The Treasure of the Hairy Cadre (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 8)

by Susan C. Daffron

  “I know. That was what attracted me to her at the animal shelter. She gave me almost the same ‘please please’ look she’s giving you now.”

  “It still works.” He stroked Holly’s head. “I’ve never gone hiking with a dog before. It’s a blast having so much furry enthusiasm along with us, even if she does kinda stink.”

  “I promise I’ll wash her when we get back. There’s a hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixture you can use to kill the skunk smell. I’ll call the vet. They have the recipe hanging on the wall of the clinic.”

  “I guess getting skunked isn’t unusual out here in the trees.”

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  A rustling and a crash came from nearby and Holly leaped toward it. Zack jumped up, grabbed for the end of her leash, and yelled, “No!”

  The dog hit the end of the six feet of nylon rope and jerked backward. She turned back to glare at Zack, who sat down again. “Sorry dog, but whatever is out there falling down in the woods doesn’t need your help.”

  Sara smiled. “Welcome to the wonderful world of dog ownership. I find myself saying “Holly, no!” before I’ve even realized I said it. The phrase is like a reflex action now.”

  “Maybe having a dog is like a mini version of parenthood. Like chasing after a furry toddler for ten or fifteen years.”

  “I’ve thought about that a lot, particularly when I was on track with my timetable to have children before I turned…well…long before now.”

  “Yeah, that whole parenthood train kinda got derailed for you, didn’t it?”

  “Don’t remind me. Since I was a little girl, all I ever wanted was to be a mother.”

  “At least you have a good role model. Amy is awesome. I bet she’ll be a fantastic grandma too.”

  “I know! She’d love nothing more than to spoil my kids rotten.” Sara looked down at her hands for a moment and then at Zack. “So, I need to ask you. I know that when it comes to parents you didn’t have the greatest example like I did, but do you like kids and want children of your own someday? I’ve been curious.”

  “I love kids. Most of them seem to be able to tell that I’m not terribly different from them. Maybe they recognize that half the time I act like a six-year-old myself.”

  Sara laughed. “I can imagine. Would you like to visit my classroom? You could do a presentation on entrepreneurship.”

  “I can appeal to their greedy side.” He pointed at Sara with a stern teacher index-finger shake. “Listen kid, your allowance isn’t gonna cut it. Let’s do something to fix that, because you totally need some new Hot Wheels.”

  “Perhaps we’ll discuss your presentation another time.”

  “I could talk about treasure-hunting as the lazy man’s way to wealth.”

  “Very funny. I think we need to find it first.”

  “Hey, I’ve been singing until I’m practically hoarse. Now you’ve heard every single song I can remember. I still think the clues are in the lyrics somewhere. Once we get up to the home of moss, I know we’ll find it this time.”

  “I hope you’re right. Are you ready to get going?”

  Zack popped another cracker into his mouth. “Yeah. I feel better now. We pack mules need food too, you know.”

  After they’d hiked for a few more hours, Zack said, “Hey, do you hear that? I think it’s the waterfall. We’re finally close.”

  “Thank goodness. I’m afraid I’ve gotten out of backpacking shape.”

  Zack chuckled. “Uh-oh. When the athlete is tired, you know it’s time to be done with the heavy lifting. I’ve been trying hard not to whine, but my body hurts and I seriously need a nap.”

  “Thank you for controlling your urge to complain. But yes, it definitely is much slower going this time with the packs.”

  They came to the spot where the creek they had been following merged with the other stream, which led to the pool with the waterfall. Sara turned and began pushing her way through the vegetation toward the sound of rushing water. She finally shoved the last scratchy branch aside and found the clearing with the waterfall. The tranquil spot was as pristine and magical as it had been before.

  Beyond the pool, the derelict log cabin sat looking peaceful on its mossy knoll. Zack turned to grin at her. “I love this place.”

  “Welcome back to the home of moss.”

  He took her hand, leaned over, and brushed his lips across hers. “The site of our first kiss.”

  Sara smiled. “That’s sweet. You might be more of a romantic than I thought.”

  “Hey, I’ll be syrupy-sweet as all get out once I get this pack off of me.”

  “Let’s set up camp over there near the ring of rocks we used for the campfire last time.”

  Setting up camp when it wasn’t pouring rain was significantly easier, and within a short time, the tent was assembled and a fire blazed merrily within the circle of rocks. A pot of water sat on a small metal grate while Sara and Zack gazed at it in silence. Sara was starving and the whole ‘watched pot never boiling’ concept was straining her patience. Even Holly was unusually subdued after the long day of hiking. She was sprawled out on her side in front of the fire, blinking sleepily.

  Zack pointed at the pot. “I see a bubble. That counts as boiling to me.”

  “Close enough.” Sara began mixing up the freeze-dried food. “Tonight’s delight is stroganoff.”

  “It could be roasted yak for all I care. Hand that baby over.”

  “You need to let it sit for a few minutes to reconstitute.”

  “It can do that while it’s sitting next to me.” He reached out his hand with a “gimme” gesture. “I promise I’ll keep a close eye on it.”

  Sara handed him the food and looked up at the sky. “I’m not sure we’re going to have much light left to hunt for treasure.”

  “That’s okay. I’m here with you in this beautiful place, that pack is off my back, and we have food that isn’t fish. Life is good.”

  The next morning, the leash jerked against Sara’s wrist. Her hand outside the tent flap was freezing, but the rest of her was toasty warm. She moved against Zack. “You need to stop doing that unless you want to enjoy the scent of dog doo right next to the tent. Holly is letting me know that she has got to go.”

  Zack held up his hands and rolled away. “See ya.”

  After hurriedly donning her clothes one-handed, Sara exited the snuggly warmth of the tent into the chilly morning air. Holly jumped around joyously, obviously eager to greet the day.

  The colors of sunrise streaked across the sky above the tree canopy. After yesterday’s rainstorm, everything in the clearing seemed freshly scrubbed clean. Birds were waking up and twittering in the trees. Sara slowly strolled around the area with Holly, enjoying the peaceful spot. Zack was right. It was stunningly beautiful and would always hold a special place in her heart.

  As she walked around, she considered possible spots where Ira might have hidden the treasure. This time, they were going to go over every inch of this place thoroughly. Zack was convinced Ozzy was no longer an issue and they’d agreed that they’d stay for as long as it took to completely exhaust all possible hiding places. If they didn’t find it this time, that meant Zack was wrong about the location and it wasn’t here. The worst-case scenario was that they got to enjoy a camping trip with amenities like food.

  A crashing noise shattered the tranquility of the clearing, and Holly began barking and leaping around Sara. She reached out to try to calm the dog. “Holly, it’s okay. It’s only a noise. Settle down!”

  Zack emerged from the tent and glanced around the clearing. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know.” Sara pulled the leash tighter in an effort to contain the canine hysteria. “Holly, that’s enough. Stop that!”

  Zack put his hands on his hips. “That better not be Bigfoot again. I’m really sick of…well, whatever it is.”

  Sara dragged Holly away from the trees toward Zack. She put her arms around his waist and kissed him. “Goo
d morning. Since you’re awake, let’s look for treasure. I’ve been scouting the area and now I want to poke around a little.”

  “All right, but I’m hungry. Having the food suspended between trees sure discourages between-meal snacking.”

  “That’s not so bad if you’re trying to lose weight.”

  “I’m not.” He looked down at himself. “I mean, jeez, have you looked at me? There’s a reason Ozzy beat me up all the time. I was the weird skinny foster kid. Even then he outweighed me by a hundred pounds.”

  Sara hugged him. “Well, be glad you’ve never had to worry about your weight. And you’re not skinny anymore. In fact, I think you’re just right. You may be weird, but in a good way.”

  He grinned. “I think my hyperactive nature helps maintain both my metabolism and weirdness.”

  “That must be nice. Holly and I need our exercise. That’s why we spend so much time jogging every morning.”

  “Yeah, you’d never know she did all that hiking yesterday. Do you think she’d mind carrying my pack down the hill?”

  “Nice try. Let’s look for treasure.”

  Sara and Zack wandered around the clearing for a while, looking for anything that was even mildly out of place. Everything was so covered with moss, it looked like it had been sitting in the same spot since prehistoric times. Gigantic ferns leaned over mossy rocks and logs that were coated with a lush carpet of green. Sara had never seen so many different types of moss and lichen in one area. A botanist would have a ball here. The vegetation also did an admirable job of hiding any clues Ira might have left whenever he’d last been here.

  Zack sat down on a mossy log. “I think your dog is wondering what’s wrong with us.”

  “Actually that’s her ‘I want breakfast’ look.”

  “I have that look too.”

  “Fine. Let’s eat. I’m officially giving in to peer pressure.”

  With eager looks, both Holly and Zack moved back toward the campsite and Sara followed. She fed Holly while Zack busied himself collecting wood for the fire.

  After they’d finished breakfast and the requisite clean-up activities, Sara resumed walking around the clearing with Holly, expanding the perimeter of the search. She poked at logs and under rocks. Mostly all she found was insect life, which was definitely not the goal.

  Finally, she sat down cross-legged in front of the tent. Zack was next to the cabin, poking at logs. He didn’t appear to be getting anywhere either and he glanced at Sara. “So, do you think it’s actually in there? I don’t want to look. Underneath all that swampy rotted wood in the darkness, there could be some seriously gigantic spiders.”

  Sara shook her head. “Maybe. I’m running out of ideas. But you said it was near the home of moss. Not inside the home of moss.”

  “True. That means I can rationalize my decision to avoid dislodging scary spider condominiums for a while longer.” He sat down next to her. “Thanks. I feel like less of a wimp now.”

  Holly picked up a stick and stood proudly in front of Sara, proffering it emphatically. Sara smiled at the dog and unhooked the leash. “Oh, all right. You’re probably tired of following me around.”

  Holly jumped backward a few times to encourage Sara to get on with the retrieval program. Sara threw the stick and Holly ran off after it. Moments later, she returned expectantly and Sara repeated the process.

  Zack said, “Your dog knows you well.”

  “She knows that if she’s a big enough nuisance, I’ll throw something to settle her down.” Sara threw the stick again even farther and stood up so that on the next toss, she’d be able to heave the stick across most of the clearing.

  Zack followed her and gazed at the ground. “Do you suppose he buried it? From what he wrote in the letter, I didn’t think so. But now I feel like we’ve looked everywhere. I don’t want to start digging a bunch of holes here. It seems—I don’t know—somehow wrong to disturb this beautiful place. I mean, what if it was a sacred burial ground or something? It kinda feels like that and I don’t want any bad juju.”

  Sara shoved his shoulder playfully. “I don’t think you’ll get bad juju, but I know what you mean. This place is special. If we don’t find it today, maybe we just say goodbye and let the forest take Ira’s treasure back to the land.”

  Holly ran up to them again and Sara threw the stick harder this time, heaving it as far as she could. The branch whipped across the clearing, bounced up off one of the logs on the derelict cabin, and disappeared into a copse of dense vegetation beyond. “Whoops. Sorry, Holly.”

  Undaunted, the dog launched off in the direction of the stick. Sara took Zack’s hand. “I’m sorry I don’t have any more ideas. When I was walking around this morning with Holly, I was absolutely positive we’d find it today.”

  A sharp bark came from beyond the cabin, and before she had any conscious thought about it, Sara was running toward the logs, followed by Zack. They shoved their way back through bushes, where Holly was jumping up and down happily in a small cleared area that had a pile of rocks off to one side.

  Sara grabbed Holly’s collar and Zack crouched down near the rocks. He moved a rock and pulled out an old china doll head. It had been wedged in place with one eye peeking out of the pile. Looking up at Sara, he grinned. “This is it! From the song…”

  Sara yelped and clapped her hands together. “Travelin’ Man!”

  “Exactly! This right here is the China doll from Hong Kong that he says is waiting for his return.”

  Scuttling over to Zack, Sara began moving rocks as Holly leaped joyously around them, sharing in the exaltation of discovery. Zack turned the doll around in his hands. “I actually kinda remember this sitting on Ira’s dresser.”

  They scrambled to pull the rocks away and finally, underneath the pile, they uncovered an old rusted metal box. It looked like an old military-issue storage container from a surplus store.

  Zack grabbed the box and they walked out from behind the cabin and settled into a spot on the mossy knoll. Zack sat cross-legged in front of the box and flipped up the metal latches. Inside was another smaller plastic box that appeared to be waterproof. He pulled out the box and Sara leaned over his shoulder as he slid the buckles that secured it.

  He opened the lid and Sara gasped. “What is it?”

  “A whole lot of Ziploc bags.”

  “Open them up!”

  Zack pulled out a few plastic bags and spread them on the ground. Two obviously contained coins, but the contents of others were less obvious. He grabbed a bag, carefully peeled apart the zipper, and looked inside. He unrolled a piece of paper and held it up. “It’s sheet music.”

  Sara settled in next to him and took the yellowed sheet. “I can’t read music very well. Do you know the song?”

  “I’m not that good at it either.” Zack took the paper back, pulled an ancient pitch pipe from the bag, and blew into it. He began humming. “I’ve never heard this, but the paper says it was written by Ira. That’s kinda cool. I didn’t know he wrote songs.”

  Sara picked up another bag and looked inside. “These are coins. Some of them are old. Is a penny from 1905 worth anything?”

  “No clue.”

  “How about a silver dollar from 1897?”

  “Even less of a clue.” Zack took another bag from the stack and opened it. It contained a dog collar. Holly sniffed at the leather while he looked through the old metal tags dangling from the ring. “Oh man, this is Mary Lou’s collar. That sorta makes me want to cry.”

  “Zack, these are Ira’s treasures. All the things that he cared about most.” Sara leaned her head on his shoulder. “That is so sweet! He wanted you to have them.”

  A crash came from the bushes behind them and Holly leaped up, barking madly.

  Sara grabbed the dog’s collar and twisted around as an older man in front of her said in a deep, gravely voice, “Yup, that’s exactly what Ira wanted.”

  Chapter 10

  Poor Little Fool

  Zack vaulted
around Sara and Holly, heaving himself toward the man, yelling, “Get away from her!”

  He stopped short in front of the man, who had long gray hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail. Putting up both hands in a dual-purpose greeting and ‘don’t hit me’ motion, he said, “Yo, Zack. How’s it hangin’?”

  Zack dropped his arms to his sides. “Wait a minute. You’re the guy from the marina. What are you doing here? How do you know my name? Who are you?”

  Sara stood up, but kept her grip on Holly’s collar, since the dog was still growling quietly. “Why are you way out here?”

  The man raised his bushy gray eyebrows. “Whoa, so many questions. You’re overwhelming my brain cells. Slow down, man. I can’t handle this level of interrogation.”

  Zack said, “What is your name?”

  “Well, some people call me El Flan Hombre. Or Flan Man or just Flan. It depends on your preference for español, you know. Some people like to enjoy that international flavor.”

  “You mean like the custard?” Sara said. Something was oddly familiar about this person, even though she’d only seen him in passing for a few seconds. “That’s certainly an unusual nickname.”

  “Give me a break.” Zack put his fists on his hips. “What’s your real name? Like on your driver’s license.”

  “I don’t have one of those. I lost it sometime in the early eighties and I never got around to doing anything about it. It was the Reagan years, man. Things were totally uptight then.” Flan shook his head sadly. “I think it might be expired too.”

  “I’m afraid so.” Sara crouched down to stroke Holly’s head. The dog had stopped growling and now seemed intrigued by the conversation. “I think what Zack is asking is what is your legal name? Like on your bank statements. Or the name you put on your tax returns.”

  Flan took a step backward, holding up his palms. “No way. I can’t go there. That’s catering to the war machine. I won’t have anything to do with that kind of bureaucratic activity.”