Page 22 of Tattered Huntress
Being neither esteemed nor experienced, I sank down an inch in my seat.
‘I understand that this will be an unusual experience for you all,’ he continued. ‘There is no record in modern history of a competition such as this, but I strongly believe that the Loch Arkaig treasure merits it.
‘Almost three hundred years ago, seven caskets of gold coins were sent to the Jacobites from Spain and France. The coin was intended to help Bonnie Prince Charlie’s bid to claim the throne. Alas for the Jacobites and Charlie, it arrived after the terrible losses at the Battle of Culloden and was too late tomake any impact on the war effort. The Jacobite rebellion collapsed and Bonnie Prince Charlie fled, never to return.
‘The gold, however, remained in Britain. One casket was stolen and the remaining six were passed to a series of clan chieftains for safe keeping in the hope that they could be used to help more Jacobites escape from Scotland. They ended up in the hands of Ewen MacPherson, who hid the treasure in a cave known as The Cage, at Ben Adler in the Scottish Highlands. Nobody has seen the gold since.’
One of the black-clad communications experts raised his hand. When Sir Nigel pointed at him, he stood up. ‘Ben Adler is miles from Loch Arkaig so why is it called the Loch Arkaig treasure?’
‘Because, John, Loch Arkaig is rumoured to be the last place where the treasure was hidden after being removed from Ben Adler. Both locations have been picked over by treasure hunters for hundreds of years and only a small number of coins have been discovered. Most of the contents of those six caskets have never been found.’ He smiled. ‘Until now.’
There was a murmur of excitement around the room. The buzz affected me, too; the tragic romance and bitter history of the Arkaig treasure was compelling.
‘If you know where it is,’ the bearded man called out, without bothering to either stand up or raise his hand, ‘why don’t you retrieve it yourself?’
Good question.
‘I don’t know where it is.’ Sir Nigel gave a wry grin. ‘I only know how to find it. Colleagues of mine have been deciphering some documents that were found rotting away in an old, locked box deep in the bowels of the British Museum. I am confident that these documents are genuine and that they will lead to the Arkaig treasure.’
We all leaned forward.
‘It appears,’ Sir Nigel continued, ‘that there was considerable friction and mistrust among the clan chieftains who knew of its existence. They were concerned that one of them might decide to keep it for themselves. To guard against such an eventuality, a sorcerer was employed to help conceal it and three chieftains were nominated to take responsibility for it. The sorcerer created a key, which was divided into three equal parts and given to those chieftains. Only when the key is fully formed again and placed at the northernmost tip of Loch Arkaig will the treasure’s location be revealed and the treasure itself, wherever it is hidden, be magically uncovered. So far I’ve found clues to locations for two parts of the key and I’m working on the third as we speak. Whoever finds any of the key parts will be in the running to find the treasure itself.’
One of the glossy elvish twins seated in front of me muttered, ‘Find three separate key parts and onlythenfind the caskets of gold? It might be easier to go looking for the lost Lady Rose.’
Her sister snickered quietly in agreement. I had no idea who Lady Rose was, but even so I didn’t agree. What could have been a diverting interlude before I returned to the real world to find a real job was starting to feel like the beginning of a thrilling adventure. My heart was almost leaping out of my chest with excitement. I was ready –morethan ready.
‘What’s it worth?’ Humphrey asked. ‘How valuable is this old gold?’
‘In modern currency, around ten million pounds.’ A ripple ran around the room. ‘But,’ Sir Nigel added, ‘as you all know, treasure-trove law does not permit you to keep it for yourself. The British Museum will take ownership of the Arkaig treasure on behalf of the country. The person who finds it will receive £50,000, together with the unofficial title of the Britain’s greatest treasurehunter.’
I glanced around. It appeared that most of the people in the room wanted the title far more than the prize money. They could have it; I wanted the dosh.
Sir Nigel’s eyes gleamed. ‘To keep the hunt as fair – and as competitive – as possible, the locations of the parts of the key will only be revealed one at a time. You will be issued with satellite phones. Once the first part has been found and verified, all competitors will receive information about the location of the next part.’
Hugo cleared his throat. ‘But one team could find all three parts, right?’
Sir Nigel nodded. ‘In theory. Only the teams – or team – that possess a part of the key will proceed to the final location, wherever that may be.’
I would be one of those teams. Even though I didn’t have an actual team. Or any real clue about what I was doing. I smiled, then looked at the other contenders. Most of them were apparently thinking the same thing. I sneaked a look at Hugo Pemberville; he appeared to be as eager as the rest of us.
He must have felt my glance because he turned his head and his eyes met mine. My skin prickled in a not entirely unpleasant manner. We gazed at each other for a long, drawn-out moment until, to my surprise, he raised his eyebrows and winked at me.
‘Samuel is waiting by the door,’ Sir Nigel said. ‘He will give you your phones and the information we have gleaned about the first location. The rules are quite simple: you are not permitted to physically harm any other team, and you must find part of the key to participate in the final stage of the hunt.’ He spread his arms wide. ‘Everything else is fair game.’ He grinned. ‘Good luck to you all.’
I stoodup and prepared to shuffle down the aisle. As I stepped forward, at least four people hastily moved away. I moved closer to the camouflaged trio and they also hurried away. I tried stepping in the opposite direction, towards two of the black-clad men, and they swerved away too. My eyes narrowed. So I wasn’t imagining it: I was obviously persona non grata. I probably had bloody Hugo Pemberville to thank for that.
Unwilling to appear cowed, I raised my left arm and ostentatiously sniffed my armpit, then did the same to my right one. ‘Nope,’ I said loudly. ‘Not smelly.’
Nobody looked at me. How rude. I tightened my lips and glanced ahead. The others were forming a polite queue to receive their phones and instructions. I watched them for a moment. This was a competition and my fellow competitors had already made their feelings clear, but I could play games too.
I marched past all of them to the front of the line, ignoring the outraged gasp from one of the twins. ‘Whatever happened to manners?’ I heard her sister say.
I turned around and curtsied in her direction, then did the same to Samuel. I took my packet from him and, for no other reason than to be perverse, curtsied for a final time.
‘That was quite impolite,’ Otis said in my ear.
Hester clapped her hands with delight. ‘It was brilliant! We might have some fun with you after all.’
