Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

"Well, I, umm. Sure. I can be available."

  "Andy, if you have something else going on, I can do it without you."

  "No, that's not it. Beryl made a big deal out of me bringing Len over for lunch tomorrow, but I can make sure we're done before one o'clock."

  "I didn't even think about you having a date. I'm sorry. Don't hurry on my account."

  "I'm glad to help you out. Don’t worry if I'm late though, I'll be there."

  "That sounds fair. Thank you!"

  They hung up and Polly wandered through the auditorium to the storage room where Henry was supposed to be working.

  When she opened the back door, she saw four men, including Henry, lifting the side frame of the garage. She stood and watched while they anchored it into place, attaching it to the concrete and another wall. The garage was actually going to happen! Polly waved at Henry when he looked up and caught her eye, then pulled the door shut and went back in. She peered at the walled up space in this room and wondered at the stairway that might be there, giving her immediate access to the laundry room and the garage. She grinned. Henry was her hero and she might not have to make too many more embarrassing treks down the main stairs with baskets full of her underwear again.

  That thought made her laugh aloud. Her relationship with Doug Randall had been cemented in stone the day he startled her into pouring her basket full of laundry down the main steps of Sycamore House. One look at her bright purple undies had embarrassed both of them and allowed an entire community of women to get to know her because of that humiliating moment. It was something she and Doug never talked about, but that communal embarrassment was a joke they shared with each other.

  A glance at the washing machine had her running for the stairs up to her apartment. She needed to get started on that now. She could not let her bedroom get so far out of control again that people weren't allowed in the apartment. The rest of the place always looked pretty good, but for some reason, Polly hated managing her clothes. They ended up in piles all over her room until she finally broke down and washed things before putting them away. She had to admit to herself that the bathroom counter wasn't much better. She didn't have an issue scrubbing down the shower or washing the toilet, but putting things away she used every day didn't make sense, until there was a worry that someone might show up and see her slovenly behavior.

  She stripped the bed, piled all of her clothes in the baskets, grabbed the dirty towels and dragged things to the hallway. While she was at it, she figured she would also strip Sal's bed and check the bathrooms for dirty towels. Piling the towels on top, she opened the room where Sal had been staying. The bed was already stripped and the sheets and a couple of towels were in a pile on the floor beside the door. Everything had been put back in order and there was a note under the flowers by Sal's table. Polly walked over, picked it up and sat down on the bed to read it.

  "Polly, I can't tell you how much I've missed you this last year. I don't suppose I even knew myself until I spent these last few days with you. You are a lightning rod and I mean that in the very best way. Things happen around you and you find ways to make them work out for good. I've always known that but never appreciated it. Your heart has led you home and you followed it, listening because you trust it. I hope you always trust your heart ... it's smarter than most people's heads. Thank you for your friendship and for allowing me to be part of your world for a short time. I can't wait to do it again. I love you, Sal."

  Polly smiled and folded the note so it would fit in her back pocket. She was going to miss having Sal around, but it was time to get on with her day. She took the first basket down the steps, left it in front of the stairs and ran back up for the second. It occurred to her that maybe Henry could install a laundry chute so at least one end of the trip would be easier.

  Sylvie had arrived and was working in the kitchen, preparing for the evening's meal, so Polly stopped in to say hello.

  "How was the date last night?" Sylvie asked.

  "Other than the interruption with happy little thieves stealing my tack, it was a great evening. Did you hear that Mark took Sal down to Des Moines to go dancing? I think he made her fall a little in love with him."

  "No way!" Sylvie replied. "Well, you don't have to worry about whether or not we have a thing for each other."

  "Oh, Sylvie, if I even thought that you did, I would have never set this up. I know better than to tempt fate."

  "Well, I'm glad they had fun. What did you and Henry do?"

  "We went over to his place and watched a movie. So, did Jason say anything to you last night?"

  "No, why?"

  "Well, when we were down at the barn and were talking about who might have been stealing things, he got a look of horror, like he might know who did it. But then he quit talking to me and avoided the subject completely. That's so not like him and it was odd."

  "He didn't say anything to me, but I was so tired I didn't pay any attention to what his mood was."

  "If he says anything, let me know. But, you don't have to make a big deal out of it. Are the boys coming over today?"

  "If you don't mind. I was going to go back and get them about three o'clock. I hate making them stay cooped up in that little apartment all the time."

  "I don't mind at all! You know I love having them here."

  "Thanks. Someday I'll be able to afford a nice, big home for them, but for now, I appreciate that they have a safe place like this to hang out."

  "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" Polly asked.

  "I have two papers to write this week along with all the rest of the classwork, so I'm going to hide in my room with the laptop."

  "Ken Wallers asked if I could round up some people to clean out Harry's house. Would you want me to pick up the boys a little before one o'clock? I've asked Doug Randall if he could get some of the gamer kids to help us and Andy is going to be there."

  The look of relief on Sylvie's face was Polly's answer.

  "Sunday afternoons are the worst with those boys. That's when I know I should be out doing things with them, but with everything that is going on, all I do is make them hang out at the apartment."

  "Then I'll pick them up and we'll work for a while. When we finished I planned to bring everyone back here and serve pizza. I will text you and let you know when the boys are coming home."

  "Thank you, Polly. I couldn't do all of this without you. Well, I couldn't do any of it well without you, that's for sure. I'll tell them to bring any homework over tonight so they can make sure it is finished and won't have to worry about it tomorrow night."

  "Cool. So, do you have any boxes back here that I can use tomorrow?"

  "I'll empty the boxes I have and you can take those. There are probably five or six there. Let me call the grocery store. They always have a few that can be picked up."

  "Thanks. I'll be around. Gotta do laundry and get things cleaned up, you know!"

  Polly headed for the barn. While the washing machine was doing its thing, she could be busy pulling down hay. It was always best to get the difficult tasks completed as quickly as possible so she could move on to something else. She climbed up into the hayloft and breathed deeply. She loved this smell. Hefting the first bale, she slid it down the ramp Henry had built for her after listening to her complain. She sent three more down before following them and stacking them in the feed room. Back up she went over and over again. Polly hefted a final bale and something glinted and caught her eye. She tossed the bale down and went back to look more closely.

  Tucked behind one more bale of hay, which she pulled out of the way, was a large, ornate vase. Polly took a deep breath and peered at it, wondering where it had come from. Did Eliseo put it up here? She pulled the vase out and looked at it. It looked to be ancient, with intricate painted details and lettering Polly couldn't identify. There was a mark on the bottom of the vase and it felt very heavy. She looked inside and was astonished to see that there was paper stuffed into its base. She reached in and pulled out a handf
ul of hundred dollar bills.

  "What in the hell?" she exclaimed. Polly pushed the vase back into the space she had discovered it, knowing that she didn't want anyone else to know about this until she'd done some checking. Then, she had another idea, pulled the vase back out and snapped a picture of it with her phone. She pressed it back one more time and went down the ladder, stacked the hay bales and pushed the ramp up to the ceiling, where its magnets caught to hold it.

  She was distressed and distracted as she went up to Sycamore House. Her first stop was her office. She uploaded the photo and did a Google image search to see if there was anything that it might compare to. She became even more distressed when the only comparisons were vaguely similar pictures of vases that had been stolen from several museums in Basra. The only two people she knew who had access to her barn and who had been in Iraq were Harry Bern and Eliseo Aquila. One was dead and the other had just been beaten. Was this what those people were looking for? Did Eliseo know it was here all along?

  Her phone beeped at her, reminding her that laundry needed to be transferred around. She sighed, shut the browser window on her computer and went through the kitchen, nodding at Sylvie, to the back room. Her work automatic, she quickly moved laundry around and went back through the kitchen to head upstairs to her apartment.

  Polly knew she should call someone, but it didn't feel like today was the day to do that. The vase had obviously been in the barn for a while, and there was no reason for anyone to be up in the hayloft since she had spent time refilling the feed room, so things could stay as they were. She spent the next half hour scrubbing her bathroom clean and hanging clothing up so her room was more presentable. Another quick trip downstairs and she had sheets to remake her bed. When that was finished, Polly hadn't yet come to any good decision on what to do next. She changed into a pair of tennis shoes and grabbing Obiwan's leash, she called him to follow her. Before going outside, she and Obiwan snuck into the laundry room to start another load, then left through the side door, waving at the men who were still working. Instead of heading to the pasture, she crossed the road to the swimming pool and tennis courts and into the wooded area that separated them from the newer subdivision in town.

  Agitated, she picked her pace up to a slow jog so Obiwan could stay with her and before she knew it they were both running along the path. A tug on the leash reminded her that he was still attached and as he slowed down to smell the brush and mark his territory, she stopped, bent over, placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath. Obiwan came close to her, sat down and licked her face.

  "Thanks, bud. I suppose I know what the right thing to do is, but give me until Monday, alright? If I'm going to lose another custodian, I don't want to screw up an event for Jeff hours before it happens. Monday will be soon enough, right?"

  With his tongue hanging out, Obiwan simply wagged his tail. Polly sat back on her haunches and rubbed his head.

  "And what am I going to do with Jason? He knows something and doesn't want to tell me about it. That surprises the heck out of me. Who is he protecting?"

  She looked at her dog and though he cocked his head back and forth, listening to her voice, she knew he didn't have much to say.

  "Since you're being such a good listener, would you mind terribly if I whined a little bit more?"

  Obiwan licked her face again, then sat back down in front of her. "I know it's not fair, but I wasn't expecting Mark and Sal to hit it off like that. She's my friend and if she comes to Bellingwood, I want her to come spend time with me. Now, if she comes back here, I won't know whether it is to see me or the next new love of her life. I didn't even get to take her to the airport today because some guy is all of a sudden important to her. She doesn't know it, but that kicked me in the teeth."

  Polly sat all the way down on the path with her knees bent, pulled Obiwan in close to her and he sat between her legs so they were face to face.

  "Here's the deal, bud. Sometimes I get tired of being strong and creative and I want to sit down and cry. But, I don't want anyone else to know that, so don't tell, alright? Sometimes I want to be totally selfish and scream that I don't want to have to be the one who figures out how to take care of my custodian and then drive to Boone to buy a room full of furniture. I don't want to have to call people to go over to Harry Bern's house and clean it up. I don't want to have to be Sylvie's other parent for her boys and I don't want to have to pay the bills and make all the decisions."

  Tears filled her eyes and she buried her face in Obiwan's neck. "Sometimes I want to go back to being a stupid girl who doesn't have to think about anyone but herself."

  The tears flowed for a few moments until Obiwan pulled back and barked. Polly quickly dried her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and stood up and began walking away from the direction he had barked. Pretty soon, she heard footsteps behind her and moved to the side as a young couple jogged past, nodding and smiling on their way around her.

  She bent back down and rubbed Obiwan's neck. "Thanks, bud. You're a lifesaver. And by the way, don't you ever tell anyone that I melted down, okay? It's not as awful as all that. In fact, I'm pretty lucky and I know it. Maybe a good cry was what I needed. Though sometimes I wish Mary or Dad were around so I had someone to talk to."

  They ran back to Sycamore House and went in the front door and up the steps. She met Lydia on the way up.

  "There you are," Lydia said. "Do you have a few minutes?"

  "Sure. Come on in." Polly raised her eyes to heaven in thanks for having done at least some straightening up and cleaning in her apartment."

  They went inside and she released Obiwan, who took off at a dead run for the kitchen, then spun around and ran for the bedroom.

  "I think he's letting everyone know he's back," Polly laughed. "Can I get you something to drink and some brownies or something?"

  "What do you have to drink in the refrigerator?" Lydia asked.

  "Well, there's milk for the boys and look, I made iced tea the other night. Yeah me!"

  "I'd love a glass of tea. Thank you"

  "So, what's up?" Polly asked as she pulled down two glasses and set them on the peninsula. Lydia put them on the table and Polly brought the pitcher. They both sat down and she filled the glasses.

  "I thought maybe I should check on you. I stopped by to see if Sylvie needed me to do anything with her boys while she was working this evening and she told me that Mark Ogden had taken your friend back to the airport in Des Moines. That escalated quickly, don't you think?"

  "It did. I was a little surprised, but what are they going to do? With nearly fifteen hundred miles between them and neither of them planning to move, I suppose it is what it is."

  "The world gets smaller every day, though, doesn't it? Do you know that I talk with my daughter in Kansas City on the computer? I can see her and when she holds that little one's face up to the camera, my heart about bursts."

  "That's pretty wonderful, isn't it? Henry and I communicated that way when he was in Arizona. I'm glad you can connect with your family."

  "Was it hard for you to let her leave with Mark?"

  Polly ran her index finger around the rim of her glass and said, "It was. I shouldn't be jealous, but she's my friend and I haven't seen her in years."

  "You're jealous of Mark spending time with Sal, not the other way around?"

  Polly laughed at that. "I'm not interested in Mark and I'm glad they had such a good time together. It was a little surprising to know that my time with her was cut short because she wanted to spend more time with him."

  "That's what I wanted to hear you say to me."

  "Why?"

  "Because I wanted you to say it out loud."

  "It sounds silly now that it's out there, doesn't it? What did I lose, four hours? Not even that. And to be honest, I'm so tired that it was probably just as well I didn't drive to Des Moines and back today."

  Polly thought about telling Lydia about the vase in her barn, but looked back down at her glass of
iced tea and decided to ignore the impulse. No use getting anything else started.

  "Andy also called me and told me that you were cleaning out Harry Bern's house tomorrow. Do you need any more help with that?"

  Polly chuckled. It didn't surprise her at all that Lydia was up to date on everything that was happening. "I'd love help, but you don't need to. Doug and Billy are going to round up their friends who come here to play games. I called Andy because I knew she could manage a bunch of kids and keep us all organized. I didn't want to bother you. You have so many things going on all the time."

  "Alright, then. I'll let you handle it. Aaron and I will head over to Dayton to check on Marilyn."

  "Is she still feeling good?"

  "She sure is, but I'm the mama and I want to be there as much as possible for her."

  "You're a good mama," Polly sighed.

  "Do you ever think about how much you miss having your mother around?" Lydia asked.

  Polly looked at her friend. Was she psychic?

  "It isn't my mother so much, but sometimes I miss having Dad or Mary here. Sometimes I feel really alone."

  Polly's face screwed up, her eyes filled and she began to cry again. "I'm sorry," she got out before the tears came.

  Lydia scooted her chair closer to Polly and wrapped her arms around her. "It's alright. I know. I can't imagine doing everything you are doing and taking care of all the people you take care of and then coming home and crawling into bed by yourself with no one to hold on to you."

  "I have to either be hormonal or very, very tired," Polly giggled through the tears. "I don't usually do this."

  She pulled away and Lydia pushed her chair back and said, "Or you could be handling a lot of things right now. Ken Wallers called Aaron about your theft last night."

  "Wow. Was that just last night?" Polly asked. "It feels like it happened a week ago."

  "Aaron is going to find who did this, you know that, right?"

  "I know. And then I'm going to make them hurt. It's my present goal in life."

  Lydia smiled. "Of course you will. By the way, you do look tired. Are you getting sick?"