The Lost Journal

by Chris Blewitt

  Seth reached up and unhooked the clasp. Nothing happened. After many years the wood had settled and it was snug on either side. Seth couldn’t get a good grip to pull open the box. Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a small Swiss Army knife. “Always comes in handy,” he said, handing Seth the knife.

  He flicked it open and inserted the knife in the top and started to wedge the top down and open.

  “Wow, that’s great.” Madison’s voice echoed though the hallway.

  “They’re coming back! Hurry,” Arthur said.

  Seth pulled open the back of the step and saw a small dark blanket stuffed inside. He tugged on the cloth, pulling it from its hiding spot and tearing a few strands of thread on the wood. The voices were closer now. He didn’t want the security guy to see he had taken something so with no other choice; he lifted up his shirt and stuffed the blanket inside. They both hurried out of the small cage and shut the door behind them as Madison and Mitch came toward them.

  “Find anything?” Mitch asked.

  “Nah, must’ve been an old wives’ tale,” Seth said, nodding his head toward the exit at Madison. His hands were folded across his stomach, partially hiding the bulge in his shirt.

  “You didn’t touch anything did ya?” Mitch asked, peering inside the gate as he relocked it.

  Madison grabbed Mitch’s arm and led him towards the steps. “Thanks Mitch, I really appreciate you letting us come down here.”

  “Sure, I mean, sure, anytime. Hey do you want to get a cup of coffee?” Mitch asked Madison.

  They walked up the stairs as Madison responded, “Um, I think grandfather is feeling a little tired.”

  “I feel fine,” Arthur said as they reached the top of the stairs.

  Seth gave him a polite tap in the ribs and Arthur quickly changed his mind. “Actually I could probably use a little nap.”

  Disappointed, Mitch escorted them out the door and the three of them hurried down the steps and found Madison’s car in the nearby parking garage. Seth let Arthur take the front seat while he sat in the back and they caught their breath for a few moments.

  “Well,” Madison asked, “did you find anything?”

  Seth pulled up his shirt and the navy blanket fell to his lap. It was definitely old and musty and smelled like it. The blanket was rolled up tight. He unwrapped the blanket, rolling it down his legs to the floor.

  There it was. A small pouch similar to Washington’s journal rested at the bottom of the blanket. This pouch was longer and flatter and it was folded in half. Seth looked out the car windows to see if anyone was watching.

  “Hurry up already!” Arthur said, turning in his seat to watch him.

  Seth unfolded the brown leather satchel and untied the small knot in the front. He peered inside and reached his hand in. He pulled out a rolled up piece of leather, again tied with small knot of twine. Untying that he finally found a piece of yellow-stained paper that was also rolled long ways. It was brittle and he was afraid it would disintegrate in his hands.

  “Just be careful,” Madison said.

  He didn’t respond, but gave her a look that indicated he knew to be careful. He started unraveling the paper and found words neatly written in black ink.

  “Read it!” Arthur said.

  <><><><><>

  March 14th, 1800

  The day started out slightly chilly, but it was time to set off. Bushrod had waited for the winter to pass before he made the long trek to Philadelphia. He did not want to be caught in a Nor’easter with nothing but him and his horse to keep him warm. His horse, Willow, would only be able to go about fifty miles a day, so it took Bushrod and Willow three days to reach his destination.

  Soon after the burial of his uncle George, he spent many days talking to his aunt Martha about what his uncle had hidden in Philadelphia. After scouring through his journal, Bushrod figured out the location, but Martha would not tell him about the hidden contents. For months he wondered what must be hidden in the document and here he was standing on the front porch of Miss Betsy Ross’s house.

  He knocked twice and waited patiently for the woman to open to the door.

  “Yes,” a woman said while opening the door. For someone in their late forties, Miss Ross looked exceptionally well. Touches of gray and black hair peeked out from her bonnet. She was certainly full-figured which Bushrod didn’t mind. Bushrod himself was thirty-eight at the time and he had planned to use his trim build and good looks to charm the woman.

  “Miss Ross? Hello, I’ve traveled quite far to meet with you. Do you have a moment?”

  “Um, yes, come in.” She pushed open the door and Bushrod followed her in. “Who are you?”

  “This is quite a nice place you have,” Bushrod said.

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  He took her arms in his hands. “I am George Washington’s nephew.”

  She removed her left hand to cover her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss. Mr. Washington was the bravest of all souls. You know, George and I used to attend church services together. He and I had a special relationship. He will be terribly missed.”

  “It’s okay, thank you. He lived a great life and left us a country that will last for ages.”

  “So, what brings you here? Oh I know!” she said.

  “Yes,” Bushrod agreed.

  “I don’t know where it is, actually. He told me to leave the house and said that he was hiding something very important and that if anyone came to get it outside his family, I was to tell them it was a lie.”

  Bushrod held up Washington’s journal. “I think I know where it is.”

  They both found the sixth step rather quickly and Bushrod unraveled the blanket and pulled out a large scroll of paper filled with words from top to bottom. After reading it, he rolled it back up and stuck it in his own satchel. He was shocked to say the least but he did not let Betsy Ross read the document.

  “What are you doing?” Ross asked.

  “I’m taking it,” he responded. “It’s too valuable to sit in this house which could burn down one day or be ransacked and looted. I will take this to a more secure place. Do you have paper and a quill?”

  She did and Bushrod composed his own note:

  To those seeking what’s hidden in this house, I have moved it to a more secure location not far from here. If you are worthy, you will know that place is where my Uncle left a legacy during an important winter that changed the course of this great country.

  Bushrod Washington

  CHAPTER 12

  “That’s it?” Arthur asked. “That’s all it says?”

  Seth paused and re-read the brief note, confirming that was all it said. He turned the brittle parchment paper over and looked for any other words of significance. There was nothing written on the other side. He went through the satchel, searching each and every pocket, looking for something else, anything that could help them. It was empty. Frustrated, he tossed the bag to his granddad and said, “That’s it.”

  “Twenty-five years and to think we finally solved the puzzle,” Arthur said, frustrated.

  Madison started the car and pulled out of the garage. After she paid the parking attendant with a credit card, she pulled onto 5th Street and headed out of the city, via route 676. The traffic was building as it was nearing rush hour.

  “Well?” Seth asked, looking at Madison in the rear-view mirror.

  She looked back and replied, “Well, what?”

  “Aren’t you going to say something?”

  A small smile formed on her lips. “I’m waiting for you to figure it out.”

  “Figure what out?” Arthur asked.

  “You guys are so pissed off that we didn’t find whatever it is we’re looking for, you failed to solve the next clue.”

  A black sports car passed them on the left going at least eighty miles per hour.

  Arthur turned in his seat and said, “Read it again, son.”

  Seth unraveled the scroll and read aloud, “To those
seeking what’s hidden in this house, I have moved it to a more secure location not far from here. If you are worthy, you will know that place is where my Uncle left a legacy through an important winter that changed the course of this great country.”

  Arthur smiled and turned to Madison, “Good work, my dear.”

  “Shit, Valley Forge,” Seth said from the back. “That’s only twenty minutes from here. I did a research paper on Valley Forge in college for a history class.”

  “Good,” Madison replied, “We’re going there first thing in the morning.”

  Madison dropped Arthur off at Harper’s Grove. They were going to keep him for the night, but he was already snoring in his seat and he needed the rest. Seth didn’t even want him coming tomorrow, but there was no way to keep Arthur away from the chase they were on. Fifteen minutes later they pulled into Seth’s condominium complex and Seth and Madison got out of the car. They’d decided to stay at Seth’s because they knew Madison’s was probably still being watched. Seth also had the deadline to worry about. He was supposed to produce the book to whoever those men were by 8 pm.

  Seth pulled out his key and was about to stick it in the door, but the door was ajar. He pulled Madison behind him and opened the door. Immediately, he saw that his place was trashed. Seth pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside. It was eerily quiet for all of the destruction in the house. In the kitchen to the right everything had been dumped out of his cabinets and drawers. Cereal boxes, pasta and pretzels lay on the floor as the cabinets were completely cleaned out.

  “Holy crap,” Madison said. “I knew you weren’t that tidy, Seth, but I didn’t know you were a slob,” she said, trying to make light of the situation.

  Seth turned his head and gave her a “not now” look.

  “Sorry.”

  “I think we know who did this,” Seth said, closing the door behind him and now stepping into the living room. The cushions on the couch were overturned, the CD’s and DVD’s strewn about the floor. They continued into the bedroom and found the same mess. All of his clothes were out of the drawers and off the hangers in the closet. The mattress was stripped and overturned, laying half on the bed and half on the floor.

  “Jeez, Seth, what is so important about this book?”

  “I have no idea,” he replied. A thought came to him. “Maybe we should just give it to them.”

  “What?”

  “Even if they figure out the clues, they won’t find anything. You think they’re smart enough to go to the Betsy Ross house? And if they do, there’s nothing there. They won’t determine the renovation remains are in the Atwater Kent Museum. If they miraculously figure that out, there’s nothing there either. We took the satchel.”

  “Seth, based on the threat from last night, these guys are either cops, or worse, the feds.”

  “You think?”

  “I don’t know, but they sure appear to be. If they were gangsters, we’d be dead or in the hospital by now. If we followed the trail, they certainly can. It will still lead back to us. They’ll know we found something and they’ll never leave us alone.”

  “True,” Seth thought. “But that will take time and it’ll give us a head start to Valley Forge.”

  Madison looked around the trashed bedroom. “Hope they didn’t do this to my place. Let’s go.”

  <><><><><>

  “Alright, here’s the plan,” Max began. “Evan, I’m going to drop you off around the back in case they try and run for it. Chloe and I will confront them as they get out of the car.”

  “Why do I have to be the one in the back? Because she’s a woman, she can’t do it alone?”

  “Screw you, Evan,” Chloe replied. “It’s because you’ll fuck it up is why.”

  “Shut it you two,” Max interjected. “This is the plan. And besides,” he said with a smile at Chloe, “you probably would screw it up Evan.”

  “Go to bloody hell, the both of you,” Evan said from the backseat.

  “Now, Chloe and I will approach them and ask for the book. If they give us any trouble, we’ll handle it.”

  “What about the local boys staking out the house?” Chloe asked.

  “I’ll deal with them,” Max responded.

  They continued driving until they were in Madison’s neighborhood. Max turned the Pathfinder onto the street behind Madison’s house and dropped Evan off. They made their way around the block and pulled up in front of the house as Seth and Madison exited the car. Max and Chloe got out of the car and walked across the front lawn.

  “Excuse me,” Max said, rather loudly.

  Seth turned to the man and woman coming across the grass and grabbed Madison’s hand. He had no idea who they were, but with all that had happened in the past forty-eight hours, he wasn’t taking any chances. He picked up his pace and tried to make it to the front door before they could reach them. Madison fumbled with her keys and turned to see the couple just ten feet away. They were not going to make it.

  “I got her,” Chloe whispered. As soon as the woman was near enough, Madison swung her purse high at the woman’s head. She was too slow. The other woman ducked and grabbed it when it descended, pulling hard and sending Madison to the ground. Seth caught this out of the corner of his eye as he stood his ground, waiting for his attacker to strike.

  “Don’t be stupid, Seth,” Max said, opening his sport coat ever so slightly and revealing the Glock he had in his waistband.

  A puzzling look came across Seth’s brow. A gun? How did he know my name?

  “Don’t hurt her,” Seth said.

  “We’re not going to hurt anyone as long as we get what we want,” Max said.

  Madison got up off the ground and was handed the purse from the red-haired woman. She took it and stood next to Seth. “Who are you?” she asked.

  Before Max had a chance to answer, two car doors closed from across the street. They all turned and saw two men exit the SUV and approach Madison’s house.

  “Here come the Yanks,” Max said to Chloe.

  The two men walked up the driveway and stopped about fifteen feet away from them. The bald one smiled, elbowed his partner and spoke first, “Ah, our friends from across the pond. Guess we’re gonna take it from here, mates.”

  Max chuckled. “You got it wrong, mate. You couldn’t handle this bloody mess so we gotta clean it up. Move along, we got it.”

  Pierce stepped forward a few feet, twisting a toothpick that hung from his mouth. “What, you and your little girlfriend there gonna handle me and my partner?”

  “We won’t just handle you,” Chloe said, “We’ll beat ya to a bloody pulp.”

  Pierce made a move forward, but he was stopped by his partner’s outstretched arm. “Let’s be civil about this and get what we want, the book.”

  Max disagreed, “That book is leaving with us.” He looked at Seth and said, “Hand it over.”

  “You’re not taking it anywhere,” Kohler said. “It stays with us.”

  Seth looked over at Madison while the four of them argued. If they ever had a chance, now was it. He moved his eyes over to her car then down to the keys still in her right hand, not saying anything. Reaching into his backpack, he removed a small box. Seth then flashed five fingers on his hand and waited until she looked down and saw them. He slowly peeled a finger down, showing four, then three, then two…

  “You want the book?” Seth shouted. “Here it is!” He took the small box, which now contained the journal, and side-armed it across the lawn away from the driveway. The moment the words came out of his mouth, Madison ran to the car. Seth followed.

  The three men and one woman scrambled to the box lying thirty feet away. Halfway there, Chloe stopped and turned to see Madison in the front seat of the car and Seth opening the door. She drew her weapon. “Freeze!”

  The threat fell on deaf ears. Madison started the car and Seth closed the passenger door. Chloe didn’t want to fire, not in a suburban neighborhood. Plus, if the book was actually in the box, they we
re no longer needed. She turned. Her partner had grabbed the overweight guy in the suit and flung him backward. Kohler and Max jumped on the box. She turned back and saw the car backing out of the driveway. Just then, her other partner Evan came running down the driveway from the back of the house. As the car reached the street and Madison shifted into drive, Evan dove on top of the car, grasping at the car where the hood met the windshield.

  Madison screamed and stepped on the gas.

  After fifty feet, the man was still holding onto the car.

  “Brake!” Seth yelled.

  She did and the man tumbled from the roof onto the street, rolling side over side toward the curb. She quickly hit the gas again and the car peeled out of sight.

  Chloe ran to the street still clutching her gun with both hands. A neighbor from across the street turned on a light and stepped out onto his front porch. Chloe holstered the weapon and trotted over to where Evan lay writhing in pain.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “You shoulda shot the bastards,” he said through clenched teeth.

  She helped him up and they walked back to the house. Kohler ended up with the book and Pierce was pointing his gun at Max, who still lay on the ground.

  “Put it away dipshit,” Max said. “You wanna get us all pinched?” Chloe approached and reached for her own weapon. “Don’t,” he said. He got to his feet and straightened his jacket. Kohler peeled off the rubber bands and opened the box. He reached inside and pulled out the journal.

  “Okay, you won this one,” Max said to the man holding the box while rising to his feet. “Now, do you wanna be smart with this or just go run back to Castle and tell him you found it?”

  Kohler looked at him. “Our job was to find this book, that’s it. We’re done here.”

  “Think about it,” Max said, brushing his shirt to remove the blades of grass. “Why would they give you the book? There’s either nothing in it, or they found what’s in it and have it in their possession. Gentlemen,” he said quietly, “the book is only step one. We need to find what the book tells us to find.”