Sometimes Dead Men DO Tell Tales!

by David W. Smith

  This plastic case was about twelve inches long, ten inches wide and only three inches deep. Excitement in their eyes now replaced the defeat. But, before they could celebrate their find, Adam happened to look outside their glass cabinet, remembering they were in a very public place—and soon to be more public once their limited time was up. And that moment was quickly approaching.

  “Lance, we have to hide this somehow. Do you want to fold it up in your jacket?”

  Lance didn’t think that was a good idea. “It’s too stiff to hide. I guess down the front of your pants won’t work.” He smiled, remembering the diary.

  “Well, if my pants won’t work, how about across my back? What if I tuck in my shirt and stick it down my back? I could wear your jacket. If I don’t try to bend over, it might work.”

  Lance took off his jacket and shook his head. “It doesn’t go with your pants.”

  Adam didn’t know if he was kidding or not. “Who cares!? Here, put it down my back. Make sure it’s centered as much as possible. Ouch, that’s cold!” Adam jumped as Lance slid the plastic into place. Because Adam had broader shoulders and was shorter than Lance, the jacket wouldn’t be a very good fit. He’d have to remember to stand up straight. Putting on Lance’s jacket, he turned around. “How does it look?”

  “A navy jacket does not go with black pants.”

  “Before I kill you, does the capsule show?”

  “Walk a little. Try to bend over. Okay, don’t do that again. Walk over that way. Now walk over there. Now turn. Now look up. Look over to the side. Jiggle a little.”

  It sunk in that Lance was playing with him. Adam rolled his eyes. “Let’s get out of here. I feel like a monkey in a cage.”

  Lance instantly sobered. “I know. I do too. Kenneth should be back any time now.” He pushed on the panel, stepping backstage once again and gratefully closed the door behind them.

  “Think we should just leave?”

  “That would be rude and suspicious,” Lance pointed out. “No, we’ll thank him and tell him it was interesting but fruitless.”

  “Well, you’d better handle it. I’m not good with lying.”

  Lance shot him a quick glance, but he could see Adam was just making a statement, not aiming an accusation at him. “Fine. Just try not to look guilty.” He barely got out his last suggestion as Kenneth came back in the room. The security guard gave Adam an odd look because he was now wearing a jacket obviously too long for him. Lance took over and warmly thanked him for his help, but, sorry to say, it wasn’t what they thought.

  “Aw, sorry to hear that, boys. You come up with anything else, just let us know!” Kenneth waved them off and Adam wondered about his parting words: “See you later, Lance.”

  But before he could ask, Lance quietly told him to stand up straight. It looked like he had a giant book across his back.

  They sat in an empty tram car on the way back to the parking structure. Adam groaned and bit his lip at every bounce of the tram as the edge of the capsule scraped across his back. They waited until they were inside the Mercedes with its tinted windows before Lance pulled it out of Adam’s shirt.

  There were twelve hand-painted animation cels hidden inside the plastic case. Ten of the sheets were eight inches square and two sheets were eleven inches by eight inches with protecting layers of wax paper between them. The smaller cels were Snow White and each of the seven dwarfs, Pinocchio looking at Jiminy Cricket, and the Blue Fairy as she appeared in Geppetto’s house. Snow White was holding a little bluebird on her extended finger. Each picture of the dwarfs was a close-up head shot. It was easy to identify them as Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, and Dopey. Dopey was holding up two large diamonds to his eyes. The larger paintings were background scenes. The first was the dwarf’s cottage in the dark woods and the second was Geppetto’s toy-filled work area. There was a small number at the bottom corner of each celluloid that indicated where it was used in the filming sequence.

  It was an amazing gift for Adam and Lance. In pristine condition, the cels probably had been stored as soon as they had been filmed. Possibly, they had been part of Walt’s own private collection.

  As with the other treasures they had found, there was no explanation, no conditions. The diary had explained the significance of where they went and what they would find. These had meant a lot to Walt. And, now, they would mean a lot to Adam and Lance. Thinking ahead, Adam considered making his own frames to display the wonderful artwork. Yes, that wall over there in the dining room would be good, he decided as he looked around his apartment. No direct light from the sun, and far enough away from the kitchen to be safe from heat or smoke. Maybe teak for the frames.… He broke out of his daydream when his glance fell on Lance who was carefully examining the brushstrokes of the picture of the Blue Fairy. The cels would be shared with Lance. Of course they would be shared. But how could you break up the Snow White set? It wouldn’t be right.

  Too soon, Adam told himself. Don’t get excited. They weren’t through with their search. There was another clue—another page ripped out of the diary. It had been underneath the cels protected by another sheet of waxed paper.

  “I met Little Red Riding Hood there. Then the four musicians of Bremen. Look up from Mickey. Something doesn’t fit.”

  Dressed all in black, Adam and Lance blended into the darkness. Hugging the side of the old building, they kept out of the sliver of light coming from the crescent moon. A dog barked in the distance, but that was the only sound they heard. So far. The hair on the back of Adam’s neck tingled. He knew someone was looking for them.

  Speaking only in whispers, they knew sound would travel far in the silence that surrounded them.

  “Are you sure this is the spot?” Lance’s words were quiet as he spoke into Adam’s ear. He held a shovel in one hand, ready to dig.

  Crouching, Adam lit a match and shaded it with his other hand. He shone the dull light on the map at their feet. He glanced over the maze of lines and boxes. The seemingly random grid made sense to him. “Yes, two paces more to your left. That’s it. Start digging. I’ll stand guard.”

  Adam blew out the match as it started to burn his fingers. He could hear the shovel as it bit into the earth. Going to the edge of the building and peering around the corner, two shadowy figures moved away from their location. Their searchers hadn’t heard the shovel as it continued to dig deeper and deeper. He and Lance were safe for now.

  “You find anything yet?” He went to the edge of the hole and looked down at Lance. Another shovelful of dirt flew past his face. “You need to hurry. They’re getting closer.”

  There was no reply. He heard a clink of metal against metal as Lance found their target.

  A dog barked again, only this time it was closer. The searchers brought their own dog. It wouldn’t be long now. They had to go.

  “Lance!”

  “I got it.” His answer was muffled. “Help me out of here.”

  Adam got down on his stomach and reached into the dark hole. Something cold and metallic was shoved into his hand. It was their capsule. Setting it next to him on the ground, he reached into the hole again but couldn’t feel anything. Lance wasn’t reaching for him. He began to panic as he leaned in further and further. “Lance!” he whispered frantically. “Grab my hand.”

  He could see the beam of a flashlight searching the ground. They were getting closer. He could hear the dog sniffing the trail. The narrow beam of light waved back and forth in a search pattern. Soon their footprints would be seen.

  “Lance!” he whispered again. “We have to go.”

  He finally felt Lance grip his hand and he pulled, helping Lance get out of the deep hole he had dug. Lance’s head finally emerged and he was able to hoist himself up, covered with dirt. “So, what’s in the capsule?” Unconcerned, he wiped the dirt off his face, only to smear it worse.

  “Shhh! They’ll hear you. We have to go.” Adam tugged on his friend’s arm as Lance bent down to retrieve their find.


  The dog must have heard them because he started barking furiously. The two men holding the leash gave a shout and started running across the yard.

  Hearing the footsteps pounding toward them, Adam pulled on Lance to get him to move but he seemed transfixed by the gold capsule he was holding. “Run!” Adam hissed at him, pushing him in the opposite direction of the nearing footsteps. He could hear the dog snarling.

  Lance finally started running. They rounded the building and broke out into the silvery moonlight. They could hear the dog whining near the hole they had just left.

  They ran past the dark farmhouse and cut across the yard. When the hole was found to be empty, the yelling and footsteps behind them began again as their pursuers resumed the chase.

  Lance had parked their car a block away and they pounded down the middle of the sidewalk. There were no streetlights, no porch lights, nothing for illumination except the moonlight. Adam, now panting heavily as they continued to run, concentrated on the broken sidewalk in front of them. Lance was keeping pace without a word as the dog’s barking was getting closer on their heels. They must have let him loose, he thought. Neither of them looked back. They kept their eyes on their car.

  Lance broke away from Adam as his longer legs got him to the car faster. He flung open the driver door, threw himself in and slammed the door shut behind him. As the engine started, Adam flung himself into the passenger seat. The dog reached the car and jumped at the driver’s window, barking and snarling. He kept jumping at the window, his claws scratching at the glass and down the side of the car door, leaving dozens of scratch marks on the rented Pontiac.

  “Put it into gear! We have to go!” Keeping his eyes on the dog, Adam saw headlights coming on half a block behind them. There was a sharp whistle and the dog turned to run back to a black car. Hearing a door slam shut behind the dog, the glaring headlights moved away from the curb and Adam heard the screech of tires as the car hurtled toward them.

  Lance slammed the car into first gear and they finally lurched forward. “Headlights!” Adam called to him as they wove down the unknown, dark street.

  Lance fumbled with the gear shift and then found the headlight switch. He swerved down another street as the black car gained on them. Ignoring the stop signs, Lance plowed through empty intersections and finally ground the car into fourth gear.

  Adam’s eyes were glued to the back window as the black car continued to gain on them again.

  “So, what’s in the box, goose?” Lance’s question was lightly asked as if they were sitting in Adam’s living room and not hurtling down some unknown quiet residential street trying to find the freeway. He shifted again and barreled up the onramp, swerving to get in front of a tanker truck in the slow lane. The black car found itself stuck behind the tanker.

  “You watch the road. I’ll worry about the box,” Adam snapped at him, his breathing still coming hard, his heart pounding in his chest.

  “Want to go swimming over at Rose’s tomorrow?” Lance reached over to turn on the radio. He couldn’t find a station, only static. With an unconcerned shrug, he leaned his left arm out of the open window.

  Adam could see the black car swerve around the tanker. They were gaining on them. “Lance! Speed up.”

  Lance glanced in his side mirror and began whistling softly to himself. He veered over two lanes in the freeway and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The rental slowly picked up speed. He ran a hand through his hair. “You have a comb?”

  “No, I don’t have a comb!” Adam clutched the gold capsule to his chest, his heart still pounding. They would never get the capsule from him. It was his!

  Without warning, the back glass of their rental car shattered as a bullet tore through the car, embedding itself in the dash. Fragments of glass blew around them like pale green confetti and finally settled throughout the car.

  “That was close.” Lance checked his teeth in the rear view mirror before swerving into the middle lane next to the tanker truck that was keeping pace with them.

  “They’re shooting at us!” Adam was getting frantic. “Can’t you drive faster? Get away from the tanker truck! They could hit it!”

  “You could give them the capsule,” Lance suggested as he veered back into the fast lane of the empty dark highway.

  “No! It’s ours! Walt left it for us!”

  “Walt left it. He might not have left it for us.” Lance had his arm resting out on the window frame of the car again. Another bullet shattered Adam’s side mirror. He didn’t know how many bullets had flown past them.

  “What do you mean?” Paranoid, Adam clutched the gold tighter.

  “It might belong to them.” A nod of his head indicated the fast approaching car. Lance held out his hand. “Let me have the gold. I’ll toss it over to them.”

  Adam looked back through the glassless window as the black car barreled down on them. There were less than two car lengths between them and Adam could hear the dog barking. As his head jerked back, Lance was still holding his hand out for the capsule.

  The faceless passenger in the black car shot at them again and blew out one of the back tires of the rental. The car swerved onto the shoulder of the road causing a cloud of dust to billow up and blow back towards the black car. Lance had to fight the steering wheel to keep the car going straight. Still, he held out his hand for the capsule, waiting for Adam to give it to him to end this chase.

  “I can’t keep this up for long.” Lance seemed too calm. “Give me the gold.”

  Adam looked from Lance’s hand to the car behind them. It was getting closer and he could see the car was going to pull up next to them. As Lance still fought with the steering wheel, Adam could see the silver barrel of the gun as it pointed at him. The dog was snarling, barking in the back seat. As he looked, the back window of the black car was slowly lowered. Excited, the dog hurled itself at the growing opening. The gun turned away from Adam and blew out the back passenger window of their rental. The dog was going to jump! Adam watched in growing horror as the gun barrel now slowly turned towards him. The black car swerved closer, but Lance managed to pull away.

  In a burst of speed the black car slammed into the side of their car, causing Adam’s window to shatter over him in a cascade of glass. He threw his arms up to protect his face. The black car pulled away to ram them again, to force them into the freeway divider. One more slam would do it. Smoke was starting to pour out of the exhaust. The black car was coming at them again, but it didn’t ram them. It pulled up next to them, keeping pace with the weakening rental. The dog had its paws on the window frame. Powerful muscles bunched, he gathered his legs under him and leapt.

  Lance suddenly stood on the brakes, screeching tires protesting as the car immediately jerked and squealed to a stop. Adam watched the dog fly through the air to where their car had been seconds earlier. Lance jerked the wheel to the right and gunned it, heading for an off-ramp. The Pontiac wasn’t going to last much longer.

  The driver of the black car slammed on his brakes and did a smoking 180 degree turn in the middle of the freeway.

  The off-ramp was getting closer, but they weren’t going to make it. Lance had to fight the rental into each gear as they surged forward. The black car approached them at an angle, its powerful Hemi undamaged. Not taking his eyes off the ramp, Lance concentrated on his driving. Adam watched as the black car got nearer and nearer. He thought they were going to ram the front of their car.

  The passenger window began to lower. The silver gun barrel emerged out of the darkness of the car. It pointed at Lance now but Lance didn’t see the gun. He was trying to make the final distance to the off-ramp. Adam saw the lower portion of the gunman’s face for the first time as he leaned towards the open window. There was a thin gray mustache above the smiling lips. It was a smug smile as the finger tightened on the trigger. Adam watched a plume of smoke emerge from the gun barrel.

  Hearing a loud noise, Adam jerked. Drenched in sweat, his heart pounding, he bolted upr
ight. Looking wildly around, his eyes wouldn’t focus. There was only darkness.

  Breathing hard, his eyes finally settled on a soft green glow that read 4:47a.m. He didn’t hear that noise again as his hand went up to his bare chest and settled on his pounding heart.

  He felt for the shattered glass and felt only cool cotton sheets. The vision dimmed and slowly he realized the sound he had heard was himself. Did he yell in his sleep?

  A dream. It was only a dream.

  He looked at the clock next to his bed again. 4:48. He ran a hand through his hair and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Wow, that was real. He sat there for a minute while his mind calmed down and his breathing returned to normal. As he pushed himself to his feet, he vaguely wondered what happened to the dog….

  Not bothering to put on any clothes, he padded into the living room and dropped onto the sofa. He knew he wouldn’t get back to sleep any time soon. Clicking on the table lamp, he leaned forward and looked over the animation cels on his coffee table. Snow White was smiling sweetly at the little bluebird. Doc looked kindly. Happy looked, well, happy.

  Adam took a deep calming breath. He shook his head. He hadn’t had a dream like that in a long time. Must have been from concentrating so much on the clues.

  At least he hoped that was the reason.…

  He would hate to think that’s what awaited them at their next destination.

  “Well, you look like something the cat drug in,” was Lance’s amused greeting later that morning.

  “Thank you. Thank you very much. Just what I wanted to hear.” The grumbling Adam had black smudges under his eyes and his face was unshaven.