Boo Who (37 page)

She stomped up the last part of the hill and stood there, catching her breath. After a few moments, she listened.

“Whoo. Whoo.”

Her brow furrowed. “Right back at ya, pal.” She knew the owl was too far, so she kept walking, listening every so often to make sure she
was tracking in the right direction. “Mister owl, playing hard to get,” she mumbled. “I hardly think I’m being aggressive enough for you to run like I’m dragging you to the altar.”

She stopped once more and listened. She could hear the hooting and knew she was getting closer. Something told her tonight was going to be the night she heard that continuous hoot back … that connecting hoot.

“Come to mama.” She smiled. Then she took one step forward, but the ground vanished, hurling her into nothingness.

CHAPTER 29

T
HEY
’
D VISITED THE FIFTH SHACK,
which was nearly identical to the first four. Wolfe looked around it as best he could, then joined Martin outside, who was on the lookout for anything strange.

“I didn’t find anything,” Wolfe sighed. “Do you have any idea how long the shacks have been around?”

“I’d say since the town was founded, which was 1870.”

“They look about that old. You feel if you breathe hard they might collapse.”

“Must’ve been built pretty sturdily to survive for this long.”

“I’ll say,” Wolfe said. “Well, now what? Should we go explore what this
X
means?”

Martin looked south. “I know for sure there is nothing out there but trees. No buildings anyway. But I guess it’s worth a try.”

“If this map is accurate, I’d estimate we’re looking at a half-mile walk due south.”

“I’d agree.”

“Let’s go.”

They turned on their flashlights and started walking.

Melb massaged her flesh for several seconds, assuming she was dead. But it sure hurt when she pinched herself. Debris and limbs and twigs covered her hair and face, and she coughed as she tried to loosen herself from the mess on top of her head. Looking up, she could see the night
sky and realized she was in a hole, about three feet wide and six feet deep.

“My heavens!” she exclaimed, trying to catch her breath. “How am I going to get out of this?”

She slowly stood up and to her relief realized the hole was not six feet deep, but only about four feet. Her shoulders were just above the edge of the hole. “What kind of beast would dig this kind of hole?” The word
grave
blew through her mind. Suddenly feeling very claustrophobic, she realized she was going to have to get out of this hole before she started hyperventilating. She braced one foot against the wall of the hole, but it slid down, the mud too slick to get a good foothold. Then her leg bumped up against something. She screamed, but then realized it didn’t feel furry or slimy, so she was probably okay. Was it a log? She bent down, trying to feel it with her fingers. When she finally did reach it, to her surprise, it was metal. With more investigation by her hands, she realized it was a metal box. After three attempts, she managed to lift it up to about her chest, where it nearly knocked a new dimension into the side of the mud wall. It was very heavy but not too big, and straining like a weightlifter, she managed to lift it up out of the hole and set it on the ground. There, the moonlight illuminated it. A safe! With a lock!

She squealed in excitement. She didn’t know why. But she did. Then, with dread, she realized she might have just taken out the only thing she could’ve stood on to lift herself out. But after several attempts, she managed to get a foothold into some tangled tree roots and lift herself out of the “grave.” She knelt next to the silver safe, which glimmered in the moon’s white beam. “A treasure,” she whispered. “A buried treasure.” She’d found a buried treasure! “Oh heavens!”

“Whoo. Whoo.”

“Shoo, bird,” she said and then tried to figure out a way to get the treasure chest down the hill.

Martin’s legs were aching as he followed Wolfe, whose stride was twice as long as his. It seemed they’d been all over the hillside, and he felt only
disappointment they’d been unable to find anything of significance. He didn’t really want to go find the invisible
X.
But Wolfe had been kind enough to come out here with him, so he didn’t want to shoot down any ideas.

“Key still around your neck?” Martin asked.

Wolfe tapped his chest. “Got it right here, safe and sound. Hopefully we will find something that needs a key!”

“How much longer, you think?” Martin asked between bated breaths.

“I’d say not long now. Be on the lookout for anything strange. We could be near it and not know.”

“Near what?”

“Whatever the X marks.”

“Maybe it’s just the center of the map.”

“Maybe.”

They continued walking, both men looking around them for anything significant. Then Wolfe stopped. “Wait.” He held up a hand. “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Martin asked. All he could hear was an owl.

“Over there.” Wolfe pointed to their left. “I think I heard something.”

“Probably an animal,” Martin said.

Wolfe shook his head. “It sounded more like.

“Like?” Martin’s skin shivered.

“C’mon,” Wolfe said, walking in the direction he’d just pointed. Martin followed closely behind.

After they’d walked about thirty yards, Wolfe stopped and looked around. The trees hovered over the low fog, illuminated by the moon’s light. Wolfe stood there with his hands on his hips, his face as serious and still as a bird dog’s. Then his eyes focused on something. He squinted through the dark, took a couple of steps, and held up a finger indicating Martin should be silent.

“What?” Martin asked, ignoring the finger.

Wolfe pointed to something on the ground. Through the fog, all
Martin could see was brush, but of course he was half hiding behind Wolfe.

“What?” Martin asked again.

“That hole!” Wolfe whispered back. “See it?”

Martin peeked around Wolfe and saw it. It looked like a pretty large hole. “A grave?” Martin asked, his voice high like a little girls.

Wolfe slowly walked forward, Martin hunkering behind him. When they came to it, Wolfe looked around carefully, then bent down. “It’s huge,” he observed.

Martin stepped aside so he could see it. “Not long enough to be a grave.”

“Too deep. Look at all these broken limbs around here, and on the inside. Looks like it was covered at one time.”

“What would a covered hole be doing all the way out here?”

“This is the Wolfe said. “Exactly where the
X
is on the map.” He pointed his flashlight down into the hole again. “Look!”

Martin flinched. “Shhh! What?”

“Down there,” Wolfe whispered. “Footprints! Fresh footprints!”

Martin got on his knees and peered down into the hole. Sure enough, footprints. Large enough to be a mans, pressed a half inch into the muddy bottom.

“And look!” Wolfe aimed his flashlight at the sides of the hole. “How odd.”

Two deep lines cut into the mud, going from the bottom all the way to the top, plus a handprint here and there.

“What do you suppose those lines are?” Martin asked.

“Looks like something was taken out of here by somebody,” Wolfe said, standing and pointing his flashlight in every direction into the woods.

Martin could not calm his beating heart. Never in his life had he been on this kind of adventure.

Wolfe looked at him. “We’ve got to find out who’s been out here and what they took.”

Melb was pretty sure she didn’t have asthma, but the way her lungs refused to squeeze adequate air in and out, she felt like it. Wheezing all the way into the house, she nearly dropped the safe on her toe twice before it came to rest in the middle of her living room. The house was dark. Oliver wouldn’t be at her home until later. He’d called earlier to inform her he had something to do after work.

She switched on a single light, causing her parakeets to chirp a greeting, and stared at the safe. Heavy as it was, it was small, luckily, or she wouldn’t have been able to move it. She figured it was about two feet on each side. From the sound of things inside, she had deduced that a pile of money was waiting for her.

She almost wept at the idea. Just days ago she had no idea how she would pay for her wedding. Now, not only was her entire wedding paid for, but she might’ve just found enough wealth for them to retire! She laughed out loud.

Then stared at the padlock.

The only thing standing in the way of all her dreams coming true was a heavy-duty padlock. Calling a locksmith was not an option. There was only one in Skary, and he was her half-cousin. Jimbo would ask too many questions and want a reward.

Any other locksmith would need proof, she assumed, that the safe was hers.

A small keyhole on the bottom looked as dark as the hole into which she’d fallen. She let go of the lock and sat on the couch, trying to get herself together. Excitement tingled every inch of her, but fear followed with the numbing realization that she had a big secret, and she didn’t know exactly what to do with it. Her birds chirped, wondering why she hadn’t greeted them.

She justified all this in two ways. First, the person who had this money probably was long dead and gone. And second, if not, he shouldn’t have been stupid enough to bury his money in the woods.

There. Now that her conscience was clear, she could focus on how
she was going to get that padlock off. She went and grabbed a hammer. She drew back and with a steady hand, let the hammer fall on top of the lock.

It hardly budged. She tried this three more times, but the lock was too sturdy.

Then she heard Oliver’s car pull up outside. Scrambling to her feet, she put the hammer up and ran back to the safe. Bending at her knees, not her waist, she lifted the safe with all her might and as fast as she could heaved it to the pantry, where she piled a bunch of stuff on top of it. She knew it was fairly secure there, for now. Oliver hardly ever went in the pantry because he couldn’t stand the smell of garlic. In fact, at his own house, he didn’t even own a spice other than salt or pepper. Covering it up as best as she could, she was just coming out of the pantry when she heard him opening the front door.