Guarding the Treasure Read Online Free Page B

upset with you during the interview. I understand what pressure can do, and considering the pressure you must have felt, I thought you did a great job.” Kevin slid his chair back and stood to leave.
    “No, you don’t have to leave,” she said, looking him in the eye. “I mean, if you have somewhere to go. But if you want to stay, I’d like to hear about your work. And you also mentioned a book you thought I’d like?”
    Kevin went back to the shelf and returned with the book he had referred to earlier in their meeting. “This is the book I was talking about,” he said, sitting down next her. “I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for, but if you could give me a little information, I think I could be of some help. I’ve studied the country of Ireland some and know a little bit about it.”
    He couldn’t help but study her face as he talked. She was listening intently to his every word, like what he had to say made a difference for some reason. And her physical features seemed to grow more beautiful the longer they talked. He wondered how he was going to keep his mind going in the right direction. He cleared his throat. “So why are you interested in Ireland?”
    Her eyes moved to the old book in front of her. “This is why.” Sophie carefully slid the diary in front of him.
    He opened the front cover and studied the writing. “This is definitely Gaelic,” he said, then turned the diary over and examined it for another brief minute. “By the markings on the back, it looks like the diary was produced in the early to mid-nineteenth century, but that would be odd.”
    Sophie inched closer to look at the diary. “Why would that be odd?”
    “Because, by that time in Irish history, the Gaelic language had almost—and let me repeat, almost—been replaced by other languages. Plus more than two million people had been lost to disease, famine, and immigration, so only the poor and uneducated that remained would have spoken Gaelic.”
    A wrinkle crossed the bridge of Sophie’s nose once again. “So that means that this diary belonged to a poor woman?” she asked, not completely following his thoughts.
    He looked directly into her eyes. “No, it didn’t belong to a poor woman,” he said, pointing to some faint markings in the lower right-hand corner. “See this?” He took her fingers in his and rested them on the markings. “This diary was the property of a woman of wealth. Poor women could not have afforded this book. But the question is, did she purchase it, or was it given to her? And if it was given to her, then by whom and for what reason?” he said, thinking out loud. “I guess those questions can only be answered by the writings within the pages of this little book,” he said, placing his hand over the cover. He stared at the book, thinking. “You know what makes this really odd? Very few wealthy people spoke the Gaelic language. So how did this woman know it, and why would she use it in a personal document?” He leaned back in his chair, pinching his lower lip. “Ms. Hanes, could it be that the woman who owned the diary was trying to hide something, or could she have been an accomplice to something deceitful?” Kevin glanced carefully at Sophie. Her eyes were wide, and the questioning look on her face was priceless. A faint smile set on his lips. He noticed her shoulders had relaxed, but the look on her face was still of surprise, and that was worth a thousand words on paper. He wanted to know her thoughts. He tried to read her but couldn’t. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked. He smiled and looked deeper into her eyes as he waited for an answer.
    Sophie wasn’t taken aback by his notable stare this time. She couldn’t help but be amazed by his knowledge of the topic at hand and the way he reasoned through different aspects of the diary. This man was much more than a cameraman.
    “How do you know so much about the Irish people and their history? And the questions