The Island of Dangerous Dreams Read Free

“Because why?”
    Madelyn shrugged. “I’m not going to second-guess.”
    “Good idea,” I said in an attempt to keep the conversation rolling, but she slipped me one of those narrow-eyed, probing glances, as though she thought I was trying to be funny, and stopped talking to me. I used the time to think about Rick. I missed him terribly. Mom was wrong in telling me I had to let go. She didn’t understand how much I cared about Rick.
    It didn’t take long to get back to Palm Beach and to the Sartington Museum, which was an elegant one-storied, gleaming-white building set like a centerpiece in its own little park of tropical yellow calla lilies, scarlet salvia, and gaudy purslane. We entered the carved doors of the museum under an arch of bougainvillaea that dripped clusters of dark red blossoms. The blond woman at thedesk in the entry hall looked up and smiled, as did the guard, who actually touched the brim of his cap to Aunt Madelyn.
    The entry hall to the museum was an intimidating expanse of cool white marble. In the center of the hall stood a pedestal, upon which was a curled stone something that stared at me with one large blank eye. I got out of its line of vision by trotting after Madelyn into her nearby office.
    It didn’t help. Dominating her office was a painting of two flat, purple people with double profiles, their tongues hanging out, and large round holes through their chests. They stared at me too. Pointedly ignoring them and hoping they’d get the hint, I dropped into a chair and thumbed through a magazine—art magazine, of course—while Madelyn called her friend, the judge. Finally she hung up the receiver and hurried around the desk. I jumped to my feet.
    Madelyn clutched my shoulders, holding me at arm’s length and grinning so broadly that her face scrunched into a grimace. I could feel energy vibrating through her fingertips like a burst of electricity.
    “I can’t believe it!” she said. “I can’t!”
    “Believe what?” I tried to wiggle away from her hold.
    Her smile crinkled again, making little cracks in her makeup. “I’ll get to that later,” she said. “First, I can tell you that Judge Arlington-Hughes has extended an invitation to spend the weekend at his home in the Bahamas.”
    This caught my attention fast. I’d seen picturesof those white sand beaches! “It’s nice of him to help you entertain me.”
    “He doesn’t exactly know about you yet,” she said, “but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be included.”
    She seemed very sure, so I didn’t worry about it. “Is his house near Nassau?”
    Madelyn shook her head. “No. It’s not really far from the coast of Florida. The judge owns a small island in the Little Bahama Banks.”
    “A whole island? Wow!”
    Madelyn stepped back and smiled a catlike, secret smile. “Now, for the big news. I want you to keep this information to yourself, Andrea. This invitation was not given for purely social reasons. Justin has come into possession of a glorious Peruvian artifact and will show it to me there. I know he’ll give the Sartington first chance to purchase it.”
    “Where did the artifact come from?” I asked her.
    She blinked and, as though she were speaking to someone who wasn’t all there, said slowly, “From Peru, Andrea. I told you that.”
    “I mean, has the artifact been in this country for a long time, or was it just smuggled in from Peru?”
    She just stared at me, so I went on. “I wish you could meet Dr. Kirschman,” I added. “He’s the most terrific science teacher. You’d like him. Everybody likes him. Anyhow, last summer Dr. Kirschman told us that most countries in South and Central America have laws to prevent people from taking artifacts outside their countries, andyet people steal them. Can you believe it? Stealing important parts of a country’s past?”
    Aunt Madelyn gave me one of those impatient looks that I’d begun getting used to. “My dear girl,” she said, “you