Free The Minister's Maid by Jamie DeBree

to draw back, not sure what to say but needing to see his expression when voices on the other side of the wall drew her attention.
    "Get your clothes," Ian hissed, yanking his pants up over his hips. Betsy struggled into hers, not sure if they were right but knowing she didn't have time to care. She ran past Ian to the back of the barn, finding Dusty's stall and flinging herself into it, thankful that the horse wasn't there. Ian jogged in beside her, swinging the gate shut and crouching in the corner just as the main door to the building opened.
    Rhythmic clopping signaled the entrance of horses, and Betsy hoped Dusty wasn't one of them. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when they stopped short of the last stall, and resigned herself to a long wait while the horses were taken care of. Letting her gaze roam over the comfortable space, she took in the sparse walls, her hope of finding the next coin fading with each stone. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, really - having tack in the stall seemed like it could be dangerous for the horse, but anything left here so long ago would surely have been cleaned out by now.
    She jumped when long fingers intertwined with hers, then smiled when soft lips kissed her neck.
    "Look up. The bottom of the hay rack," Ian whispered, his lips barely touching her ear. She tilted her head back to view the underside of a sturdy metal structure bolted into the wall above their heads.
    She grinned at him, leaning in for another kiss.
    Betsy reached up and tugged the clear plastic square free, careful not to make a sound. Ian held out his hand and she gave it to him, her heart racing as he popped the two halves apart. Wherever the next clue sent them would be the last stop on their half of the map, which meant Derek could be waiting at any of the hiding places after that. If he could decipher his half of the map without clues, anyway.
    Ian handed her the coin, and she flipped it over once before putting it in her pocket with the others. He unfolded a small piece of paper and his eyebrows drew together as he read it before passing that over too. Betsy stared down at the scrawled text, barely legible in the dim stall light, and suddenly she understood.
    The handwriting was different.
    Glancing up, she met Ian's gaze, silently confirming her fears. If this wasn't her friend's note, which meant someone had already found this hiding spot, and maybe even the others. Why had they left the coin though, or bothered to replace the original note? She looked again, studying the flow of the text for any clues. It wasn't anyone she knew well, which helped ease her discontent. Derek's handwriting was looser, more haphazard, so unless he had someone else write the note, it wasn't him. She breathed just a little easier, but not much. Someone out there had the rest of the clues, which means they had the location of the chest.
    Along with everything in it.
    Toward the front of the barn, a stall door clanged shut, and another just a few seconds later. The voices receded, fading the farther they got from the barn, and Ian motioned for her to stay put as he got to his knees.
    Peeking through the metal bars of the stall door, he waited a few extra seconds, then got to his feet and leaned out to look down the corridor. Betsy was beginning to think he'd froze there until finally he came back, holding out a hand to help her up.
    "Looks like we're clear," he said, his voice scratchy to start. He nodded toward the note. "Is that Derek, do you think?"
    She shook her head and leaned over to brush off her pants. "Nope - his writing is completely different, thank goodness. I wonder how long this one's been there?"
    "No way to tell," he said, rubbing a hand over his face. "But I do think we'd better hurry. We're nearly done with our half of the map. Who knows what Derek's managed to find with his. Can you tell where we're going next?
    Betsy read the clue aloud. "The next coin belongs to the kingdom. Are you brave enough to slay the