Read Online Finding Fortune by Delia Ray - Free Book Online Page A

little hop. “What’s it say?”
    I began reading out loud.
    Dear Sis,
    Please don’t read any further unless you’re alone.
    I stopped. I’d let an eight-year-old talk me into sneaking inside the principal’s office, cracking a safe, and now this ? “Hugh,” I said queasily. “Maybe we shouldn’t—”
    â€œKeep going!” Hugh cried.
    I let out a noisy sigh and kept going.
    Our battalion is moving soon, so I’m rushing to get this posted. I may not be able to write again for a while.
    I know Pop must have discovered his missing box by now. He’s probably been beside himself trying to track down the culprit, right? Well, Sis, I have a confession to make. It wasn’t a gang of thieves who stole Pop’s treasure, or a hobo, or any other crazy notion he may have dreamed up. It was me—his own son.
    I’m sorry, Hildy, but I had to! Before he frittered away the last thing he owned that was worth anything. I wanted there to be something left for you, just in case this war drags on, God forbid, and gets the best of yours truly.
    You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just tell you all this before I shipped out. To be honest, I was worried you would be too softhearted to stand all of Pop’s grieving and keep the secret safe. I knew it would be better to wait and tell you once the dust settled and once he’d had a little time to accept his loss.
    It took ages for me to come up with a hiding place that Pop wouldn’t find. Turns out Bonnycastle’s the one who gave me the idea. Before I left, I stopped by FCS to say goodbye and suddenly, there it was, the best hiding place ever, right under good ole Bonny’s nose!
    I haven’t shared any of this messy business with Bonny by the way. He doesn’t know a thing about the treasure or that he’s the one who gave me the bright idea about where to stash it. All I told him is that I would be writing to you under his care—an important letter about family finances that I didn’t want Pop to see—and he said he’d be glad to deliver my letter to you whenever it arrived.
    Once you read this, ask Bonny what he was doing when I came to say goodbye. Then you’ll know exactly where to look for the box. Keep your nest egg there as long as you can, Hildy, and mum’s the word!! I’ll sleep better tonight knowing our fortune’s safe and sound, waiting for you when you need it.
    Your loving brother, Tom
    I blinked down at Tom’s signature, trying not to think about Dad again. “Poor Hildy,” I whispered. “She told me her brother died in the Korean War. This might have been the last letter he wrote before he was killed.”
    â€œBut I don’t get it!” Hugh burst out. He scrubbed his hands through his hair until it was sticking up like dandelion fluff. “Her brother says he hid a box, but what was in it? We still don’t know what Hildy’s looking for.”
    I stared at the piece of stationery in my hands. “Yeah, but Hildy knows. And this letter must be her only key to finding the missing treasure. I bet that’s why she locked the letter in the safe and why she keeps coming in here at night to study it for clues.” I scanned the last two paragraphs. “So Tom and Mr. Bonnycastle must have been good friends. Tom says that he stopped by FCS—that’s short for Fortune Consolidated School—to say goodbye. ‘ And suddenly, there it was, ’” I recited again, “‘ the best hiding place ever, right under good ole Bonny’s nose .’”
    I turned back to the office and leaned against the windowsill. “So according to this letter, the treasure’s got to be here somewhere. But what about all of those no s Hildy wrote on the blackboards? It sounds like she searched the whole school and once she got to the basement, she gave up. I don’t think she found anything down