The Treasure Hunters Read Online Free Page A

townhouse, where Ruby immediately
saw Katherine Talcott waiting for them.
    The driver opened the back door and
Ruby got out first. She reached for Merridie’s hand and held tightly, to give
her support but also because she needed some of her own.
    “Welcome, cousin,” Katherine
greeted in her clipped British accent. She wore a drab, dark grey batiste gown
and her brown hair was pulled viciously back into a bun that pulled the corners
of her eyes, giving her a ‘pinched’ look. “I’m happy to help provide for you in
this trying time. However, I was not expecting there’d be guests with you.”
    She looked condescendingly at
Merridie and Eden, and Ruby winced at the pressure Merri applied to her fingers.
    “Thank you, Katherine,” Ruby said
as graciously as she could muster. “This is Merridie Morgan and Eden Cariker . We grew up together. I didn’t think there would be
a problem. We’re practically family .”
    Katherine walked down the steps to
the girls and studied them intently with a raised eyebrow. She was a tall
woman, with a back so straight Ruby wouldn’t be surprised if there were a stick
holding her up, and her height caused her to look down at each of them. Only Ruby
met her gaze. Whatever she was looking for she must have found, because she
abruptly stepped back.
    “They’re not my family,” she stressed, giving a brief but unwelcome smile. “Nevertheless,
never let it be said a Talcott doesn’t offer rations to the poor. You’ll share
the guesthouse on the other side of the gardens. Ruby, you’ll start tomorrow at
the shipping office. As for you two––we’ll see what we can find for your keep.”
    She turned and walked back up the
townhouse steps, not bothering to glance back at them. Ruby grabbed her luggage
case and hurried after Katherine, nodding encouragingly to the other two. Being
led through the house and into the back, Ruby realized Katherine was taking
them the servant path. Although Katherine was only three years older than she,
Ruby rather thought her cousin looked and acted like a dowager.
    The guesthouse was small but it was
secure and warm, and Ruby relaxed with the knowledge that at least they
wouldn’t be homeless. Whatever else Katherine would say or do, her standings
within society wouldn’t allow for family to go hungry.
    Merridie walked around the one-bedroom
apartment looking like she’d eaten sour lemons.
    “Lovely cousin you have, Ruby,” she
muttered.
    “It’s not much, I agree. But we’re
together. We’ll figure everything out.”
    ****
    The next morning, Ruby arrived
early at the shipping office and had to wait for the manager, Mike Berg, to
arrive. He got there ten minutes late, but Ruby held her tongue. The last thing
she wanted to do was start an argument on her first day. She couldn’t afford to
incur Katherine’s wrath.
    Once again, she ended up breathing
through her mouth as the stench of the air made her stomach heave. Mike escorted
her to a large warehouse that looked to be old and run down. He took off the
padlock and opened the door for her. When she walked in, it was so dark and
dank that she didn’t even know what type of warehouse it was, and sneezed as
dust tickled her nose.
    “An’ this ‘ere is the old ware’ouse ,” Mike told her in a thick Cockney accent that had
her straining to understand. “Over the years, unclaimed items
‘ ave been sent ‘ere and basically ignored. Ye’ll
be categorizin ’ it.”
    Ruby looked around seeing nothing
but cobwebs hiding a lot of junk. Mike tripped the electric break and as light
flooded through the building, Ruby’s heart sank. This was a place that was as
dead as the merchandise, a place to send an unwanted cousin in the name of
charity. Tears threatened to spill but she blinked them back. She knew she
should be more than grateful for a roof over her head and food in her belly. So
many people had less than that. But the place was truly depressing.
    Overhead, a second floor lay up in
the