Secrets in the Dark

by KD Blakely

  The cat stopped purring and switched her tail. Doug laughed, “I’d take that as a ‘no’.”

  “Yeah, I think so too,” I agreed, disappointed. Once again, wishing was a totally wasted effort.

  “Oh well, let’s get started.” Faith sighed then brightened and grabbed a candle. “I’ll make sure you can see what you’re doing.”

  Olivia tapped her foot looking annoyed. “I was gonna do that!”

  “I got dibs,” Faith said, grinning. Doug glared at her and lit the lantern, placing it on the floor of the cave.

  Olivia stuck her tongue out, and then grabbed the hammer. “I’ll use this if we need to open anything.”

  Brady and Doug both had their arms crossed, glaring at Olivia. Doug turned to Brady. “Who needs a bunch of girls helping, anyway?” He laughed when Olivia stuck her tongue out at him, too.

  Brady said, “We need to go about this logically. A methodical plan can help ensure we look everywhere. We should divide the floor into sections, like a grid. We’ll check each section on the grid thoroughly before moving to the next.”

  He shoved the berries in his pocket and began dragging the end of the shovel over the floor of the cave, creating lines forming sections about two feet square.

  I felt a surge of excitement, wondering what could be buried here. “You know, I’ve always wanted to dig for buried treasure!” I spun around in a fast circle, unable to contain my sudden excitement. “This is just like being in one of my favorite books!”

  We were so excited none of us noticed when our animals left.

  

  After almost two hours of shoveling dirt around the floor of the cave, I was hot and sweaty and ready for lunch. We’d each taken a turn using the shovel. It was way harder than it looked in the movies. I had broken blisters stinging the palms of both hands.

  I gently wrapped my hands around a barely cool soda can, and leaned against the wall of the cave, trying to relax the knots out of my back. This had been a lot of work, and we had nothing to show for it. I was beginning to worry that something had already been dug out.

  I wasn’t the only one beginning to wonder if our work was for nothing. “This may be a colossal waste of time,” Doug said tiredly.

  I looked over the cave floor — most of the grid had already been searched. We’d dug down more than a foot in each of those sections without finding so much as a loose rock.

  After we snarfed down sandwiches and apples, we agreed to search one of the other tunnels to give our aching arms a chance to rest. We started to enter the third tunnel, but our familiars were all waiting in the main cave and moved to the short tunnel on the far right. “I guess they want us to check that one first,” Doug said.

  “I hope it has something interesting above the ground,” Faith muttered. “I’ve decided hunting for buried treasure is totally overrated.”

  We crowded into the short passage, but it ended in a blank wall. We checked carefully, but couldn’t find anything.

  “So, what are we supposed to be looking for?” Doug asked, glancing around in confusion.

  “No clue. I wish I knew what our animals find so interesting,” Olivia said.

  I was about to suggest we go when the bat squeaked excitedly and flew up over our heads. It kept squeaking as it flew higher and higher, then the sound faded up to the right.

  Doug lifted his lantern up in that direction. The light was dim, but reached most of the way to the roof, at least twenty-five or thirty feet above us.

  Olivia exclaimed, “Shine the light further right.”

  Doug swung the light over and Olivia said, “Can’t you see it? There’s a hole in the cave wall, up near the top. That’s where Brady’s bat went.”

  Pyg suddenly soared up over our heads and flew straight where Olivia pointed. It flew out of sight, but its high-pitched hoots could be heard as it flew away from us.

  We hadn’t stopped staring in amazement where Pyg had disappeared when the bat’s squeaking could be heard. It flew back out of the tunnel, diving down the narrow space and into the main cave, followed closely by Pyg.

  Brady grinned. “Dad has ropes and climbing gear in the garage. He showed me how to use it last summer. Next time we can check out that tunnel.”

  “What’s the chance there’s anything up there?” Faith sounded horrified. Not surprising — she didn’t like heights. But she was quickly overruled. Brady and Olivia both claimed to have some rock climbing experience.

  Doug said, “Don’t be silly, Faith. Fangface and Pyg wouldn’t have shown us the tunnel if they didn’t think we should check it out.”

  Faith rolled her eyes, but agreed. “Sure, I guess we should do it for our animals.”

  Doug shook out his arms. “We should finish digging in the hidden cave.”

  His suggestion was met with groans and pleas for mercy. None of us relished the idea of doing more digging. I wondered if I’d feel different if I believed there was actually something buried there. At some point, I’d lost belief in that.

  “We’ve been searching very logically,” Brady said. “We’ve covered three-fourths of the floor. I agree with Doug, we need to search the rest before we give up.”

  I sighed and felt my shoulders slump. “I’ll never feel the same way about books where people find buried treasure. They never describe how tired your shoulders get from digging, or how much your hands hurt when you don’t have any gloves. It sucks!”

  “And they don’t say how heavy the stupid shovel gets.” Olivia added.

  Doug rolled his eyes. “How would you know? You’ve barely touched the shovel, Olivia. You’ve come up with more excuses than my sister Angie and all of her friends. Combined.”

  Faith sighed. “With my luck, we’ll find something dopey in the very last place we look.”

  “That would be better than the way my luck has been going,” Brady said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll find the spot where something used to be.”

  I tiredly blew at the hair that was straggling around my face. “So which side would you search first, Faith?” After Faith pointed to the left, I said, “If you’re right about your luck, we should start searching the other end.”

  Everyone laughed, but by unspoken agreement, we started digging on the right side of the cave.

  We each took short turns with the shovel. I’d only been at it about ten minutes when I noticed a softer spot in the dirt. I started digging with more enthusiasm, forgetting my blistered palms. I jumped when I heard a dull clunk about six inches down.

  “Hey, listen.” I poked the shovel into the soft spot again. The sound of the shovel striking something metal had everyone talking at once. I scooped off a shovelful of dirt, then we all crowded around, digging our hands into the soft soil.

  My enthusiasm for buried treasure was totally back. Excitement bubbled through my veins like fizzy water. My heart was racing. My fingers and toes were tingling. My head felt so light I wouldn’t be surprised if it floated off my shoulders and hit the roof. I laughed and wasn’t sure why, but the others all joined me. I couldn’t remember feeling this good.

  Olivia gave an excited sound of pleasure as the top of a small metal chest came into view. “Hey — Faith! It wasn’t the last place we looked!”

  Brady spared a moment to glance around the small cave where only a few feet of unexplored ground remained. He cleared his throat. “I think this counts as next to the last place.”

  “Oh, who cares,” Olivia said eagerly, brushing at the dirt still covering the chest.

  We all reached eager hands into the hole to pull it up. I began to laugh again. So many arms tangling and shoulders bumping were making it harder to get the chest out, not easier. Even knowing that, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. There were plenty of laughs and impatient exclamations as we tried, repeatedly, to tug the chest out of the ground.

  Finally, it came out of the hole with a sucking sound and a jerk that caused Brady to lose his balance, ending on his backside.

  “Open it!�
�� Olivia insisted breathlessly.

  Doug tugged on the top of the chest, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked,” he said, disappointed.

  “Try the hammer.” Instead of holding it out to Doug, Olivia raised the heavy hammer above her head and brought it down on the side of the chest. Nothing happened.

  Brady said, “Let me try.” He turned the hammer around and used the claw end, trying to pry it open.

  After several minutes of taking turns striking and prying at the top of the chest, we all realized we weren’t going to get it open. Doug said, “That’s not a regular lock. Maybe it’s locked with magic. We should take it to Ronny. Maybe she’ll know how to open it.”

  I sat back on the cave floor and Shadow came up beside me. “Where have you been?” I began to pet her, using the side of my hand. My palms were too tender to touch anything.

  “So now we’ve got to carry everything back with us, plus a heavy chest that may or may not have anything interesting in it?”

  “Oh, suck it up, Olivia,” Brady said cheerfully.

  She made a face, then as Pyg came to rest lightly on her shoulder, she said, “Ohhhh…fine.”

  I wasn’t sure if Brady knew Olivia well enough to recognize the excitement hidden under her grousing, but I did. Olivia couldn’t wait to get that chest back to Ronny.

  “We should head straight back.” Doug started gathering up the tools. “We’ve already been here a couple hours. I can’t wait to hear what Ronny says.” Rusty barked in agreement, suddenly at Doug’s side.

  “Sorry Shadow.” I stopped petting the purring cat and said, “Doug’s right, we’ve got to head back. Next time, we’ll explore the third tunnel and that space upstairs. Well, there aren’t any stairs, but you get it.” Shadow blinked at me, and I couldn’t tell if she understood or not.

  “I totally don’t care what we do next time,” Olivia exclaimed. “I just want to get back to Ronny and see what’s in the chest. My arms are killing me. There’d better be something worth all that work in here.”

  It took us a lot longer than sixty-four minutes to get back to the tree. The chest was too heavy for one person to carry. Unfortunately. I couldn’t believe how awkward it was for two people to carry something like that. When it was my turn, Doug held his side higher than I could, and my legs kept banging into the bottom of the chest.

  Doug told Rusty, “Right now, I almost wish you were a small horse or a llama, boy. Then you could help carry this thing.”

  Rusty barked and spun in a circle. “I could swear he’s laughing,” said Faith. “Look at his face. He’s grinning at you.”

  Shadow meowed and the owl hooted as if agreeing.

  By the time we got to the tree, I wasn’t sure whether it was my arms or my legs that hurt worse. Doug stepped in, dragging the chest after him. I went next, waving goodbye to Shadow.

  As soon as we were all back in Santa Ramona, I called Ronny. She agreed to pick us up in front of the cemetery and take us back to the house. None of us could wait to see what was in the chest.

  Chapter 32

  Another Man’s, Uh…Person’s Treasure

  I was amazed how much different Chris and Ronny’s house felt this time. The first time, everyone but Olivia looked uncomfortable. Now, we were all lounging back on the large couch, chattering excitedly, watching as Ronny looked over the chest sitting on her coffee table.

  She finally sat back with a sigh. “You are right, it is locked by magick.” She smiled at us and said “Although I cannot do major magick in Santa Ramona, I should be able to break this spell.”

  She leaned forward again and waved her hands over the top of the chest. After murmuring a few strange sounds, she traced a symbol in the air over the top of the chest. I could almost see it, as if the air had been charged somehow.

  I caught my breath as it seemed to shimmer there. I looked at Olivia and Faith, wondering if they saw it too. Olivia’s eyes sparkled and she was sitting forward on the edge of her seat, and Faith’s lip was in danger of being chewed off.

  Then Ronny dropped her hand, the vague impression of the symbol disappeared, and a shockingly loud splintering sound almost made me jump out of my own skin.

  I wasn’t the only one who gasped, loudly, when the top of the chest opened. Just a tiny crack.

  Ronny reached out, and then hesitated, her hand suspended about an inch away. She took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. We all sat forward, and it felt as if my whole body was vibrating with excitement. Ronny’s hand closed the distance, grasped the top of the chest and pulled it open, slowly.

  A strange musty scent wafted up from inside the chest, a smell of dust, mildew, old paper and dying grass. Ronny reached in and pulled out a handful of papers, rolled and tied with reeds. She opened them carefully, then riffled through, slowly at first, then more and more rapidly.

  Then she slapped the pages on the table and gave a frustrated growl. “These are also in code.” Her face sagged in disappointment.

  I jumped up to peer into the chest, then sighed when I saw there was nothing else in it, just moldy smelling papers.

  “I can make copies for both of us,” Brady said. He continued confidently, “Don’t worry. We’ll figure them out.”

  Ronny hesitated then passed the pages to Brady. “It looks like Ghalynn’s writing,” she said quietly. “So the map in his cabin did lead to a clue. But a clue to what?”

  I echoed Brady’s words, “We’ll figure it out. We’re going back next month to check out other parts of the cave. We may find more stuff.” I pointed to the pages in Brady’s hand. “And maybe we’ll find something to help us figure those out.”

  “You will let me know as soon as you have any information?” she asked Brady anxiously.

  I stood up and the others pulled themselves to their feet. “Don’t worry, we’ll let you know when we find anything.”

  Brady said, “I’ll bring the papers back this afternoon. It may take some time, but I know I can figure this out.”

  “Wait,” Ronny said. “This may help.” She jotted down several symbols and told him they would be the most common, like how ‘e’ or ‘a’ is used in English.

  “Thanks, that should help a lot! I’ll start on it tonight, but it could take a while since we’re back in school.”

  

  It felt weird to think of myself as an 8th grader who’d be turning thirteen in a couple weeks. Should it make a difference that we’d all be teenagers now? Ray certainly wasn’t acting any older. He’d spilled grape juice down the front of Faith’s favorite white shirt just that afternoon. She’d cried, but not where he could see it.

  A few times, Ray and Andrew provoked Doug into yelling at them, and Doug had to stay after school. As usual, they were able to convince everyone that they were the good kids, and Doug was the problem. Once, Ray and Andrew got Doug sent to the principal’s office. That time, Faith, Olivia and I all crowded into the office, vowing that Doug was protecting Faith from Andrew.

  It was clear the principal believed we were sticking up for our friend, but he had to let Doug go with all of us crowded into his office as witnesses. He obviously believed Ray and Andrew — he didn’t even remind them of the school rule against inappropriate behavior.

  On days when Doug had to stay after school, all of us waited and walked home together. I was convinced Ray and Andrew were trying to separate us. If he got one of us alone, he could try to force us to tell him about Chimera.

  We had to make sure that never happened!

  Chapter 33

  So, Who’s Stupid Now?

  The last Saturday in October, Brady was distracted as we hurried through the cemetery. I was just grateful we hadn’t seen the Rejects as we made our way quickly through the tree. This time, it was my turn to step out of the tree without ending up in the dirt.

  I’m getting better at this!

  I felt a rush of energy. Like I was suddenly stronger and faster and smarter. I remembered Brady insisting everything could be impor
tant and we should mention it, so I said, “It seems to be my turn to feel great in here.”

  It was way too early for Olivia, who merely grumbled. Brady said, “There must be a correlation. I’ll figure it out.”

  I managed not to roll my eyes, although that felt like it took superhuman strength. “Yeah, you do that.”

  As we started down the road, our familiars hurried to meet us with a chorus of barks, meows, hoots and squeaks. I scooped Shadow up in my arms, rubbing my chin against her soft fur.

  “I can’t believe the Rejects still don’t know about familiars. They don’t know what they’re missing.”

  Shadow purred and rubbed her head against my arm, as if in approval. Then she jumped down to the road and walked ahead to join Rusty.

  I told Shadow, “We need to get to the caves before the Rejects.” She meowed once, and then all the animals hurried on ahead. Actually, Ray and the others were only part of the reason I wanted to hurry. I didn’t want to waste any time getting to the cave. Who knew what else we would find.

  Most of the way there, Brady kept chattering on and on about the project he’d decided to use for the science fair, about cryptanalysis.

  “Cryptiwhatsis?” Olivia asked, her lip curled in confusion.

  Brady seemed surprised by her question. “Cryptanalysis? Um, code breaking.” He practically burst with excitement as he began to explain, “The creation and breaking of codes has an amazing history. I’ll describe the different types of codes and how they’re broken. It’s going to be a great project. This year I could take first place!”

  I hadn’t known there was a state competition for science geeks. I hoped for his sake he could win. Clearly, it meant as much to Brady as soccer did to Faith.

  Then he started describing his project in detail.

  Will he be offended if I yawn? ‘Cause much more of this and we’ll find out.

  Actually, it might have been sort of interesting, but he used so many technical descriptions I could feel my eyes glazing over.

  Then he started in on the future, and what computers would allow him to do. He was practically bouncing with each step, gesturing widely and speaking so fast none of us could have gotten a word in if we tried.