Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) (26 page)

"What in the hell?" she exclaimed. Polly pushed the vase back into the space she had discovered it, knowing that she didn't want anyone else to know about this until she'd done some checking. Then, she had another idea, pulled the vase back out and snapped a picture of it with her phone. She pressed it back one more time and went down the ladder, stacked the hay bales and pushed the ramp up to the ceiling, where its magnets caught to hold it.

She was distressed and distracted as she went up to Sycamore House. Her first stop was her office. She uploaded the photo and did a Google image search to see if there was anything that it might compare to. She became even more distressed when the only comparisons were vaguely similar pictures of vases that had been stolen from several museums in Basra. The only two people she knew who had access to her barn and who had been in Iraq were Harry Bern and Eliseo Aquila. One was dead and the other had just been beaten. Was this what those people were looking for? Did Eliseo know it was here all along?

Her phone beeped at her, reminding her that laundry needed to be transferred around. She sighed, shut the browser window on her computer and went through the kitchen, nodding at Sylvie, to the back room. Her work automatic, she quickly moved laundry around and went back through the kitchen to head upstairs to her apartment.

Polly knew she should call someone, but it didn't feel like today was the day to do that. The vase had obviously been in the barn for a while, and there was no reason for anyone to be up in the hayloft since she had spent time refilling the feed room, so things could stay as they were. She spent the next half hour scrubbing her bathroom clean and hanging clothing up so her room was more presentable. Another quick trip downstairs and she had sheets to remake her bed. When that was finished, Polly hadn't yet come to any good decision on what to do next. She changed into a pair of tennis shoes and grabbing Obiwan's leash, she called him to follow her. Before going outside, she and Obiwan snuck into the laundry room to start another load, then left through the side door, waving at the men who were still working. Instead of heading to the pasture, she crossed the road to the swimming pool and tennis courts and into the wooded area that separated them from the newer subdivision in town.

Agitated, she picked her pace up to a slow jog so Obiwan could stay with her and before she knew it they were both running along the path. A tug on the leash reminded her that he was still attached and as he slowed down to smell the brush and mark his territory, she stopped, bent over, placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath. Obiwan came close to her, sat down and licked her face.

"Thanks, bud. I suppose I know what the right thing to do is, but give me until Monday, alright? If I'm going to lose another custodian, I don't want to screw up an event for Jeff hours before it happens. Monday will be soon enough, right?"

With his tongue hanging out, Obiwan simply wagged his tail. Polly sat back on her haunches and rubbed his head.

"And what am I going to do with Jason? He knows something and doesn't want to tell me about it. That surprises the heck out of me. Who is he protecting?"

She looked at her dog and though he cocked his head back and forth, listening to her voice, she knew he didn't have much to say.

"Since you're being such a good listener, would you mind terribly if I whined a little bit more?"

Obiwan licked her face again, then sat back down in front of her. "I know it's not fair, but I wasn't expecting Mark and Sal to hit it off like that. She's my friend and if she comes to Bellingwood, I want her to come spend time with me. Now, if she comes back here, I won't know whether it is to see me or the next new love of her life. I didn't even get to take her to the airport today because some guy is all of a sudden important to her. She doesn't know it, but that kicked me in the teeth."

Polly sat all the way down on the path with her knees bent, pulled Obiwan in close to her and he sat between her legs so they were face to face.

"Here's the deal, bud. Sometimes I get tired of being strong and creative and I want to sit down and cry. But, I don't want anyone else to know that, so don't tell, alright? Sometimes I want to be totally selfish and scream that I don't want to have to be the one who figures out how to take care of my custodian and then drive to Boone to buy a room full of furniture. I don't want to have to call people to go over to Harry Bern's house and clean it up. I don't want to have to be Sylvie's other parent for her boys and I don't want to have to pay the bills and make all the decisions."

Tears filled her eyes and she buried her face in Obiwan's neck. "Sometimes I want to go back to being a stupid girl who doesn't have to think about anyone but herself."

The tears flowed for a few moments until Obiwan pulled back and barked. Polly quickly dried her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and stood up and began walking away from the direction he had barked. Pretty soon, she heard footsteps behind her and moved to the side as a young couple jogged past, nodding and smiling on their way around her.

She bent back down and rubbed Obiwan's neck. "Thanks, bud. You're a lifesaver. And by the way, don't you ever tell anyone that I melted down, okay? It's not as awful as all that. In fact, I'm pretty lucky and I know it. Maybe a good cry was what I needed. Though sometimes I wish Mary or Dad were around so I had someone to talk to."

They ran back to Sycamore House and went in the front door and up the steps. She met Lydia on the way up.

"There you are," Lydia said. "Do you have a few minutes?"

"Sure. Come on in." Polly raised her eyes to heaven in thanks for having done at least some straightening up and cleaning in her apartment."

They went inside and she released Obiwan, who took off at a dead run for the kitchen, then spun around and ran for the bedroom.

"I think he's letting everyone know he's back," Polly laughed. "Can I get you something to drink and some brownies or something?"

"What do you have to drink in the refrigerator?" Lydia asked.

"Well, there's milk for the boys and look, I made iced tea the other night. Yeah me!"

"I'd love a glass of tea. Thank you"

"So, what's up?" Polly asked as she pulled down two glasses and set them on the peninsula. Lydia put them on the table and Polly brought the pitcher. They both sat down and she filled the glasses.

"I thought maybe I should check on you. I stopped by to see if Sylvie needed me to do anything with her boys while she was working this evening and she told me that Mark Ogden had taken your friend back to the airport in Des Moines. That escalated quickly, don't you think?"

"It did. I was a little surprised, but what are they going to do? With nearly fifteen hundred miles between them and neither of them planning to move, I suppose it is what it is."

"The world gets smaller every day, though, doesn't it? Do you know that I talk with my daughter in Kansas City on the computer? I can see her and when she holds that little one's face up to the camera, my heart about bursts."

"That's pretty wonderful, isn't it? Henry and I communicated that way when he was in Arizona. I'm glad you can connect with your family."

"Was it hard for you to let her leave with Mark?"

Polly ran her index finger around the rim of her glass and said, "It was. I shouldn't be jealous, but she's my friend and I haven't seen her in years."

"You're jealous of Mark spending time with Sal, not the other way around?"

Polly laughed at that. "I'm not interested in Mark and I'm glad they had such a good time together. It was a little surprising to know that my time with her was cut short because she wanted to spend more time with him."

"That's what I wanted to hear you say to me."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted you to say it out loud."

"It sounds silly now that it's out there, doesn't it? What did I lose, four hours? Not even that. And to be honest, I'm so tired that it was probably just as well I didn't drive to Des Moines and back today."

Polly thought about telling Lydia about the vase in her barn, but looked back down at her glass of iced tea and decided to ignore the impulse. No use getting anything else started.

"Andy also called me and told me that you were cleaning out Harry Bern's house tomorrow. Do you need any more help with that?"

Polly chuckled. It didn't surprise her at all that Lydia was up to date on everything that was happening. "I'd love help, but you don't need to. Doug and Billy are going to round up their friends who come here to play games. I called Andy because I knew she could manage a bunch of kids and keep us all organized. I didn't want to bother you. You have so many things going on all the time."

"Alright, then. I'll let you handle it. Aaron and I will head over to Dayton to check on Marilyn."

"Is she still feeling good?"

"She sure is, but I'm the mama and I want to be there as much as possible for her."

"You're a good mama," Polly sighed.

"Do you ever think about how much you miss having your mother around?" Lydia asked.

Polly looked at her friend. Was she psychic?

"It isn't my mother so much, but sometimes I miss having Dad or Mary here. Sometimes I feel really alone."

Polly's face screwed up, her eyes filled and she began to cry again. "I'm sorry," she got out before the tears came.

Lydia scooted her chair closer to Polly and wrapped her arms around her. "It's alright. I know. I can't imagine doing everything you are doing and taking care of all the people you take care of and then coming home and crawling into bed by yourself with no one to hold on to you."

"I have to either be hormonal or very, very tired," Polly giggled through the tears. "I don't usually do this."

She pulled away and Lydia pushed her chair back and said, "Or you could be handling a lot of things right now. Ken Wallers called Aaron about your theft last night."

"Wow. Was that just last night?" Polly asked. "It feels like it happened a week ago."

"Aaron is going to find who did this, you know that, right?"

"I know. And then I'm going to make them hurt. It's my present goal in life."

Lydia smiled. "Of course you will. By the way, you do look tired. Are you getting sick?"

"No, I only got three hours of sleep last night. I'm exhausted and I don't think I've quit moving since I got up this morning."

"Why don't you take a nap? I'll pick up Sylvie's boys and we’ll spend time in Beryl's studio this afternoon. She is starting to go through her paints and brushes. She told me this was a perfect time to get rid of things she never used. I figure she's been in that studio for thirty years. If we can get her a fresh start, it will be another thirty before we have to worry about cleaning her out again.

"She'll be nearly ninety!" Polly laughed.

"And?"

"And nothing. I'll be there to help!"

"Perfect. I'll bring the boys back here around six o'clock. Sylvie said they needed to work on homework tonight and they can do that here."

"I need to go back downstairs. I have to finish my laundry before everyone shows up for the wedding reception."

"Don't worry about a thing. You go to bed. I don't want to hear that you are awake before five thirty, alright?"

Polly yawned. Her body agreed with Lydia.

"Thanks for mothering me today, Lydia. I don't know how you knew to show up, but I needed you."

Lydia stood up and headed for the door and Polly followed her. She turned around and hugged Polly, "Sometimes I know when my favorite girl needs a little extra love." She left and Polly kicked off her shoes, turned off all the lights and went into her bedroom. She dropped on top of the bed and promptly fell asleep.

Eyes opening to small slits, Polly saw daylight and felt lost. What time was it? Was it morning already? Why was she still in her clothes? What day was it? She shut her eyes again and tried to think. Everything was fuzzy. Finally it hit her, she'd taken a great nap. She stretched and shook her head to rid herself of the last bit of fuzziness. Obiwan stretched beside her, his front paws reaching up beyond her head. She turned over and rubbed his belly and he rolled over so she could reach all of it.

"That's much better, now, isn't it? I feel more rested. At least I’m no longer worried that my emotional life is going to crash and burn any time soon. Lydia was right, I did need that nap."

She pulled herself upright and tossed her legs over the edge of the bed, then looked at the time on her phone. Five-fifteen. Not bad timing.

"I woke up on my own and I feel much better. Thanks for the push,"
she texted to Lydia.

In a few moments, Lydia returned the text,
"That's great. I am feeding the boys and we'll be there around six."

"Thank you! I didn't expect that. See you later."

That meant she should probably figure out what to eat for supper before they got here. As soon as she thought about food, her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything since toast this morning. That needed to be fixed soon. But first, Polly had to run downstairs to at least bring up the laundry that was finished. She opened her front door and just outside the door were two baskets filled with folded laundry. She pulled them into the apartment, carried them into her bedroom, and set the baskets on her bed. She looked for the guest towels and sheets, but found nothing in the baskets except her own clothing. Shaking her head, she knew that things had been neatly put away where they belonged. Lydia and Sylvie paid close enough attention to what was happening around Sycamore House, she knew better than to worry.

Taking a few minutes to put everything away and stow the baskets back in her closet, she felt better about everything.

Her phone buzzed with a text message from Henry.
"I'm standing outside your front door with supper. Will you let me in?"

Running to the front door again, she opened it to see him standing there with a shopping bag. Polly hugged him and reached up for a kiss.

"Thank you!" she said. "This is perfect timing. I was about to forage for supper."

"Don't thank me," he laughed. "This was Lydia's idea. She stopped by while I was working outside, told me you were exhausted and would be awake by 5:30 and that if I wanted to gain your undying gratitude, I should show up with supper for the two of us. We have half an hour before the boys arrive, may I come in?"

"That woman is a planner!" Polly laughed. "I guess it makes sense to go along with what she has happening in that conniving little brain of hers. It always works out perfectly."

"I'm learning that," Henry said. He followed her to the dining room and set the bag on a chair.

Polly went into the kitchen and pulled two plates from the cupboard.

"Oh no," he said. "Put those back. We've got everything we need in here."

He lifted out two plates, two wrapped silverware packets and two glasses. Polly recognized them from the kitchen downstairs. Then he began pulling out containers filled with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, sliced roast beef and sliced ham. A bag filled with rolls and butter and another with cookies finished the meal.

"Sylvie shared," he said. "I'm supposed to
take the dishes back down later and she'll wash them with everything else."

The last things he pulled out were two small votive candles and a lighter. "She told me I should be romantic," he laughed.

He lit the candles and began opening the containers of food. Polly sat down and helped and before long, they had devoured everything he'd brought upstairs.

She sat back in her chair, "That was perfect," she said. "Thank you for listening to Lydia."

"I told you long ago that she was a force to be reckoned with. I much prefer listening to her and obeying. It works out pretty well," he laughed. "Now, tell me why she was managing your world this afternoon."

"I might have melted down on her."

Henry's eyes grew concerned as he wrinkled his forehead. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I was exhausted. Sal got in late last night, and then I was up at six thirty to take care of the horses ... The horses! I have to get them bedded down!"

"No, Eliseo's got it. He told me it was no big deal and he had plenty of time between getting the hall set and cleaning things up. So. Exhaustion, was it?"

"Exhaustion was the biggest thing. Because I was so tired, I started thinking about missing Dad and Mary and then I felt sorry for myself because I didn't get to take Sal to the airport and then because of all that I decided to feel put upon by the whole world. But, a nap fixed most of it. The rest is a matter of fixing my attitude."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Can I help with anything?"

"You already do so much," Polly said. She stood up and took the dishes into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not sending these downstairs filled with gunk. I'm rinsing them off."

"Isn't that what a dishwasher is for?"

"Whatever," she said. "I'll run some water over them and make sure the big chunks are gone. Here, hand me those containers, too."

With an audible sigh, Henry picked up the containers and carried them to the sink. "This is nuts, just so you know."

Polly pursed her lips and looked up at him. "I'm rinsing the dishes and you aren't going to give me any trouble about it."

"Yes ma'am. The silverware, too?"

"No, you can drop those in the bag unless you left food on them. When these dry off a bit, we'll put them in the bag and take them downstairs."

"So, you didn't answer me. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" Polly asked.

"I don't know. I hadn't made any plans yet. Do you have something fun in mind?"

"Not so much. But, I could use your pickup truck. I have a bunch of people showing up at Harry Bern's house to clean his stuff out. I'm going to bring some of his personal things here and store them in the basement for a while, but I'm sure there will be things that need to go to the dump and other things that need to go to a thrift store or Goodwill. If you came by about 2:30, we could use you."

"I'll be there. Anything else?"

Polly turned the water off at the sink and dried her hands on a towel. She walked over, stood in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. "This. This helps."

He pulled her in tightly and held on. "Then you can have
this
whenever you like."

They stood there for a minute until the animals perked up and Obiwan walked over to the front door. He released her and stepped back as Jason, Andrew and Lydia came in. Both boys dropped their backpacks on the floor and Andrew dropped down to hug Obiwan.

"Eliseo is in the barn. Can I go out and help him?" Jason asked.

"Sure!" Polly replied. "Here, take this bag of cookies out to him." She handed him the zipper bag that had come up with their dinner and looked at Henry. "Okay?"

He shrugged as Jason ran over to snatch the bag from her hand. "I'll be back when we're done," he said and ran out the door.

"How was dinner?" Lydia asked.

"It was wonderful. Thank you for organizing all of this."

"Oh, it's what I do," she said as she waved Polly off. "We went to Davey's for dinner and these boys were great. She ruffled Andrew's hair and he looked up at Polly and winked. She nearly burst out laughing at his behavior, but contained herself.

Lydia headed back for the door, "Aaron's downstairs, waiting for me in the Jeep. We might go see a movie!"

Polly laughed. "That sounds fun."

"It does! I've had the television turned on to the news stations for the last week watching all of the tragedy in Boston unfold and he thinks I need to be distracted."

"He doesn't know you very well, does he?"

"What do you mean?"

"You find plenty in your life to distract you from tragedy. Look what you did for me today," Polly remarked.

"We don't need to tell him all my secrets," Lydia smiled. "I like it when he gets all husbandly and tells me what to do. It doesn't happen very often, so I let him get away with it."

"You go take care of your husband and thank you for everything." Polly hugged her and held the door as Lydia walked out and down the steps.

She shut the door and turned around. "Well, what homework do you have tonight, Andrew?"

"The usual," he commented, his voice drooping. "Will summer ever get here? I'm tired of homework."

"I know what you mean, bud. Let's get started and maybe we'll play some games later on this evening. Henry, are you staying?"

"I'd love to stay. I want to look at your bedroom anyway. Since the door is open, I assume you got a little cleaning done?"

"Yes, I did. You are welcome to it."

"What's he looking at?" Andrew asked.

"He thinks there is a stairway that has been walled up. It will lead down to the new garage."

"Do you think there are any more dead bodies in there?"

"Oh, Andrew, I hope not. I don't think my reputation can stand any more of those."

"I think it would be cool. What if they walled that staircase up because there were zombies trying to break into the old school and that was the only way to stop them?"

"Well, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe we shouldn't let Henry open it up. You never know when zombies might come back to life."

Andrew shuddered and then said, "What if the staircase actually leads down through the floor downstairs to the underground and there are tunnels that go everywhere in Bellingwood and a long time ago, they used to smuggle slaves."

"The school wasn't built until the 1920s, but maybe they built it on top of those tunnels and this was the main house people stayed in before they moved on."

"Yeah!" he said. "And all of those tunnels underneath the town are still there and maybe rat people live down there and have a completely different life than we do up here. They don't know there are people on top of the ground either."

"Or maybe that boarded up stairway was a time transfer portal and they lost too many students through it because they didn't know how to use it and got caught in the vortex," Polly encouraged.

"Yeah! Maybe it was a portal to a whole 'nother universe!" Andrew was getting excited. "I gotta write this down!"

He dug in his backpack and pulled out his notepad and a pencil and began scratching things on a blank page. Polly watched as he concentrated, chewing on his lower lip. He was writing as quickly as he could and then shut the notebook.

"There," he said. "That is cool stuff."

"I'm glad. Why don't you pull out your homework and get started. I'll talk Henry out of breaking into that wall until Jason gets his work done and then maybe we can see if there are any real mysteries hiding inside it."

"Cool!" Andrew pulled out a couple of books and opened the first one, sliding a folded piece of paper out and opening it. "I need to do math problems and then read this chapter and answer questions. It shouldn't take me long."

He settled in and Polly headed for the bedroom. "Henry?" she called.

He poked his head out of her closet. "I'm trying to figure the best way to knock this wall out without destroying everything you have. I don't even know which way these steps go downstairs."

"Would you mind waiting until Jason and Andrew are done with their homework? I promised they could watch you cut into the wall."

"Why not?” he said, “I’ll go in from the front anyway. I need to get some tools. I won't open the whole thing up today, I want to see what I'm looking at."

"That little boy out there has a creative mind. He had all sorts of ideas as to why this was boarded up."