The Treasure Hunt Club
Page 12
The rest of the day crawled by as Nick waited impatiently for the seven o’clock meeting that he and Mark had agreed on. In addition, Mark was to contact all the other participants who were to attend the meeting. Although no one was going to be told the exact purpose for the meeting (other than it was a great new investment opportunity) until Mark and Nick had a captive audience, it was felt Mark’s “credibility” would ensure everyone’s attendance, rather than Nick calling them. Since Nick hadn’t heard from Mark, he assumed all were planning on coming. How Mark had so far managed to keep any of this from Patti was a mystery to Nick. The married couple were connected to such a degree that they sometimes took turns finishing each other/s statements. If they were not such close friends of his, Nick might have found this psychic linkage eerie.
With time on his hands and not much else to do, Nick spent the afternoon in the trailer, thinking about the upcoming meeting and all the possibilities that lay ahead. The day had grown hot, and the small air conditioning unit struggled to keep the trailer’s interior cool enough to be bearable. Lying in the bed loft, Nick eventually fell asleep, his nap filled with dreams of undiscovered gold and precious jewels. When he awoke, it was after six o’clock. Stumbling out of the loft, he went to the tiny bathroom and splashed water on his still groggy face. After changing into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt containing only a few wrinkles, Nick spent a few minutes combing his hair. Scrutinizing his appearance in the bathroom mirror for a few moments, he gave a satisfied grunt, turned off the light, and left the trailer. The day had cooled little as Nick walked to the workshop.
Although the sun was low in the horizon, it was late July, and Nick knew there was at least an hour of sunlight left. Pushing both doors of the workshop as wide open as they would go, Nick flicked on the lights and then a second set of switches next to the light switches. A rumbling noise filled the workshop’s interior as a pair of large exhaust fans came to life. Located near the ceiling on the opposite end of the shop, Nick felt an immediate breeze as the exhaust fans pulled the hot air out of the workshop.
Returning to the trailer, Nick retrieved The Book of Lost Treasures before walking back to the shop. Heading for the table and chairs he had arranged in the middle of the floor, he chose one and sat down. Checking the book to make sure it still contained the cashier’s check, Nick settled down to wait for his friends to arrive.
A little before seven o’clock, Steve’s car drove slowly up the dirt road and came to a stop in the grass in front of the workshop. The car, a banana yellow 1968 GTO that Steve had meticulously restored, was his pride and joy.
Duel chrome exhaust pipes thrust from the GTO’s jacked-up rear, which also featured wide competition tires. Chrome rims graced all four tires, and a chrome air scoop thrust from the GTO’s hood. Not a scratch or a ding marred the paint job on the body of the GTO. The windows were down, and Nick heard AC/DC’s “Back in Black” jolting from the oversized speakers Steve had installed in the car. The powerful engine, a 350 horsepower V-8 that Steve claimed could go from zero to sixty in less than eight seconds, growled into silence as Steve turned the car off.
As Steve got out of the car, Nick saw he was wearing a Mötley Crüe T-shirt with the sleeves removed. The ever present can of beer was balanced in one hand as he pocketed his keys and shut the car door. As Steve was doing this, Kenneth Langston got out of the passenger side of the car. Apparently, Kenneth had ridden with Steve from town.
“Hi’ya, Nick!” Steve called out, grinning, as he walked into the workshop.
“Hey, Nick!” Kenneth said, echoing Steve. He managed to lever himself up and out of the GTO’s bucket seat and followed after Steve.
Greeting both of them with handshakes and backslaps, Nick showed Steve and Kenneth to the table he had set out in the shop, and they all took a seat in one of the chairs to wait for Mark and Patti.
“What’s this all about, Nick?” Kenneth asked. He was unable to contain his curiosity.
“Well, I’d rather not say, Kenneth, until Mark gets here. We want to make the presentation to all of you at once,” Nick replied. Nick and Mark had discussed the matter, and they had mutually concluded that the less Nick said, the better. Nick’s well-deserved reputation for wild schemes notwithstanding, it was felt Mark was their best bet in what was definitely going to be a hard sell in the category of a “willing suspension of disbelief.” In other words, with the proof he and Mark were going to show their friends, while they might believe Mark about The Book of Lost Treasures, they almost certainly wouldn’t believe Nick!
Kenneth nodded in disappointment. Nick studied his friend as they chatted amiably with Steve. Kenneth had been part of their circle of friends since junior high. A computer nerd, Nick was convinced Kenneth represented every cliché or trait associated with the breed. A plastic pen guard jutted from the pocket of his buttoned and checkered short-sleeved shirt and was filled with a precisely arranged line of pens and mechanical pencils. Pudgy and just under six feet tall, Kenneth wore jeans that were in the high-water category, as they ended an inch or two above his ankles.
As if to emphasize this fact, Kenneth wore white socks (and for reasons known only to him) with black tennis shoes. Around his waist was a kind of utility belt from which a variety of electronic devices and tools were attached; this included an iPhone, palm pilot, a small can of compressed air, a tiny kit containing specialized computer tools, and of course, a ring of keys.
Kenneth’s complexion was a doughy white, as if he never got out into the sun, and pale blue eyes peered from behind a pair of glasses with thick black frames. His hair was a dirty, dishwater blond color and was so wiry, it often reminded Nick of the Brillo pads his mother used to clean the oven with. Kenneth’s hair grew thickly, and he wore it cut short and parted on the side. With the consistency of steel wool, Nick doubted a hurricane could have disturbed a single hair on Kenneth’s head.
Kenneth, to Nick’s knowledge, had never been on a single date. While relaxed and outgoing around his friends, he was pathologically shy around girls. He became tongue-tied and couldn’t utter a coherent sentence around them. Kenneth had brought his mother as his date to his senior prom, which Nick was certain had to be a first in the annals of Pleasant Mountain High. The fact that at thirty-two years old he still lived at home with his parents was testament that the ties that bind still had Kenneth firmly attached to his mother’s apron strings.
However limited Kenneth was in appearance or around the opposite sex, he had few peers when it came to his computer skills. Kenneth could take apart and rebuild a computer from scratch, repair anything with a hard drive, write programs, design software, track down and eliminate viruses, add memory—you name it. If it was computer-related, Kenneth was an expert at it. In fact, Nick couldn’t think of a single thing concerning computers Kenneth wasn’t good at! He had worked at the local Radio Shack franchise in Pleasant Mountain since he had graduated from high school, and Kenneth had a thriving side business he ran from home in repairing computers. While other people might read books or magazines for pleasure, Kenneth devoured software and computer manuals like a starving man would devour a steak dinner, and he was constantly surfing the Net for new upgrades or information.
Mark’s Expedition coming up the dirt road interrupted Nick’s musings, and a little later, it came to a stop beside the workshop. Nick, Steve, and Kenneth got up from the table to greet Mark and Patti as they got out of the SUV. As Mark and Patti opened their doors to exit the Expedition, Nick saw a third per- son emerge from the backseat. Looking on curiously, he saw it was a young woman—and a pretty one at that!
The woman had a vague familiarity about her that Nick couldn’t quite place. As she drew closer with Mark and Patti, the feeling he had seen her somewhere before deepened. She was tall—around five feet ten inches or so, he guessed—with long honey-brown hair. Her face, while not beautiful in the classic sense, was still pretty enough that most men would stop and take a second glance were she to pass by them.
Pulling away, Patti winked at Nick and said, “I understand you and Mark have been up to some interesting things! I’m just dying to hear about it!” With that, Patti grasped one of Nick’s arms and guided him to the table the others were gathered around.
Releasing Nick’s arm, Patti motioned the young woman over and put her arm around her shoulders.
“Everybody, this is Abby—Abby Summers. Abby is my cousin, and she is going to be staying with Mark and me while she takes classes at Texas A&M-Texarkana.”
With that, Patti introduced Abby to everyone at the table, and and they all took a seat around the table, with Abby sitting next to Nick.
When Patti introduced Abby, Nick suddenly recognized who she was! Although Abby had lived in another town, he recalled that throughout their junior high and high school years, he had often seen Patti and Abby together during week-ends, summers, and vacations. Even after Mark and Patti had gone off to college and married each other, Abby was still a frequent guest at their home or apartment. Nick had asked Mark about this once, and he had explained that both Patti and Abby came from families of brothers where they were the only girls. Because of that, they had formed a bond more closely akin to that of sisters than of cousins. That was why they were so close, he had explained. It didn’t seem to bother Mark, so Nick hadn’t really thought much more about it until today.
Abby was a couple of years younger than Patti, he knew, and she sure hadn’t looked then like she did now! Nick remembered Abby as a skinny, gangly girl with braces, not the grownup woman with long legs and soft curves that sat beside him now. My, how she had filled out! he thought to himself. Abruptly, he remembered something else about Abby: she was—or at least had been—married. He knew that to be true, because Patti had been her maid of honor at her wedding, and the reason she was here now, staying with Mark and Patti, probably meant she was now separated or divorced from her husband. As a matter of fact, he remembered now Mark making a comment to him several months ago about Abby having marital difficulties. He hadn’t given it much thought then, since he hadn’t seen Abby in years. For some reason, this realization caused Nick’s heart to leap before he guiltily pushed the emotion aside.
By this time, everyone was seated and looking expectantly at Mark. The hum of the exhaust fans boiled over in the workshop as Mark took a deep breath. Despite the artificial breeze created by the fans, the air in the workshop was warm, and a trickle of sweat made its way down the side of Mark’s face as he opened his mouth to speak.
“What I am about to tell you and, in fact, what I am about to show you, strains credibility. I didn’t believe it myself at first, and all I ask is that you hear me out before you pronounce Nick and me as being crazy.”
That got everyone’s attention, and even Patti looked at her husband with undisguised curiosity. As Nick suspected, he had managed to keep the existence of The Book of Lost Treasures from her.
Starting from the beginning, Mark related how Nick had bought a painting from Harper’s Antiques and how he had found a strange book inside it. Mark explained how Nick had eventually discovered the secret of The Book of Lost Treasures and how he had used it to locate the hidden strongbox of Colonel Efurd Buckley. From there, Mark recounted how Nick had come to him about the mysterious book and how, by using a map that appeared in the book, they had subsequently located the cashbox secreted inside the old farmhouse chimney. There was dead silence when Mark finished, as if those who had listened to the fantastic tale were afraid to speak. At last, Kenneth cleared his throat.
“You … you really don’t believe this, do you, Mark? This is some kind of a joke, right? I mean, no offense, Mark, but this is something Nick might have cooked up, not you.”
“I do believe it, Kenneth! And it’s not something Nick ‘cooked’ up. I’ve seen the book in action, and I was there when we pulled that cashbox from the chimney. Look,” Mark said, holding up his hands to forestall any further comments from Kenneth, “I don’t expect you to just take my word for it. We have proof!” And with that, Mark reached down and picked up his briefcase. Clicking it open, he pulled out the wad of greenbacks from the stolen Union payroll and the metal cashbox and placed them on the table. Opening the cashbox, Mark indicated they should examine its contents, as well as the greenbacks. For the next ten minutes or so, the greenbacks and cashbox were passed back and forth between Kenneth, Patti, Steve, and Abby. Finally, Kenneth looked up and said, “Okay, I’m convinced that the money and greenbacks are genuine. However, that doesn’t prove anything. I could have accidently dug them up in my own backyard and claimed to have found treasure! Besides, where are the old coins found in the strongbox and this so-called ‘book?’ Why aren’t they here for us to see?”
Anticipating just such a question, Mark nodded at Nick. It was time for the coup de grace. Pulling The Book of Lost Treasures from his knapsack, Nick placed the book on the table. Opening it, he removed the $10,000 cashier’s check he had placed within it and laid it out flat next to the book. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms across his chest and tried not to look too smug as gasps of surprise rang out from his friends as they spotted the check.
Kenneth picked up the check and held it up before the light, squinting at it, as if to determine if it was a forgery or not. His face a mask of confusion, he passed the check over to Steve and then turned his attention to the book. As he was scrutinizing the book, Mark spoke again.
“The check is legitimate, I can assure you. I took the coins from the strongbox myself to a coin dealer in Texarkana, and he gave me the check for the pre-Civil War coins. Until then, I didn’t believe in the book’s power either. I thought it to be just one more example of Nick’s, shall we say, ‘flights of fantasy.’
But the coin dealer’s reaction to the coins I showed him convinced me that something was extraordinary about the book. It was at that point that I decided to give Nick a chance to ‘prove’ to me that the book indeed had the ability to find lost treasures.” Standing up, Mark looked at the assembled friends sitting at the table before him. “When the map appeared in The Book of Lost Treasures at my office detailing the whereabouts of the hidden cashbox, well that … that sealed the deal for me. Believe me when I tell you I have thought of every reasonable explanation, every possible alternative, as to how this book can have a mysterious map suddenly appear and lead us to a cashbox hidden well over seventy years ago. I just can’t come up with anything, and therefore, I must conclude that the book works, as Nick told me it did in finding lost treasures.”
There was a momentary silence before Patti got up and slipped her arm around her husband’s waist. “I believe you, sweetie.” It was a simple enough statement, but it spoke volumes to the rest of them.
“Rock on, man, rock on!” Steve cried excitedly as he took a healthy gulp from the beer in his hand. Patti giggled at Steve’s reaction, and soon everyone around the table was laughing and talking animatedly.
Finally, during a lull in the conversation, Kenneth held up his hand to catch Mark’s and Nick’s attention.
“Yes?” Mark asked curiously.
“Okay, even
though I’m not saying I completely believe you, I’m willing to give you and Nick the benefit of the doubt. So why did you tell us all this, and why are we here?” It became quiet again around the table as faces looked over at Mark.
Smiling, Mark said, “Good question, Kenneth! Nick and I talked about it, and we decided that in order to take advantage of the book’s potential, we needed the help and talents of others. What better place to start than our friends?”
“So … what is it you and Nick are proposing?” Kenneth was persistent.
“We want to form a … a corporation of sorts, one in which we are all equal partners and receive equal benefits or shares from whatever lost treasures the book helps us discover.”
“Here, here!” Steve exclaimed, pounding the tabletop with his beer can and managing to slosh beer all over his hand.
“I can get one of the lawyers at the firm I work at to draw up an article of incorporation for us,” Patti volunteered. “But what would we call our … our business?”
The next ten minutes were spent selecting and then discarding various names for their proposed business partnership. Finally, Abby, who had remained conspicuously silent through- out the night’s proceedings, tentatively raised her hand.
As heads swiveled toward her, Abby gave an embarrassed shrug. “I know it’s really not any of my business, but how about calling your new partnership ‘The Treasure Hunt Club?’ I mean, you’re all friends already, so it’s like a club, and from what I understand, you’re going to use the book to try and find lost treasures and stuff, so why not ‘The Treasure Hunt Club?’”