by Tonya Kappes
At least she was getting some energy out and would probably sleep like a baby tonight. Or maybe a big nap this afternoon if we took a break. She claimed she was up all night, but according to Ritchie, when he came back to the campsite, she was snoring to beat the band.
“Let’s focus on the treasure.” Agnes glanced back. She was leading the group and had Graham’s map in one hand and the compass in the other. “According to the map, the Furnace is this way.”
“How far?” Queenie pushed the glittery headband up on her forehead a little more.
“Three miles.” It rolled off Agnes’s tongue like it was just a jaunt around the bend.
“Dear Lord!” Mary Elizabeth huffed. “Three miles? Why didn’t we camp closer?”
“There’s no camping in the forest. Only the designated areas.” Abby was so sweet and really took the time to explain to Mary Elizabeth how John Swift couldn’t just put his treasure where anyone could just find it.
Every few thousand feet, we’d stop for a drink of water and maybe a little taste of chocolate to keep us going. Abby and I continued to take turns hiking with the food backpack. There were a few grunts and grumbles from the group, especially when we had to climb over a little more brush than the typical fallen logs or rocks. The farther we hiked into the forest, the thicker the vines, grassy areas, and rocky areas, making it a little more challenging. I kept an eye on Agnes and Mary Elizabeth, not that Queenie was much younger, but she was in better physical shape with her Jazzercise.
“Do you hear that?” Agnes perked up and turned her ear.
We all stopped. The sounds of birds chirping and a faint bubbling sound filled the silence.
“I think that’s the small branch in the journal.” Agnes handed the papers to Abby. “Read that.”
“To go to the Furnace to the ore, climb the rock to the left hand, steer a due south course till you come to a small branch. You will find the way very rough. Then go to the branch to the head without crossing. Then due east to the top of the ridge out of the cliff country.”
“That’s enough for now.” Agnes took the papers back from Abby. “After we get due east past the branch, we will revisit the journal. I think we are close. I remember my Graham talking about it.”
“You lead the way.” I was started to get excited, even though Hank had told me it was really a tall tale. Just the fun of being with the group was enough for me. Making good memories was also very important.
“Climb the rock to the left.” Agnes repeated over and over as the sound of a creek got closer and closer.
All of our eyes were focused up, and we looked around to help find this rock to the left. There were a lot of cliffs and rocks but nothing due south per John Swift’s instructions.
“That’s that?” Abby pointed to a mossy-looking structure. “I think it’s the rock. It’ll take us to another level of the forest.”
“Should we climb it?” Mary Elizabeth climbed over a downed log and took a high step up on one of many ledges that we could carefully climb to the top.
“I think we should.” I encouraged everyone to make a move because we’d never know unless we did it.
“I think so too.” Agnes’s eyes grew big. She held the map and pointed to a spot. “We passed the three beeches, and if we climb the rock, we can go east.” There was an X on Graham’s map. “Abby, let me see Swift’s map.”
Abby took off the food backpack and opened the front zippered pocket, where she’d put the maps in a Ziploc bag in case something happened and it got wet.
“If you lay Graham’s map overtop of Swift’s…” Agnes put the maps on top of each other. The X Graham had put on his map and the mine Swift had named West Mine practically lined up together. “This has to be the one Graham had been looking for.”
Agnes’s face glowed. Some pride and some joy all tied together.
Without even asking what we thought, she handed Abby back the map and took off up the mossy rock. Abby put the map back in the Ziploc and zippered pocket of the pack, replacing the backpack on her back.
“Be careful,” I told Mary Elizabeth, who I made climb in front of me just in case she fell and took me down with her, allowing me to soften her fall.
There was a small cliff that led up to the next one, like stepping stones to the top. The moss was slick from all the rain we’d had, which made it slippery to climb fast, so we all took a step and even told each other, “Be careful on that one. It’s really slippery.”
Once we all got to the top of the rock, we sat down on the rock and took a small water break to catch our breaths. Climbing the rock was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I was using muscles I’d not used in a long time or maybe ever. I already longed to go to bed, but we were still just a couple of hours into the hike.
Some shuffling sounds caused all of us to look over our shoulders. We listened for a long pause before we turned to look at each other. Silently, our eyes shifted to each other, as if we were trying to figure out what each one was thinking.
“What is that?” I asked.
Agnes pushed herself up and held up a finger for us to stay while she crept over toward the shuffling sound. I’m not sure why, but we all felt like Agnes knew what she was doing, and she was the Mason of our group.
“Is it a bear?” Mary Elizabeth looked at me with big eyes. “Just like John Swift said in the journal.”
“What did he say again?” Queenie dug into her backpack and pulled out the set of papers she’d taken from the Historical Society.
“It’s probably just another group of treasure hunters.” Abby made the most sense, and I elected to believe her.
“I’m sure Abby is right.” I was happy and relieved to see Agnes come back.
“I didn’t see anything.” Agnes didn’t look at us. “Let’s go.” She grabbed her backpack and put it on. By accident, her eyes met mine. Something in them said she wasn’t really telling the full truth, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “We are almost there.”
“You take the end of the line,” I told Abby so I could be behind Agnes and try to figure out what she was hiding.
Agnes stood at the front of our little line.
“Me, Mae, Queenie, Mary Elizabeth, and Abby.” She pointed to each of us when she said our name. “We are all here. Are we all good?”
As soon as we all nodded, Agnes started us on the last leg of the journey to the West Mine.
“Our first clue to check off is the creek, right?” I asked Agnes, fully knowing it was where we were headed, but I wanted to open the lines of communication with her.
“Yes.” The one-word answer and her pinched lips were sure signs Agnes Swift was hiding something. Then something just hit me. “Agnes Swift. Swift. Graham Swift. John Swift.”
“It took you this long to figure out Graham was believed to be a descendant of the John Swift?” Agnes’s lips relaxed, as did her face. “Why do you think it was so important for Graham to find it?”
“Gosh. I never even thought. So is this why Hank thinks the legend is just a tall tale?” I asked her, hoping to open her up even more.
“Graham’s family had so many generations that were so proud of the legend, and Graham was too. We spent so many nights alone, me and my daughter.” She was referring to Hank’s mom. We’d come to a nice embankment next to a small brook. The foliage was growing close to the ground, so we all walked next to the babbling water, thanks to the heavy rain.
Agnes continued, “I think that’s why they decided to follow Ellis around the world for her modeling career, leaving Hank here.”
There was a small family rift between Agnes and Hank’s mother. Hank was in the middle, but he was more on the side of his granny Agnes than his own mom. It was a long story that I’d been able to piece together little by little as I’d gotten closer to Hank. This was a new discovery.
“Hank and I talked a lot about the legend, and he came to the conclusion it was all false after he’d spent a few years in his teens out here look
ing.” She smiled. “You and I both know Hank has a lot of pride and doesn’t like to be wrong. So I think that’s why he is adamant about it being a tall tale.”
It made a lot of sense now that I thought about Hank and how he was very private about his younger years. Hank was probably the last type of guy I thought I’d see myself with. He was a little rough around the edges. He liked being outside. He was not the southern gentleman that I liked. Nor had he even lived the lifestyle I’d gotten accustomed to with Paul West. I think it was probably his rougher side that appealed to me because underneath a few of those layers, he’d do anything to keep me safe and happy.
“I think we are here,” Agnes gasped. She pointed to the opening of the stream into a much larger pond. One of the many gems the Daniel Boone National Park had to offer.
“That trickling sound is making my water drop.” Mary Elizabeth did a little tinkle dance. Her head swiveled around as if she were looking for a spot to do her business.
Agnes’s jaw dropped, making her mouth part before a big wide smile drew up on her face. “Up there.”
“You want me to go up there to go potty?” Mary Elizabeth shrugged, while Agnes didn’t pay a bit of attention to her. Agnes was pointing to the rock. I didn’t stop Mary Elizabeth when she started to make her way around the hanging rock and climb up.
“Oh! It’s the rock.” Abby pulled the pack off her back and got the journal back out. She began to read, “‘At the branch head without crossing, then due east to the top of the ridge out of the clift country, then along the ridge to the right-hand side, and there will appear a place that is higher than the other. The hanging rock.’” Abby drew her eyes up from the paper and looked at the formation that appeared to hang over us from where we were standing.
“The rock!” Queenie bounced on her toes and clapped her hands. “We’ve got to go up there.”
“Let Mary Elizabeth tell us what’s up there when she gets back.” I covered my eyes from the sun. A couple of rocks tumbled down. “Mary Elizabeth? You okay?” I hollered up but didn’t get a response.
The four of us stood there looking up as a few more pebbles fell.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Abby gave me a worried look.
“We need to go up there according to the map, so let’s just meet her up there.” Queenie made a good point.
“Watch out!” Agnes yelled when a few larger rocks rolled down and fell into the water below.
The heat beat down over the rock, and when I looked at it, something shadowed the sun, as if there were a small eclipse.
“Avalanche!” I screamed and ran to the side, covering my head with my arms before I knocked Agnes out of the way with my body.
I heard a loud splash into the water—then silence.
I gulped and looked up. Mary Elizabeth stood on the hanging rock above the branch and waved.
“All done!” She grinned, having no idea what just happened to us down here.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked and made sure to look at them. They all looked okay. “Did you know big rocks fell like that?” I asked them since this was my first time here.
“It wasn’t a rock,” Abby said, her voice cracking.
We all looked over to where she pointed.
“My pearls!” Mary Elizabeth screamed from above.
Mason Cavanaugh lay face up, eyes open, floating in the water, with Mary Elizabeth’s pearls in the grip of his hand.
“The curse.” Agnes’s words sent chills along my spine.
ELEVEN
Mary Elizabeth let out a scream that would wake the dead… well, it didn’t wake Mason Cavanaugh.
“My pearls!” Mary Elizabeth continued to yell as she fought the terrain to come back down to where we were. She ran to the edge of the water, and before I could gather my wits about me, she did a belly flop, creating a big splash.
“Stop!” I was shocked Mary Elizabeth would jump in with a dead body, much less grab her pearls out of his dead hand. “That’s evidence.”
“Yeah! Evidence he stole them like I said.” Her face flushed white, and her eyes grew big like she just realized what she’d just done. She turned back around, and the motion of the waves she’d created had Mason’s body floating right toward her. “Get me out of here!” She started to fight the water as she tried to run toward us, leaving the pearls in his grip.
I stood at the edge, leaning over with my arm extended so she could grab it. The more motion she created in the water, the faster Mason’s body caught up to her.
“Help me,” she cried out and grasped my hand. I tugged. Her belly dragged along the edge and across the grass as I walked backwards, pulling her to safety.
“Grab him!” Agnes barked at me when I let go of Mary Elizabeth.
My adrenaline kicked in, and I did exactly what she said. I stepped into the water and grabbed Mason’s arm before the tide shifted and dragged him up to the shore.
We all stood there for a second, looking at Mason as we tried to wrap our heads around what we were seeing. The sound of footsteps were as loud as thunder as they came toward us.
“I heard a scream.” Sue Ann Jaffarian stood behind us. “What happened?” she asked and walked in between me and Mary Elizabeth. “Mason?” She screamed and fell to the ground. “Did you do CPR?” She didn’t even wait for us to answer. She started to do mouth to mouth on him. “Idiots.” She turned her head to me. “Help me.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t really sure what to do since I seemed to be stuck in my head, and nothing was computing.
“Get out of the way.” Sue Ann shoved me and started to do the chest compressions between the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
A couple of times Mary Elizabeth actually reached over as if she were going to get those darn pearls. I gave her the stink eye a couple of times, making her pull her hand back.
She did this for about five minutes until she had a complete breakdown. A flood of tears followed with sobs escaping her as she leaned her body over his, and primal sounds came out of her.
“I’m so sorry.” I bent down and put an arm around her for comfort.
“No, you’re not,” she spat and jerked away, finding her footing to stand. “You!” She pointed to Mary Elizabeth. “You killed him. I saw you come down from there. You pushed him because you wanted those stupid pearls.”
“How did you know about the pearls?” Agnes asked.
“Dirk told me when I saw him about an hour ago.” She looked around. “Where is Dirk?”
“We’ve not seen him.” I tried to be as calm as I could, since she’d just accused Mary Elizabeth of killing Mason.
“Now what?” Abby’s voice cracked. “We don’t have cell service. We can’t get out of the campsite to get help.”
“We have to carry him back. We can’t leave him here.” Sue Ann started to sob all over again. “I love you so much.” She fell back to the ground.
It took a second, but I got everyone’s attention, besides Sue Ann, and nodded for them to meet me out of earshot of her. Quietly, we all walked away.
“What are we going to do?” I directed my question at Agnes.
“Why are you looking at me?” she asked.
“Because you work around this stuff all day,” I pointed out. “What do the police do when they get called to a murder scene?”
“We don’t know it’s murder, and you should ask yourself that same question,” Queenie suggested with a little sarcasm.
“Just because I’ve found a couple of dead bodies…” I started to say before I was rudely interrupted.
“A couple?” Abby asked.
“Listen, I get that we are all tense here, but we are here, and we need to do something. Sue Ann is right about one thing.”
“I didn’t kill him.” Mary Elizabeth jerked back. “I never saw him up there.”
Her statement stuck in my head. She was on the same rock formation. How did she not see him.
“Not right about that.” I sucked in a deep breath, curled my lips
together, and let it out my nose while I looked at them underneath my brows. “She’s right that we can’t leave him here.”
“I’m not carrying him.” Queenie crossed her arms.
“Stop it.” I shot her an eye. “We all have to carry some sort of part of him. You.” I pointed to Abby. “You take a foot, while I take a wrist. Mary Elizabeth, you take a foot, and Queenie, you take a wrist with me.”
“What about them two?” Queenie flung her hand at Agnes then at Sue Ann.
“They are going to get us out of here. They know the way.” I licked my lips and thought back to the crime scenes I’d had the unfortunate time being involved in. “Hank would mark off the scene, take photos, and then look for evidence.”
“He fell from the rock. I bet he saw us and leaned over too far.” Abby made a good case, but by the look on Agnes’s face, I could tell she was thinking something completely different.
“What is it, Agnes?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t count him out being murdered.” She glanced around. “You go up to the top of the rock and see if he left his backpack up there or where his maps are. When he left this morning, he had his gear. Where is it?”
“I’ve got my phone so I can take photos.” Abby pulled her phone from her pocket.
“Mary Elizabeth and I can gather some rocks and make a circumference around what we think is the crime scene down here.” Queenie also made a good suggestion.
“This is great teamwork.” I smiled and nodded, happy to see that we were all starting to come to our senses, but it wasn’t far from my mind that there were two people here that had some threatening words with Mason, even if one of them was my adoptive mother. And she just so happened to have been up on that rock when Mason had fallen to his death.
“Sue Ann.” I put a hand on her back. This time she didn’t jerk away from my touch. “Agnes Swift works at the Normal police station, and we are going to treat this like a crime scene and do the things the police would do if they were here.”