Emily's Fortune Read Online Free PDF

read your name!”
    Slowly she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What?”
    â€œI saw your name! It’s there in the newspaper up on the porch.”
    â€œHow can that be?” asked Emily. “Did it say Emily Wiggins?”
    â€œAll I knew was the word
Emily,”
said Jackson.
    Emily left Rufus and her carpetbag in the barn andwent back to the inn with Jackson. They made their way through the people coming and going. They went up onto the porch, stepped over a sleeping dog, squeezed between the rocking chairs, and looked at the newspaper pinned to the wall. Jackson pointed to a story at the top of the page.
    â€œWhat does it say?” he asked her.
    Emily was too surprised to answer. There in big black letters was the story:
    Girl to Inherit Fortune
    Emily Wiggins, daughter of a woman who worked for the late Luella Nash, will inherit ten million dollars. Constance Wiggins, who died in a carriage accident along with her wealthy employer, was the sole beneficiary of the Nash estate. She had only one child, a girl named Emily, eight years old, who willnow inherit her mother’s fortune. Lawyers for the estate are trying to find her. Emily has long brown hair and green eyes and is believed to be on her way to Redbud.
    â€œIs that you?” asked Jackson, pointing to the word
Emily
.
    â€œYes,” said Emily, and in a voice weak with surprise, she softly read the story aloud to him.
    â€œTen million
dollars?”
Jackson whispered in astonishment.
    â€œI…I guess so,” said Emily. She was not sure just how much money that would be. One million, she guessed, was a lot of thousands, and
ten
million…She wondered if she could squeeze it all into the carpet bag.
    â€œWhat are you going to
do
with all that money?” Jackson asked, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.
    â€œI’ll give it to Aunt Hilda, for taking me in,” Emily replied. “Maybe I can buy her a horse and carriage. Do you think ten million is enough for a horse?”
    â€œA horse!” Jackson exclaimed. “It’s enough for a
ranch!”
Grabbing her by the arm, Jackson led her back down the steps and over to the shade of an oak tree. “Listen, Emily,” he said. “A lot of people will be looking for you.”
    â€œThat’s good, isn’t it?” Emily answered.
    â€œBut some of them might be the wrong kind of people,” Jackson said. “And they’ll be looking for you for the wrong reason.”
    Emily did not understand. She had lived all her life in the big white house, so she didn’t know much about the world. But if people were looking for her, it was to tell her about the money, wasn’t it?
    â€œEveryone will try to be your friend, Emily, because they’ll want some of that money,” Jackson explained. “I think you should get to your aunt Hilda’s before you tell anyone who you are. If people find out…well…you might not get to your aunt Hilda’s at all.”
    Now, what in the
hokie smokies
could that mean?

T his was truly alarming news, and Emily was frightened.
    â€œJackson, what do you mean?” she said. “Why wouldn’t people want to help me?”
    â€œBecause they might want to help themselves more. The lawyers want to find you so they can give you the ten million; that’s good. But what if someone kidnapped you and wouldn’t give you up till he got the money? That’s bad. A lot of folks might be looking forthe girl with the brown hair and green eyes, which is you.”
    Glancing around to be sure no one was paying attention, Jackson yanked the newspaper off the wall and held it behind him.
    But Emily was still upset. “What am I going to do?” she cried. “There must be newspapers in other places, and people will have seen them. When we get on the stagecoach, they’ll guess who I am.”
    What would the neighbor women suggest? she wondered.
    Mrs.