“She wouldn’t have been down there if I hadn’t told her it was done. If I hadn’t hurt her.” He drew back, rubbed his hands over his face, smearing blood. “She’s being taken care of, so that’s fine. I’ve got no place here.”

“You’re wrong. No one’s shutting you out but you. Christ, Mick, you’re a mess.” He took a good look at the battered hands, the torn and bloody clothes. He didn’t want to think, quite yet, of how close his sister and his friend had come to dying. “Come back inside, let Mrs. Williamson fuss over you. You look like you could use a drink, too.”

“I’ll get one when I’m done.”

“Done with what?”

“I told her I’d get the damn chest, didn’t I? I’m going to get it.”

Josh opened his mouth as Michael started away again. Arguments, he decided, were fruitless. “Hold up. I’ll get Byron. We’ll do it together.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-one

An hour later, dirty and a little sore, Josh and Byron brought the small chest into the parlor. There’d been a couple of dicey moments during an aftershock when the three of them had been caught crouching on the ledge, wondering if they’d lost their minds. Fortunately it had passed, and now the chest, still unopened, sat on the coffee table. Waiting.

“I can’t believe it,” Margo murmured. She brushed the wood with her fingertips. “It’s real. After all this time.” She smiled over at Laura. “You found it.”

“We found it,” she corrected. “We were always meant to.” Her head throbbed dully as she reached for Kate’s hand. “Where’s Michael?”

“He didn’t—” Josh bit back an oath. “He needed to check on his horses.”

“I’ll get him for you,” Byron offered.

“No.” It was his choice, Laura reminded herself. And her life had to continue. “It’s so small, isn’t it?” she mused. “So simply made. I suppose all of us had imagined something huge and ornate and extraordinary, but it’s just a plain, serviceable chest. The kind that lasts.” She took a deep breath. “Ready?”

With Margo and Kate beside her, she put a hand on the latch. It opened easily, soundlessly, the interior releasing a scent of lavender and cedar.

Inside were a young girl’s treasures, and dreams. A rosary fashioned from lapis with a heavy silver crucifix. A brooch of garnets, rose petals drying to dust. Gold, yes, there was gold, glinting as it was poured out of a leather pouch.