Unveiled Treasures (10 page)

If there was one word Brutus understood, it was “eat”. He scrambled across the living room and was waiting for her in the kitchen, beating his tail against the cabinets. She smiled at him as she poured his food. He sat down and waited for her to serve him. “That’s a good boy,” she said as she scratched his ears. “I’ll be in the bedroom cleaning if you need me.” His only response was to bury his face in his food bowl.

Rachel made quick work of cleaning the bedrooms. There really wasn’t that much to do in them except for some sweeping, mopping and dusting. She scrubbed the bathroom again for good measure. Starting to walk back down the hall, she decided the small bedroom at the end would be the best location for her home office. She stood in the doorway and childhood memories flashed through her mind. She saw the bunk beds in one corner of the room and her oldest sister’s bed tucked in another. Yes, this was going to make a perfect office. The freshly scrubbed, honey colored wood paneling contrasted nicely with the darker wood of the floor. The window faced the forest, so she had a stunning view of the red rock cliffs and trees. She thought about getting a book on local plant life, so she would know what she was looking at and then thought she would just ask Jessica. “She probably knows what each and every one of them are,” she said to Brutus as he walked in the room.

Another knock at the door sent Brutus scrambling and barking through the house. Rachel looked out the window before she opened the door this time. She squealed and did a little booty shake. Throwing open the door, she smiled at the uniformed moving crew. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” she said politely.

The mover who knocked on the door stood staring at her. He wasn’t expecting a knock out like this to answer the door. He swallowed audibly, causing his Adam’s apple to bob up and down. “Uh, hi. We uh, have some furniture and stuff here for you.”

Rachel smiled brightly and opened the door as far as she could. “Excellent. I’ve been waiting for you.” She glanced at his name tag. “Come on in, Steve. I’ll show you where things need to go.”

The rest of the day flew by, unloading boxes, and setting up furniture. Rachel was exhausted but very happy. Stretching out on her king-size bed, she looked over at Brutus as he stretched out on his dog bed, beside her on the floor. “Isn’t this better than a sleeping bag on the floor in the living room?” she asked him.

He sighed, rolled over and exposed his belly in response. Laughing, she leaned over to rub him down. The knock at the door surprised them both. Brutus ran down the hallway barking all the way. Rachel was right behind him. Looking out the window she saw Jessica Bradley with a grocery bag under each arm. Opening the door with a smile, Rachel asked, “What a pleasant surprise. Are you the delivery service for Canyon Grocery now too?”

“Nah. I wouldn’t want to take the job away from Josie’s grandson, David.” She giggled as she came in. “I saw your moving van come parading through town earlier today. Moving vans are big news in the Creek. By now, everybody knows you’ve moved in,” she went on. “I figured your ice has melted and you didn’t have any food left in the house. Well, hello again, Brutus. How are

you doing today?” she said as he wormed his way in between the two women.

“Jessica Bradley, I would like to formally introduce you to my dear friend, Brutus Hardy. Brutus, please sit down and shake hands with Ms. Jessica.”

Brutus abruptly plopped down and extended his right front paw to shake her hand just as he had with Todd earlier that day. “Well, it’s nice to formally meet you, Brutus,” Jessica replied as she set one of the bags on the floor so she could shake his paw. “I think he’s absolutely gorgeous. I’ve always wanted a big dog but Todd isn’t real crazy about them.”

“Brutus had him trapped inside his SUV this morning.”

“And you didn’t get it on film? I’d have paid good money to see that.” Jessica laughed. Scooping the bag back up off of the floor, she headed towards the kitchen. “Now let’s get you something to eat.”

“How do you know I haven’t stopped to eat today?”

“’Cause I know I wouldn’t have. I’d get so wrapped up in putting my house together, I’d forget about everything else. Am I wrong?”

As if he understood what she was saying, Brutus went over and hit his empty food bowl with his nose. “Aha, I didn’t think so. Your friend here just ratted you out,” Jessica continued. “You feed your dog, while I throw these sandwiches together.”

Rachel poured Brutus another bowl of kibble and went back to help Jessica with the sandwiches. “A meal fit for a king, err, queen. Shall we sit at your freshly unpacked kitchen table, or do we dine outside at your freshly unpacked patio table?

“Outside definitely, I’ve been cooped up in this house all day,” Rachel replied.

“Excellent choice and your handsome companion can run off some of his energy.” On cue, Brutus bolted for the door, whining and prancing to be released.

On the patio, Rachel and Jessica dined on hoagies, potato salad, chips and bottled beer. Brutus romped through the trees upsetting squirrels and causing birds to fly off. The picturesque sunset faded quietly towards evening sky. Rachel lit the patio heater to ward off the chill and provide some light. “Thanks, Jessica. This was very thoughtful of you.”

“You are welcome. Friends do things like this for each other,” she said as she sipped her beer.

Rachel felt her eyes filling. She walked around the table and hugged Jessica. “That means a lot to me,” she said into Jessica’s shoulder. Tears falling now, she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

“Come on now, it was just sandwiches, Rachel,” Jessica said, hugging her back.

Laughing and sniffling, Rachel sat down across from Jessica. “No it’s not. You notice the small things. I tend to overlook a lot of the small stuff. I wouldn’t even have thought to bring someone food when they were moving in nearby. I don’t know what’s getting in to me. I guess I’m just not used to people helping me like this. I’ve never had a real friend like you before,” she said tearfully.

“That’s what friends do, Rachel. Here, eat this. It will help you feel better,” Jessica said as she stuffed chocolate in her mouth. “The news media found out about the recovered art pieces. It seems Mrs. Riley is upset because her necklace wasn’t in the recovered items. So she called the TV station.”

“I never found a necklace. What necklace? Todd never mentioned anything about a missing necklace. He said they found everything in the garage.” Rachel went on in a panicked voice, “He said this guy wouldn’t have a reason to come back.”

“Calm down Rachel, deep breaths in and out, thatta girl. Todd doesn’t know where the necklace is. It is possible our neighborhood thief may have more than one stash box. Mike has been out questioning people for days now. I’m surprised they were able to keep a lid on it this long.”

“You said the other night millions of dollars in stolen property, right?”

“Yep,” Jessica replied, sipping her beer again.

Rachel got up and began to pace the patio. “There didn’t seem to be that much stuff in the garage, did there?”

“I don’t know. I guess not. But then again, I wouldn’t know a deco bronze statue if you hit me over the head with one. I can however, distinguish ten different types of rattlesnakes for you,” she said, grinning over her beer bottle.

“Thanks, Ranger Smith,” Rachel said, saluting her with her beer bottle. She continued to pace, trying to hide the fear evident in her voice. Chewing on her lip, she said, “Do they have a value on the pieces they did get back?”

“I don’t know. There are certain aspects of the investigation Todd is very tightlipped about.”

“What do you know about the necklace?”

“Are you familiar with The Red Hat Society? It’s usually made up of retired matrons; they hold luncheons, tea parties and a multitude of charitable functions. Anyway, Mrs. Riley is a chairwoman of our local Red Hat Society. She has this necklace. They call it
The Irish Star
. It is a gorgeous emerald pendant hanging on a thick twenty-four carat gold chain. But get this, the thing weighs like, forty-five carats. The center stone is this giant teardrop shaped emerald and it’s surrounded by like twenty diamonds ranging from a half carat to a carat each in size. Rumor has it
The Irish Star
is insured for millions.”

“How could one necklace be worth so much money?” Rachel asked incredulously.

Jessica smiled wickedly. “Oooh, I’m glad you asked. It has a riveting history, dating all the way back to 1701. I just love to tell a story. How ironic that I’m telling you one. Go figure.

“Anyway, in 1701, Frederick III of Brandenburg crowned himself King Frederick I of Prussia. He commissioned a necklace to be made for his mistress, whom he named the Duchess of Brandenburg. He requested a brilliant emerald to match the color of her eyes. Kind of romantic, isn’t it? Anyway, Frederick was not well loved by his people and was overthrown. That’s the polite way of saying they had him beheaded.” Jessica winked at her. “The Duchess, fearing for her life, was removed from harm’s way and relocated in England. Well, with her lover dead, she set about finding a new man. She set her sights on King George I. King George offered her lands in Ireland, which was under his British rule. Having her there made it nice and convenient for him. See this way, his wife, the queen, wouldn’t find out about the Duchess, or his indiscretions. This also worked out well for him because when he traveled to Ireland, he had a nice warm body to snuggle up with, if you get my meaning. I’m sorry, I’m digressing. Let’s get back to the real story. The Jacobites attempted to overthrow King George’s reign in Ireland. The plan failed but the Duchess’ home was raided during the battle. Her necklace and countless other valuables became the spoils of war.” She paused to finish her beer. “The necklace doesn’t reappear again for over one hundred years. But when it does, it’s now known as
The Irish Star
. Somewhere during the early 1800’s, the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church wore it during the Emancipation ceremonies finally celebrating Ireland’s freedom from England.”

“Okay, I’ll admit it does have an interesting history. But can you explain to me how a three hundred year old necklace ends up in Oak Creek Canyon?”

“I’m getting to that. You are aware of the internal warring that went on in Ireland for years, right?”

Rachel nodded her head as Jessica proceeded with her story. “Apparently, our very own Mrs. Riley is the great-great granddaughter of an Irish rebel militia leader. Once again, through the spoils of war and what not, the necklace fell into yet another pair of hands. Only this time, they’ve managed to keep it in their family. Until now, that is.”

“How do you know so much about this, Jessica?”

“Mrs. Riley is Irish. She’s a natural born storyteller. You should meet her sometime. If you spend more than ten minutes with her, you will hear some of her stories for yourself.”

“This is incredible, almost unbelievably so,” Rachel said stunned.

“Well, I would love to stay longer, but I really should get going. I have a heavy class schedule tomorrow. I have ecology, natural history, range plants and rock climbing all in one day. ”

“I’m exhausted myself. Thanks again for the food. Next time, I’ll take care of dinner, okay?” Rachel asked.

“You’ve got yourself a deal. I never pass up a free dinner. Goodbye, Brutus, it was so nice to see you again,” she said as she bent over to kiss him goodbye. He in turn licked the whole side of her face. Laughing, she shrugged into her coat and climbed in her Jeep. Standing in the driveway, Rachel watched her new friend drive off in to the night. “Come on, Brutus. Let’s go inside and get ready for bed.”

Brutus got up, stretched his long legs and yawned. Together, they walked inside the cabin. Rachel made sure to secure the lock on the door. Turning out the light, she took one last look out the window. The forest was dark and quiet. She prayed it would stay that way until morning.

Chapter 7

Sunlight streamed through the bare window of Rachel’s bedroom. It felt wonderful to sleep in her lake-size bed again. Stretching like a cat, she ran her hand across the ornately carved rosewood headboard. It had been an extravagant impulse purchase from the advance of her first book sale. She’d fallen in love with the set at first sight and just had to have it. The matching chest of drawers and vanity table added a touch of a Victorian theme to the room.

Brutus began to stir as she climbed out of bed. “Good morning, Sunshine.” Together, they made their way to the kitchen. Opening the door to let him out, she went to start her coffee. Throwing the jar of instant coffee in the trash was self-gratifying. She began to salivate as the aroma of fresh brewed coffee began to permeate the air. She impatiently waited for the coffeemaker to finish brewing and poured herself a cup. “Bless you for bringing me real coffee, Jessica Bradley,” she said, toasting her friend as she sipped the hot liquid.

Hearing Brutus bark, she walked outside to the patio table to watch him play. The morning chill added a rosy color to her cheeks and after dashing back inside for slippers, she settled down in her chair to watch him chase after squirrels.

The sky is so incredibly blue. Not a trace of smog in the air.
A smile curved her lips. The early morning mist clung to the red rocks, blanketing the forest in a soft, subtle glow. Cottonwood, pine and pinion trees all stood regally, arms outstretched high to capture the warmth and life giving light from the sun. Brutus shattered her tranquil moment by running up and slapping a wet paw in her lap. “Oh, you little stinker!” she squealed. “You’ve been playing in the creek, haven’t you?” He replied by shaking out his fur, spraying her with water droplets. “Thanks for the shower,” she sputtered. “There is nothing I like better than the smell of wet dog in the morning.” She ran inside to fetch a towel to dry him off with. “Wet dogs do not come in the house,” she said sternly. He dropped his head, tucked his tail between his legs and pouted. “Come here, sassy pants,” she ordered. Brutus slinked over to where she was. The expression he wore was that of a young child about to be punished. “You’re not in trouble, you big oaf”, she said, toweling him off. He immediately started to wag his tail and attempted to play tug of war with the towel. She laughed. “Inside the house if you want breakfast,” she said to him as she opened the door. Scrambling to his feet, he gave a happy bark, shook more water from his coat and bounded inside the house ahead of her.