Tressa's Treasures (The King's Jewel Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

boxes with at least thirty large thick journals to the guesthouse where I was staying. Brion Danann had kept copious notes on the exploration and research he did in the area.
    I did my prospecting on instinct, just going where my gut told me. I couldn't imagine what information the journals contained that would fill so many volumes, especially when the information covered a relatively small geographical area. You could cover every inch of the entire state of Pennsylvania in so many volumes.
    I had been staring at the leather bound books for hours. I’d put them into chronological order, or as close as I could figure. The older volumes were written in an unfamiliar language. They also had drawings, diagrams, and calculations, and I hoped that would give me enough to go on.
    The book in front of me had to be the oldest, although the pages weren't yellow or showing any sign of age. Hand drawn maps showed the area around the estate, the woods and mountains to the north. The nearby town was no bigger than a trading camp. It probably illustrated the territory as it was in the 18th century—when the area was the frontier.
    Such strange research. There were sketches of the estate's first farmhouse and barn, along with detailed floor plans, livestock and planting records. Equations—no, lists of latitudes and longitudes... areas he was excavating? And this here—this is a list of names? Townspeople? Farmhands? Slaves?
    I sat back into the deep cushioned sofa, pinching the bridge of my nose and squeezing my eyes closed. I was getting a headache from trying to understand the scratchy handwriting that filled the half-dozen journals I had spread out on the coffee table in front of me. It was late; time to call it a night.
    I picked up the small velvet bag sitting on the table next to the journals, opened the drawstring, and dumped the small stones inside into the palm of my hand. I studied them, rolling them around with my finger, remembering the day I found these stones inside the small package from Mrs. Danann. I was flabbergasted.
    After over a decade searching the world for stones that matched my ring, out of the blue, some are mailed to me from this elderly woman. I set the velvet bag back on the table. Then I put the stones and my ring on top of the bag so I could see them together.
    Something else had come in the mail that day, too: an invitation to be a guest lecturer at a university only twenty miles from where this woman claimed the stones had been found. I was sure they must have seen the article about me in the Rock and Gem magazine. I had also been in the news when I discovered a new mineral, so my name was out there... Still, it all seemed too coincidental. I shook my head just thinking about it. There was something off about the whole thing.
    I slid forward to the edge of the sofa, resting my forearms on my knees. I scrutinized the journals again. Could the information I need be here in this strange mix of science and domestic bliss?
    A sense of reassurance fell over me, convincing me that without a doubt, my answer lay within these pages. I had learned to trust my intuition. It had never served me wrong before; why would it now?
    Feeling rejuvenated, I looked again at the indecipherable handwriting. What language was this? Gaelic? I'd get what I could from the books and then hire someone to translate them.
    I took a sip of coffee from the mug on the table, forgetting I had brought it from the kitchen hours ago, and grimaced. The cold coffee tasted disgusting. I wouldn't stay awake much longer without another jolt of caffeine, so I took it back to the kitchen to get a fresh cup.
    I dumped the stale coffee into the sink then switched the cup to my right hand. My injured hand wasn't strong enough to lift the heavier coffee pot. Just as I tilted it to pour the hot brew, words popped unbidden into my mind: She can't sleep. She's getting up. It wasn't like hearing a voice; it was more like a thought mixed with absolute