Free Treasured Lies by Kendall Talbot

don’t see why not, as long as we keep them under cover.’
    Ginger rubbed her hands together in a move Rosalina had seen Alessandro do dozens of times. It was funny to see her copying his mannerisms. Since Ginger and Alessandro met, they’d become inseparable. With Alessandro being an old flame, a very old flame to be exact, Rosalina had thought it would be awkward watching their attraction blossom, but she was honestly pleased for him. He was a good man who deserved to find love and she’d never seen him as smitten as he was with Ginger.
    Rosalina followed Ginger back to the boat and together they peeked under the tarpaulin. The items were jumbled together as if they’d been tossed aboard with little care. It wasn’t the right thing to do and they all knew it. But at the moment, speed was more important than fastidiousness. Once these pieces were aboard Evangeline , Alessandro would quickly have them photographed, catalogued and secured in a more deserving facility.
    Ginger reached for a chest with a concave lid and by the way she struggled, Rosalina could tell it was heavy.
    â€˜Hang on.’ Rosalina moved around the boat to help Ginger lift it out. She placed her hand beneath the chest and noticed the coldness of the metal. Together they crab walked with the chest between them up the beach to the waiting umbrella.
    â€˜Can’t wait to see what’s in here.’ Ginger chuckled like a teenage girl.
    â€˜Me neither.’ The little heart-shaped box Rosalina had found with the pearls turned out to belong to Maria Maridonna Verdelanda, the wife of a rich nobleman. Alessandro was able to establish that she’d died during the plague of 1348, as did her husband and four children. Rosalina wondered if any family members survived the plague, maybe her parents or siblings. It was hard to imagine entire families being wiped out by such a relentless disease.
    The thought tugged at her heart. She missed her Nonna terribly and made a mental note to ring her grandmother before dinner tonight. Just the thought of talking to the woman who’d raised her made her smile, even though Nonna would probably be mad that Rosalina hadn’t made contact in over a week. She’d already lost five years with Nonna when she was in Australia and it wasn’t until she returned that she realised just how frail her grandmother had become. Rosalina felt the guilt curl in her chest. Nonna was getting old and now was the time she should be with her. Especially now that Filippo was giving her such a hard time. The title of ‘black sheep of the family’ really rang true with her youngest brother. Since he turned twenty-one, his already fiery personality hit a whole new level, and with alcohol in his system he was even worse. It was stress Nonna didn’t need.
    Hopefully, now that time was against them, this treasure hunt would be over quickly and Rosalina would be back home very soon.
    She adjusted her stance so she could lower the chest carefully onto the towels. The chest was the size and shape of a shoebox, except for the curved lid. Each side was decorated in intricate carvings etched into the metal and surprisingly, like most of the pieces discovered so far, only small bubbles of corrosion were evident. She sat down on the towel and tucked her feet up to her side.
    If Rosalina had to guess she’d say the box was made of silver. There were a couple of belt-like loops secured in rows over the entire box and she struggled to work out what they were. The idea hit her and she clicked her fingers.
    â€˜I bet these once contained leather straps, or something similar, that held the box together.’
    â€˜Oh yeah.’ Ginger ran her fingers over them.
    The leather would have long ago disintegrated in the salt water. Without them the box should be simple to open. Rosalina placed her hands on the lid and tried to raise it upward. But it refused to budge. Ginger jumped to her feet to help