Deadly Secrets, M J Marlow [best books for 7th graders TXT] 📗

with a smile over at her cousin. “Pip knows I am not a spendthrift.” She thought of something. “Papa had his collection of violins, and Mama her jewels. Are they safe?” “I will inquire into that matter for you, Lady Elissa,” Huntley nodded briskly. He got to his feet. “If you will excuse me, I have another meeting in my office in London and I would not wish to miss the post-chaise.” “I’ll see you out, Huntley,” Philip said to the man. They went to the stables where Martin was still saddling his horse. The three men discussed the matter of the collections Elis had mentioned and Martin elected to visit the firm in Prague as a ‘representative’ of the lady Elissa’s solicitors. Huntley would give him letters of introduction and any other papers he would need to play this role. “You don’t know how relieved I am to have you involved, Everley,” Philip said to his friend. “Are you certain you can take time from your own estates…” “Like your aunt,” Everley broke in as he finished adjusting the cinch, “I have a very capable man of business.” He thought of her then and knew he had no choice. “You can consider it my birthday gift to your delightful cousin.” “I don’t like this, gentlemen,” Philip said as he hid his delight at the realization that his cousin had made a conquest. He couldn’t have asked for a better match. “Such collections should have been handled when my uncle and aunt died. Someone has been playing fast and loose with what belongs to my cousin.” He turned to the stable master. “Clarkson,” the man snapped to attention, “have the carriage take Mr. Huntley to the inn to catch the post-chaise to London.” “Yes, my lord.” He turned at Martin’s imperceptible signal and saw his cousin standing in the doorway behind them. She turned on her heel and ran back to the house. Philip sighed and followed her to her room, praying she had not heard anything they had been discussing. Unfortunately for him, she had heard it all. Elis was not at all pleased to think that her father’s precious violins had been lost, much less her mother’s jewels. She wanted to go to Prague with Martin and was incensed when Philip told her no in most definite terms. “It is bad enough you setting that man on me without my knowledge, Pip,” she snapped as she watched Martin riding off with the carriage from her bedroom window, “but now you expect me to sit here with my hands folded and let him handle my personal business.” She turned from the window and her hands went to her hips. “It is not to be born!” “You are a child, Elissa,” Philip replied sternly when he really wanted to laugh in delight. She was such an amazingly fierce little minx at times. “Just sixteen now. There is no way you can travel and have it appear proper.” He saw her slow impish grin and sighed. “I know that look. What are you planning?” “You could go with me,” Elis said to him. “As my trustee, it would be expected that you would look into the matter for me. As my cousin, you would make the perfect traveling companion.” “And I suppose we will take your brutes with us?” Philip asked in amusement. He liked her when she had the bit between her teeth. She nodded and he made her sit down. Then he sat down near her and took her hands in his. “Elissa,” he said firmly, “as much as I would love to go gallivanting across Europe with you it cannot be done. This business is what we hire men like Huntley for, and Everley is doing it as a personal favor out of his friendship for us. They are both trustworthy and can be counted on to find out the truth of this matter. Besides,” he added as he looked at her with affection, “who would look after Aunt Patricia if we were both gone?” She looked down. “I see you hadn’t thought that far ahead, my pretty monkey.” He raised her eyes to his. “Trust me, cousin. I know what I’m doing.” “Papa loved those violins, Pip,” Elissa whimpered, even as she nodded her agreement. “He always called them his ‘other family’. He would die all over again if anything happened to them.” She had a brief flash of memory. “And Mama’s jewels. Papa always said they were the only stars he could bring to her and not rob the skies of their glory.” She was in tears as the memory of her parents brought a familiar ache to her heart. “You have to find out what happened to them, Pip. Please!” “Don’t worry, monkey,” Philip said as he held her while she cried. “Our men will find out what happened to your Papa’s other family and your Mama’s pretty jewels.” He had a thought. He remembered his aunt very well and there was one thing he could count on; her organizational skills. “Your Mama was very organized. She had a notebook where she kept a list of things.” He looked into Elissa’s eyes. “Do you know where the notebook is, Elissa?” He was not surprised when she nodded. Elis and her older sister, Natasha, had inherited their mother’s organizational gifts. She went to the trunk her sister had sent to her recently that was along the wall and opened it. She pressed a catch on the inner lid and he was surprised to see a hidden compartment. The notebook and several other documents fell out. There was a stack of letters inside as well bound in a burgundy ribbon. “What are those, monkey?” “Love letters,” Elis told him. “Whenever Papa had to go on tour without us, he and Mama would write to each other. Do you think I’m old enough to read them now? Mama always told me I was too little when I asked.” “Let me look them over first,” Philip offered. “If there is anything in the letters a young girl should not read I will let you know.” “Thank you, Pip,” Elis smiled up at him trustingly. She frowned as she saw something she had never noticed before. “That wasn’t there before,” she said as she picked up a small notebook and opened it. “Just dates and locations and amounts,” she shrugged. “Probably Papa’s concerts.” She lifted out her clothing and pressed another catch. Her eyes went wide as she saw what was hidden inside. “Mama’s stars, Pip!” she gasped as she lifted out one piece after another. “They were here the whole time!” She picked up the note included with them and opened it. “Mama always wanted her stars to belong to you, Elissa. Your sister, Natasha.” “She was the one who packed my things for me,” Elis said softly as she sat with the jewels in her lap and ran her fingers along each item lovingly, “when I came here to live with Aunt Patricia. But we had all the clothing and toys given to the local orphanage so she kept the trunk until just recently.” She went to her closet and pulled out a box. “All that was in the trunk were these old files.” “I’ll go through those as well,” Philip said as he took the box, notebooks, and letters from her. “Don’t worry, monkey. I’ll let you know what’s in them.” He stroked her cheek and smiled at her fondly. “Why don’t you put your Mama’s stars in your jewel box and we’ll ride into town for some ices. If you’re feeling up to it, that is. I think we could both use a treat.” Elis nodded and he kissed her on the forehead and left her alone. He looked up from the files he’d been reading ten minutes later and saw her standing there in her riding habit. He put the files in his lockbox and they got their horses. Half an hour later they rode into the nearby town with her dogs shadowing them. The townspeople greeted them both warmly. The family was well loved by the people they cared for and there were several people who were quick to ask Elis how she was feeling. Philip and Elis settled down at a table along the main street and enjoyed ices together unaware of the fact that they were being watched by a pair of strangers from across the street. “So that’s Milosevic’s sister,” the shorter rounder one with a scar over his left dead eye nodded. “She’s grown up to be a right pretty piece.” “We’re not to touch, Garner,” his companion, as thin as his companion was round, replied tightly. “We are here to find out if she has any knowledge of those missing files. That’s all.” “Pity,” Garner frowned. “I wouldn’t mind being the one to introduce that one to the pleasures of…” He trailed off as he saw his partner’s dark look. “Don’t worry, Morgan. I don’t fancy angering our employers by overstepping their instructions. A quick snatch and interview and then she’s returned home none the worse for the experience.” He touched his fingers gently to his injury. “Although I owe her brother for giving me this.” “It’s not going to be easy,” Morgan frowned. “Everyone in this town knows that pair.” He sighed heavily. “We’re going to have to ambush them on the road.” He thought over the land they’d been surveying for the past month. “There’s that patch of trees near the river. Let’s go.” Elis was tired as they rode back home. It had been a strange morning with the discoveries they had made and this had been the first time she had been out of the house in a week. So she was nodding off, letting Titan have his head when she heard something whiz by her head. She heard Philip cry out in pain and opened her eyes to see him sliding to the ground. She got off Titan and knelt down beside her cousin. Her cousin had a big bruise on the side of his head and he was bleeding. She went to her horse and leaned her face against his neck. “Home, Titan,” she cried as she slapped him hard on the haunches. “Quick home.” She watched the stallion race off and turned as the dogs began growling. Two men with handkerchiefs over their faces stepped out of the shadows. She picked up a branch and stood between them and Philip. “Don’t you touch him!” she ordered them. “I’ll hurt you if you try!” She looked at her dog and was about to order them when a third person stepped out of hiding and clamped a foul smelling rag over her nose and mouth. “Gunther! Fritz! Sitten zie!” Hans Zeller, the man who had trained the dogs snapped and the dogs went silent and sat on their haunches. “Good boys.” He pointed to Philip. “Protect!” Then he picked Elis up in his arms and turned away with the other two men following him. They went down to the boat waiting on the river and he took her hat and dropped it on the bank. “Just a little something to keep them guessing,” he laughed as his companions looked confused. He cut Elis’ arm and wiped her blood on a branch along the bank. Then he yanked a few of her hairs out and let them drop among the grass. “In case we have to make her disappear.” “Is that an option?” Morgan asked the man. “I thought she was untouchable.” “She is,” Zeller replied as he looked down at her, “but that never meant she could not be kept hostage now, did it?” He frowned. “Her brother is becoming something of a problem. He may need to be reminded what the consequences are for stepping out of line.” He looked down at the pretty girl in his arms. “And his little sister would