by Kathi Daley
“Did Max know what the map I found led to?” I asked.
“No. He said he inherited it from his father, who never shared with him what, if anything, he’d discovered.”
“I wonder if Max would care if we followed the clues to see where it leads.”
“Actually, Garrett said for me to tell you to call him. He said it’s very important. I’ll give you the number to his direct line. You can ask him about the map when you talk to him.”
“Okay, great.”
Savage recited the number, which I wrote down. Then we said our goodbyes and I hung up.
“From your end of the conversation it sounded like there was good news all around,” Kyle commented.
“There really is. I have to call Garrett, but then I’ll catch you up.”
Garrett sounded thrilled both to have a chance to get to know the father he’d thought was dead and to be home on Gull Island. I arranged to bring Blackbeard by the following day and he shared that he was looking forward to visiting with both of us. He told me both he and Max were fine with us taking the map to Sanctuary Island to see what we could find there. I promised to fill him in after our trip.
Garrett had saved the biggest piece of news for last. It seemed Max had a daughter, a half-sister he’d never known existed. He’d spoken to her, and he thought she might be willing to take over the resort on a permanent basis. I promised him I’d hold off on the remodel until I heard from him for sure.
“Sounds like more good news,” Kyle observed.
I filled him in on everything I’d learned from both Detective Savage and Garrett.
“I can still look into renting a boat if you want to try to go check out the island.”
“I’d like that very much.”
Chapter 20
Wednesday, June 28
As it turned out, everyone wanted to go along for the adventure to Sanctuary Island, so Kyle rented a boat big enough for the entire family plus Meg, who came prepared with a folder full of maps of the island from differing perspectives. We’d decided to make it an overnight trip, so Willow had agreed to stay at the house with Blackbeard and the cats. We brought the dogs with us.
The boat Kyle had rented was really a yacht, so we were required to anchor offshore and then shuttle everyone to the beach via a motorized dinghy.
“Do you think we’ll really find a treasure?” Gracie’s eye sparkled with enthusiasm as the dinghy landed on the island with the first group, consisting of Kyle as the driver and Ashley, Gracie, the three dogs, and me as the passengers.
“Maybe. We won’t know until we look.”
“I hope the treasure is made up of beautiful jewels,” Ashley added with a gleam in her eye.
“I like jewels,” Gracie said.
“Wait right here on the beach,” Kyle instructed after we unloaded and he turned the boat around to returned for Ben, Doc, and Meg.
Ashley and Gracie played in the surf with the dogs while I looked around at my surroundings. As Meg had described, the island only had a small amount of beach while the rest consisted of a fairly large mountain smack dab in the middle. According to the map, it looked like we’d need to hike at least partway up the mountain. I hoped the hike wouldn’t be too much for the older folks.
By the time we’d managed to shuttle everyone to shore, my grandfather declared he was already exhausted. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that he, Doc, and Meg would wait on the beach with the girls while Kyle and I made the hike up the mountain to see if there was anything to find. Kyle’s friend had called the previous day to let us know that the map was around one hundred and twenty years old. Impressive, but definitely not old enough to be Barkley’s treasure.
“I’m glad the others decided to wait. This is a steep climb.” I wiped my brow with the back of my arm. There was no trail to speak of, but the maps Meg had brought along helped us narrow things down to a meadow of sorts about halfway up where we believed the treasure must be buried.
“It’s occurred to me that the map we found could have been drawn to mark the location of something else entirely,” Kyle added.
“True. We found a map and immediately thought treasure, but it could be directions to a meeting place or a settlement or an old gravesite.” I stopped walking and looked back. Standing on the side of the mountain led to an unobstructed view clear to the horizon. “I suppose it also could have been directions to a lookout. Will you look at that view?”
“It’s pretty amazing,” Kyle agreed.
I took several deep breaths and then we continued to climb. I was in pretty good shape because I was active in sports and ran on a regular basis, but this was becoming difficult even for me.
“Have you decided what you want to do once Garrett’s sister arrives?” Kyle asked.
“Not really.” Garrett had called the previous day to let me know that he’d worked things out with the woman, who was due to arrive on August 1st. He’d definitely decided not to sell the resort or even to renovate it at that point. Of course, he let me know we were welcome to stay for as long as we wanted, but given everything that had happened I was seriously considering the possibility of just heading home. “Jenna left a message on my voicemail earlier letting me know that she and the girls are definitely coming for a visit. They arrive on July 10th and plan to stay for two weeks, which will work out great since they will have gone home by the time Garrett’s sister arrives. I want to be sure she gets settled okay, but after that I think maybe we’ll head back to Paradise Lake. I can’t really see a reason to stay. What do you think?”
“Hey, this is your party. I’m just along for the ride.”
“Watch out.” I stepped over a large rock onto an area with loose shale that caused a mini avalanche. “Are you okay?” I turned around and looked at Kyle, who had been hiking behind me.
“I’m fine. Watch your step though.” Kyle looked at the steep climb beneath us. “It wouldn’t be fun at all to fall from this height.”
“I’ll be careful.” I found myself wishing I’d thought to wear a hat. There was very little shade on this side of the island at this time of day. “It shouldn’t be too much farther until the trail levels off. Maybe a half mile, if Meg’s map is correct. Once we get there we can find some shade and take a break.”
“Do you really think we’ll find a treasure?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. I hope we do. It would be fun and romantic to dig into the soil and find something that was buried by someone who lived over a century ago.”
“We only brought a folding camping shovel, so I hope whoever hid the treasure didn’t bury it too deep,” Kyle pointed out.
We had been somewhat limited in the size and number of tools Kyle and I could carry up the mountain on our backs, but I figured we could always come back if it seemed there was something to find if we went deeper.
“It looks like the shelf is just up ahead,” I called back, hoping it wasn’t a false top. Luckily, it wasn’t; the trail opened onto a beautiful flat meadow. It was somewhat protected by the mountain that surrounded it, which made it a perfect place, in my opinion, to set up a camp or to bury a treasure.
I sat down in the shade on a flat rock and took a long drink of the water we’d brought. Kyle did the same, and then we opened the map and looked at the markers. At first nothing really looked similar. Of course, it had been over a hundred years. A lot could have changed.
“Whoever drew this map did a very rudimentary job,” Kyle observed. “It sort of looks like this pattern of lines matches the rock formation on the mountain over there.”
I looked to where Kyle was pointing. The lines were drawn flat on the page rather than in three dimension, which would lift them off the ground onto the side of the mountain, but Kyle was right; it did look like the lines drawn on the map and those etched into the mountain wer
e the same.
“So that would put us here.”
I pointed to a spot on the map.
Kyle and I both spent several minutes looking down at the map and then around at our surroundings. It appeared as if the spot designated with an X was slightly to the left of us, near what looked to be a waterfall. Problem was, there was no waterfall.
“Maybe it was just really wet that year, creating a waterfall that has since dried up,” I suggested.
“I guess we can walk in that direction to see if we can identify a small stream that might have at one point been a waterfall,” Kyle said.
We each took another sip of our water before continuing.
“You know, this meadow is a fair size and pretty unobstructed by trees. We could have just chartered a helicopter to bring us here,” I pointed out.
“What would be the fun in that?”
“Maybe you’re right, but if we find a treasure chest full of gold or jewels that’s exactly how we’re getting it out of here. There’s no way I’m carrying it down the mountain.”
“Agreed.”
We walked a while longer and did find a small stream that was really no more than a trickle. Still, Kyle pointed out that the rocks behind the spot where it meandered down the cliff face were worn, as if there had been a greater force of water at some point.
“Okay.” I stood still and looked back at the map. “If this is the waterfall the treasure should be there.” I pointed to a small crack in the rock’s surface.
The bushes that had grown up in the area were both tall and thorny, so we spent the next thirty minutes trying to clear a path to the cliff behind without scratching up our arms and legs.
“I’m starting to think a cold shower and an even colder beer might be more desirable at this point than anything we might find here,” I commented as sweat trickled down my back and between my breasts.
“A cold shower does sound good. I wonder if this little stream empties into a pool before it meets up with the sea.”
I turned and looked in the direction the water flowed. “Maybe. If it does, it must be on the other side of the meadow. After that the water would flow down the mountain toward the sea. We can look on our way back. If there is water, I’m taking a dip. I can’t remember the last time I was this dusty and sweaty.”
“I think I see something,” Kyle said as he continued to pull the shrubbery away from the cliff face.
“Well, I’ll be.” The small crack in the cliff became significantly wider at the base. It was large enough for a person to slip into. “Do you think they hid the treasure in a cave rather than underground?”
“Maybe. Do you want to look?”
Did I! “Hell yeah. I’m glad we brought flashlights.”
“I’ll go first. You stay close behind me. And watch where you step. We have no way of knowing if the floor drops off.”
The first thing I noticed after slipping into the interior of the cave was that the temperature had dropped significantly. That alone made the trek worth the effort. Kyle walked slowly in front of me, reminding me continually to watch my step as well as my head. I was having the best time.
“Hunter would hate this,” I told him, almost before I even had the thought.
Kyle laughed. “Yeah. He’s a good guy, but not one to get sweaty and dirty while tracking down a hidden treasure that may not even exist.”
“I’m glad we came. Whether we find the treasure or not. This has been an adventure of the very best kind.”
Kyle paused and looked at the path ahead. “I’ve always dreamed of searching for buried treasure, but I don’t want to get us lost. It looks like the path forks ahead.”
I stood completely still. “What’s that noise?”
Kyle hesitated. “It sounds like water. I think it’s coming from the right.”
“Let’s mark this fork and head toward the sound of the water. If we come to another fork before we find the water, we’ll just head back. I don’t want to get lost either. We can always come back with better supplies.”
Kyle left his hat at the fork so we’d know which one to take on the way back and then continued to the right. The sound of water got louder and louder as we walked along the narrow pathway. After a while Kyle stopped moving. “Why, I’ll be.”
I looked over Kyle’s shoulder at a pool of water being fed by an underground waterfall. “Wow.”
“Wow is right.”
At the top of the waterfall, where the water entered the chamber from the surface above, there was a large hole that actually let in enough light to see fairly well without the flashlights.
The room opened as we continued forward. I dipped a hand into the water, which was fresh and cool. “This is really something.”
“I could be wrong, but I’m beginning to think this map simply leads to someone’s favorite swimming hole,” Kyle said.
I sat down on the side of the pool and slipped off my dirty shoes and socks. I slid my feet into the water and let it pool around my knees. “After a long hike on a hot day this pool seems like a treasure to me.”
Kyle removed his own shoes and socks and slipped his legs into the water as well. “Too bad we didn’t bring swimsuits.”
“I’m game for underwear swimming if you are.”
“So am I.” Kyle grinned.
I stripped down to my bra and underwear and slipped into the cool water. Talk about heaven on earth. Kyle slid into the water just after me and we both dove like puppies as we washed away the dirt and grime of the hike up the mountain. I swam over to the waterfall and slipped around behind it. I’d always wanted to view a waterfall from the back. Kyle swam around the other side of the waterfall and joined me. It was dark behind the water, which blocked the light from above. It felt like we were in our own little world.
Kyle turned and, without saying a word, pulled me into his arms. He leaned forward slightly and touched my lips ever so gently with his own. The kiss started off hesitantly, but in response, I imagine, to my enthusiasm, he deepened the kiss, and suddenly I was transported back to the dreams I’d been having all week.
There was something about being alone in the dark with someone I’d been dreaming about that brought clarity to my thoughts. Over the past few days I’d tried to make sense of the myriad of emotions I’d been experiencing since Kyle had begun kissing me in the fantasy world of my dreams. My logical mind refused to see it, but it seemed that every dream, no matter where it started, ended in this very real moment when I knew in my heart that I wanted this man as more than just a friend.
About the Author
Kathi Daley lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time in the water, hiking, biking, and snowshoeing. Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her five cozy mystery series: Zoe Donovan, Whales and Tails Island, Tj Jensen, Sand and Sea Hawaiian, and Seacliff High Teen.
The Tj Jensen Mystery Series
by Kathi Daley
PUMPKINS IN PARADISE (#1)
SNOWMEN IN PARADISE (#2)
BIKINIS IN PARADISE (#3)
CHRISTMAS IN PARADISE (#4)
PUPPIES IN PARADISE (#5)
HALLOWEEN IN PARADISE (#6)
TREASURE IN PARADISE (#7)
FIREWORKS IN PARADISE (#8)
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