32.24.58N, -97.12.19W Another set of coordinates different from the first. Donnie had missed the next clue. So much had happened besides Susan’s injury, Donnie’s anger, Gary’s rescue. Now we had one more piece of the puzzle. If this clue had been overlooked for over one hundred years, it might explain why none of my ancestors had been able to find the gold.
I put the paper carefully into the rusty container, picked up my rock and flicked on the television. I fell asleep draped across the end of my bed, the rock still in my hand.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Morning came too quickly. I’d set the alarm on the clock radio for six. Achy Breaky Heart streamed from the speaker as I tried to get my own throbbing body into action. Donnie had done the most harm to my ego but my arms and back protested, too.
I pulled a clean pair of jeans from my suitcase and found a bright pink polo shirt. I used the curling iron to make a few quick curls in my hair and applied a slight hint of rose-colored blush and lipstick. I realized it wasn’t a subconscious effort as I thought about Gary meeting us in the lobby at eight. I had chosen eight because it would give me enough time to brief the family on last night’s escapade and tell them Gary would join us. I didn’t want Clay to deck him the moment he saw him. As I retrieved the paper from the metal box, I spotted the rock on the dresser. For good luck, I tucked it into the front pocket of my jeans.
I met Mel and Clay in the lobby of the motel where the frozen doughnuts and stale bagels were set out in a somewhat appetizing array. Fresh fruit and coffee appealed more to me.
“Addie, what happened?” Mel noticed a bruise I hadn’t seen on my upper forearm.
“Donnie made an appearance last night.” I told them of the intrigue that had played itself out and Gary’s rescue.
Mel touched my arm. “Weren’t you terrified?”
“I didn’t have time to be scared. I was more concerned with getting away from him and not telling him more than he needed to know. Gary came along at just the right time.” I glanced at Mel. By my facial expression, I tried to give her a hint of what had happened between Gary and me. She returned my look with her questioning eyebrows. “I asked Gary to join us this morning. I found these coordinates in that metal box, another clue. If we’re going to find this, we need his help.”
“Shouldn’t you be worried about him, too?” Clay finished his dissection of the newspaper and settled in next to us at the table.
“No. I was wrong about Gary. I should have listened to him and not been so quick to judge.”
“He just showed up. Out of nowhere.” Clay began to look suspicious.
“Gary’s parents live in Alvarado. He’d planned to stay with them while we were here. When he and I had our argument, he didn’t change his plans, just his flight. He decided last night he’d try to find me so we could talk. He just happened to have good timing.”
“You rushing back into things, Addie?” Mel stirred her coffee with a red plastic stick and bit her lip like she’d intended to say more but thought better of it.
“I told him I wanted to take it slow this time.” I resolved to change the subject. “Where’s Susan? Did she decide to stay in today?”
“No. She’s coming. She just wanted to practice with her crutches before she ventured out.” Mel nodded toward the doorway, “Here she is now.” As she tried to balance her weight on four legs instead of two, Susan used a crab-like walk. She had more movement sideways than forward. She did fairly well but her gait gave a new meaning to uncoordinated.
Clay glanced over both the top of the sports section and his glasses. “Did we get that fax yet?”
“I’ll go see.” I made my way to the desk and asked, again, for the fax from Alvarado.
“I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Brown” The young, twentyish clerk enlightened me. “It came in Friday afternoon but no one noticed that the machine was jammed until late last night. We don’t use it that much. I hope it wasn’t an important message.”
“That’s fine.” I tried not to sound angry. It wasn’t her fault but it may have hampered our search. “Let me have a look at it.”
She handed me the papers. I saw the name Hansen on the top of the first page of the stack but it would take some time to find the description of the land. “Thank you. Put the charges for this on my bill.”
“We won’t charge you. It’s our fault you didn’t get it sooner.”
“We have the deeds!” I called out across the room. I’d just spread them out over the table when Gary caught my eye. The backlight from the morning sun illuminated him as he walked into the entryway. His celebrated Hawaiian shirt had a luminescence appearance. I wondered where he’d tied up his white horse.
Mel jolted me out of my mouth-gapping gaze with her manicured hand as she waved it in front of me. “You in there, Addie?” She looked at me, half annoyed.
“He’s here.”
As he walked up to our table, Mel turned in her seat. “Gary.” She tried to make the best of an awkward situation and extended her hand.
“It is good to see all of you.” He looked hesitant as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. “I hope you don’t mind me joining in.”
“Do you care to tell me why you’re here?” Clay swung into his big brother roll.
“I needed to make Addie understand I wasn’t who, or what, she thought I was. It’s important to me.” Gary looked at me and at that moment I truly knew I wanted to work things through–no matter what.
“If it is all right with Addie, then it is okay with the rest of us.” Clay reached over the table to shake his hand.
Whew, that went better than I’d expected. I motioned to Susan who sat with her foot up on the arm of one of the couches. She and Gary greeted each other. He went to the coffee bar while Mel, Clay and I sat down at the small console. We began to go over the information. When Gary returned, he drew out a compass and maps from his brief case. He sat next to me as he looked over the records. I didn’t hear a word he said until Mel interrupted my thoughts.
“Addie. Have Gary look at the numbers from the metal box, the coordinates.”
Oh, yeah. I’d rather look at the way his hair curved over the top of his ears. The gold, Addie, you’re here to find the gold. I was finding it increasingly difficult to stay focused. I needed to clear my head. But I had come here to connect with my family and fulfill my grandfather’s final wish for us. I hadn’t planned on losing my heart along the way.
Engrossed in the map, Gary kept the cup within the curve of his hand and took long, slow sips of his coffee. He occasionally furrowed his brows as he concentrated on his findings. I memorized every movement.
Mel and I had each taken a stack of the land records. The information, similar to what we’d found in the description of Barnesville. Mel worked fervently on her stack while I just as earnestly watched Gary.
He broke the silence when he began his explanation of latitude and longitude. “This is one of the oldest coordinate systems known. The grid is made up of a series of imaginary lines that circle the earth. Latitude runs parallel to the equator and measures the distance north and south. Longitude measures the distance east and west from a line measuring from Greenwich, England, and through both poles.” I knew I learned these facts in junior high geography but Gary made it sound so much more interesting.
I picked up a small plastic rectangle from the table. It was about two inches square with thin, black markings like a ruler. “What’s this?”
“My ultimate trail mapper. Here, let me see those numbers. If I place the square here and line it up with the minutes on the side of the map, these coordinates should be about on the corner of…”
“We have a match.” Mel dropped the deed beside the map. “The plat of a parcel of land containing 15 acres certified to Robert William Hansen, Sr., June 22, 1865. 32.24.58N -97.12.19W.” She recited from the land deed.
“Where, Gary? Where is it?” I stood from my chair and leaned closer to him.
“Right here, the corner of Rusk and Sou
th Fourth Street.” He tilted his head back toward me. For a moment our eyes embraced. I would never be able to get through this weekend if I couldn’t stop this from happening every time we were together. To be honest, at least with myself, I didn’t want it to stop.
“Addie. Let’s go.” Mel helped Susan up from the couch. “We’re going to Alvarado. “Didn’t you hear anything we’ve just said?”
“Yeah. I heard you.” Not. I didn’t act this stupid when, at thirteen, Billy Johnson kissed me behind the backstop. What on earth was wrong with me?
Clay, Mel and Susan piled into the van while Gary and I followed in an old 1935 Ford pickup. “Where did you get this relic?” I inquired.
He double clutched as the engine groaned into second gear. “It’s mine, sort of. It belongs to my dad but I drive it when I come to visit. It needs some work but it still runs. If I have a chance, someday I’ll fix it all up and get a new engine. Then, I can take it back to Houston or wherever I wind up.”
The old thing looked like it belonged in a car museum. Better yet, a junkyard, but I lovingly patted my approval on the stuffing that erupted from the cracked seat cushion. “That should be quite a project.” Somehow I felt Gary wanted to talk about us and I didn’t want that. Not now. We only had a few miles to go on our short ride and there wasn’t enough time to discuss the universe that lay before us.
“Do you know why Cleburne and Alvarado are twelve miles apart? The two towns and Barnesville are in a triangular spread of some sort.” I glanced at him sideways watching his face for any sign of emotion, knowing I’d quelled any conversation concerning the two of us until later.
“The Waxahachie to Cleburne stagecoach road cut through here. It was probably a stop or a mail run and isn’t far from the Chisom Trail.” He glanced up into the rearview mirror. “Are you really interested in all this?” While he kept his eyes on the road behind us, growing concern spread across his face.
“What’s wrong?” I turned around in time to see a red pickup shoot past the corner rear of the truck. Gary took the shoulder. We spun around and slid several feet; black dirt swirled around us before we came to rest in a small ditch.
He reached over and took my hand, “You okay?”
As I choked on the fine mist of dust, I managed to sputter out, “I’m fine.” We jumped out of the truck to survey the damage. “Looks like your truck is a little worse for wear.” He squatted down and slid his hand around the back tire where the rim sliced into the rubber. The front tire on the passenger side was in the same shape. “That was Donnie’s pickup. I saw him pass the van, too. He’s on to us and trying to beat us to Alvarado. Let me call Mel on the cell phone and they can turn back.”
“There’s a turnout up the road about two miles. Clay will realize we’re not behind him. You sure you’re okay?” Before I could answer, he lifted me up onto the fender and covered my waiting lips with his. I felt a dam break inside me flooding me within. I returned his kiss. Our eyes met and the cool violet of his eyes turned to molten embers.
He nuzzled my neck and hummed a few bars of Ebb Tide. I’d heard it playing in the back ground during one of our phone conversations. He decided it would be “our song." Little did he know, then, how many albums I had by the group who made that song popular. We had so much in common, yet we were a world apart. I wanted so badly to make it work, but I had to rebuild my trust. Not so much in him, but in myself. Lingering behind the inevitable cloud on the horizon, I knew a relationship with Gary would not be possible unless I revealed my secret. If I did that, I’d no longer be who he thought I was. If I let him see the real person inside, one who bargained with God and who turned her back on Him when she lost, would he still love me?
****
While we waited in the hot, afternoon sun for Clay to find the turnout, I reached into my jeans and retrieved the rock. “I put this rock you gave me into my pocket this morning for good luck. I guess it worked.” Gary took the rock from my palm and with one quick overhand movement started to toss it across the road and into a field full of weeds. “Hey. Wait. I want to keep it.”
“Why?” He smiled. “I didn’t think you were superstitious.”
“Sentimental, I guess. It was the first rock of that mountain we’re moving.” I looked up at him and noticed his demeanor change as pleasure affirmed itself in his expression.
He brushed a lock of hair from my forehead. “Do we still need to excavate?”
“I’d consider the project close to completion.” I slid my arm around his waist and looked into his mesmerizing violet eyes. I knew I shouldn’t have said that or reacted to him with my touch. I shouldn’t give him hope where there was none. I could ask God to forgive me. Ask Him to return to my heart but would Gary understand when I told him what had happened?
He slipped the rock into his pocket. “I’ll keep it then, just in case.”
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Leaving a cloud of dust in its wake, the van and its inhabitants barreled down the two-lane road. Mel and Clay jumped out and echoed, “Are you two okay?”
“We’re fine. Gary’s truck has two flat tires; otherwise, I think it is all right. Kind of hard to tell.” I winked at him.
Clay snorted, “That was Donnie, wasn’t it?”
As she wiped her glistening brow, Mel joined the conversation. “He’s trying to beat us to Alvarado. He sure does manage to find everything out quickly. How do you think he does it?”
“He’s a Barnes, Mel. It’s in our blood. He was either in the motel lobby and we didn’t spot him or he got the information from the fax, too. The girl at the desk said the fax machine had jammed. She could have easily given him enough information if she had kept part of the printouts. He could have told her he was with us. He’s already proven he isn’t above that kind of thing.”
“He’s dangerous.” Clay leaned up against the truck and folded his hands over his broad chest. “Sooner or later we’re going to confront him. What are we going to do then? Fight him for what belongs to all of us?”
“I think he’s desperate.” I stepped in. “We don’t know what kind of life he’s lived. We weren’t on our own at seventeen; all of us had our folks until we could fend for ourselves. He didn’t and he thinks we abandoned him. I’m beginning to feel sorry for him.” I walked away from the others and gazed down the road to Alvarado. There wasn’t any sign of life. Just rustling weeds and blowing dust. I suddenly felt very lonely.
“Can we get going?” Susan yelled from the back window. “I’m roasting in here?”
“Let’s go. We can all fit into one vehicle. Do you think your truck will be all right?” Clay motioned toward the fallen old dinosaur.
“It’ll be fine.” Gary took my hand and we walked across the roadway. “I’ll get it later.”
Under Gary’s instruction, Clay drove into Alvarado, to the corner of Rusk and South Fourth. The entire block, which was covered with a school complex and other, larger buildings, reminded me of a military academy. A few boys played baseball and others sat in the stands and cheered them on. Donnie stood looming over an old man who appeared to be the gardener. A shovel rested in his hands, planted squarely between his feet. He stood his ground against Donnie, even though I was sure he’d received more than he’d bargained for. The sign on the front of the building read, “Alvarado Boy’s Home.”
“Mr. Dickinson here tomorrow.” The gardener spoke in broken English. “I know nothing about land. I work weekends.” His eyes nervously darted in our direction as we walked toward them.
“Leave him alone, Donnie.” Clay reached out and touched his sleeve as Donnie jerked away. “It's obvious he doesn’t know anything.”
Donnie narrowed his eyes at us and spat out, “How do you know? He probably isn’t telling everything. Is this where it is? Is this where it is supposed to be buried? In the middle of a city block?”
I walked past Clay and tried to make my full height of
five feet six match Donnie’s overbearing posture. “I refused to tell you anything, Donald, until you tell me a few things. Why are you so angry with all of us? What did we do to you?”
“You know why. The gold. My father left me the key. He told me the gold was mine. Your families didn’t want to take the time to find it. None of you cared about us or me when my parents died. I’ve wanted to find the gold for a long time. When Grandpa died, I knew it was my last chance. I knew he’d tell you where it was and no one would tell me.”
How was I going to make him realize we were trying to help him? He wouldn’t listen; I wasn’t going to give up on him so easily. “Donnie, try to understand we didn’t know about you. Our parents were hardly speaking to each other since your dad and Uncle Clay looked for the gold the first time. We were all kids ourselves. Did you give any of us an opportunity to help you?” Donnie hung his head, which signified to me he hadn’t tried to find us. “Give us all a chance. You don’t even know us. Grandpa didn’t tell us where the gold was. He just left us some clues. I think he wanted us all to find it. Together.”
He started toward his pickup when Mel and Susan, who’d finally learned to maneuver her crutches, made it up the sidewalk. They’d just reached where we were gathered when the gardener interjected, “You know of Senior Hansen’s oro?”
“You do know about this land.” Donnie stepped around me and spat out at the old man, “What do you know?”
With one large step, Gary crossed Donnie’s path. “You were told to leave him alone. Do you want your lip bloodied again? I can arrange that for you.”
Donnie swung around, missed Gary and connected with Clay. I managed to duck, just in time, as Clay’s right cross-reached Donnie’s chin. “Enough,” I screamed. “This isn’t getting anything accomplished. We’re going to settle this like adults and as a family. Understood?”
Donnie nodded his head and wiggled his jaw back and forth as Clay rubbed his knuckles. After he talked with the old man, Gary returned to the group of smoldering cousins. “There’s going to be a fiesta here tomorrow to celebrate the anniversary of the opening of this home. Mr. Dickinson, the director, will be here then. The gardener is sure he can tell us about the development of this property.”
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