tj jensen 01 - barkleys treasure (9 page)

I was about to turn off the light and return downstairs when I heard a rustling sound coming from the far corner of the attic.

“Buck?” I whispered.

My inquiry was met with silence.

I was just being silly. I didn’t believe in ghosts. It was just the eeriness of the room covered in dust and cobwebs that had taken hold of my imagination. I turned again to turn off the light just as a box that had been stacked atop others fell to the floor, creating not only a loud crashing sound but a cloud of dust.

I jumped as my heart skipped a beat. “Buck? Is that you?”

There was no answer, and I slowly took a step toward the corner of the attic. The scurrying sound had returned, which, given my heightened state of awareness, suggested something from the opening scene of every slasher movie I had ever seen. My mind told me to turn around and head for the safety of the floors below, but my mind refused to let go of what might be found beyond the stack of boxes.

I held my breath as I slowly walked to what turned out to be a pile of old black-and-white home movies. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I caught a flash of movement created by a shadow. I’m not sure exactly what I expected to find, but I felt nothing but relief when my ghost turned out to have a shaggy orange tail.

“Cuervo, what are you doing up here?”

“Meow.”

I picked up the large orange cat. I had left the door open and Cuervo was just the sort to view the open passageway as an invitation to investigate.

“You about scared the life out of me. I know you’re curious, but I really do think we should head downstairs after we clean up the mess you made.”

Cuervo struggled to get down. He wasn’t the most affectionate cat in the world, so I set him on the floor before I ended up with scratch marks on my arms. As soon as his paws hit the floor he trotted over to a wall and pawed at the small opening created by a fault in the paneling.

“Do you hear a mouse?”

“Meow.”

“I know you fancy yourself a big, brave warrior who has vowed to rid the place of rodents, but I think this one time we can leave the poor thing free to go about his business. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll find the salmon treats.”

Cuervo ignored me, which wasn’t at all odd because he tended to ignore me unless it served his purposes to do otherwise. I didn’t want to risk being mauled by his sharp claws, but I didn’t want to leave him alone in the attic either, so I bent down to try to talk some sense into him. I tried to show him that the flaw in the wood was just that, a flaw, when I noticed that a corner of the panel had been pulled away. I knew it had been tampered with recently due to the lack of the dust that covered everything else.

I stuck my hand into the panel and gave it a gentle tug. Behind the panel I found a document, which I pulled out and unrolled. “Well, I’ll be. Cuervo, it looks like you just found the map to Barkley’s treasure.”

Chapter 6

As soon as Kyle returned home I showed him the map. He confirmed that it did indeed look like a treasure map, but he asserted that it couldn’t possibly have belonged to the pirate known as John Barkley. According to Meg, Barkley had lived on the island in the late 1600s. Kyle admitted he wasn’t an expert on antiquities, but based on the material used, this map looked as if it couldn’t be older than one, maybe two hundred years at the most. After a bit of discussion, Kyle agreed to call a friend of his who worked for a museum to ask whether it would be possible to have the document dated.

By the time Ben woke from his nap and Doc returned from his day in town, it was time to pick up the girls from the kids’ camp and begin assembling the things we’d need for our first-ever movie on the beach.

“Can we bring our swimsuits?” Gracie asked as she watched me dig through the closet for a blanket to sit on.

“No, sweetie. We won’t be swimming tonight.”

“But it’s hot.”

“It won’t be once the sun goes down. I do want you to grab some sunscreen, though. As a precaution.”

“Can Pumpkin come?”

“I don’t think dogs are allowed. Be sure to grab a sweatshirt. And tell Ashley to grab one as well.”

“Ashley won’t let me go into her room.”

I stopped what I was doing and looked directly at Gracie. “Why not?”

“Because she’s on the phone with her boyfriend and she said she needs her privacy.”

“Her boyfriend?” Ashley was only eleven.

“She met him today at kid’s camp. His name is Gordon and he’s a nerd.”

I found the blanket I was looking for and closed the closet door. “Nerd in a good way, as in he’s really smart, or nerd in a bad way, as in he’s annoying?”

“The second one. Can we bring popcorn?”

“I think they’re supposed to be selling food. At least I hope they are because I’m not bringing any. Now I need you to run upstairs and grab a sweatshirt and sunscreen. Knock on Ashley’s door nicely and tell her to grab a sweatshirt too.”

“But…”

“Please, Gracie? Grandpa, Kyle, and Doc are waiting for us and I still need to make sure the dogs have food and water.”

“Okay,” Gracie grumbled as she headed for the stairs.

I wondered if Ashley actually had a boyfriend or if Gracie was just making that up. I wanted to think she was much too young for such things, but I remembered I’d had a boyfriend when I was her age. It wasn’t serious, of course, and the romance part of it had amounted to a few stolen kisses behind the school building during recess. Still, I remembered feeling vulnerable and a little scared about how to handle the sensations I was feeling. Maybe I should have a talk with Ash sooner rather than later. For now, though, I needed to get myself and the girls out the door before one of the seniors with whom I shared my life started hollering for us to get a move on.

The drive to the beach was a short one. When we arrived at the stretch of sand designated for the movie, we were greeted by an array of colorful blankets that seemed to cover almost every square inch of ground for as far as the eye could see.

“I guess we should have come earlier,” I stated the obvious.

“When Gertie said this was a popular event I had no idea how popular she meant,” Doc agreed.

“Look, there’s Gertie over there.” Ashley pointed in her direction. “She’s waving us over.”

I grabbed Gracie’s hand as we made our way through the sea of bodies. I was afraid if I lost her in the crowd I’d never find her again. I found myself swept up in the festive energy as people gathered together to catch up and discuss local gossip.

“So glad you made it.” Gertie gave Doc a peck on the cheek. “I saved a large enough space for all of us if we snuggle up real close.”

“Thank you,” I said as I dropped my own blanket atop hers. “I had no idea there would be this big a crowd. I guess we should have come earlier.” I looked around. “A lot earlier.”

“A lot of folks come in the morning and spend the day. Attendance drops off a bit once we get into the heat of July and August, but it’s still a good idea to at least bring a blanket by and stake out your spot.”

“If you bring a blanket in the morning is it still here by evening?” Doc asked.

“Most times. I’ve been doing that for years and I’ve only lost two blankets so far. It’s a risk, but as long as you have a blanket you’re willing to lose it’s worth the effort.” Gertie turned toward Ashley and Gracie. “Are you girls hungry? There are several food trucks in the parking lot.”

Ashley and Gracie were hungry, so we went to get food while Doc waited with Gertie. The food trucks were arranged in a straight line. There were five trucks in all, each featuring a different type of food. One truck featured tacos, burritos, and other Mexican fare, while another served burgers, hotdogs, and fries. Kyle focused on a truck that served gyros, while Ben chose fish and chips and the girls opted for burgers and fries. I was about to settle for a turkey sub when I noticed the truck with freshly grilled kabobs made from an assortment of vegetables and either pork, beef, chicken, or shrimp.

“Look, there’s Willow.” Ashley waved as I got into line at the kabob truck. “Can I go say hi?”

“Me too?” Gracie enthusiastically chimed in.

“Sure, as long as you stay together. Say hi and come right back. I don’t want to lose you in the crowd.”

I watched as the girls ran over to greet Willow, who was headed toward Kyle, who was waiting with Ben. She had a curly-haired toddler with her who looked to be one, maybe two at the most. The child reached for Kyle as soon as he was within reach. Kyle opened his arms to the toddler, who squealed with delight when Kyle hoisted her onto his shoulders. Ashley said something to Willow, who looked toward where I was standing and waved.

“Can I help you?”

“I need two kabobs. One shrimp and one chicken.”

“Jerk?”

“Come again?” I asked.

“What type of grilling sauce would you prefer? Jerk is popular with the shrimp.”

“Oh, okay, jerk is fine.”

By the time I’d paid for and received my food, Ben and the girls were heading in my direction. One bite of the spicy shrimp and I realized I should have ordered something to drink.

“Uncle Kyle said to head on back with the food. He’ll meet us in a few minutes,” Ashley informed me.

“Is that Willow’s daughter?”

“Yeah, isn’t she cute? Her name is Hannah.”

“She sure seems to like Kyle.”

“All the kids love Kyle,” Ashley said. “When he was at the camp the other day he had half the kids there following him around. Willow is talking to him about volunteering tomorrow. We’re going to have a beach and BBQ day.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“You should come,” Gracie encouraged.

“I’d love to, but Grandpa and I have an appointment in town tomorrow.”

“That’s fine.” Gracie sighed.

I felt bad that I had to miss the outing, but I really did want to check out the Gull Island Senior Home. I’d have to make more of an effort to help out at the kids’ camp once things settled down a bit.

After we returned to the blanket Doc and Gertie went for food. The movie wouldn’t actually begin until it was completely dark, which at this time of year was at around nine, though the crowd that had gathered didn’t seem to mind in the least as they made the best of the warm summer evening. Tonight we were going to see a movie from the eighties,
One Crazy Summer
. I’d discovered the movie committee liked to mix things up and show movies from all eras. The previous movie had been a recent production that had been in the movie theaters less than a year earlier, while later in the summer there were plans to show some silent movies from the twenties. I wasn’t sure how much the girls would enjoy the antics of screen actors like Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlow, but I did hope Garrett was back by then because Gertie had mentioned that the idea for the old black and whites had been his in the first place.

“Is Meg planning to see the movie this evening?” I asked Ben.

“She said she was going to try to make it. Her daughter is in town and the two of them were having dinner, but she was going to come by after if the opportunity presented itself.”

“So her daughter doesn’t live on the island?”

“She lives in Chicago. She’s an attorney. Seems she’s on her way to a conference in Atlanta but took a couple of extra days to come by to visit her mother.”

“That’s nice. Does Meg have other children?”

“Two sons. One lives in Boston and the other in Atlanta. The son who lives in Boston is a history professor. Meg asked him to dig up any information he might be able to get his hands on about the pirates who used to live on the island. She’s intrigued by the idea that there really might be a treasure buried here. I mentioned the map you found this afternoon to her and she said she’d very much like to take a look at it.”

“Did you tell her that although we’re pretty sure the map couldn’t have belonged to John Barkley, we wanted to keep the fact that we have a map under wraps for a while?”

“I did. You can trust Meg. She won’t tell anyone about it. She’s really just interested in it for the historical significance. Oh, look, there she is now.”

Kyle still hadn’t rejoined us by the time we’d finished eating and Doc and Gertie had returned with their own meals, so I left the girls with the seniors and went to look for him. I realized he was a grown man and most likely hadn’t gotten lost in the crowd, but I wondered if there really could be something between him and Willow. She seemed like a lovely person, but I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous. Kyle and I weren’t a couple, but I acknowledged that my feelings for him had become increasingly complicated lately.

I think part of my confusion stemmed from the fact that I had grown to depend on him so much. He’d been my rock through all the changes I’d been through, and while I don’t know whether the two of us were meant to ever become something more than close friends, I wasn’t ready for him to become a couple with anyone else. I realized that was irrational and completely unfair, but sometimes feelings were simply what they were—feelings—whether they were rational or not.

I touched my lips as I thought about our almost kiss. I’d spent more time than I should replaying the moment in my mind, trying to figure out if I had imagined the serious tone in his voice or the slight tilt of his head toward mine. Somewhere around three a.m., after tossing and turning for hours, I’d pretty much decided the almost kiss was really nothing more than a figment of my imagination.

One thing was certain: Kyle seemed exactly like Kyle today. Any weirdness I would have expected to result from such an intimate moment simply didn’t exist, so maybe, like the weirdness, the intimacy I’d imagined really didn’t exist. 

After a bit of searching, I found him not with Willow but standing off to the side of the crowd talking on his phone. When he saw me he waved me over, so I joined him and then waited while he completed his call.

“That was my friend Brian from the museum,” Kyle informed me once he’d hung up. “Based on the photo I sent him, he agrees the map most likely isn’t more than a couple hundred years old at the most. He offered to take a closer look at it if I overnighted it to him, so I’m going to do that tomorrow.”