Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "No, I only got three hours of sleep last night. I'm exhausted and I don't think I've quit moving since I got up this morning."

  "Why don't you take a nap? I'll pick up Sylvie's boys and we’ll spend time in Beryl's studio this afternoon. She is starting to go through her paints and brushes. She told me this was a perfect time to get rid of things she never used. I figure she's been in that studio for thirty years. If we can get her a fresh start, it will be another thirty before we have to worry about cleaning her out again.

  "She'll be nearly ninety!" Polly laughed.

  "And?"

  "And nothing. I'll be there to help!"

  "Perfect. I'll bring the boys back here around six o'clock. Sylvie said they needed to work on homework tonight and they can do that here."

  "I need to go back downstairs. I have to finish my laundry before everyone shows up for the wedding reception."

  "Don't worry about a thing. You go to bed. I don't want to hear that you are awake before five thirty, alright?"

  Polly yawned. Her body agreed with Lydia.

  "Thanks for mothering me today, Lydia. I don't know how you knew to show up, but I needed you."

  Lydia stood up and headed for the door and Polly followed her. She turned around and hugged Polly, "Sometimes I know when my favorite girl needs a little extra love." She left and Polly kicked off her shoes, turned off all the lights and went into her bedroom. She dropped on top of the bed and promptly fell asleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Eyes opening to small slits, Polly saw daylight and felt lost. What time was it? Was it morning already? Why was she still in her clothes? What day was it? She shut her eyes again and tried to think. Everything was fuzzy. Finally it hit her, she'd taken a great nap. She stretched and shook her head to rid herself of the last bit of fuzziness. Obiwan stretched beside her, his front paws reaching up beyond her head. She turned over and rubbed his belly and he rolled over so she could reach all of it.

  "That's much better, now, isn't it? I feel more rested. At least I’m no longer worried that my emotional life is going to crash and burn any time soon. Lydia was right, I did need that nap."

  She pulled herself upright and tossed her legs over the edge of the bed, then looked at the time on her phone. Five-fifteen. Not bad timing.

  "I woke up on my own and I feel much better. Thanks for the push," she texted to Lydia.

  In a few moments, Lydia returned the text, "That's great. I am feeding the boys and we'll be there around six."

  "Thank you! I didn't expect that. See you later."

  That meant she should probably figure out what to eat for supper before they got here. As soon as she thought about food, her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything since toast this morning. That needed to be fixed soon. But first, Polly had to run downstairs to at least bring up the laundry that was finished. She opened her front door and just outside the door were two baskets filled with folded laundry. She pulled them into the apartment, carried them into her bedroom, and set the baskets on her bed. She looked for the guest towels and sheets, but found nothing in the baskets except her own clothing. Shaking her head, she knew that things had been neatly put away where they belonged. Lydia and Sylvie paid close enough attention to what was happening around Sycamore House, she knew better than to worry.

  Taking a few minutes to put everything away and stow the baskets back in her closet, she felt better about everything.

  Her phone buzzed with a text message from Henry. "I'm standing outside your front door with supper. Will you let me in?"

  Running to the front door again, she opened it to see him standing there with a shopping bag. Polly hugged him and reached up for a kiss.

  "Thank you!" she said. "This is perfect timing. I was about to forage for supper."

  "Don't thank me," he laughed. "This was Lydia's idea. She stopped by while I was working outside, told me you were exhausted and would be awake by 5:30 and that if I wanted to gain your undying gratitude, I should show up with supper for the two of us. We have half an hour before the boys arrive, may I come in?"

  "That woman is a planner!" Polly laughed. "I guess it makes sense to go along with what she has happening in that conniving little brain of hers. It always works out perfectly."

  "I'm learning that," Henry said. He followed her to the dining room and set the bag on a chair.

  Polly went into the kitchen and pulled two plates from the cupboard.

  "Oh no," he said. "Put those back. We've got everything we need in here."

  He lifted out two plates, two wrapped silverware packets and two glasses. Polly recognized them from the kitchen downstairs. Then he began pulling out containers filled with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, sliced roast beef and sliced ham. A bag filled with rolls and butter and another with cookies finished the meal.

  "Sylvie shared," he said. "I'm supposed to take the dishes back down later and she'll wash them with everything else."

  The last things he pulled out were two small votive candles and a lighter. "She told me I should be romantic," he laughed.

  He lit the candles and began opening the containers of food. Polly sat down and helped and before long, they had devoured everything he'd brought upstairs.

  She sat back in her chair, "That was perfect," she said. "Thank you for listening to Lydia."

  "I told you long ago that she was a force to be reckoned with. I much prefer listening to her and obeying. It works out pretty well," he laughed. "Now, tell me why she was managing your world this afternoon."

  "I might have melted down on her."

  Henry's eyes grew concerned as he wrinkled his forehead. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing's wrong. I was exhausted. Sal got in late last night, and then I was up at six thirty to take care of the horses ... The horses! I have to get them bedded down!"

  "No, Eliseo's got it. He told me it was no big deal and he had plenty of time between getting the hall set and cleaning things up. So. Exhaustion, was it?"

  "Exhaustion was the biggest thing. Because I was so tired, I started thinking about missing Dad and Mary and then I felt sorry for myself because I didn't get to take Sal to the airport and then because of all that I decided to feel put upon by the whole world. But, a nap fixed most of it. The rest is a matter of fixing my attitude."

  "I'm sorry," he said. "Can I help with anything?"

  "You already do so much," Polly said. She stood up and took the dishes into the kitchen.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I'm not sending these downstairs filled with gunk. I'm rinsing them off."

  "Isn't that what a dishwasher is for?"

  "Whatever," she said. "I'll run some water over them and make sure the big chunks are gone. Here, hand me those containers, too."

  With an audible sigh, Henry picked up the containers and carried them to the sink. "This is nuts, just so you know."

  Polly pursed her lips and looked up at him. "I'm rinsing the dishes and you aren't going to give me any trouble about it."

  "Yes ma'am. The silverware, too?"

  "No, you can drop those in the bag unless you left food on them. When these dry off a bit, we'll put them in the bag and take them downstairs."

  "So, you didn't answer me. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

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

  "I don't know. I hadn't made any plans yet. Do you have something fun in mind?"

  "Not so much. But, I could use your pickup truck. I have a bunch of people showing up at Harry Bern's house to clean his stuff out. I'm going to bring some of his personal things here and store them in the basement for a while, but I'm sure there will be things that need to go to the dump and other things that need to go to a thrift store or Goodwill. If you came by about 2:30, we could use you."

  "I'll be there. Anything else?"

  Polly turned the water off at the sink and dried her hands on a towel. She walked over, stood in front of him and wrapped her arms around h
is waist, leaning her head on his chest. "This. This helps."

  He pulled her in tightly and held on. "Then you can have this whenever you like."

  They stood there for a minute until the animals perked up and Obiwan walked over to the front door. He released her and stepped back as Jason, Andrew and Lydia came in. Both boys dropped their backpacks on the floor and Andrew dropped down to hug Obiwan.

  "Eliseo is in the barn. Can I go out and help him?" Jason asked.

  "Sure!" Polly replied. "Here, take this bag of cookies out to him." She handed him the zipper bag that had come up with their dinner and looked at Henry. "Okay?"

  He shrugged as Jason ran over to snatch the bag from her hand. "I'll be back when we're done," he said and ran out the door.

  "How was dinner?" Lydia asked.

  "It was wonderful. Thank you for organizing all of this."

  "Oh, it's what I do," she said as she waved Polly off. "We went to Davey's for dinner and these boys were great. She ruffled Andrew's hair and he looked up at Polly and winked. She nearly burst out laughing at his behavior, but contained herself.

  Lydia headed back for the door, "Aaron's downstairs, waiting for me in the Jeep. We might go see a movie!"

  Polly laughed. "That sounds fun."

  "It does! I've had the television turned on to the news stations for the last week watching all of the tragedy in Boston unfold and he thinks I need to be distracted."

  "He doesn't know you very well, does he?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You find plenty in your life to distract you from tragedy. Look what you did for me today," Polly remarked.

  "We don't need to tell him all my secrets," Lydia smiled. "I like it when he gets all husbandly and tells me what to do. It doesn't happen very often, so I let him get away with it."

  "You go take care of your husband and thank you for everything." Polly hugged her and held the door as Lydia walked out and down the steps.

  She shut the door and turned around. "Well, what homework do you have tonight, Andrew?"

  "The usual," he commented, his voice drooping. "Will summer ever get here? I'm tired of homework."

  "I know what you mean, bud. Let's get started and maybe we'll play some games later on this evening. Henry, are you staying?"

  "I'd love to stay. I want to look at your bedroom anyway. Since the door is open, I assume you got a little cleaning done?"

  "Yes, I did. You are welcome to it."

  "What's he looking at?" Andrew asked.

  "He thinks there is a stairway that has been walled up. It will lead down to the new garage."

  "Do you think there are any more dead bodies in there?"

  "Oh, Andrew, I hope not. I don't think my reputation can stand any more of those."

  "I think it would be cool. What if they walled that staircase up because there were zombies trying to break into the old school and that was the only way to stop them?"

  "Well, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe we shouldn't let Henry open it up. You never know when zombies might come back to life."

  Andrew shuddered and then said, "What if the staircase actually leads down through the floor downstairs to the underground and there are tunnels that go everywhere in Bellingwood and a long time ago, they used to smuggle slaves."

  "The school wasn't built until the 1920s, but maybe they built it on top of those tunnels and this was the main house people stayed in before they moved on."

  "Yeah!" he said. "And all of those tunnels underneath the town are still there and maybe rat people live down there and have a completely different life than we do up here. They don't know there are people on top of the ground either."

  "Or maybe that boarded up stairway was a time transfer portal and they lost too many students through it because they didn't know how to use it and got caught in the vortex," Polly encouraged.

  "Yeah! Maybe it was a portal to a whole 'nother universe!" Andrew was getting excited. "I gotta write this down!"

  He dug in his backpack and pulled out his notepad and a pencil and began scratching things on a blank page. Polly watched as he concentrated, chewing on his lower lip. He was writing as quickly as he could and then shut the notebook.

  "There," he said. "That is cool stuff."

  "I'm glad. Why don't you pull out your homework and get started. I'll talk Henry out of breaking into that wall until Jason gets his work done and then maybe we can see if there are any real mysteries hiding inside it."

  "Cool!" Andrew pulled out a couple of books and opened the first one, sliding a folded piece of paper out and opening it. "I need to do math problems and then read this chapter and answer questions. It shouldn't take me long."

  He settled in and Polly headed for the bedroom. "Henry?" she called.

  He poked his head out of her closet. "I'm trying to figure the best way to knock this wall out without destroying everything you have. I don't even know which way these steps go downstairs."

  "Would you mind waiting until Jason and Andrew are done with their homework? I promised they could watch you cut into the wall."

  "Why not?” he said, “I’ll go in from the front anyway. I need to get some tools. I won't open the whole thing up today, I want to see what I'm looking at."

  "That little boy out there has a creative mind. He had all sorts of ideas as to why this was boarded up."

  "Oh to be young and have an imagination that hasn't been squashed by reality," Henry lamented. He came out of the closet and sat down on the bed. "You know, they always ask young boys if they want to be a fireman or a cowboy. I always wanted to be an astronaut. I thought for sure we would be traveling back and forth between earth and colonies on other planets by now."

  "Me too!" Polly said. "I wanted to live in space and fight aliens and sail past galaxies. Maybe that's why I became a librarian. Books are so much more exciting than real life."

  "This real life is pretty exciting," Henry said as he pulled her down on his lap.

  "But, you aren't piloting a ship called Serenity and fending off evildoers and I'm not stopping the Empire from taking over the universe."

  "Not today we aren't. But who knows what is going to happen tomorrow?"

  Polly kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks."

  Henry placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her back in so he could kiss her lips. "Any time, Princess," he said.

  "Whoa!" she whispered as she broke the kiss. "We've got a kid out there and you make my head spin."

  Henry's silly grin filled his face. "The head spinning I like. The kid, well, okay."

  She stood up and headed for the door, then turned around. "I like the head spinning too, and I like thinking about you in a ship traveling from planet to planet."

  "Because I'd wear leather or something?"

  "Sure, that's it," she giggled and went out into the living room.

  Andrew looked up and said, "Is he gonna wait for us?"

  "No problem. I had to talk him into it. He was excited about opening that wall, but then he remembered he needed some tools to do it."

  "I do need tools," Henry echoed. "I'm going to my shop. What if I came back with some ice cream treats?"

  "Yeah! Jason better hurry back so he doesn't miss out," Andrew said and went back to his homework.

  Polly walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye then stood there waiting since she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Henry held his hand out for Jason to slap as they passed in the hall and Polly held the door open for the boy as he entered.

  "Henry's getting ice cream and some tools to tear into the wall in my bedroom, which will all happen after you two get your homework done," she said.

  "Cool!" Jason replied. "The horses are ready for bed. Eliseo told me tonight that he liked working with me."

  "I'm glad," Her heart gave a thud as she hoped Eliseo was still going to be here after Monday. Then she realized she needed to set it aside and enjoy her evening.

  Jason and Andrew worked on their homework until Henry
returned with treats.

  "How close are you to being done?" Polly asked while Henry unloaded the bag of goodies into the freezer.

  "I have one more section and I'm done," Andrew announced.

  "I'm nearly finished with my math and then I'm done." Jason said.

  "Alright. Finish your work and when I see your books back in your backpacks and the packs by the front door, we'll have ice cream." Polly said.

  Henry winked at her and went back into the bedroom with a saw and a tool belt.

  She followed him in. "What was that wink for?"

  "You like having kids around, you can't deny it."

  "I love having kids around. It's babies and toddlers that make me nuts. If I could figure out how to have kids this age without all that other messy stuff, I'd do it right now."

  "Right now?" he teased.

  "Well, okay, not right now. But, I wouldn't hesitate."

  "You know there are other options."

  "Yeah, but ..." Polly paused. "I'm walking right into this one, aren't I?"

  "Without a doubt. Should we stop here?"

  "Can we please?" she laughed.

  "I'm done!" Andrew called out. She heard him carrying his bag across the room and as she walked out into the living room, Jason shut his book and began pushing things down into his own pack.

  "Alright! Let's see what Henry brought us."

  Polly opened the freezer and nearly snorted with laughter. There were popsicles, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars and cones. It seemed as if he had bought out the freezer.

  "Well, it looks as if you have plenty of choices. Come on over, boys and tell me what you'd like.

  Andrew stood up on his tip toes to see inside the freezer and pointed at a frozen candy bar ice cream treat. She pulled it out and handed it to him, while Jason asked, "Could I have an ice cream sandwich please?"

  "Those are my favorite, too," Polly said.

  "Oh, you can have this and I'll choose something else."

  "No, look. He bought two of them. We're set." She pulled the second one out and then said, "Henry, what about you?"

  "One of those ice cream cones would be perfect. Thanks."

  "No, thank you for getting these!"