Chapter 28

Marian was washing up the supper dishes, wondering at what had come over her husband. He had come home early, subdued, and said he wasn’t hungry. He went to bed right away. When she went in to see what was wrong, he asked her ... actually asked her ... to leave him alone. He said he had a rough day, and just needed some extra sleep. Then he asked her to wake him up when she was ready for bed, so he could move to the couch. She had been astounded, and was currently thinking about letting him stay there. The girls had said Nathan had stopped by at Flossie’s and told them he’d stay there with her for a while. That was fine. She would probably need company for a while, until she dealt with the fear. Marian had a snippet of worry that people would talk, but Flossie was the teacher, and kids probably came and went all the time in a small town like this.

The girls were reading and Marian was thinking about watching some TV when there was a light tapping on the door. Marian was closer and went to see who was there. It was a girl.

“Hi,” said the girl shyly. “I’m Johnnie Sue Thorpe. I go to school with your girls.”

“Well, pleased to meet you.” said Marian. “Won’t you come in?”

Hilda Mae appeared at her elbow.

“Johnnie Sue!” she said. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Well,” said Johnnie Sue, affecting a high and lilting voice, “what with us not having school and all, I got to thinking that I’d never had the chance to have one of those slumber parties I’ve heard about ... and I asked my Mamma, and she said it would be okay if I invited some friends ... and...” She looked down shyly.

Bernadette appeared, one eyebrow raised.

“I think that’s lovely,” said Marian. “Isn’t she nice to invite you for her very first slumber party?”

Hilda Mae was staring at Johnnie Sue. Something had to be up. This wasn’t how Johnnie Sue talked. The thing that gave it away even more was that she was wearing a dress. Neither Hilda Mae nor Bernadette had ever seen her in a dress. Naked ... yes. In a dress ... no.

“I guess that would be fun,” said Hilda Mae, overdoing the reluctance in her voice. Her mother took her upper arm and squeezed it in warning. “Yes,” she added brightly. “I’m sure Bernadette would love to come too!”

Ten minutes later the sisters came out of their room with a suitcase. Marian was still talking to Johnnie Sue. They were comparing biscuit recipes and Marian was bemoaning the fact that neither of her daughters had any interest in cooking at all.

They weren’t even out of the yard before Bernadette was asking “What’s going on?”

“Can’t a young lady have her first slumber party?” asked Johnnie Sue in her simpering voice. “I’ll be happy to teach you how to make biscuits.” She grinned. “Where’s Nathan?”

“He’s down at Miss Flossie’s,” Bernadette whispered. “Now, what’s going on!?”

“You were busy at Miss Flossie’s today, but something amazing happened. Didn’t Nathan tell you about the treasure?”

“What treasure?” both sisters asked together.

“We found something at the mansion. We worked all day to clear out those steps and found a cellar. There were guns in it!” she said excitedly.

Then she had to describe everything that had happened, and how they couldn’t get the metal box open, but she just knew there was treasure in it.

“So what are we doing now?” asked Hilda Mae.

“Well,” said Johnnie Sue. “It was your idea to go there, and it was my seeing the attic that got us back there, and we never would have found anything if it wasn’t for us girls. I thought we could sneak out there tonight and find out what’s in that box before the boys get there tomorrow.” She grinned.

“Go there ... in the dark?” It was plain that didn’t appeal to Hilda Mae.

“It has to be in the dark,” said Johnnie Sue patiently. “When it’s light the boys will be there too.”

“What about your mother?” asked Hilda Mae. “Won’t she be expecting us for the slumber party?”

“It’s at your house, you dope!” said the girl, grinning.

“Oh! Uh ... yeah ... of course.”

“What will we do for light?” asked Bernadette.

“I’ve got a lantern,” said Johnnie Sue. “I’ve got it stashed with my clothes.” She led them to a big tree, behind which was sitting a kerosene lantern and two bags. Johnnie Sue stripped naked, got into her usual clothes and stuffed her dress into the bag her clothes had come out of. She picked up the other one and indicated that the suitcase sould be left there.

They took off, Johnnie Sue leading, and the two other girls following, somewhat reluctantly, at first. But, as they went on, and the full moon rose higher, their eyes became adjusted to the faint light and the two city girls were soon exclaiming at how easy it was to get around. Neither of them had ever been out, away from the lights of town at night, and had no concept of how much light the full moon actually reflected onto the earth at night. Deep shadows, that seemed so scary at first, became just that ... shadows ... places of refuge, should they run into someone. Then the moved into the woods around the mansion, and the light was cut off as trees arched overhead. The going was slower there, and Johnnie Sue lit the lantern, hunching down and striking the match on the zipper of the pants she had put.

“What if somebody sees the light?” asked Bernadette.

“They’ll just think it’s the ghosts,” whispered Johnnie Sue. She handed Hilda Mae the bag she had been carrying, and it almost fell to the ground as she grabbed it.

“What in the world is in this?” she asked, hefting the heavy bag.

“I got a three pound hammer and cold chisel from the barn,” said Johnnie Sue. “How else will we get the box open?”

The sisters were amazed at how much had changed since they were last there. When Johnnie Sue led them down into the cellar, they looked around in awe. They tackled removing the furniture from the stash, and Johnnie Sue showed them a rifle, which was of little interest to the sisters. It took both Johnnie Sue and Bernadette to pull the metal chest from its hiding place.

They stood, panting, looking at the box.

Johnnie Sue got the hammer and chisel from the bag and gave the lock a few tentative whacks. Nothing happened, though some shiny marks showed up on the old metal. She hit it harder, and still nothing happened. Then she attacked it with all her energy, hitting the end of the chisel over and over again while the lock flopped around under it.

She finally stopped, unable to lift the hammer again, and panting like she’d sprinted a mile.

“This isn’t working,” she said, frustration in her voice. “I need to use both hands on the hammer ... hit it harder ... but I can’t hold the chisel and hit it at the same time.”

Hilda Mae had been watching events, and snorted. “If you think I’m going to hold that chisel for you while you hit my hand, you’re sadly mistaken.”

They tried propping up the chisel with pieces of wood. Johnnie Sue took a two handed swing and the chisel dropped to the ground. They tried again, and she missed the chisel completely, hitting the pile of wood instead. She dropped the hammer in disgust.

“I thought this would be easy,” she moaned.

Bernadette, convinced in her heart that there were jewels inside this thing had become more and more frustrated as she watched Johnnie Sue’s vain attempts to defeat the padlock. She picked up the hammer, and her rage and impotence strengthened her arms as she gave a mighty swing. It was more out of frustration than anything else. She actually meant to hit the lid, but missed and the corner of the square hammer caught the base of the padlock squarely. Johnnie Sue’s attempts had made a difference, though they couldn’t tell it by looking, and the fatigued metal snapped.

The lock hung, open, in the hasp.

With shaking fingers, Johnnie Sue pulled the heavy lock from the hasp, dropping it on the ground. She grasped the end of the hasp and pulled.

It didn’t move.

“Open it!” whispered Hilda Mae.

“It won’t move!” moaned Johnnie Sue. “It’s rusted shut!”

“Get out of the way!“ shouted Bernadette, who was still holding the hammer. She attacked the hasp, beating at it with all her strength.

“Stop!“ shouted Johnnie Sue. She had to yell twice more before it penetrated Bernadette’s enraged brain.

“All you did was bend the ring!” shouted Johnnie Sue. She stared at the “D” ring, which was now bent sideways, folded over the hasp. It was obvious that the hasp couldn’t move now.

Bernadette dropped the hammer and sat down on the ground, panting.

Johnnie Sue got the chisel again, and put it between the bent “D” ring and the hasp. She hit the chisel, and the “D” ring moved a hair. They had to take turns, but when they saw that the hasp was moving too, they found renewed energy. Finally, Johnnie Sue pried with the chisel and the hasp popped off the “D” ring.

Three sets of hands reached for the hasp and pulled, only to find that the hinges were also rusted so solidly that they wouldn’t move more than a fraction of an inch. When Bernadette picked up the hammer again, Johnnie Sue snatched it away from her.

“You’ve done enough damage,” she growled.

She put the hammer back on the ground and pulled at the hasp, then pushed back down. She set up a rhythm, pulling and dropping and each time the lid moved a fraction more. When the lid was moving a full inch, she ran out of steam, and Hilda Mae took over. Bernadette finally pushed her aside, and with all her strength she yanked at the lid with her fingers in the one inch opening. There was a squeak of complaint from the hinges, and the lid pulled up to stand straight up. Three youthful faces peered into the box.

“It’s just rags!”, moaned Bernadette.

“It can’t be rags,” said Johnnie Sue, her fingers reaching. “It’s too heavy to be just rags.”

White cloth came away in her fist ... to expose shiny gold.

Three youthful mouths dropped open, and it was suddenly silent as nobody breathed.

They were coins. As the girls grabbed at them, and pulled up a fistful of six or seven coins each, they gaped. What they had thought was rags, was just the remnants of canvas bags the coins had been in. There were three bags, in all, but none of the cloth was sound any more.

Bernadette lifted one coin out and examined it in the lamp light. On one side there was a woman’s face, in profile, wearing a crown like thing with the word “Liberty” on it. There were thirteen floral looking things around the outside, and at the bottom was the date - 1861. On the other side there was a shield, clutched in the claws of an eagle. The words “United States of America” were around the outside at the top and sides. At the bottom were the letters “Twenty D”

“Money!” sighed Johnnie Sue, looking at a coin in her own hand.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Hilda Mae, turning the shiny coin so that the light glinted off its rich color.

“It says twenty on the back,” said Bernadette. “Is that twenty dollars?”

“It has to be,” said Johnnie Sue. “My grandpa had a coin like this when I was little. They were worth a lot of money then. He let me hold it one time and told me it could buy a whole mule!”

“1861,” said Hilda Mae. “These are almost a hundred years old!”

“How many are there?” asked Bernadette.

They made stacks of ten. When they were done, there were forty-three stacks of ten, and one stack of seven.

“That’s over eight thousand dollars! Suddenly, the comforting dark around them held watching eyes ... jealous eyes ... coveting eyes. Johnnie Sue actually blew out the lamp, so sure was she that they were being watched. Down in the cellar, there was no light at all, and the blackness terrified Hilda Mae and Bernadette. Both girls started crying.

It took a minute, but Johnnie Sue located another match in her pocket and lit it. She held it up, and the cries of the girls stopped.

“Put it all back,” she whispered urgently. “Quick!” She barely got the lamp re-lit before the match burned her fingers, and sucked at them. There was the dull clink of coins being dumped back into the chest.

“Wait! Keep one out!” Johnnie Sue whispered again. Bernadette reached and gripped one coin tightly in her hand, as they pushed the lid back down. Then, with strength produced by adrenaline, Johnnie Sue grunted and moved the box by herself, back into the corner. Then there was a frenzy of piling broken furniture back up to cover the rifles and the real treasure. They crept to the stairs, and Johnnie Sue blew out the lantern again. She cut off the complaints from the other two girls, telling them to just wait.