The Disappearance of Emily: Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic Series Book 2 by Elizabeth Pantley (best books under 200 pages .txt) 📗

The three cats made their way into the cat alcove. I noticed there were now three pillows in there. The green and blue ones that matched Lola’s and Latifa’s eyes, and a new golden, copper-colored one to match Chanel’s. (I assumed that her pink pillow remained downstairs.) How the pillows got here, I had no idea, but Caldwell Crest had a way of taking care of its own. Not that they needed three pillows, mind you. They’d all end up in one big bunch on one of them. But it was a sweet gesture nonetheless.

An hour later I was still sorting through items in the box, but I was almost to the end. As I pulled the last file out, I noticed a yellow post-it note stuck to the bottom. A messy, hastily scribbled note that read: Hayden—I’m sorry. I tried. Be careful. N.

It was obvious that N was Nakita. But seriously? I’m sorry? I tried? Be careful!? She was just as vague in writing as she had been in person. What was she sorry for? Why was she killed? What did I have to do with all this? Why did she send the box to me? Why had she warned me to tell no one? That my family could be in danger? Did that still apply? She said it was life or death—did she mean her death or mine? My family? And what about the mysterious and dangerous island named Gladstone that she had warned me about? That was still an unknown. Oh my God. My brain was about to explode.

Nakita had sent me the box for a reason. I needed to find out what that reason was. It would make sense that something in here would lead me to answers. I needed to organize the paperwork so I could begin reading through it.

Finally, I had all the items sorted and lined up vertically in the box. None of them had labels that would enable me to organize them further or to determine the contents. And there was a huge stack of loose papers as well. I’d just have to start at the random beginning and work my way through.

Most of the documents so far had to do with ferry passages. That, of course, made sense. One folder contained ledgers of payments. There were about a dozen pages. The dollar amounts were large—about twenty times what I’d expect a ferry ticket to cost. There were four columns. The first was a list of names—printed and then signed. The second column was labeled Approved or Denied. The last two columns were filled in for all names, regardless of approved or denied. One column labeled Agent had one initial of A, K, or V. The final column was labeled Paid, and it also had one initial, either L or M. Oddly enough, nothing was dated.

It was strange that these ledgers were all written by hand. In today’s world, who kept handwritten ledgers? The excessive dollar amounts clearly were not for ferry tickets, unless the ferry was also used as a cruise ship! Which, I suppose, would be possible here in Destiny Falls. But there were no other indications of that. People going on and off the ferry never gave me a cruise-ship or lengthy voyage type of vibe.

I picked up the next file. It contained more of the ledgers showing the exact same format. Another dozen or so of them.

I stood up and stretched. I’d have a cup of tea and then continue going through the files.

There was a sound outside my door, and I opened it an inch and peeked out. The window seat had moved to be directly across from my door. The familiar tea cart was there, with a steaming fresh pot of tea and a platter of cookies and tiny muffins. I opened the door fully and looked both ways. No one. Whether Cleobella, the window seat, the house, or the town had created these magical little perks was a puzzle. On one hand, it was nice to find these surprises. On the other hand, well, it was just a little bit creepy. Kind of like when ads for shoes show up on your phone an hour after you’ve been looking at black leather pumps.

Creepy or not, I took it as a sign to take a break from the files, have some tea, and browse the window seat bookcase for any new books.

I poured a cup of tea, took a bite of a warm chocolate chip cookie (yum!), and scanned the bookshelves. One book title caused me to drop my cookie right into my teacup, and it landed with a splash. The title of the book was Gladstone.

19

The splashed tea and crumpled cookie were totally forgotten while I reached up and took down the book entitled Gladstone. The full title on the cover was Gladstone: Past, Present, and Myths. There was a stamped banner across the cover that said: Destroy Copy. I sat on the cushioned seat and warily opened the book.

The inside cover was a map! It too carried the Destroy Copy stamp, but I could see enough through the words. The map showed the cluster of nearly a hundred islands, just as I had seen on the enchanted globe in the library. I located the crescent-shaped island labeled Destiny Falls, and the puzzle-piece island across from it labeled Gladstone. The map on the adjacent page was of Gladstone alone. It showed a ferry landing facing directly across from Destiny Falls’ ferry landing. There was topography that showed lakes, rivers, and mountains, but not much else was called out on the map.

Neither Oliva nor Edna would discuss Gladstone. Why were they hiding something? Because here it was, big as life on the pages of this book, and it was located directly across from Destiny Falls. Certainly, they