Jim took a look with Jay. Turning the pages, they saw the story of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, the O'Neill's home town. Jay asked Jim, "Did you ever pay much attention to this history? This was a really big deal. Three hundred people slaughtered in our home town in 1863."
"I never went in for history much," replied Jim. "Yeah, that was pretty bad."
"Look at this, dad. Jay pointed to the colored squares depicting the story. It has Quantrill hooking up with Mosby, Confederate soldier, who stole a treasure from a Union officer named Stoughton. Mosby says here in the comic, 'You're my prisoner! Where's your treasure? I heard you got jewels and gold you took from the Southern plantation owners!'"
"Oh, so he's the Robin Hood type!" said Jim.
"I guess. Rob from the rich, give back to the poor Confederates," said Jay. "Ok, so now Mosby takes the treasure and finds out that the Union soldiers are up ahead. He decides to bury it between two pine trees and marks it with an X," said Jay following the pictures with his finger. "Then here it has Quantrill overhearing Mosby tell the treasure story and running off to find it, of course. But he never does. Then more ...here Quantrill gets shot. Mosby never goes back to get his treasure."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Jim.
"Aren't there two pine trees in this yard?" asked Jay.
"Yes, there are, son," replied Jim. "And they're right behind this barn. Let's get the shovels."
If this comic book was a clue, they had certainly hit the jackpot. They began digging at midnight. By 12:30 they had dug deep enough to hit something hard. The two pulled out a faded, green wooden box about eighteen inches by twelve inches and four inches deep. There was a lock in the front which looked like it could be opened by a skeleton key. They shook it and heard a scraping sound. Something hard and metallic was in there. The guys could hardly keep from screaming out but they managed to keep their cries of jubilation sotto voce, just above a whisper. They danced around each other in a circle there in the yard behind the barn, laughing. As long as they were next to the fields, their success was witnessed by no one.
"Should we break it open?" asked Jay.
"I don't think so. This isn't just treasure anymore. Now it's our ticket to get Adrianna free. The gang, or whoever hired them, might want it undamaged."
"So we offer it to them. But if they don't have the key, they'd have to smash it open too. In that case they might not want to give Adrianna up," said Jay.
"And if that's true, then we have to find the key," reasoned Jim.
"You know, dad. I was thinking, what if Adrianna didn't really lose the key. What if she just said that."
"Oh, no," said Jim. "Why would she say that? The only motivation she would have had for telling a big, bad dude like him that she had the key and lost it, would be that she is truthful. She's truthful beyond fear, beyond shame. I didn't realize it before that moment, but your sister is a remarkable child."
Jay sat silent.
"And for the record, you are too," Jim said as he put his arm around Jay's shoulder. "Let's get some sleep back here in the field. But first we need to cover up this hole. Tomorrow morning we can hear if they come back. And if they do, they still haven't found the key. You ready?"
"Sure," said Jay. "I feel like a pirate." They covered up the hole and put the shovel back into the barn. The night was warm and there were no clouds in the sky. Just to avoid any discovery, the guys decided to sleep in the field with the treasure box close beside them.
The next morning they woke to the sun signaling about 8:00 am. Jim turned on his cell. It was 7:45. They decided to move further along the field to the north with the box so that they would have a better view of the front of the house. They could decide there whether to call the police to get the biker's number. The cops undoubtedly had it but shouldn't know that the O'Neills would expect them to have it. If the police knew that Jim was aware of their corruption, it could go badly for him. While they waited in the north field for something to happen, Jim thought about Adrianna and the lost key. Adrianna had a funny habit with her things. If she had a special toy or object, she would be careful about keeping it safe. That's why the guys had trusted her with the key in the first place. "It's safe and sound," she would always say.
Now Jim remembered a locket that Anne, Adrianna's mother, had given her. Adrianna found a very special place to keep it safe. She had tucked it away inside a tiny doll pillow and hid the pillow in her closet. Oh, the tears that flowed when she couldn't find it after a month or so. She had forgotten exactly where she had put it and it couldn't be found because it was just too good of a hiding place. There was another time that she put some special candy in a drawer in the kitchen, buried beneath a pile of old hot pads. One day during a spring cleaning, Anne had found the sticky, gooey candy stuck all over the hot pads. Adrianna had forgotten this very secret hiding place tucked too far away. He thought about this key. I bet she has put it in a very good hiding place and can't remember or won't be able to dig deep enough to find this treasure again. She had been quiet in the car. That would make sense for Adrianna to think up a hiding spot while they were driving. I wonder if the bikers thought to look in the car? If I could get access to my own car, Jim thought with frustration, I might find the key.
Just then his SUV came into view. It traveled slowly down the street with only a driver, a thirty something woman with unkempt, red hair. And she was alone. Jim thought quickly that if he could get this woman inside the house and distracted, maybe Jay could keep her busy while he searched the car. The woman got out and walked around to the back of the house.
"Jay, I'm going to look in the car for the key. Go in the back yard and keep that woman busy with any story you can come up with. She didn't lock my car so I can get in. Hurry!"
Jay sprinted around to the back of the house. Jim ran to the SUV and got in the back seat where Adrianna had been sitting. He began feeling in the cracks of the seats, underneath the carpet, in the side pockets. He could hear the voices of Jay and the woman in conversation. Jim felt the roof of the space. Nothing there. Time was running out. Adrianna's hands were small and could fit where adult hands could not. Where might she have stashed it? And now he remembered the new features on these vehicles. They were equipped with a secret compartment underneath the seats. Could it possibly be hidden there? He didn't know where else to look. He flipped up the back seat and opened the compartment. There was the blue felt cloth with the key still inside. He put the wrapped key in his pocket. How could Adrianna have gotten that key in there? Feeling like a criminal in his own car, Jim quickly scanned the rest of the vehicle. His keys were in the ignition! He went around and got in the front seat. Should he get Jay out here so they could drive away or should he just take the keys so no one else could drive it? He looked around. Fast food wrappers on the floor, cigarette butts in the ashtray. What else do they have in here? He opened the glove compartment. There was the pistol he had used the other night. He checked to see if it was loaded. It was. As though the decision was being made for him, Jay and the woman came out from behind the house and walked toward the car. She stopped short when she saw Jim. Then she began walking again. Jay was lagging behind and to the side of her. When the woman got closer, Jim got out of the car, pointing the loaded gun at her.
"I guess you are the girlfriend of the leader," said Jim.
"You got that right, babe. What are you going to do with me?" she asked. "I guess junior here is not really walking the neighborhood, getting donations for childhood cancer."
"Guess not. Why are you here alone?" Jim asked.
"I'm the runner. I came to pick something up," she replied.
"They were supposed to come back this morning, with my daughter."
"Well they can't get going without their morning tweek. She held up a plastic bag. "They left it here last night."
"I see," said Jim. "I need you to do something for me."
The redhead smirked, "I can only imagine."
Jay shifted uncomfortably
and kept his distance.
"I need you to arrange a deal. I want my daughter back. I have everything they want and I will exchange those two things for my daughter, unharmed," Jim said holding the gun steady.
"Do you want me to call him?" she asked.
"That would make sense. Tell them to get over here with no weapons. We will give him two, no three things he wants."
She called her boyfriend to relay the information. "The guy says no weapons." She took the phone away from her ear and spoke to Jim. "He's laughing," she said. She went back to the phone. "He has the gun pointed at my head...Ok." She hung up. "He said they'd be right over."
"Jay, please get the item and bring it here," asked Jim. Jay went to the field. Fifteen minutes later, the bikers showed up. The leader and Adrianna were on one Harley. "Cowboy boots" and Dusty were on the other. Jim backed up and motioned the bikers to join the girlfriend. Adrianna got off the bike and ran to her daddy. Jim kept the gun pointed at the group.
"It's cool," said the leader.
"I have the key, and the treasure."
"Let's have it before I change my mind," said the leader.
"Jay, set it down in front of them," said Jim. Jay set the box down.
"And the lost key?"
Jim tossed the blue felt wrap, key inside. "I was thinking that we could smash it open but I thought your boss might not like that."
"My boss?" replied the biker.
"Yeah, the cops or the 'man,'" said Jim.
"Time to go." The leader picked up the box and shook it. "Groovy." He headed for the bikes.
"By the way," said Jim. "Your other bike is over there." Jim nodded toward the back field.
"Oh, you're the slime who stole my bike!" spit Dusty. "We was looking all over for it."
"We'll give you an escort, Dusty," said the leader. "Get on." The four of them rode away on the south road to retrieve the motorcycle. Jim kept the gun steady. Once the four had left on the three bikes and were well out of sight, Jim dropped the gun and held Adrianna tight. The pent up tears rushed down his face.
"Adrianna, honey, did anyone hurt you in any way," asked Jim. He dreaded any bad news but he had to hear the answer.
"No, daddy," she said in a small voice. "They just left me alone. And he drove our car really fast and that made me scared."
"Didn't you go out looking for the key?" asked Jay.
"No, we just went to the house and looked around inside. I didn't think I lost it there," said Adrianna.
"But didn't you hide it...to keep it safe? I found it in the car, under the passenger floor, in a storage bin."
"No, daddy. It fell out of my pocket. It must have slid somewhere. I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything wrong," soothed Jim. But he wondered if the stress had caused Adrianna to blank out what she had done. She must have put it in the storage compartment when they had gone out for ice cream or on the way to the house that night. Well, we have her back and she's safe. That's all that matters. We'll go home and put this nightmare out of our minds.
Jim said, "I think we should drive out of this town and get some breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, anyone?"
"Yeah, dad. I agree the sooner we get away from here the better," said Jay nervously.
Jim noticed. "What's the matter?" he replied.
Jay said, "We may have a problem."
"No, don't tell me of anymore problems," sighed Jim.
"Dad, there was a secret compartment in the bottom of that treasure box."
"Yeah, and...?" Jim groaned.
"I saw a button on the side of the box. So I pushed it and this skinny drawer snapped open at the bottom. Naturally, I looked inside. There was a small pamphlet or a booklet - about ten pages long."
"So, you think that they might realize that they're missing something? I really doubt it. They wanted treasure. They said they wanted treasure. Whatever was in there, treasure or no, they got it. They have no reason to believe there was anything else. Besides it can't be anything. It's probably a pamphlet on women's suffrage or some archaic booklet like that. Throw it away next chance you get. I don't even want to see it. I've had enough of secrets, thank you."
They drove to a small town about ten miles west of Sterling. Adrianna could pick the spot, said Jim. She had it coming to her. A nice little brunch awaited them at a cozy restaurant covered in ivy with colorful flower beds around the entrance. They scarfed down several helpings of waffles, french toast, and, of course, lots of bacon. When they were finished, the kids looked around in the gift shop. Jim picked up the morning paper. The headline read, "Presidential Candidates - First Debate, Chicago". The two candidates were Gerald McCann and Brian Foster. Jim didn't have a strong opinion of either one. He generally mistrusted politicians. But this was the election that really mattered. He'd have to vote. He'd have to start paying attention too. He considered himself an Independent. He could be swayed either way. The kids came out of the gift shop.
"What a cute little shop this is!" cried Adrianna.
Jay gave his little sister a mock smile. "You're such a girl, Adrianna."
"And aren't we glad to have all 55 inches of this girl back with us again!" laughed Jim as he hugged his daughter.
"There are all kinds of cute little statues and pretty cards in here. Can we buy something, daddy?" she pleaded.
"Sure, honey. Jay, you can pick something out too if you like," said Jim.
Adrianna picked out a yellow and red butterfly window ornament. Jim thought Adrianna seemed to be happier, her old self.
He couldn't remember the last time he had really laughed. It would be so good to be on their way home. Home where life was normal. No more treasure hunts. No more thugs. He regretted now setting out on this trip. Grandpa set up a classic mystery for them but it wasn't worth the trouble.
Jay and Adrianna went out into the sunshine. As Jim paid the bill he noticed a man in a dark suit staring intently at him from across the restaurant. That's creepy, he thought. He got his change and left hurriedly out the door.
"No more bikers, no more crooks
No more outlaws dirty ...what rhymes with crooks?" asked Adrianna.
Jay said, "I don't know. But that reminds me that we have the whole rest of the summer off of school."
"What?" asked Jim.
"No more teachers' dirty looks, from the old rhyme, you know, dad," said Jay.
"I want a quiet, restful summer from here on," said Adrianna. "Dad, can we get a dog?"
"I wouldn't exactly call getting a dog, quiet and restful," replied Jim.
Everyone settled into their driving routine. Jay put on his ear buds. Adrianna grabbed her book and blanket and snuggled up in the back seat. And Jim promised himself not to worry.
"Let's say a prayer of thanks, you guys. We made it through a very tough time. And you were right, Jay, we were not alone. Not for one minute." They got back on the highway heading west. Jim glanced at his children sitting safe in their car. He was grateful. Things could have turned out very differently.
"You know, dad," said Jay. "We could extend our vacation a little. We had planned on staying out here longer. We don't have to be home for any reason. And, Chicago is only two hours away. What do you say? We've never been there. Cool stuff...the bean, Navy Pier, museums..."
"Yeah, dad!" agreed Adrianna. "Why not? It sounds like fun!"
Jim thought about it. It might be nice to keep the celebratory mood going for awhile. No dog to come home to, yet. "All right, you two. I wouldn't mind showing you around Chicago and discovering some new places too. I haven't been there in quite a while."
"Yay!" shouted both kids.
Jim said, "You know my cousin lives there? We could look him up. In fact maybe I'll give him call now."
"I'll get him for you dad since you're driving. Is he in your contacts? What's his name again? Trey?"
"That's right. Trey Wilson. He's my mom's nephew, her brother's son. I don't think you've ever met him. We saw each other more when we were kid
s."
"Ok, got him. It's dialing," Jay handed Jim the phone.
"Jim?" the voice on the other end said.
"Trey, is that you?" replied Jim.
"Hey! Long time! What's going on with you?" said Trey.
Jim caught Trey up on the family vacation story without too may details. "We did run into some serious trouble. These guys were evidently working for somebody. They ended up taking Adrianna for a few hours to get more information. But we got her back. And yes, she's all right. Pretty scared but ok now."
"That is some wild story. I always heard your grandfather was an interesting guy, but I had no idea how interesting. So, you're on your way to the big city, huh? You absolutely have to stay with me. I've got a great view of Lake Michigan, right downtown."
Jim protested, "You can't have room for all three of us. It's too much of an imposition."
"No, I insist. Give the phone to your son. He can put in the address. I'll be there by 6." answered Trey.
Jim thought about some of the old times with his cousin. They saw each other on holidays. After dinner, they'd go out sledding or throw together a football game with Trey's friends. Then they'd talk and catch up on what was going on in each others' lives. Trey was a bright guy who had gone on to Perdue and graduated in Business. Now he worked in corporate real estate and could afford an apartment overlooking Lake Michigan, downtown. This seemed like a good plan. The kids would enjoy a couple of days in Chicago and the weather would be fair. The "windy city" should be tame without the winter winds, Jim thought.
The O'Neills got some Chinese food on Adams St. at the start of Route 66. They had parked in Trey's building and were waiting to see him.
"These buildings are a lot taller than they are at home," said Adrianna, craning her neck to look up.
"And across the street are the lions guarding the Art Institute," said Jim. There are a lot of famous paintings in there! But we better get over to meet Trey. It's almost 6."
They passed a news stand on the street. Jim noticed the headline, "Fireworks Expected in Tuesday's Debate". Jim was reminded of the paper he saw earlier in Sterling. He stopped to look at the picture of candidate McCann. He was wearing a yellow golf jacket which had a distinctive patch on the right side. It couldn't be, thought Jim. There was the Quant emblem unmistakably bold on the jacket.
Treasures of Darkness Box Set Page 5