Searching For Treasure

chapter 13

"I was in the bathroom,”Mark told everyone with an almost apologetic shrug. "When I came out, I heard Austin's voice. I knew he was supposed to be gone, so I decided to check it out. He was looking the other way, holding onto Miss Dana. He didn't see me. He…he sounded like he wanted to kill her." He shrugged again, as if to say‘The rest you know’.

It had taken both Jack and Noah to convince Dana to lay down her poker. Reluctantly, she allowed them to take it from her, never once taking her eyes off of Austin. Oscar had yelled to Josie to call the police and had magically produced a rope from somewhere. Austin had been quickly restrained with little effort and shepherded downstairs. The fight had gone out of him, completely demoralized from being bested by a woman and a fourteen-year-old boy.

Now everyone was back in the dining room, and the breakfast items had been cleaned away. They had been giving their statements to the inspector himself. Mark was the last.

Jack had been leaning against the wall watching Dana watch Mark tell his story. She was nibbling on a leftover sausage patty wrapped in a pancake, having rather missed breakfast. Jack still hadn't calmed down from their fight upstairs when they all heard a new fight complete with screaming. He was sure every hair in his head had turned white from the horrors his mind had conjured up before he reached the top of the stairs.

What he hadn't expected was to find Dana playing G.I. Jane with a fireplace tool. His nervous system was still vibrating from the emotional cocktail of adrenaline, fear and relief. He wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled. Then he wanted to make love to her until they rattled again.

But it didn't seem as if he'd get his chance to do either anytime soon. Despite his casual words upstairs, Noah had been severely shaken by what had almost happened to his sister. Noah hovered protectively behind her chair. He frequently reached out and touched her arm, shoulder or hair as if to reassure himself that she was really there.

"What I want to know," Rose said, "is how he has been getting into the castle."

Grace clutched her throat. "To think that pervert has been wandering these halls at night while we slept! Do you think he's been peeking at us?"

Rose's eyes twinkled. "Well,”she drawled, "you can always hope."

"Ladies, please," the inspector interrupted tiredly. "Let's get back on the subject."

"Mark has already told you all he knows about it, Inspector Wilcox." Henry, his face a strange mixture of fear and pride, patted his grandson's arm reassuringly. "He only came in at the ass end of this whole thing."

The inspector turned once again to Dana. "Miss Parker, maybe you can clarify some things for me."

"I'll try."

"Fine, fine. Now according to your statement, Austin had rigged the widow's walk to fall."

"That's what he said. He was trying to get everyone out of the castle so he could look for the treasure that he believed to be here."

Inspector Wilcox cast a dirty look at Oscar. "Well, you run that risk when you tell people you have treasure in your home."

Dana was quick to the defense. "But Oscar told us that first night that he believed the stories about Roan Davis to be just that. Stories. And in spite of everything, I'm not convinced they're still not."

"What is this about a letter?" Noah asked.

Oscar spoke up. "According to legend, Davis was supposed to have left a letter leaving clues to where he had hidden his treasure."

"And Austin said he had found this letter, although I didn't see it," Dana said.

"According to what he told my partner,”the inspector said,“he found it hidden inside of an old picture frame he bought at a nearby garage sale. So if he had directions to the treasure, why did he need everyone to leave?"

Jack spoke up. "My guess is that beyond the location of the castle, he hadn't been able to figure out the clues. So he needed to hunt. And there were just too many people around to hunt the way he wanted to. And with all of us at least playing like we were looking for treasure, too, he probably felt like time was against him."

"So stage an accident, everyone goes home or to the hospital and he is free to look around," Inspector Wilcox said.

Dana shrugged. "That's what he said, too."

"But the accident didn't happen the way he planned. Which leads me to,”the inspector glanced at his notes, he shook his head in disbelief, "dancing chickens?"

"I'm afraid that's my fault, too,”declared Oscar. His friends protested loudly. "No, I was the one who told stories not only of treasure but of ghosts as well. Austin obviously decided to use-"

"Oh, balls!" Rose stated hotly. Josie looked at her in surprise and giggled. "Hogwash. Horse puckey. Nothing makes me madder than someone trying to take the blame for what some other ignoramus tries to pull. None of this is your fault, Oscar. This is all Austin and Brett. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-damn-dumb."

"By the way" said Dana, "Austin said that Brett was waiting in the car. Did you find him?"

"Yes, yes," the inspector said impatiently. "We have him in custody, too. Now-"

"So, what did he have to say?" Grace asked the inspector. "I always thought he had a shifty look."

"He admitted to everything except he claims he never played a part in trying to hurt anyone."

Henry snorted. "Oh, yeah, he's Simon pure."

"Please let me get back to the subject," the inspector said.

"Austin was just stupid, man," Noah jeered. "Trying to scare people with phony ghosts. We see scarier stuff on TV."

"Well, Noah, I was pretty scared last night," Dana said.

"And I thought that poltergeist looked pretty realistic,”breathed Grace.

"Yeah, but, scary is one thing and scary enough to leave in the middle of the night is another. He's read too many books, or something," Noah said.

"People, please!"

Everyone fell silent. "Yes, Inspector Wilcox?" Oscar asked. "You had a question?"

The inspector sighed. "I thought I did."

Dana leaned forward. "Inspector Wilcox, you said that Austin told you about the letter. Did he tell you how he had been getting back into the castle?"

The inspector again looked at his notes. "Yes, he said that the letter told of a secret door."

Oscar was stunned. "What? I have never come across any references to a secret door in all of my research."

"According to Austin, the door is in the back of the castle and was originally used as a way to sneak out for nighttime romps with female servants. Austin said it is directly in line with the ruins of some servant quarters."

"I saw those from Josie's bedroom," remembered Dana. "The door must be directly below."

"Austin said that according to the letter, this was the door Roan Davis used to come and go as he committed his crimes. The letter claimed that Davis found it by accident."

"Maybe,”suggested Jack, "The reason you never found any reference to it, was because it was secret. The master of the castle might not have wanted his wife to know about his nocturnal activities. But women are notoriously nosy. If he had written it down somewhere, she would have found out about it." Every set of female eyes in the room glared at him. "Well, am I lying?"

"So,”Dana mused, "if Roan Davis was so forthcoming with all of this information, why didn't he just say where the treasure is?"

Jack looked at her thoughtfully. "I know that look, D. You have a theory."

"It was the way the note in the fireplace safe was worded. 'Find the lock for this key and the laugh is on me.' I think there is no lock for that key. I think the reason Austin never figured out the clues in the letter was because they were phony. I think the reason Davis never told anyone where to find his treasure was because there was no treasure to find. I think this is just a one-hundred and fifty year old practical joke."

But even as Dana said this, she frowned, thinking of the lights that led her to the safe. Would those lights, whatever they were, have tried so hard to communicate with her just to perpetuate a joke?

Henry whistled. "Kind of a he-who-laughs-last-laughs-best type of thing? Hint there was a treasure, leave phony clues and then laugh all through the afterlife while fools like Austin look for it?"

"Something like that," Dana said. Put that way, maybe perpetuating a joke was as good a reason as any.

The Inspector went over their stories, rehashing them, picking out points for clarification for about another hour. Once he was satisfied he left with Austin and his partner in tow. Henry slumped back in his chair. "Well! This beats all I've ever seen. Mark, boy, I'm too old for this kind of excitement."

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. But I really didn't do so much. I though I was protecting Miss Dana, but ends up she protected me,”he said dejectedly.

"Hey, you." Dana took his hand and kissed it. Mark blushed to his hair roots. "Austin had a knife on me. If it weren’t for you knocking the knife out of the way, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do anything. That makes you my hero." They didn't think Mark could blush any harder but he did.

Henry checked the bruise Austin left on Mark's face for about the twentieth time. "This is going to be the mother of all shiners, boy. We'll have to slap a steak on it when we get home."

"I had him down, Grandpa. I had my whole weight on him."

"There's a lot more to fightin' than weight. It's knowing how to use that weight. There's also experience and sneakiness and meanness. On those Austin just had you outclassed."

"I wish you all could have seen Miss Dana. She was awesome. I told her to run, but she wouldn't."

"I've spent the last several years of my life taking care of a teenage boy, Mark. I guess I never got out of the habit." Dana looked around the table brightly. "I wonder when lunch will be."

Jack's eyes popped in disbelief. "Lunch? Jeepers creepers, lunch?"

Dana sighed. She had hoped she could wait to do her groveling when Jack was less in the mood to let her. "Shush up, you,”she commanded, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the kitchen. "Excuse us folks, Jack and I need to have a conversation."

Silently she led him through the kitchen and out onto the back porch. Jack eyed her skeptically, wary of her meekness and seeming willingness to let him rant. He opened his mouth to do just that when she totally floored him with, "I'm sorry, Jack." Throwing herself into his arms, she kissed him urgently, raining kisses on his face, mouth, throat, repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Jack tightened his arms around her, burying his hands into her hair. Dana, tired of standing on tiptoe, pulled herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist. She encircled his neck with her arms and buried her face in his throat. Jack stroked her back with comforting hands.

"Hey, D, you really know how to kill a good mad." Dana looked at him with such a tragic expression he almost dropped her in surprise. "Hey, what's this? Delayed reaction?"

"All I kept thinking about was that I didn't want to die and have our last words to be angry ones. I'm sorry for what I said, I'm sorry we didn't leave when you wanted to, and I'm sorry I put you through this." She buried her face in his shirt.

"Oh, Dana, it's Okay. Shh-shh. D, look at me." He lifted her face to meet his gaze. He caressed her face tenderly. "We're going to fight sometime, D. That's what couples do. That doesn't mean I don't love you in the most sickeningly sappy way possible."

Dana couldn't help a grin. "Couple?"

"That's what we are now, D, a couple."

"I like the sound of that." Dana looked at him seriously. "Will you still be my best friend?" she asked in a small voice.

"You bet."

Her smile was pure sunshine and it took his breath away. "I love you, too, Jack. In the most sickeningly sappy way possible."

"Good, let's go see if we can rummage up some lunch."

Mrs. Babineaux had lunch waiting for them when they returned to the dining room, consisting of grilled peanut butter and jam sandwiches and tall glasses of milk. Grace had her address book out and was recording Oscar and Henry's email address. "Oh, Dana, I have to have yours, too. I just hope we can stay friends and not lose touch once the weekend is over." She sniffed loudly.

"Oh, give it a rest, Grace. Noah has already informed me that along with Oscar the rest of us have been adopted into the Parker family. Something tells me that's a lifelong commitment."

Henry took Rose by the arm and, repeating Dana's example from earlier, led her towards the kitchen. "Which reminds me, Rose, I've got my own commitment I'd like to discuss."

Rose grinned over her shoulder at Dana and winked as she went through the door. "Do tell."

"Miss Dana," Mark began shyly, "I hope if you're ever in Oklahoma you'll come see me play football sometimes."

"Well, having been on the receiving end of one of your tackles, I look forward to seeing one from the stands. And Oklahoma is not that far. I just might surprise you. And Oscar," she added turning to the older man. "Consider yourself invited to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner."

He twinkled at her. "I just might surprise you."

Grace was idly fingering her address book, looking rather forlorn. Dana sat down next to her and took her hand. "Grace, what's wrong?"

Sighing, she looked wistfully towards the kitchen door. "I think I may have lost my traveling partner."

"I doubt it. Knowing Henry, I imagine the two-some has become a threesome."

Jack grinned at her wickedly. "Hey, Grace, are you into ménage a trios?"

Grace's mouth rounded into a shocked silent. Finally she laughed. "Oh, you."

Soon everyone was packing up and preparing to leave, sorry to go but ready to resume their lives. Rose was hugging everyone, much to his or her surprise. Her eyes were sparkling, but she was staying silent about her discussion with Henry. Phone numbers were exchanged along with promises to keep in touch. Finally, Jack had managed to drag Dana out to the car. She looked around. "Aren't we forgetting someone?" Dana asked.

"I saw Noah and Josie heading for the gazebo. They're saying their goodbyes, promising to write or email or IM or call or whatever."

Dana wiped the sweat from her face. "Well I doubt they will be at it for long. It's too hot out here for too much romance."

"Oh I don't know." Jack circled her waist, pulled her closer and nuzzled her ear. "I doubt there could ever be too much romance."

Dana turned in his arms and leaned against him comfortably. Jack rested his chin on the top of her head. They gazed at the crumbling castle together– each of them thinking about how much had changed in such a short time.

"So,”Jack mumbled above her. "What do you want to do next weekend?"

"Oh I don't know. I thought maybe we could go to Baton Rouge and see the USS Kidd." Jack smiled at her lovingly, recognizing the gesture for what it was.

Jack nuzzled her ear again and kissed her temple. "Are you sorry you didn't find treasure, D?"

Dana looked up at him, her eyes shining bright. "Why should I be?" She hugged Jack tightly. "I already have mine."