Doug nodded his agreement and watched quietly as Emma inserted the key in the lock and lifted the lid. Curious, despite themselves, they all leaned over the open chest and peered inside. Emma’s lantern revealed a folded piece of paper and an object that had them all gasping in astonishment.
“It’s got to be part of the treasure!” Sebastian shouted. Eagerly, he reached into the chest to pick it up and get a better look. As he lifted it, he was surprised at how heavy it was. “It must be solid gold!”
“It’s beautiful!” said Martha.
“How much do you think it’s worth?” Doug asked, his pain momentarily forgotten. This object alone might be enough to save the school. Maybe all of the pain and trials they’d been through tonight hadn’t been for nothing.
“I couldn’t begin to guess,” Emma answered as she stared at it in wonder. Emma moved her lantern closer to get a better look and was almost blinded as the light reflected brightly off the multitude of gemstones embedded in the surface of the small golden treasure chest.
Martha took the miniature chest from Sebastian. It was indeed very heavy and about the length and width of her hand. Jewels and gems of every color studded its surface. “It’s made of gold all right,” Martha confirmed, “but I don’t think it’s solid gold, because it has a latch.” Holding her breath, Martha lifted the latch and gently raised the lid. Inside was a key different from the one they’d been using to open all of the other treasure chests.
“What do you suppose that key is for?” Sebastian asked.
“Maybe the answer is on the paper,” Emma said, suddenly remembering the other item in the treasure chest. Quickly, she grabbed the folded paper and began reading what it said to the others:
You’ve proven your courage.
You’ve passed every test.
Your prize waits ‘neath
My place of eternal rest.
For a moment, they all just looked at each other and let what the riddle said sink in. A huge feeling of relief washed over Emma as she realized there would be no more challenges. As the riddle said, they’d passed every test. However, the best part of all was that they finally knew where the treasure was. It was beneath Lord Dinswood’s grave. Now all they had to do was find out where Lord Dinswood was buried. Surely that wouldn’t prove too difficult. Emma looked over at Doug and smiled. If they’d ever doubted the existence of the treasure, the little golden chest confirmed it.
“Do you know what this means?” Martha asked excitedly.
“Did you hear that? The treasure lies beneath where old Dinswood is buried.” Sebastian said at the same time.
With a newfound strength and resolve, Doug cut in, “Well then let’s stop talking about it and go get it.”
“Do you know where Lord Dinswood is buried?” Sebastian asked.
“No, but we’ll find out,” Doug said.
Excitedly, Emma picked up her lantern and found where the passage exited the room they were in. Martha followed with her lantern in one hand and the little golden chest in the other. The passage continued along in a straight line for a while and then took a sharp turn to the right. Emma rounded the curve and stopped suddenly in surprise. The full moon could be seen shining brightly through a large opening up ahead. They had finally come to the end of the passage. Emma stepped up to the opening and looked out. At least two hundred fifty feet below where she was standing, a river flowed silently to the south, moonlight sparkling off its surface as it churned its way to some distant sea. Martha came up to stand beside Emma and let out a cry of alarm when she saw how high up they were. Immediately, she backed away from the edge. Then Doug and Sebastian joined them.
“This is the end of the passage,” Emma told them, “but I don’t know how we’re supposed to get out of here. We’re at least two hundred fifty feet up.”
“I don’t think our rope is that long,” Doug agreed. “Besides, I’ve only got one good arm. I couldn’t repel down in any case.”
“What are we going to do?” Martha asked worriedly. “We can’t go back the way we came.”
“Surely, Lord Dinswood would have provided us a way out,” Doug said. “Let’s look around.”
Doug, Sebastian, and Martha took their lanterns and began looking around the area near the opening. They discovered a block and tackle and several lengths of rope, but none of them were long enough to reach the ground. Sebastian continued to dig through the pile of ropes and uncovered several wooden planks that had been nailed together to make a platform. Ropes ran underneath it from all sides and met at the top to form a loop.
Holding up the loop, Sebastian asked, “What do you suppose this is?”
“I’d say it’s some kind of dumbwaiter,” Doug replied.
“What’s a dumbwaiter?”
Anticipating that Sebastian would ask this question, Martha was ready. “Well it certainly isn’t someone with a low IQ who works in a restaurant.”
Doug frowned at Martha and then looked at Sebastian. “I think this rig was used to bring down the materials needed to make the rope bridge we just crossed.”
“Do you think it was used to bring stuff down for the ship too?” Sebastian asked.
“No. The things needed to build the ship would have been too big to bring through here, and it would have been hard getting them across the stream.” Doug paused and thought for a moment. “The materials for the ship were probably brought in through that huge opening we saw in the cave wall.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Sebastian agreed.
While the others had been discussing the dumbwaiter, Emma had been standing at the opening wondering if maybe there was a trail leading up from the mouth of the cave. Taking her lantern, she leaned out as far as she dared. There was no trail, but Emma discovered something even better. Just to the left of the opening, metal rungs had been hammered into the sheer rock wall of the bluff forming a ladder that led up to the top.
“Hey, I found a ladder!” Emma yelled to the others.
Immediately, she was joined by Doug and Sebastian. Afraid of standing too near the edge, Martha hung back. The boys looked where Emma was pointing and saw the ladder.
“So that’s it,” Sebastian said. “The ladder is the way out.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got a big problem,” Martha said from behind them. They all turned to look at her wondering what she was talking about. “First of all, I’m afraid of heights. There is no way you’re going to get me on that ladder. Second, how is Doug going to climb a ladder with a broken arm?”
Martha was right. Even if they had been able to talk Martha into climbing the ladder, there was no way Doug could do it. Emma rejected the idea of leaving Doug behind and going for help. For all they knew, those men were still somewhere behind them in the passage, and she wasn’t about to leave Doug to confront them alone. There had to be a way to get all of them out.
“We’re supposed to be smart. Think! There has to be some way to get Doug out of here,” Emma urged.
“I could try to carry Doug up the ladder on my back,” Sebastian suggested.
“Even if you were strong enough, Doug wouldn’t be able to hold on very well,” Emma said, rejecting the idea. “It’s not worth the risk.”
“Well, what ideas have you come up with?” Sebastian asked resentfully. He’d thought it was a good idea and didn’t care for the fact that Emma didn’t think he was strong enough.
Realizing that Sebastian’s feathers had been ruffled a bit, Doug said, “I don’t think I could hold on, Sebastian, especially if my arm got jostled too much.”
“I guess you’re right,” Sebastian conceded.
Everyone was silent for a moment as they each tried to come up with a solution. Emma suggested sending someone to go for help while those that stayed behind hid in the passage, but the others were reluctant to split up. Just when Emma had decided they’d have to go with Sebastian’s original idea, Martha spoke up.
“Couldn’t we use that dumbwaiter thing to haul Doug up?”
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p; Sebastian thought for a moment. “We’d have Doug’s weight and the weight of the dumbwaiter to pull. Martha, you’d have to climb the ladder to help Emma and me. Do you think you could do it?”
“I guess I’ll have to. There doesn’t seem to be any other way.”
While the others had been talking, Emma had been thinking. Martha’s idea had merit, but she was having difficulty picturing how it would work. They’d have to pull Doug up with the dumbwaiter bumping and scraping against the uneven side of the bluff. He could get hung up and then what would they do? Suddenly, the solution came to her, a way they could get Doug and Martha up without them having to use the ladder.
“I’ve got the answer!” Emma shouted excitedly. The others stopped talking and turned to stare at her. “We can pull Martha and Doug up on the dumbwaiter, but not here. Sebastian and I can pull you up through that vertical shaft we passed. It’d be a straight shot from there. You know, there’d be less chance that you’d get hung up.”
“That’s great,” Martha said, “but how are you and Sebastian supposed to pull both Doug and me up. You’re not superwoman, you know.”
Without a word, Emma rushed over to the pile of ropes in the corner and picked up the block and tackle, holding it up triumphantly. They had all just been through a unit on work and simple machines in Miss Jennings’s science class. Pulleys were one kind of simple machine. They had learned that a block and tackle was a system of pulleys and ropes that was used to lift heavy loads—the more lines going between the pulleys, the greater the weight that could be lifted. The block and tackle system Emma was holding had three fixed and three movable pulleys with six lines going between the pulleys. If they lifted Doug and Martha up separately, that should be more than enough to do the job.
Sebastian may not have aced the unit on simple machines, but he had learned enough to know that Emma’s idea might actually work. Martha also understood what Emma was getting at. Her eyes brightened when she realized she wasn’t going to have to climb the ladder after all.
“I think you’ve found the answer,” Doug said, smiling at Emma.
“Surely there’s a tree or something above the opening that we can secure the rig to,” Emma said as she continued to work things out in her mind. Doug’s approval had sent a warm glow through her, and she was determined not to let him down.
In no time at all, Doug and Martha were heading back toward the shaft with the dumbwaiter, and Sebastian and Emma were preparing to carry the block and tackle system up the ladder. As they could not carry their lanterns while climbing the ladder, they left them in the cave. Emma reached out and grabbed the nearest rung of the ladder with her left hand. Her legs weren’t long enough for her to get a foothold. She was going to have to swing out over empty space before she’d be able to reach the ladder with her feet. Taking a deep breath, she gave a little jump, quickly grabbing the ladder with her other hand. Her legs dangled for a moment before she found a rung to set her feet on. Once she was on the ladder, she quickly climbed to the top. Handrails, like those on a child’s slide, made getting off the ladder easier than getting on had been. Now, it was Sebastian’s turn. Emma was worried for him as he had more weight to carry. The heavy block and tackle with all of its many lines was slung over his shoulder. She need not have worried though. Sebastian’s legs were longer than Emma’s, and he was able to grasp the ladder and get a foot on it before swinging out. In a few minutes, Emma was helping him climb off the ladder. Now they had to find the opening to the shaft. They started off in the direction they thought it was. As they walked, Emma looked around and made a startling discovery. They were in a graveyard. The tombstones cast eerie shadows as the moonlight shone on them. In the distance, Emma could see what looked like a mausoleum. Pointing it out to Sebastian, she said, “I bet I know where Lord Dinswood is buried.” Sebastian looked in the direction she was indicating and smiled. Finally, things seemed to be going their way.
The opening to the shaft can’t be far from here,” Emma said. “We better be careful.”
“I think I know where it is,” Sebastian replied. Raising his arm, he pointed at a small wooden bridge just ahead. “I’ll bet that bridge lies across the opening.”
When they got to the bridge, they could see that Sebastian had been right. Emma realized that it was the bridge that had blocked their view of the sky from below. Although the bridge was made of wood, it looked sturdy enough; and it had a rail that they could hook the block and tackle to.
“Do you think this rail is strong enough to hold Doug’s weight?” Emma asked Sebastian.
“I don’t know. I was thinking we could hook the pulleys to the bridge itself.”
Emma agreed that that would probably be safer and watched as Sebastian secured the pulley system to the bridge. When he was finished, he began lowering the rope with the large metal hook on the end. Emma leaned over the railing and could see light below. Martha and Doug stood at the bottom with their lanterns, watching as the hook descended toward them. When it was within reach, Doug hooked it through the loop and instructed Martha to sit in the center of the platform.
“Bring your lanterns,” Emma called down, “we had to leave ours in the cave, and I think we’re going to need them. Martha, do you still have the little treasure chest?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it right here,” Martha hollered back. Then she crawled onto the dumbwaiter and sat cross-legged in the middle of the platform with the golden chest in her lap. With one hand she held onto the ropes of the dumbwaiter and with her other she held onto her lantern.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she called.
Sebastian wound the other end of the rope around his hands and then put it over his shoulder.
“I think I can do this by myself,” he told Emma. Without waiting for a reply, he began walking off the bridge, straining and pulling the rope as he went. Sebastian continued to walk until Martha was even with the bridge. Quickly, she handed her lantern and the little chest to Emma. Then with Emma’s help, she hopped off of the platform and onto the bridge.
“Okay, Sebastian, you can lower the platform for Doug,” Emma yelled.
The process was repeated with Doug, but getting him onto the bridge was a little more difficult because of his broken arm. He had managed to bring his lantern up with him by setting it between his legs and holding on with his good arm. When Doug was level with the bridge, Martha took the lantern while Emma helped Doug off the platform. As soon as Doug was standing safely on the bridge, Sebastian let the dumbwaiter go. It dropped swiftly, striking the bottom of the shaft with a loud bang. Exhausted and in pain, Sebastian sank to the ground on his knees.
“Sebastian, are you okay?” Martha called anxiously as she rushed over to him.
Sweat was pouring down his face, which was contorted with pain. Martha was about to ask him where he was hurt when she happened to look down at his hands. He was holding them out with his palms facing upward. Martha could see that they were torn and bleeding from where the rope had cut into them.
“Oh Sebastian, I’m so sorry,” she cried. “Look what we’ve done to you.” Taking her sash from around her waist, she tore it in two and began wrapping his hands with the strips of cloth. When she had finished, she said, “That’s all I can do for now. When we get back to the school, I’ll put some antiseptic on them and bandage them properly.”
“It’s okay, Martha. I’m all right,” Sebastian said, wearily rising to his feet. Then he remembered the mausoleum. Miraculously rejuvenated by the thought of the treasure, he shouted excitedly, “We know where Lord Dinswood is buried!”
In no time, they were standing at the door to the mausoleum. A plaque on the door confirmed that it was, indeed, Lord Dinswood’s final resting place. Emma was surprised to discover that Dinswood had died at the relatively young age of sixty. The plaque also revealed that he had been dead almost twenty years. A wave of excitement rushed over her as she realized how close they were to finally finding the treasure. Without any further delay, she tried the
handle on the door. As expected, it was locked. Surely one of the two keys they discovered would open it. Without a word, Martha withdrew both the key from the flag and the one from the chest from her pants pocket. Emma tried the one from the flag first and was relieved when it turned easily in the lock. Silently, as if afraid of disturbing the dead, they entered the mausoleum. They all jumped when the door clicked shut behind them. The light from their lanterns flickered off the walls of the room in ghostly patterns. Directly in front of them was Lord Dinswood’s sarcophagus. Atop it was a bronze replica of the man himself. Emma stepped forward timidly to get a better look. Something about the bronze image seemed wrong to Emma, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Okay, so where’s the treasure?” Sebastian asked impatiently.
“Well you didn’t think it’d be in plain view for all to see, did you?” Martha replied testily. In truth, she’d been wondering the same thing. She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
“So, where is it?” Sebastian repeated.
“How am I supposed to know?”
Doug interrupted before Sebastian and Martha got into a full-blown argument. His arm had begun to throb painfully again. Hurting and tired, all he wanted was to find the treasure and get back to the school. Besides, there wasn’t time for arguing, especially when there were dangerous people on their trail. “Why don’t we start looking around for another clue?” he suggested.
Seeing the look on Doug’s face, Martha and Sebastian were immediately contrite, and, by mutual agreement, decided to leave any further arguing for later. With the two lanterns they’d brought with them, they began peering into every corner of the room. The mausoleum had one small, stained-glass window; on its sill stood a bouquet of artificial flowers. Bringing the lantern closer, Martha noticed a piece of paper stuck in amidst the stems.
“I think I’ve found it!” Martha exclaimed, as she extracted the paper. Unfolding it, she quickly read it to the others. It said:
The Secret of Dinswood Page 33