Searching For Treasure

chapter 10

Nobody noticed Dana and Rose scooting back onto the courtyard, casting nervous glances behind them. Jack had finished the freshly made ice cream and was scooping it into bowls. Noah was finishing a joke: "Two potatoes are standing on a street corner. One of them is a prostitute. How do you know which one it is? She's the one wearing a sticker that says "Id-a-Ho". Everyone groaned. "I've got a million of them."

Josie laughingly clapped a hand over his mouth. "That's what we're afraid of."

Jack gave Dana a quick look as he handed her a bowl. "What's wrong? You look a little pale."

"I'll tell you about it later,”she whispered.

Oscar settled comfortably into his chair. "I'm afraid I've become a little spoiled. I doubt that I will ever again find another group of guests as warm and compatible as all of you."

Henry licked his spoon. "What about Brett and Austin?"

"Fortunately, they pretty much kept to themselves. It might have been a different story if they had wanted to socialize."

Rose huffed. "You mean we would have been hiding out in our rooms to get away from them?"

"Rose, that's just mean,”Grace chided her.

"So?"

Dana scraped out the last bit of ice cream from her bowl and handed it back to Jack who silently refilled it. "Are you still going to open the castle up to paying guests now that you know about the antiques?" she asked.

"I'm not sure yet. What I really want to do is try to restore Raven Keep Castle to her original glory. I'm hoping that the sale of a few selected antiques might allow me to at least begin. When I pass, I plan to leave the castle in trust to an historical society. Hopefully, they will be able to continue the work and then eventually open it up to the public."

"Oscar, you've got a lot of years left,”Henry declared forcefully. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it yourself."

Giving up his post by the ice cream, Jack lifted Dana out of her chair, sat down and then pulled her onto his lap, where she immediately made herself at home. "I can just see you as a tour guide, Oscar, telling people about the history of the castle and stories about ghosts and treasure. D, remember that old guy at Shadows-on-the-Teche?"

"Yeah, and that lady at Kate Chopin's house. Jack's right, a really great guide can make all the difference. Jack and I have seen bigger or prettier houses than those, but we remember them particularly because of the guide. Someone who enjoys people and who not only knows, but loves their subject the way you do, can be the highlight of the whole visit."

"Then you wouldn't have to worry about die-hard treasure hunters like Brett and Austin who would just as soon dismantle the place than enjoy it,”added Henry.

Warming up to her ideas, Dana continued, "And if you really wanted to keep it open for guests, you could maybe just have it as a bed-and-breakfast."

"It would be a shame to waste the talents of Mrs. Babineaux,”Henry said with a laugh. "Maybe you could have reservation-only special dinners from time to time."

Grace joined in eagerly. "Maybe around Halloween you could have a Haunted Weekend. And at Christmas you could do a candlelight tour."

Oscar held up his hands in surrender. "Please, please, you've given me a lot to think about. I want to thank you all."

The two teenagers had quickly lost interest in the discussion about the future of Raven Keep Castle and had been having their own conversation. During a lull, all heads turned when they heard Josie say loudly, "Now I know you're lying."

"I'm not! Dana, tell her I'm not lying."

"He's not lying,”she replied obediently. "What did you say now?"

"We were talking about movies and I told them that Jack can connect anyone with anyone through movies."

Dana grinned and looked up at Jack. "Actually, that's true. Well, maybe not anyone with anyone, but he can connect anyone in the movies. Once he even connected Gandhi with Hitler."

"But they weren't in the movies,”Josie protested.

"No, but they were portrayed in the movies. Jack, how did it go again?"

Jack gently bit her ear in retaliation. Dana chuckled, knowing that Jack was always reluctant about demonstrating what he referred to as his freakish gift. Dana had always found it fascinating. "Gandhi was played by Ben Kingsley who was in 'Schindler's List' with Liam Neeson who co-starred with Jodie Foster in 'Nell' who was in 'Silence of the Lambs' with Anthony Hopkins who once played Hitler in a TV-movie called 'The Bunker'."

Dana smiled proudly at everyone. "Isn't that cool?"

Grace was just as delighted. "That was wonderful! Do it again."

"Wait a minute. He already had that one figured out." Josie was not yet ready to give up her doubts. "One of us needs to pick names."

"All right,”said Henry. "I'll do one. Connect Hugh Grant to Cary Grant."

"That one's easy. Hugh Grant was in 'Mickey Blue Eyes' with James Caan who was in 'El Dorado' with Robert Mitchum who was in 'The Grass is Greener' with Cary Grant."

Josie grumbled, "I've never even heard of those movies. You're trying to trick me."

"It's not a trick,”Dana insisted. "It's just the way his brain is wired. The names kind of connect themselves across his mind like a map. Sometimes, though, they don't come so easily and he has to study and stew for awhile." She kissed his chin. "Then he gets cranky."

Jack shrugged. "It's a mental exercise. Some people do crossword puzzles."

A companionable silence descended on the group. Jack took the opportunity to surreptitiously explore the area under Dana's left ear with his tongue.

Josie broke the silence first. "Hey, I know. Tell us one of your ghost stories, Uncle Oscar." Dana and Rose traded looks.

"Yeah, Uncle Oscar,”Noah agreed. "Tell us a good one." In a few words Noah had quietly announced that Oscar had become an unofficial part of the family.

Oscar was clearly deeply touched by the gesture and for a moment seemed unable to speak. He cleared his throat noisily. "Yes, well, all right. It isn't about Raven Keep Castle, but I have a story I think you ladies will like."

"Is it about tragic young lovers?" Grace asked.

"No, but it is about a woman of fire and spirit, much like the women I have been privileged to spend time with this weekend. How should I begin?" Oscar paused to collect his thoughts and then began. "It is a about a passionate, tempestuous and unconventional woman of Spanish descent who married the owner of a grand plantation named Chretienne Point. When her husband died of yellow fever, Felicite Chretienne, a most capable woman, had no qualms whatsoever about taking over the management of the plantation, in which she proved to be quite adept.

The pirate Jean Lafitte was a friend and frequent guest in her home. However, when Lafitte died, so too died the protection he had provided his homeowner friends from his band of pirate cutthroats. One night, they broke into Chretienne Point to rob and steal. They saw Felicite standing at the head of her grand staircase. The first pirate climbed the stairs to meet her. She calmly drew a pistol and shot him between the eyes, blowing his head off!"

Grace gasped. "Good heavens!"

"The pirates, cowardly lot that they were, fled in fear from a single woman with a single gun, as their pirate compatriot tumbled down the staircase, spraying blood as he fell." Oscar's voice dropped almost to a whisper. "Some say she still guards her home from that marauding pirate. On some nights, you can hear a pistol shot and the sound of a body falling down the stairs. The bloodstains from the murdered man still remain on the staircase, unable to be washed away. And on the nights when you hear the shot, the blood becomes fresh once again."

Each of his listeners shivered in delight at a good story well told. By this time it was getting late and everyone was ready to turn in. Oscar placed his hand on Dana's arm as she walked past. "I just wanted to say, Noah is, well, you've raised a special young man."

Dana smiled and touched him on the cheek. "He doesn't bring home strays, Oscar. Only the best for his family."

Oscar sniffed. "Damn allergies. Well, goodnight, Dana."

At the top of the stairs Dana turned towards her room and felt Jack's hand tugging in the other direction. She looked at him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Jack struggled to keep a straight face. "To my room."

"Like hell you are."

Jack released his grin. His token resistance spent, he allowed himself to be led meekly through her door.

*****

"You mean you actually saw him?" It was some time later and they were both sitting cross-legged on the bed playing a rather sexy version of thumb wrestling. "Just Cedric?"

"I'd like to say big as life, but somehow that doesn't seem appropriate."

"I wonder what the story is behind what you saw."

"Oscar said there was no story."

"No wonder he always looked so cryptic whenever Just Cedric's name came up."

Tired of the game, Jack stretched out on his side, propping his head on his fist. Changing the subject, he said, "You know there is going to be a lot of 'I told you so' going on when we get home."

Dana matched his pose on the bed. "Do you care?"

"Not I. You?"

"Only in that I hate to be proved wrong. But in this case,”she murmured as she leaned in for a kiss, "I'm happy to make an exception."

They gazed at each other for long moments as he stroked his hand up and down her thigh. How did she not see, she wondered, and not for the first time, that she loved this man with her whole heart? "I'm such a moron for not figuring this, us, out before now,”she told him.

"Yeah, but you're a beautiful moron."

Dana's lips twitched. "You've never thought I was beautiful before."

"Sure I did. I just thought it best to keep it to myself."

"Uh-huh." Dana cocked her head in memory. "On second thought, you did tell me that one other time."

Jack was surprised. "I did? When?"

"When I popped Tommy Rosen in the nose for picking on Bridget Haas. You said I had a beautiful right cross."

Laughing, Jack fell over on his back, rolling Dana over until she was on top of him. He smiled at her softly, rubbing his thumb erotically across her bottom lip. "You are beautiful, D. You are so beautiful sometimes it takes my breath away."

Now embarrassed by the intensity in his eyes, she tried for a light answer. "Nah, I just scrub up good."

"I'm being serious."

Ashamed of her flippancy, she ducked her head and nuzzled his neck. "I know,”she whispered. She paused for a moment. "Jack, I'm sorry."

He lifted her face to look at him. "Why?"

"For waiting until now."

"Maybe the time wasn't right until now."

She placed a kiss in the hollow of his throat. "The time has been right for you."

"It had to be right for both of us, D. If the time wasn't right for you, then the time wasn't right for me."

"I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too, Dana." The kiss they shared was long and lingering, leaving both of them breathless. Dana pulled away reluctantly with a groan, rolled off the bed and picked up her robe. "Where are you going?"

"Be sure and mark your place. I have to go to the bathroom."

Jack buried his face into her pillow and peeked out. "I miss you already,”he mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah." Dana opened the door and danced out singing.

A few minutes later as Dana was washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure she knew who the woman looking back at her even was anymore. So much had changed in such a short time. Yet at the same time she still felt as comfortable around Jack as she always had. Maybe things weren't so different after all.

Throwing up her hands in defeat, Dana decided to stop trying to analyze it and just enjoy it. She loved Jack. Jack loved her. Simple. Clicking off the light, she headed back down the hall.

At first she thought she imagined the broken pieces of sound, a somber thread of tones. But she heard it again, a touch louder this time, music that seemed to ache with loss. Sad and forlorn, it spoke of pain and sorrow and wounds that scarred the soul. At first she thought it was all around her. No, wait, it was coming from the music room.

Hardly aware of what she was doing, Dana found herself padding down the hall towards the source of the sound. Dimly, she remembered that Oscar had once mentioned ghostly music in the music room as one of the reputed hauntings associated with the castle. She also knew that it was probably the easiest thing in the world to fake.

Dana paused at the door. Even though she believed it was a trick, another attempt by person or persons unknown to scare them, Dana felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest. The music seemed to rise and fall like breathing and it echoed strangely in the room. Dana felt the hairs along her neck stir. She started to turn to go back when a strange light caught her eye. It seemed to be dancing over the keys of the piano in the center of the room, as if playing a forgotten tune of long ago. It beckoned to something in her. Curiosity, perhaps? Or something else? It drew her closer.

Taking a deep breath, Dana entered the room. She took one step, two, then three, her gaze never wavering from the light on the piano keys. But she took one step too far when she walked face first into the largest spider web she'd ever encountered.

The threads enveloped her, her arms, her face; she felt them in her mouth when she sucked in breath to shriek. Her fingers frantically clawed at the fibers on her skin. But the air froze painfully in her throat when she felt an unfamiliar presence at her back.

Unable to move, unable to scream, every part of her felt frozen except where she felt a hot breath on the back of her head. Her heart had stopped in her chest, she couldn't breathe, her mind shut down, unwilling to even imagine what was standing behind her. She heard a sinister hissing, strangely like laughter. Harsh words were spoken into her ear. Then she felt a scorching tongue and teeth on her neck.