Sometimes Dead Men DO Tell Tales!

by David W. Smith

  It took an hour for him to recapture the past eight and a half weeks. He could see his parents holding back comments and questions, their faces registering surprise and, in some cases, shock at what the searchers had done and found. When Adam was through, he brought out the certificates, the watches, and the tickets they had just found and laid them on the table. When he set the beat-up chest on the table, his dad set the stock certificates he had been examining back on the table and pressed his lips together. He hadn’t been allowed to talk yet.

  Adam opened the lid so it faced his parents. They were totally shocked as his dad reached across the table, then stopped his hand to look questioningly at Adam. When Adam wordlessly nodded, John took a couple of the gold coins and handed one to Margaret. “My word!”

  They looked to Adam for more of an explanation. Instead, he held up the black pouch and opened it, spilling the gemstones into his shaking hand. It didn’t get any easier no matter how many times he looked at them and told himself they were his. Theirs.

  Margaret gasped and stood from her chair. It almost fell over in her haste. She had always loved gems and rubies were her favorite. She looked at the large stones in Adam’s palm and picked out a square ruby. It was over half an inch wide and almost as deep. Just like Beth had done, she held it up to the light. “It looks flawless.” She looked back at Adam’s hand, still held outright with the gems slightly shaking side to side. “It looks like the Seven Dwarfs mine! Adam, this is incredible. Oh, are we allowed to talk now?” Suddenly confused, she looked back at John and then at Adam again.

  Adam gave a nervous laugh. “Yes, of course you are. I…I don’t know what to make of this. Beth and I are about ready to jump out of our skins. I don’t even know where to start.”

  Margaret started talking in her nervous excitement. “I don’t know anything about the gold coins. But I do know a little about gems. You’ll need to have the stones appraised. You might look online first to get some idea on what they are worth.” She glanced at John, not sure she should continue, but did anyway, “There’s a website I like that has stones like these. You can measure this to find its size and then compare it with what they have listed. It’s called awesomegems.com. There are also a lot of pages of information on each type of stone. Maybe they can recommend where to take them to be appraised.”

  She broke off when she noticed John was looking at her strangely. “And how do you know so much about this, Missy? Hmmm?”

  She gave him a wide guilty smile. “I…I did a little shopping with them. Really helpful people,” she stammered to a stop.

  “What’d you get?” Knowing his wife, John gave a fake sigh.

  Margaret looked to Beth for some support. “Remember that wonderful Princess Di cocktail ring I had made? The oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds? It was from them.”

  “Oh, I love that ring!” Beth exclaimed. Then, glancing at the look on John’s face, she started fiddling with the stock certificates.

  John cleared his throat and broke the tension that had been mounting. There were more important matters to discuss than his wife’s ring. “Well, Adam, I can’t approve of everything you did to reach your goal. But, I think I understand why you had to do it. I think you know the seriousness if you had been caught.”

  Adam silently nodded. It still turned his stomach to think what might have happened to him and Lance.

  “There is one point I wonder if you’ve thought about yet. Your life is now officially changed forever.” His dad looked from one white face to the other. “Do you two realize that?”

  Both Adam and Beth nodded seriously. How could it not be changed? It wasn’t just the dollar figure of what was sitting on the table in front of them, either. With the treasure came responsibility—responsibility to use it and to use it wisely. They both understood. With each passing moment the understanding was sinking in deeper and deeper.

  “You’re a grown man, so I won’t give you my advice. Unless, of course, you ask for it,” he added with a half-grin. “Then your mother and I will be more than happy to do what we can. You know that. Do you have any plans, or is it too soon?”

  Beth just shrugged and looked at Adam. It was his treasure. She didn’t yet know where she figured into the mix. That gorgeous blue sapphire would be nice.…

  Adam slowly closed the lid of the treasure chest after the stones had been put back in their little bag. “Well, I’ve thought of a few things I want to do. I want to do something for the school in Marceline and for the little girl Mandy who helped us. I don’t know what yet, but I’ll think of something.” He didn’t know what else to say. His thoughts were all scrambled. Pay off his student loan. Pay off his parent’s mortgage. Pay off Beth’s car and his truck. Set up a trust fund. Maybe an art scholarship for underprivileged kids. Maybe he could bring Mandy and her family and some friends of hers out to stay at the Disneyland Hotel and give them a nice vacation at the Park….

  “Well, there is one thing I know I am definitely going to do.” After a long silence, Adam suddenly stood from his chair. Three pairs of wide, excited, concerned eyes stared at him and watched his every movement.

  “What’s that?” His dad was curious as to what was going through his son’s head.

  “I’m taking all of you to Club 33 for dinner tonight!”

  They all let out a cheer and released some of the tension by dancing around the room like five-year olds at a party.

  “What time do you want to go?”

  “How about around 6:00, Dad? Is that time enough for all of you to get ready?”

  “Oh, I don’t know what to wear!” Margaret turned and headed for the stairs.

  “How about your Princess Di ring?” They all heard John’s mutter as he followed his wife to their room.

  Listening to his mom’s advice, Adam had sent in three of each type of stone. He called them an inheritance from a beloved uncle. The website Margaret had recommended gave the location of a laboratory that specialized in grading and appraising world-class gemstones. Adam would receive certificates of authenticity and the approximate value of each of the stones he sent in.

  It was four weeks before the gemstones came back from the lab in New York.

  Adam had done some of his own research during those four weeks. He read up on rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds so he might understand the wordage on the certificates when they were returned.

  Even then, he was unprepared for what he was told.

  WINTER 2003—1 ½ YEARS LATER

  Adam stood on the ridge feeling the cold wind blow against his back. Below him was a gently sloping hill of green grass and flagstone walkways bordered by flowerbeds of hardy marigolds in orange and yellow and carefully pruned evergreen shrubs. Here and there were topiaries of Mickey and Minnie, Dumbo and Donald. A gazebo had been built in one corner of the yard and dark wood benches were arranged at various vantage points. At the bottom of the hill was a slow-moving river surrounded by trees and carefully placed boulders. Further on, beyond the property, loomed the San Gabriel Mountains, their peaks powdered white from the first snowfall of the year.

  Behind Adam was a house. It was French in style, two stories, with a second fireplace in the master bedroom suite. There was a long, curving driveway that came up from the main road. The driveway was bordered by trees that would someday fill in and form a green canopy under which to drive. The rose garden off to the side was barren of any color this late in the year. But, when spring came in a couple of months, there would be roses in every color of the rainbow.

  Sitting next to Adam was a huge Golden Retriever. She nudged her head under Adam’s hand and pushed upward so he would start petting her again. Then she saw a flash of gray move across the yard and was off in a golden burst of speed. She hadn’t yet caught a squirrel, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Looking over at the commotion as the squirrel wisely went up a tree, Adam called the dog, “Sunnee, heel!” Sunnee looked at Adam, then she looked up at the tree, and then she looked back at
Adam. With her version of a doggie sigh, she reluctantly came back to Adam’s side. However, her eyes never left that tree.

  Adam had bought one hundred acres there in Yorba Linda. Getting out of remodel work, he decided to build spec homes. Each home would sit on a five-acre parcel and each home would be unique. This was the first home he had built and he was tremendously proud of it.

  For months Adam had worked on this house, doing most of the work himself with his subcontractors. What he couldn’t or wouldn’t do—like electrical—he contracted out and oversaw the work. Other than the crews, he kept the project to himself. Nobody else had seen it.

  There was only one thing wrong with this house. It wasn’t a problem with the heating or the air or the plumbing. The design of the house allowed for flow of movement and there was no wasted space. He had worked with a designer on the interior.

  No, the one thing wrong had nothing to do with the design or the mechanics. It was a fine house with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, walk-in closets, and a honey oak kitchen. It was a home for a family. Adam had just moved in about a month ago. But, he was alone. Well, there was Sunnee, but she was usually busy with the ongoing squirrel situation.

  Yes, that was the one problem—Adam was there in this large house all by himself. So far. That was going to end today. Adam had sent out one invitation that contained only an address and the time to come, nothing else. And, as he looked at his watch, he expected to hear a car at any moment. Turning away from the pleasant view of the river, he walked back to the house whistling for Sunnee. She’d come—eventually.

  And so would Beth. Beth would arrive at any moment and he was excited to see her. In the year and a half since their treasure hunt had ended, they continued to date each other. They gradually regained the relationship they had had before that day long ago when she had gotten fired from Disneyland. They had rebuilt their relationship and expanded it and he wanted her to be the first to see his new home.

  Beth had been busy too. They had approached Disneyland with an offer: Disneyland would get—on loan—the pieces from their collection that held the most interest from a historical and collector vantage point: The first nametag, the cancelled check, the matching watches, some of the never-before-seen cels, the original opening day tickets, and a few, carefully selected handwritten notes. In exchange for the exhibit, Beth would get her old job back. Since her beloved ride was no longer in existence, she would get the job of her choice—for as long as she wanted, with the option to switch and train on other attractions, whether it would be a Jungle Cruise skipper or a Monorail pilot. She had been very busy at the Park and extremely happy. The offer was working out well for both Disneyland and Beth.

  Now Beth was on her way to an unknown address somewhere near the Michaels’ home, but in an undeveloped area. She followed the turns as the invitation instructed and came to a long driveway and an incredibly green lawn stretching off into the distance. Pulling to a stop in front of a beautiful house, she could tell it was new from the size of the plants and the fresh paint and trim.

  The front door opened and Adam stepped out, closely followed by the biggest Golden Retriever she had ever seen.

  Tail waving, the dog gave a deep, half-hearted “Woof” and then greeted her like a long-lost friend.

  “He’s beautiful!” Beth was all smiles as she stepped out of her Jeep.

  “She,” Adam corrected with a grin.

  “She? What are you feeding her? Steroids?”

  “Nope, just a big girl. Say hello to Sunnee.”

  Beth started laughing and got down on her knees in front of the dog. She had a difficult time getting her arms around the wriggling mass of gold hair. “Perfect name, Adam.”

  “Yeah. I thought so, too. Every home should have a dog.”

  “So, is this your first spec home?” Beth looked around and liked what she could see so far. “This is so exciting, Adam!”

  Instead of answering her, Adam just took her arm and walked her through the front door. “Living room.” She could see a nice fire burning in the fireplace, its white marble mantelpiece glowing in the light. Before she could enjoy the warmth or the surroundings, he tugged her through to the next room. “Dining room.” She barely had time to look at the crystal chandelier hanging from the white ceiling medallion before he took her out the French doors. “Back yard.”

  “Gosh, Adam.” She had a difficult time keeping up with him as he dragged her along the freshly-laid sod lawn. “I hope you give a better tour for prospective buyers. They might want to spend a little more time actually looking at it.”

  “I wanted you to see the view before it got dark.” With a secret smile, that was all the explanation he was going to give her right then.

  “It’s two in the afternoon.”

  “Obviously, Captain. I wanted you to see the river.”

  “I like rivers.” She gave a laugh as they got to the top of the crest. “In fact, some of my favorite…..” Whatever she was going to say died on her lips as she looked down at the river below. Yes, there was a river, but Adam had added to it, trenching out a side river that curled around a familiar-shaped island. It looked just like Tom Sawyer Island in Frontierland, complete with a settler’s cabin—not burning—a log fort, a barrel bridge, some teepees and even a canoe. There was even a wooden dock made out of logs. But Beth didn’t notice the fort or the cabin or the dock. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from what bobbed in the water, tied to the dock by its rudder and bow.

  It was the Bertha Mae, one of Beth’s keelboats from Disneyland.

  Tears streamed down Beth’s face as she stood there, staring. “How did you find her, Adam?” she whispered. “She was sold.”

  “I found the blueprints online and built her myself. She….”

  Adam found he was talking to himself. Without waiting for the rest of the explanation, Beth took off running down the hill with a happy Sunnee barking at her heels. She came to a halt on the dock and stood there staring at her boat. The Bertha Mae was even painted the same soft blue. Stepping up on the narrow deck that was just above the dock, she ran a hand over the shutters nailed open next to the two side openings. There were benches inside the cabin just like before and hanging from the roof were two old-fashioned metal lamps. Walking forward, Beth ran her hand along the side of the boat—fearing if she didn’t touch it, it would vanish. There was the little bench built for two out front. She walked to the back and wiped the tears off her face as she found the control panel and the red-tipped throttle. There were the stairs and handrails leading up to the benches on the top. “Slide all the way down. Slide on down. No, keep sliding. It’s the only way we keep the seats clean.” She saw the speaker mounted on the tall mast that held a Disney flag and found the switch on the control panel to activate it. Just for fun, she flipped the switch and was further surprised when banjo music poured out of the squeaky speaker. “Now sit back and enjoy some of that deeeelightful banjo pickin’ music guaranteed to make the next few minutes fly by like hours!” She leaned back against the rudder that arched over the back of the boat and found it felt just right.

  Watching from the dock, Adam looked extremely pleased with himself. In an instant she flew off the boat and into his arms. “Oh, Adam, thank you! I’ve never received a more perfect present!”

  He enjoyed the hug. “I’m glad you like it. It wasn’t easy finding some of the engine parts.”

  On hearing that, her head snapped up. “Engine parts? You mean the Bertha Mae runs?”

  “What good would it be if it didn’t, sweetheart?”

  He had to hang on to her to keep her from jumping back on the boat and taking off. She suddenly broke away from his kiss with a perplexed look on her face. “Why did you build my keelboat at a spec home? What am I going to do with her?”

  Adam laughed as he leaned back to look into her face. “Who said this was a spec home?”

  “You did.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Well, then, what did you say
?”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  Beth became even more confused. “Then whose house is it?”

  Adam had his hand in his pocket as he answered her. “Mine. Do you like it?”

  “You built yourself a house and you didn’t tell me?”

  He smiled at the look in her eyes that was a cross between intrigued and irritated. “Now, if I had told you it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it? Do you like it?” he repeated more gently this time.

  She didn’t look back at the house. She looked only at Adam. “It’s perfect.”

  “So, you do like it.”

  She could just nod.

  Adam waited a long moment before he asked his next question. “Do you think you could live here?”

  “With you?”

  “Well, me and Sunnee,” who, at that moment of being ignored, was using her nose to push at the back his leg.

  “Oh, well, if Sunnee is going to be here, I might think about it.” Beth suddenly became shy and slightly reddened.

  Adam brought his hand out of his pocket and looked down at his closed fist. “Do you remember the flight to Tobago when I told you the reason why you fell into the River that awful day? You asked me why I did what I did to arrange it.”

  “You never told me.”

  Adam licked his lips that had gone dry. ”I know. I asked you to trust me, that I would tell you later.”

  Beth gave him a small smile. “Is this later enough?”

  “Yeah, it’s later enough. Come sit with me up here.” He led the way up the stairs to the top deck of the keelboat and they sat facing each other on the narrow benches, their knees touching. Adam leaned forward and took her right hand with his left. “You do know I’m sorry for how that day turned out, right?”