â€œNot likely,” Ruby Mae said. “You think more than a whole roomful of teachers and preachers put together, Clara Spencer.”
    Clara put her hands on her hips. “I’m thinkin’ we were right about what we were sayin’ before. I’m thinkin’ that gold might just have belonged to Mr. Halliday. And I know you’re thinkin’ it too, Ruby Mae. Even if’n you don’t think you’re thinkin’