The Case of the Missing Deed (17 page)

“Look at all these goodies,” Muriel said cheerfully. “Baguette and brie, sparkling grape juice, cherries, pâté, chocolate – wow! What’s the occasion?”

“We’re going on a picnic,” Chad informed her. “A little private celebration.”

“Oh?” Muriel said in that curious voice. “Good news?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Chad said, but he didn’t volunteer anything more.

Muriel continued ringing up the purchases. “Going anyplace special?”

“To the top of Lookout Hill Road,” Rachel said.

“Right where they’re putting the mine?” Muriel said, sounding aghast. “Why there, of all places?”

Sébastien elbowed Olivia. She returned an alarmed look.

“It has such a beautiful view,” Rachel said.

“That it does,” Muriel sighed. “I just hope it stays that way.”

After they paid for their own purchases, Sébastien and Olivia hurried out to confer.

“I
knew
they were up to something,” Sébastien said.

“Probably celebrating selling their land to Tantalus. Why else would they have all that money to spend? Before, they said they were broke.”

“Or maybe–” Sébastien’s eyes grew wide, “they
did
figure out something from the recipe. Maybe they’ve found Grandma’s deed.”

“And are getting a big payoff from Tantalus.”

“There’s only one thing to do,” Sébastien said.

“Not this again!” Geneviève yelled when Olivia and Sébastien told the others what they had heard.

Alex shook his head. “I don’t know, Gen. There could be something to it. Why else would they have money all of a sudden?”

“They won the lottery,” Geneviève said, rolling her eyes. “They inherited a fortune from dear old Aunt Agatha. How should I know?”

“I like Rachel and Chad,” Claire said in a troubled voice. “I wish they weren’t up to something bad.”

“For crying out loud, not you too, Claire,” Geneviève said, exasperated. “You’re all nuts. And I’m not spying on their picnic like some demented private eye!”

“Then don’t come,” Sébastien said. “We’ll go without you.”

Of course that did it. There was no way Geneviève was going to be left out. An hour later, she was in the line of bikes
pedaling up Lookout Hill Road. Leading steadily upward, the road wound in a slow spiral around the hill, offering views, first to the east and the village, then to the north and Seal Bay, then to the west, past Hugh’s Perch to Heron Island, and finally to the south, overlooking Grandma’s, Muriel’s, and Osprey Cove.

Huffing, furious that she’d been corralled into this ridiculous outing, and even more furious that they would have gone without her, Geneviève stopped to catch her breath. In the pit of her stomach was an uncomfortable thought: what if Sébastien was right? The whole theory that Rachel and Chad were trying to steal Grandma’s deed was crazy, she knew that. And yet Sébastien was so darn smart. He knew all kinds of things, had a memory like a trap, and had gotten lots of practice with Grandpa at solving mysteries. What if he was on to something?

Standing on her pedals, she rode hard, trying to catch up to the others. No, she decided, it just wasn’t possible. Sébastien was just getting carried away with all his suspicions. Rachel and Chad. Charlie. Shane.

Her heart gave a little leap at the thought of Shane, of the kisses they’d shared. Recently, they’d met by the public beach and hid in some reeds to make out. Strange, she thought, that Shane had been to her place several times but she had never been to his. In fact, she still had no idea where he and his mom lived. All he’d said was that it was a cabin and that he and Geneviève would have no privacy there.

Well, no matter. Last time, he’d taken her out to teach her how to surf. And even though she hadn’t been very good at it, falling off her board more than she managed to stay on it, she
hadn’t minded one bit. Each time she fell off, Shane swam up to her, put his hands on her waist, and lifted her back up.

Just before the crest of the hill, Sébastien motioned for them to stop pedaling. They wiped their sweaty faces and gulped from their water bottles. Moving onto the grass to muffle their footsteps, they walked their bikes to the top of the hill and laid them down behind a stand of caragana bushes. Bees flew in and out of the yellow blooms.

Peeking over the top of the bushes, Sébastien could see Rachel and Chad stretched out on a brown-and-green woven blanket, leaning on their elbows facing one another. Between them was a picnic basket, with an array of plates, bowls, and glasses spread out on the blanket.

Smells of ripe cheese and spicy-sweet cherries floated on the air.

“I’m hungry,” Claire whispered.

“Sh!” Sébastien hissed.

Rachel tore off a hunk of bread, placed a wedge of cheese on top of it, and took a bite. “Mmm … isn’t this brie delicious?”

“Sure is,” Chad said. He ate the slice of bread and cheese, then licked his fingers.

“Cherries?”

“Thanks.” Rachel took a handful.

For a while, the only noise was the sound of pits hitting a bowl. Then Chad said, “Say, where’s that chocolate? We’d better eat it before it melts.”

Rachel rooted around in the picnic basket. “Oh, it
is
soft.” She peeled back the wrapping. Geneviève could see that the
chocolate had bent over from the heat. Laughing, Rachel tried to break off a piece, but it smooshed all over her fingers.

“Here,” she said, holding out her hand.

Chad leaned forward and started licking the chocolate off Rachel’s fingers.

“That tickles,” she said with a giggle.

Chad worked his way from Rachel’s fingers, across her palm, to her wrist.

“Hey!” Rachel said. Then, “Mmm …” Then,
“Mmmm …”
The next moment she had tossed the chocolate back into the picnic basket and was leaning forward and kissing Chad on the lips.

Claire stuck out her tongue as if she was going to throw up. Alex and Olivia covered their eyes. Sébastien grimaced. Only Geneviève didn’t seem to mind – although she did turn pink.

Thankfully, at that moment a chipmunk darted across the picnic blanket, its tail brushing Rachel’s leg.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, sitting up. “What was that?”

Chad pointed. “That little rascal.”

They both laughed and Chad lifted a bottle. “Here, let me refill your glass.” He poured a fizzy purple liquid into Rachel’s glass, then filled his own and raised it in the air. “A toast.”

“To our future.”

“Our prosperous future.”

They clinked glasses and drank.

Yeah, stolen from Grandma
, Sébastien thought. He exchanged a look with the others.

“Just as soon as we sign the agreement tomorrow,” Rachel said. “You don’t think anything could go wrong, do you?”

Chad shook his head. “He said it was a done deal. No need to keep it a secret once the paperwork is done.”

The paperwork
, Sébastien thought. Did that mean the sale of their house – or the transfer of the deed?

“If things go well, we’ll move to the other side of the island,” Rachel said. “It’s nicer over there. We’ll have a view like that.” She pointed toward the southwest –
in the direction of Grandma’s place
.

“Imagine. Our own little windfall,” Chad said. “Whoever would have thought we could pull it off?”

Sébastien could stand it no longer. He strode out from behind the caragana bushes and pointed at them. “How could you?”

Rachel gasped.

Chad jerked and spilled his juice. “What are you doing here? Once was a bit much, but this is getting ridiculous!”

“Why are you following us?” asked Rachel.

“How could we
what?”
Chad said, looking baffled.

“Steal our Grandma’s deed.”

“What!”

The others came out to join Sébastien.

“You figured it out from the recipe, didn’t you?” Olivia said.

“The recipe? What recipe?” Rachel said.

“
Brown Sugar Spice Cake,”
said Claire.

“Huh?”

“Don’t pretend,” Sébastien said. “We know why you borrowed it.”

“To make it for Chad’s birthday?” Rachel said, sounding bewildered.

“No! To figure out where the deed was,” Alex said.

“You kids are crazy!” Chad shouted.

Rachel said, “I think you’d better tell us what you’re talking about.”

Angrily, Sébastien laid out the case. When he finished, there was a short silence before Chad burst out laughing. But Rachel did not seem amused. She put her hands on her hips. “How could you think we’d do such a thing?”

For the first time, Sébastien began to get a very uncomfortable feeling.

“Then what were you celebrating?” he asked in a much quieter voice.

“We got the permit to start our bird-watching business!”

“It’s our dream come true,” Chad said. “Now we won’t have to leave the island.”

“Then … you don’t know anything about Grandma’s deed?” Olivia said in a small voice.

“Of course not!” Rachel said.

“Only that we hope she finds it,” Chad added.

“And … you’re not selling your place to Tantalus?” Alex asked.

“Never!”

“But you said … we heard you say that you might,” Sébastien said feebly.

“Only as a last resort,” Rachel said. “But even then, we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it.”

“Can you imagine the effect the mine is going to have on the birds?” Chad said angrily. “How could we support that?”

Rachel threw her head back and burst out laughing. “You crazy kids! So that’s why you’ve been spying on us.”

“Well …,” Sébastien said with a sheepish smile, “we
thought …”

“
I
didn’t,” Geneviève announced. She gave Rachel a conspiratorial look. “I never believed that stuff for a minute. I kept telling them they were deluded, the poor children.”

“We were only trying to protect Grandma,” Olivia said.

“And boy, did you do a good job,” Chad said, laughing, “even if you were totally off base.”

Sébastien, Alex, Claire, and Olivia stood there, red-faced.

Rachel held out her arms. “Come on. I think you all need some chocolate.”

Five minutes later, the cousins were delightfully filled up with bread, cheese, cherries, and melted chocolate. Claire, Alex, and Olivia were telling them about the quest to find Grandma’s deed.

Geneviève leaned close to Sébastien. “I told you.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” Sébastien said gloomily. “Besides, just because I was wrong this time doesn’t mean I’m wrong all the time.”

“Like with Shane,” Geneviève said heatedly. “The poor guy makes a mistake about the bioluminescence, and do you give him the benefit of the doubt? No. In your world, he’s plotting against us. Give it up, Seb!”

At Geneviève’s raised voice, Rachel turned from her conversation with the others. “Give what up, Gen?”

“Sébastien and his paranoid theories,” she answered. “He suspects everybody, not just you two. You know Shane, the surfer guy?”

When Rachel nodded, Geneviève went on, “My brilliant
brother has this crazy idea that Shane is also trying to keep us from finding the deed.”

Sébastien squirmed.

“Well,” Rachel said, “it wouldn’t be much of a stretch, considering his connections.”