ElsBeth and the Privateer, Book II in the Cape Cod Witch Series. J Bean Palmer

but she couldn’t place it. Again she had seen a tunnel, and rooms and rooms full of gold and jewels. What did it all mean?

      And even though she had gotten up late, she took a few minutes to write everything down in her diary. She marked her place with the velvet ribbon and rubbed the silver bat at the end for luck.

      She threw on the first thing she found in her closet and ran down to breakfast.

      She found Grandmother in the kitchen, as usual. Her fluffy gray hair and face were decorated here and there with flour dustings. She looked pale and exhausted. But fresh-baked, hot cranberry scones were on the table, loaded with cream cheese and honey, just waiting for ElsBeth.

      For once she didn’t want to take her time and chatter away with her grandmother over breakfast. She gulped down her yogurt with nuts and berries and grabbed one of the cranberry scones.

      She kissed her grandmother on the tip of her floury nose and gave her an extra big hug, careful not to look her in the eye.

      She waved at the moon-faced grandfather clock in the corner, who winked back cheerily, and she was out the door.

      When ElsBeth got to the schoolyard, she found most of her classmates dressed as if they were going to see the President of the United States.

      Amy had on a pink satin creation from Laura Ashley, with patent leather shoes that shined blindingly in the morning sun.

      Veronica looked like a little rock star, though with several more layers of clothes.

      Nelson Hamm sported a bow tie.

      Carmen wore a brilliant yellow confirmation dress with pale orange tights. Her mother was well known around town for severe color blindness and favored the brightest colors in unique combinations.

      Fortunately Carmen looked great in yellow, though the orange tights gave her a stork-like appearance.

      Jimmy Miller fought to stuff the yellow rain slicker his father had insisted he take into his backpack, but it wouldn’t quite fit.

      Jimmy’s family had been fishermen forever and his father was a firm believer in being prepared for any weather condition. This meant Jimmy and his brothers always had a heavy yellow slicker and an extra-heavy-duty flashlight on hand.

      After all, it could be sunny on the Cape one minute and a full storm with gale winds could hit the next.

      Lisa Lee wore a lovely pale blue silk suit. With her oversized glasses she looked like a midget Chinese grandmother, but she was also oddly elegant. She had an interesting brown belt holding her red, padded, dragon jacket together.

      Johnny Twofeathers showed up at the last minute in pressed khakis, a crisp white button-down shirt, striped tie and a navy blazer.

      He looked like a small-scale, well-tanned, Harvard law student. He did, however, carry an oversized backpack with dozens of pockets that looked suspiciously practical.

      ElsBeth looked down at her own clothes. She had grabbed her oldest purple tights, a worn denim skirt and a lavender hooded sweater that was slightly too small.

      Wow, was she embarrassed. This was their first class trip, all the way to the city. They would, in essence, be representing their entire school, all of Cape Cod even. Boy, had she messed up.

      But ElsBeth was distracted from these dark thoughts when Robert Hillman-Jones arrived in his uncle’s classic, perfectly restored, Skylight Blue, 1964½ Mustang convertible. Robert knew how to make an entrance.

      Everyone was there, except the Nye twins. The girls had been ecstatic when they found they were to be included in the school trip.

      They usually only got to go anywhere with their mother — the major downside to the home school program in their opinion. But a case of the measles had destined the fun-loving redheads to miss out on the excitement.