The Lost Treasure Map Series (2 page)

Bryson glared at Dr Reid, his late
uncle
’
s
lawyer. He reminded him of a German professor, from his early
days.

He listened attentively to Bryson, James,
and Robert, with eagle-like eyes staring coolly at objects only
directly in front of him. He seemed to be constantly controlling
his temper! He clearly did not like something, which Bryson assumed
was to do with the late Sir Richard, since that was the only reason
he was there. He seemed familiar with the grounds, even in the
dark, which he gave a sporadic gasp of fright to.

He thought little of Thomas Bryson, and his
modern scientist features and approach. But he occasionally seemed
to spot his similar resemblances to Sir Richard, which people often
remarked about. He was also famous, energetic, used the same
business-like approaches, learned everything that he could, and
examined the universe at every conceivable angle.

Their shoes crunched into pebbles, as they
went near the castle.

The shapes of all the vehicles there became
visible.

Robert, Robert Randall, his cousin,
then started loudly chatting to James, Robert
’
s younger
brother.

Robert eagerly joked at Bryson,
grinning:
“
So why do you think the only place to have
all that noise is at those rooms then? Where we were
–
and all of you
soon moved to!
–
I never heard a thing.
”

For a moment, from his tone, Bryson
considered what the others had heard
–
as he had heard little at the end
rooms where he had moved. They could have heard the winter Highland
winds making similar sounds. Sounds at night, in such an
environment, were only authenticated by scrupulous
investigations.

“
There
’
re too many mysteries and not enough
facts to be certain of anything!
”
he stated.

“
I know a little history about this
estate,
”
Robert announced to James, for him to hear.
“
Few people know
it, and I
’
m
sure nobody has kept any written accounts
...
My father exclusively told me
many things about this place
...”

James humorously observed
Bryson.
“
So
what
’
re
your beliefs in
‘
ghosts
’
?
”

He stopped himself reacting, and glared at
him.

“
I think that the universe holds many
secrets,
”
he muttered automatically.
“
And so far we
haven
’
t had
a proper opportunity, and the right means, to prove properly that
anything of that nature exists.
”

Robert glared, with
fascination.
“
Science may not be able to explain many
things!

“
Things exist beyond this
universe
–
beyond science!
”

His views surprised him.

James
’
s enthusiasm for answers was
building up.

“
What
’
s so special about here? What
happened here?
”

“
I don
’
t believe that anyone has ever been
sure,
”
Robert answered.
“
There are legends that mention things
...
One of them
suggests that it was something to do with what killed some of our
ancestors, who
’
d been visiting here!
”

“
How did they die?
”
James asked, with
confusion.

“
Something slaughtered them, in the
trees that once were here
...
Before they built this
castle!
”

James
’
s face turned pale, and his eyes
glared.

“
But surely they had suspicions of
what
’
d
killed them? All legends have rough descriptions of
...!”

“
Nobody knew what they were. But
I
’
ve heard
that it was some form of a witch, and that they still haunt
here!
”

Robert
staggered to the doorway; where he banged at the solid wooden
doors, almost bruising his knuckles.

A deep thud appeared from somewhere inside
the castle, as they stopped in front of it. And the door wearily
creaked out. Heavily perfumed warm air swept out, heating their
frozen faces.

A hunched elderly man, wearing thick
round glasses, stood glaring at Bryson, from the dim hall, and
Bryson recognized him as Sir Richard
’
s cousin.

“
We
’
ve been waiting on you. S
o we can all go to the top floor
together!”
he explained.

He led them into the hall, and their eyes
fell on glorious paintings, gleaming on the walls. Their ancient
views of the estate, and of his ancestors, were enchantingly
realistic.

Chapter 3

The Top Floor

At the top floor, Bryson entered slowly,
feeling his way along the wall, as if he were entering a sacred
domain.

The corridor had to be the darkest place in
the castle. Even with the lights on, there were strange dark and
gloomy glows.

Robert wandered about, offering
everyone that he met a cigarette. He then spoke confidently with
them, giving them confidence and his wisdom in carrying out the
task ahead
–
while gently persuading them to do what he wished.

As they passed different rooms, it became
clear that the cleaners had not been near there. Cobwebs and dirt
shrouded everything!

“
What now?
”
Helen asked blankly.

“
We can separately look
about,
”
Robert declared.
“
We can cover more ...
”

They split into groups, going in different
directions.

Bryson marched straight towards Sir
Richard
’s
room, and Robert briskly moved after him.

The others mainly agreed to search the
corridor, and to check paintings and antiques.

The door to Sir
Richard
’s
room at first seemed locked. But Robert knew something, and
viciously shoved it, until it screeched open, and dust flew out
from it
–
like he were entering a tomb.

The dimness and dust was shocking. Webs and
fungus had already shrouded it.

“
He liked a luxurious
bed,
”
Robert moaned, humorously, patting the firm mattress, sending
up a dust cloud, while checking his reactions. Bryson
smirked!

They then crept around, listening to the
creaks and cracks of the floorboards.

Bryson
’s
attention fell on the bed again,
where he had died, and had stayed until a servant had found him: a
month later.

When he moved away, he saw the
humorous side of what he had been doing
–
eying up his deathbed.

He spotted drawers, and went to them.

They were mostly full of old clothes.

Robert investigated every object that he
came to.

“
This place turns more gruesome the
more I see it!
”
he remarked, flicking webs away from him.

“
Do you believe that he made a mistake
allowing us to search here?
”
Bryson responded.

“
He was no priest! He ruthlessly ran
his business affairs ... I saw a glint of sympathy in those
eyes
–
which could only mean one thing ...
”

Bryson picked up an old bowler hat,
realizing how much things had changed.

“
Let
’s
check somewhere
else!
”

At another room, they could not help
smile at James
’s
methods of searching. He frantically yanked up floorboards,
as Sarah, his wife, frowningly held up the carpet.

“
Let
’s
try the floorboards in
his
bedroom!
”
James announced.

Robert stood with his mouth open, realized
something, and closed it.

“
Good idea!
”
Sarah replied, quickly dropping the
carpet, and they left towards the room.

When they moved into the corridor, Bryson
realized that it was a good idea, and slowly followed them.

“
I
’ll
see you later,
”
Robert answered firmly, going in
the opposite direction.

Once in the room, James quickly pulled up
the carpet, and started pulling up rotted nails with an old metal
pole.

Bryson wandered about the room, and wondered
if Sir Richard had made a mistake somewhere.

“
Where the last
dwell!
”
he
mumbled.

He went over to the spot where he had been,
when the camera had been on him.

He grabbed a seat, from the other side
of the room, and he placed it at the spot
-
and from it, he studied a
painting.

A repetitive forceful hammering appeared in
the distance, and occasionally interrupted him enough to stop to
listen.

While he considered the room from various
perspectives, it escalated into a loud rummaging and banging.

Finally, James went to the door, to gaze
along the corridor.

“
They
’ve
found
something!
”
he abruptly announced.

Bryson followed him, as he left.

The noises were coming from a
room
–
where there was a cloud of dust hovering outside.

There were shudders going through the walls,
and sounds of rocks crashing down!

Their looks changed to bewildered glances,
as they approached it.

Had they found something already?

At the room, he saw chunks of rock and
pieces of plaster scattered over the carpet, and the others crowded
around an area of a wall, where there was a large hole.

They had discovered something
concealed in the wall (perhaps after they had discovered that the
wall had given a hollow tone
-
when they had banged it).

Bryson measured the approximate width of the
wall with amazement. It was phenomenal how thick the wall between
the rooms was, and he had not noticed it.

Yet it was far older than Sir
Richard
’s
era! And why had someone gone to such lengths to conceal it?
Was there any connection between it and the disturbances that had
occurred at the place?

Robert viciously smashed a heavy metal pole
against the thick stone, while chunks of it crumbled away and
crashed across the floor.

Robert dropped the pole, and the clang
echoed from in it.

Then he crouched, crept over the debris, and
climbed in.

Chapter 4

The Mysterious
Find

Bryson
’s
eyes followed Robert moving off,
and he swiftly followed.

A deep thud echoed down, from behind, as
James entered.

The ebbing radiance of the torch clearly was
not enough to allow more than three to go safely down.

He scarcely grasped the concept of why a
tunnel was there. Surely Sir Richard had not built it.

By the fact that it was in a castle might
prove that it might have been part of its defense against
invaders.

Sounds took strange tones, and he
strained his eyes more, trying to see further in, but there were no
features of anything. The tunnel
’s
small shape (not much larger than his
height, and less than a meter in width) vanished into
darkness.

As the steps descended sharply, he had to
hold himself upright. Its drop almost seemed perpendicular.

He heard distant movements, and their
growing surges, and Robert stopped, just ahead of him, with the
torch oscillating irregularly. Its light swayed over the stone, and
the narrow shaft seemed to vanish at a point.

A stone floor was below, and he climbed
down.

A feeble glow came through a crack in a
wall, and a faint voice could be heard beyond it.

“
Who
’s
that?
”
Robert whispered.

“
I don
’t
know!
”

Robert shoved his head close to the
crack.

“
It
’s
the butler!
”