“I’m not going to the bathroom right here! That’s disgusting!” Elizabeth said.
“You could go back to where we parked the bikes,” Mac suggested. “But then again, that might be too corny!” She laughed at her own joke, and the other girls snickered.
Elizabeth crossed her legs. “It’s getting dark,” she whispered.
Mac and Megan kept working.
“Will somebody go with me?”
“No,” they both responded.
“Here, take the big flashlight. Mac and I will stay here with the smaller one. Hurry back,” Megan said, handing her the larger of the two lights.
Elizabeth dashed toward the direction of the bikes. Only she couldn’t actually see the bikes, and there were several little trails that led off the field. She didn’t know which one to take. Soon, she couldn’t wait any longer, and just followed one of the trails a few feet from the opening. Turning around, she could still see her friends’ flashlight beam, and knew she could find her way back to them. Shining her light, she found a place that seemed to offer enough privacy, and took care of her business.
Suddenly, a flash of headlights flooded the area, and she ducked behind the corn. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the pickup truck pass on the road in front of the cars and saw the silhouette of the driver, wearing a cowboy hat.
Mr. Jacobs!
Had Megan and Mac seen? She had to warn them! But their flashlight beam had disappeared. Where had they gone? Had they seen the headlights, too?
The truck pulled to the side of the road. Its headlights lit up the small gate before they died down. She heard the sound of the truck door opening. Closing. The beam of another flashlight clicked on.
The new flashlight steadily moved toward the row of upturned cars! She watched, not knowing where to go or what to do. Turning around, she realized she was lost. She had no idea where the bikes were. And the sun had disappeared from the horizon.
The night was black, except for her flashlight.
It can’t be too far, she thought. I think I need to go… this way. Staying low behind the corn stalks, she cupped her hand around her flashlight beam. Maybe this will keep Jacobs from spotting me.
Dear God, she prayed, this was a stupid idea. What were we thinking? Riding out here alone at night… God, I’m scared. Please be with Megan and Mac, and keep them safe. And please help me to find my way back to them!
She looked toward the old cars. Only one beam of light. She knew by its brightness it belonged to Mr. Jacobs—the girls had kept the tiny light for themselves. “Where are they?” she whispered. Suddenly, the clouds shifted. The moon cast a soft glow on the area.
Then, a rustling sound! She put her fist in her mouth to keep from gasping.
“Elizabeth?” Megan’s whisper came through the darkness.
“Meg? Where are you? I got turned around, and I can’t find the bikes!” Elizabeth whispered back.
A tiny beam of light flickered on and off, and Elizabeth scooted toward it. She saw the shapes of her two friends, and she let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Sliding onto her bike, she commanded, “Let’s get out of here!”
The girls pedaled faster and faster, away from the Cadillac Ranch, away from danger. Corn husks slapped their faces and ankles. Elizabeth nearly lost her balance on the bumpy trail, but she kept going.
No one said a word until they approached the lights of the church. The only sounds were the tires on the rough road, and the girls’ heavy breathing.
Elizabeth spoke first. “What happened back there? I was so scared!”
Mac turned around on her seat. “A couple of minutes after you left, we saw the truck’s headlights coming up the road. We thought it would just pass, but we turned off our flashlight just in case. Then, when it stopped, we knew we had to get out of there!”
“We hoped you’d be at the bikes when we got there, but I should have known better. How could you have gotten lost? It’s a bare field. Nothing’s there!” Megan teased her friend.
“You know how easily I get turned around. When I saw him stop the truck, and then I couldn’t find y’all, I just about died. I was so scared!”
“So were we!” Megan and Mac replied.
“When we turned our flashlight off, we couldn’t see a thing! Then the clouds shifted, and the moon gave us just enough light to find our way back to the bikes. But you weren’t there,” Megan continued.
Elizabeth felt a warm feeling and knew that God had sent that moonlight as an answer to her prayer. Then, she remembered their reason for going out there in the first place. “Did you find the marbles?” she asked.
Megan kept her eyes on the road but said nothing. Mac silently shook her head.
As they turned onto the street that Elizabeth and Megan called home, they were surprised to see five adults standing in the driveway. None of them looked happy.
Elizabeth watched relief cover her mother’s face, and she realized they had been out longer than they’d realized.
“Where have you girls been? It got dark half an hour ago! We’ve been worried sick!” exclaimed Ruby Smith, first hugging her daughter and then giving her a frustrated look.
The other two sets of parents reached for their own daughters. “You girls had better have a good explanation,” McKenzie’s father told them.
“Why don’t we go inside? I have a feeling this is going to take a while,” said Mr. Anderson.
The three girls filed into the living room, followed by the adults. Evan was sound asleep on the sofa, and Elizabeth assumed James was down the hall, in his own bed.
“Let’s go in the kitchen. I’ll make some coffee,” suggested Mrs. Anderson. The adults sat around the table, leaving the three girls to lean against the counter.
“We’re ready when you are. Spill it,” said Ruby Smith, looking at her daughter.
Megan took a deep breath, and said, “Mom, those marbles are real. And Mark Jacobs is after them. He’s been looking for them this whole time, and I think he knows they belong to you and Uncle Jack. You work so hard all the time, and I just thought—”
“That’s what this is about? Those silly marbles? Megan Rebecca Smith, I ought to tan your hide! That is the most ridiculous—”
“Excuse me, Ruby, but what’s this about Mark Jacobs? He seems like a decent man to me,” said Mr. Phillips. He looked to McKenzie. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?”
McKenzie looked at her father, and said, “I’m sorry, Daddy. But we think he’s a con man. Megan’s mother inherited some jewels, but she didn’t know it. Now Jacobs is trying to get them before she does.”
“Jewels?” he asked. “Megan said you were looking for marbles!”
“Hold on a minute,” Elizabeth’s father interrupted. “I think we’d better back up and start from the beginning. Elizabeth, why don’t you start?”
It took a lot of starting and stopping, but eventually the adults were filled in on the entire account. It was late, and the adults decided to withhold judgment until the next day. McKenzie cast Elizabeth a worried look over her shoulder as she stepped onto the front porch.
Megan kept her head down as she followed her mother to their own front door. When everyone was gone, Elizabeth turned to face her parents. She hated the disappointment she read there.
“We’ll talk about this in the morning. There is cold pizza in the refrigerator, if you’re hungry. Get a snack, and go to bed,” her father told her, and then joined her mother in their own bedroom. She could hear them talking but couldn’t make out any words as she poured herself a glass of milk. She tried to drink it, but the knot in her throat made it difficult to swallow. She was about to place the glass back in the refrigerator when she noticed the e-mail light flashing at the bottom of the computer screen.
Sitting at the desk, she opened her inbox. There was a message from Kate. It read:
Did some research. The Cadillac Ranch has moved. Is now in a different location than it was 30 years ago.
You’re looking in the wrong place.
The next morning, Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table with her parents, listening to the lecture she knew she deserved. “I can’t believe you girls rode out there at night, alone. Why didn’t you come to us?”
Elizabeth tried to explain. “I know it was a dumb thing to do. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I know there’s no excuse, but I was only thinking of Megan and her mom. They’ve had such a hard time since Mr. Smith died, and these marbles would help them so much. And I guess I was afraid you wouldn’t take the whole thing seriously.”
Her mom and dad looked at one another, then back at her. “Maybe you’re right. We might not have taken this seriously,” her mom said. “We still see you as our little girl, playing make-believe. But Elizabeth, you can always come to us about anything. There’s no excuse for what you did last night.”
Elizabeth looked at her hands. She was truly sorry for sneaking around behind their backs.
Her dad spoke up then. “First you sneaked out of your window, in a storm. Then, you go riding off without telling us where you are. At night! Anything could have happened. I know your intentions were good, but that’s no excuse for acting foolish. You’re grounded to the house for the next two weeks. But we won’t start the punishment until after McKenzie goes home. We know you want to spend as much time with her as possible.”
Elizabeth scooted her chair back and threw her arms around her parents’ necks. “Thank you so much! I promise I’ll never do anything like that ever again!” Then, remembering Kate’s e-mail, she said, “Uh, Mom and Dad? There’s one more thing I need to talk to you about.” She shared the latest discovery, only to be interrupted by her father.
“That’s right. I had forgotten about them moving the Cadillac Ranch. I know exactly where it used to be.”
“Really?” Elizabeth questioned. “Will you take us there?”
He smiled at his daughter and said, “Of course I will. But it’s not that simple. The old location was in a huge wheat field. Trying to find your marbles there would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Dad, you do the driving and leave the rest to me,” she told him. Sitting down at the computer, she typed Cadillac Ranch—original location—pictures into the search engine.
Sure enough, dozens of pictures popped up. Elizabeth knew she was on the brink of discovery when she noticed something. In each of the pictures, the Cadillacs were painted differently. Some of the pictures even had graffiti covering each of the cars. How in the world was she supposed to figure out which one was the blue one?
She let out a groan just as the phone rang. “Hello?” she spoke into the receiver.
“Elizabeth? It’s Mac. Are you in as much trouble as I am?”
“I’m grounded for two weeks. But Mom and Dad said it can wait until after you leave.”
“That’s good. We leave tomorrow, and I’d hate it if we couldn’t spend my last day together. But I have bad news.”
Elizabeth braced herself for whatever Mac had to say. But she never would have guessed just how bad that news was…
The Best Vacation Ever
“This morning when I woke up, I heard voices outside our door. I peeked out the window, and my dad was out there talking to Mr. Jacobs. And he was showing him the journals.”
Elizabeth nearly dropped the phone. “He what?” she croaked. Visions of the tall cowboy, riding off into the sunset holding the bag of marbles flashed through her mind. “Why would he do such a thing?”
McKenzie sighed. “He’s convinced that Jacobs is a nice guy. Even after hearing the whole story.”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Well, we can’t do anything about it now. But Mac, listen. After y’all left last night, I had an e-mail from Kate. The Cadillac Ranch has changed locations! We weren’t even digging at the right site!”
“You’re kidding,” said McKenzie with a groan. “What will we do?”
“My dad said he’d take us out there today. I’ve got pictures of where the cars used to be, but they’ve been painted over the years. I’ll do some more research. Do you think your parents will let you come?”
“I don’t know. Let me call you back.”
“Okay, but hurry. We’ve got to get there before Mr. Jacobs does,” Elizabeth told her.
Within the hour, the Andersons, Phillipses, and Smiths were all squeezed into the Andersons’ van. Heavy, dark clouds were moving in, giving a sense of urgency to the situation.
“The storm looks a ways away. I think we can beat it,” Mr. Phillips said. Elizabeth’s dad started the car, and they headed toward the old Cadillac Ranch.
Elizabeth, McKenzie, and Megan sat in the backseat of the van. Elizabeth had printed some pictures so they could get an idea of the location. She had even found a picture dated close to the time of Emily Marie’s death.
“Why are the cars different colors in the pictures?” asked Megan.
“The cars are repainted every so often. Once, they were all painted pink, in support of breast cancer victims. Tourists are allowed—even encouraged, to paint graffiti on the cars, and every so often they are repainted to offer a fresh canvas,” Elizabeth told them.
“So we have no way of knowing which car was blue at the time of my grandmother’s death?” asked Megan.
“Not really. This picture is dated the same year, and the blue car is the fourth from the right. Look, it’s lined up with this telephone pole, and there are two big oak trees in the background, one on either side of it. Hopefully, the telephone pole and the trees are still there,” Elizabeth said.
Before long, Mr. Anderson stopped the car on the edge of an endless wheat field. “This will be tough,” murmured McKenzie.
Everyone piled out of the car, and immediately James and Evan began chasing one another in and out of the rows of wheat.
Elizabeth looked at her father. “How will we ever do this?” she asked him.
“This is your job. Remember, you said all I had to do was drive.” Patting her on the shoulder, he whispered, “I have faith in you.”
Elizabeth stood a little taller and held the pictures to the horizon. “Okay, girls, it looks like it’s up to us. First things first. Let’s find these trees.”
Before they knew it, everyone was hunting—even James and Evan. The pictures were passed from person to person, with cries of, “There’s a tree!” and “Look! There’s an electrical pole!”
They were all distracted with their scavenger hunt and didn’t notice a beat-up truck pulling up behind them. An old farmer got out and asked, “Can I help you folks with somethin’?”
Mr. Anderson stepped forward and shook the man’s hand. “Yes, sir, there is. We’re looking for the original location of the Cadillac Ranch.”
The man scratched his head and chuckled. “Well, there’s not much to see. But I can take you to it if you’d like,” he said.
Elizabeth and McKenzie started jumping up and down. “Really? You’ll take us to the exact spot?”
The old farmer shook his head and muttered, “Crazy tourists.” He got in his truck, rolled down his window, and said, “Follow me.”
A crash of thunder sounded, and the group piled in the car just as the first drops of rain started falling from the sky. The man led them to a spot about a half mile up the road, and veered off to the left. Rolling the window down, he pointed to a sign, half covered with wheat. It read, “ORIGINAL LOCATION OF THE CADILLAC RANCH.” Small posts stuck out of the ground, to show where each car had stood. The man waved and drove away.
“I don’t believe it,” Megan whispered.
Thank You, God, Elizabeth prayed silently. Please let us find the jewels. Marbles. Whatever they are, Lord, please help us find them.
The three girls climbed out of the van, but the adults didn’t want to get wet. Mr. Phillips handed McKenzie a shovel through the open window. They were splattering through the mud when they realized Ruby Smith was on their heels.
“I’m going to help. If those marbles are real, I want to be there when they are found,” the woman told them.
Elizabeth smiled, reached into her purse, and handed her the spade.
They located the fourth post from the right and started digging. The rain softened the earth, making the digging easier. And messier.
Thunder continued crashing, but the four females paid no attention. They were so focused on their task that they didn’t notice a large pair of mud-covered cowboy boots approaching.
“May I give you a hand?” Mark Jacobs’s voice spoke over the sound of the rain.
Startled, Ruby looked up at him and continued digging. The three girls weren’t sure how to respond to his presence and stopped what they were doing.
Gently, the man took the large shovel from McKenzie and started digging on the opposite side of the post. His muscles took the shovel deeper into the ground than the girls had been able to dig, and after a couple of scoops, the shovel revealed an old, small tin cashbox. Ruby’s mouth dropped open, and she looked up at the man.
“I bet this belongs to you,” he said.
The woman reached down and took the box from the shovel. Her mud-covered hands shook as she opened it. Inside was a velvet bag. Inside that were some papers and a smaller cloth bag with a drawstring tie.
By this time, Elizabeth’s and McKenzie’s parents had joined them. No one spoke as Ruby Smith opened the bag her mother had buried so long ago. She emptied its contents into her hands, and twelve of the most beautiful, brightly colored marbles spilled out.
“Oh!” the woman cried. “Oh, Mama!”
Megan knelt in the mud beside her mother and hugged her as they both wept.
The rest of the group decided to give them privacy and headed back to the van. Jacobs turned to go, but Ruby called out, “Wait! I have so many questions. Where are you going?”
The tall cowboy smiled and said, “We’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Right now, you enjoy this moment with your daughter and her friends.” He tipped his hat and left.
Without warning, the rain stopped, and the sun broke through the clouds. The marbles in Ruby’s hands cast a brilliant glow on her face as she looked at her daughter. “We’re going to be okay,” she whispered.
Elizabeth's Amarillo Adventure Page 10