I am grateful to see her back to herself again and play along.
‘Well, after, or we might get caught in the fire.’
She nods in agreement. The bushes are becoming thick and almost unpassable, so I use a stick to push through the thick undergrowth and my shoes to flatten the ground.
‘How big is his land? It might take us days to find the gold.’
I am hoping she doesn’t really expect me to dig Eldorath’s land. Mama will kill me if she knows I’ve been up here, never mind that we also dug up his land, but I’m not sure how far Rudy is planning to take this. I’m thinking I might have to put a stop to this soon.
After a few minutes of forcing our way through thick undergrowth, we see it, a large old house with peeling walls that still looks beautiful in an antique kind of way. I’ve been here before, not in the bushes where Rudy and I came from, but on the potholed road that leads from Sycamore Town past our houses and weaves up the hill to Eldorath’s. The road gets less passable the further you go. By the time you reach Eldorath’s house, it’s practically impossible to drive. I’ve followed Papa up that road a few times without him knowing. He’s one of the only people who comes this way, but he does it at least once a week with a basket filled with fish he has caught and fruits from our garden. Sometimes he carries a bulla cake or some coconut drops, but he always comes alone to see his brother Eldorath.
The house is grand, but it stands against a dark shadow from the tall trees surrounding it. The garden is messy and overgrown. Papa must not have cut it for some time. Or maybe he can’t keep up.
Rudy grabs my hand. ‘Come on.’
I pull back, mortified. ‘What? No? We can’t actually go digging in his garden.’
I would be in so much trouble.
She rolls her eyes. ‘Of course not, silly. We’re going to explore first, then we dig.’
She pulls me through the trees and out into the open, where anyone can see us. I start to panic.
‘I’m not sure about this, Rudy,’ I say, but she marches forward, dragging me with her.
I imagine what Papa will say when he finds out we have been here. I don’t like upsetting Papa, but there is something magnetic about Rudy and her adventures.
Chapter Twelve
The house gets bigger as we move through the long grass. There are two floors. The front of the house sticks out from the sides like a disjointed Rubik’s cube. I count the windows to calm my nerves. Eight at the top, and eight at the bottom. The closer we get, the taller the house seems. I wonder if Eldorath is watching us from one of those windows. Or is he already out here, waiting for his moment to demand why we are on his land?
I grip Rudy’s hand tighter. ‘I really don’t think this is a good idea.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Rudy whispers, sensing my fear. ‘I went to six classes of karate, but then they told me I couldn’t come back if I didn’t wear the right uniform. It was no fun without my tutu, so I gave it up. But I know how to defend myself, so you have nothing to worry about.’
I picture Rudy in a pink tutu, learning karate, and it is enough to make me giggle. My laughing soon stops when I hear a rustle behind us. We stop abruptly and listen. Yes, someone is coming towards us.
Rudy points two fingers to her eyes, and I focus on her as hard as I can. She holds up three fingers and mouths the words three, two, one. Before I can ask what she’s doing, she jumps in front of me with a scream, kicking her left leg out in the air. Nothing. She spins around, her bunny hat spinning with her. She listens, then runs into the grass screaming, ‘Come out, you scaredy-cat!’
Seconds later she returns with a sheepish Calvin and Gaynah.
I give an almighty groan, throwing my hands in the air. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
‘You guys are having all the fun,’ Calvin says. ‘Come on, Clara,’ he pleads. ‘Nothing happens in Sycamore. I don’t see you at the beach any more. Now you two are having all these adventures, and I want to join in.’
Gaynah folds her arms across her chest, turning away. ‘He wanted to come here,’ she huffs. ‘Not everyone wants a membership in the Clara fan club.’
My lips purse together. I am about to remind her of her Calvin membership, but Rudy steps between us.
She forces me to look at her. ‘Remember what I said down at the banana field? You shouldn’t let people upset you, Clara.’
I count under my breath. ‘Fine.’
‘So, is that a yes?’ Calvin asks, his voice rising with excitement.
I shrug. ‘Whatever.’
Rudy asks if she can explain the plan. I tell her she can do what she wants. It’s not as if they’re leaving any time soon. She plants herself in the middle of us and tells Calvin and Gaynah our plan to steal the gold.
They stare at her blankly.
Gaynah cries out in disbelief, ‘We’ve come all this way to play make-believe?’
But Calvin beams at me, then at Rudy. ‘I’m in.’
‘I heard he never leaves his house except for Saturday afternoon, when he goes to the fish market to buy fish for his hungry ghosts,’ Calvin hisses as we tiptoe towards the house.
I shoot him a look and he shrinks back, sheepish. ‘Sorry.’
As we get closer to the house, I keep thinking about Calvin’s story, and it hits deep. I never did like hearing the rumours about my uncle, especially as none of them made sense. The stories had got out of hand over the years. At first, he was just a man who saw ghosts. Now he was a witch doctor who used his magic to feed children to his ghosts. The stories got worse and worse, and I knew who was behind it: Pastor Brown.
I almost moan to Gaynah about Calvin annoying me, but I remember just in time that Gaynah is not my friend. She lingers a few metres behind us, still pretending she doesn’t want to be here.
We gather near the steps to the house, where there is an oval entrance with a dark door. I spot Papa’s food basket left on the doorstep. He must have been already. Or maybe he is cutting Eldorath’s garden around the back. I scan the grounds for him.
‘I think maybe we should see if the proprietor is home,’ Rudy whispers. ‘One cannot risk being found out before we find the treasure.’
Calvin nods along with a serious frown on his face. ‘Yes, agreed.’
Still crouching, Rudy presses her back against the wall and moves slowly to the back of the house. I am behind her, Calvin behind me and Gaynah at the rear. The house is silent. Nothing but the crunch of stones under our feet. I half expect to see Papa appear around the corner, shaking his head in dismay as he does when I’ve done something that doesn’t please him. There is nothing but silence.
At the back of the house is a large sycamore tree and a garden that goes on for miles. You can see spots where Papa has tried to cut the grass, but it is clearly too much for just him, because even the parts he cut are now catching up with the rest that merge into the forest.
Calvin points to steps leading up to the house. Spiralling staircases that meet on a balcony. Another set of stairs go downwards underneath the house. Before anyone can stop him, Calvin runs down the steps and disappears.
‘It’s open,’ he hisses.
Rudy is not far behind him. She stops halfway down, beckoning us to follow. I turn to Gaynah, and she is under the sycamore tree.