Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
I an nearly toppled off the couch, rolling in laughter later that evening, when I recounted how my mom had shoved Professor Anderson into the college fountain. Her reasoning? To stop him from planting an unwelcome smooch, to cool his jets, and to save my dad from committing an unscheduled felony assault while running for sheriff. Classic multitasking.
What really sent Ian into hysterics, though, was when I reiterated my mom’s colorful description of what followed and doing a good imitation of her.
“Poor Professor Anderson flailed around in the fountain like a disoriented walrus on ice. It was so embarrassing for him that I didn’t think twice about reaching out to help him—and, naturally, or unfortunately, physics got involved. The professor slipped, yanked me in after him, and splash! Enter your dad, ever the gallant hero, lunging to my rescue from a watery fate. One misstep later, he was in the fountain, too, completing the most dignified cannonball trio in local history.”
“I can just picture the three of them now, a crowd gathering and laughing,” Ian said unable to contain his laughter. “And your dad still won the sheriff’s race after that comedy of errors?”
I couldn’t hold back my own laughter. “My mom insists the incident won him the race. He was hailed a hero for coming to his wife’s rescue.”
“You know, Pep, you not only have some of your dad’s good qualities, but you also have some of your mom’s unique character. Life will never be dull with you. Oh, and you should know now that my parents aren’t as nearly entertaining as yours.”
“My parents are definitely a unique couple,” I said with pride.
“I do hope we follow in their footsteps,” Ian said and kissed me. “Now how about we go over all we have so far on the Willow family mystery?”
I grabbed my computer off the coffee table eager to discuss it with him. “I was hoping you would say that.” I snuggled next to him, his arm going around my shoulder and we settled in to investigate. I pulled up the file. “Amy and I had a productive afternoon once we left the diner. We combed over the Willow Lake Historical Society’s files we got and combined what they had on the Willow family with what you and I learned from the church files. But let’s start from the beginning and see what we can piece together so far.”
“The looting, though barely, at the mausoleum and finding the body,” Ian said. “Why loot the place? We now have a possibility—treasure. But what was the body doing there? Was he one of the looters?”
“Then there is the sudden appearance of Stone and his gang and him claiming to be a descendant of the Willow family but not having an ounce of proof.”
“Which makes one wonder what he’s after,” Ian said.
“Follow that with the vanishing guy showing up at the garden center appearing dead again only to vanish again.” I shook my head. “The only reasonable explanation for him being there was to meet someone, but who and why?”
“Then comes your mom’s unfortunate assault,” Ian said.
“Which takes the mystery to the Willow Mansion and the distinct possibility that my mom was assaulted to get her keys.”
“But why not just break into the place. Why try to rob the keys and why from your mom and not the other people who work there, especially with your dad being the sheriff?”
“You’re right,” I said. “Why rob my mom when they could have robbed the keys from any of the people working there.”
“Does your mom hold a key to the Willow Mansion that the others don’t?” Ian asked.
I hurried to move the computer to his lap. “I don’t know but I am going to find out.” I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and called my mom.
“Hi, Pepper,” she sang into the phone.
“Where are you, Mom?” I asked, hearing music and laughter in the background.
“At the campaign party the local woman’s club is hosting for me. I’m having a blast.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“He had work to see to. He’s picking me up afterward.”
Nice excuse, Dad, I thought but didn’t say.
“I’m sorry, Pepper, I don’t have time to talk. Did you call for a reason?”
“Yes, Mom, and I won’t keep you. “Are your keys for the Willow Lake Historical Society any different from the other society members’ keys?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Okay, that’s all I needed to know. Enjoy the party.”
“Toodles,” my mom sang out before ending the call.
Ian smiled. “Your mom is partying?”
“Yup, and my dad, the sheriff, is hiding out at the police station.”
“Why? He seemed to have a great time at my Halloween party.”
“A mixed bunch. This party is women only and no way would my dad want to be the only man there and I don’t blame him.”
“Some men might enjoy it.”
“Would you?” I rolled my eyes. “What am I thinking? You’re a male cover model. You’re used to women hanging all over you.”
“There is only one woman I want hanging all over me.”
I glanced at the tattoos on his arm and knew he had gotten a temporary one today that covered a good portion of his chest, and I was eager to see it. But first things first. “Later, biker, we have work to do.”
He winked playfully at me. “I can wait, since anticipation makes it that more enjoyable.”
I forced my mind back to the case. “My mom’s keys are no different from the others.”
Ian shook his head. “Why then was there another attempt to steal her purse if it wasn’t the keys they wanted?”
“It doesn’t make sense and, so far, there is nothing in any of the documents on the Willow family that mentions anything close to a treasure or even a mention of a dowry. But someone believes there is something to find since not here was written on that note I found. What’s not where? The mausoleum or the Willow Mansion.”
“Logic might point to the Willow Mansion being the mausoleum was looted and the next incident, your mom being assaulted, took place at the mansion. That would leave one to believe nothing was found at the mausoleum, so the search moved to the mansion.”
“I think there are two separate guys searching for the supposed treasure.”
Ian was quick to agree with me. “I think you’re right. There is the guy you saw running away and then there is the guy you whacked with your mom’s purse and was probably the one who assaulted her.”
I shifted the computer back onto my lap to make some notes. “Do you think they are in competition?”
“Could be. A substantial treasure could easily pit people against each other.”
“Well, if it is a treasure worth hunting, I wonder how it has remained hidden all these years.”
I made more notes as we talked a while longer and we decided our next step was for me to talk with Charlie Gibbons, the elderly man whose family was the groundskeepers for decades as well as Amy continuing to go through the society’s files.
Ian pushed the top of the computer closed. “Enough for tonight. I want some alone time with you.”
I knew what he meant but I teased him anyway. “We are alone.”
Ian pointed to Mo who had sat up from where he was stretched out in front of the television and stared at us. “We are not alone, and you, Mo, are staying put until bedtime is called.”
Mo grumbled a growl and laid back down.
Ian looked around and called out, “You better not be in the bedroom, Roxie.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when Roxie came prancing into the room from the direction of the bedroom and cuddled herself against Mo.
“Now it’s you and me, mo ghràdh .”
I am not the overly romantic kind, but I do enjoy when Ian calls me my love in Scottish Gaelic. It gives me warm fuzzies.
He leaned over to kiss me, and I leaned in eager for his kiss… then my cell rang.
“Your mom,” Ian said, seeing her name come up on my phone.
I hurried to answer it, eager for the night ahead with Ian. “I’m a bit busy, Mom.”
“I won’t keep you. About the keys. I remember your Aunt Effie giving me a key for the Willow Mansion and made me promise not to lose it—strange as it sounds—she told me to keep it for you that you would need it one day.”
I stared at the iron skeleton key my mom handed me the next morning.
“I kept it in my personal drawer all these years and had completely forgotten about it,” my mom said, sitting beside me at the kitchen island.
Ian and I had finished breakfast and were on our second cup of tea when my mom arrived, key in hand.
“I was eager to bring it to you, recalling last night how adamant your aunt had been about me keeping it until you needed it. She reminded me again and again through the years not to lose it.”
“You said that she told you I would need it one day. Did you ask Aunt Effie why I would need it?”
My mom chuckled softly. “Of course I did. I was curious, but your aunt would smile and press her finger to her lips and that made me think it was a secret she wasn’t ready to reveal.”
I looked at Ian and saw the eagerness in his eyes that I felt in thinking that the key could hold the answer to the supposed Willow family treasure.
My mom finished her tea and looked down at Mo who had immediately gone and fetched his vest upon my mom’s arrival and had parked himself next to her leg so she couldn’t leave without him.
“Do you mind if I take him again today, Pepper?” my mom asked.
“On one condition, Mom,” I said, and she waited to hear along with Mo who looked at me with pleading eyes. “That you make no mention of this key to anyone, except Dad, of course, and that you spread the word that I have your keys to the Willow Mansion.” She went to argue, and I shook my head. “It’s nonnegotiable, Mom. I’m not going to see you hurt.”
“And I don’t want to see you hurt either, Pep,” Ian said.
My mom was quick to take Ian’s side. “I agree with Ian, and I know your dad would too.”
“I think Dad would agree with me. I was terrified when I saw you lying on the ground, blood pooling by your head, and you not moving. Dad and Josh were just as terrified, not to mention how worried Danny, Kelly, and Thomas were when they heard. Then there was the incident at the cemetery.” I shook my head. “No. I will not take the chance of losing you.” I glanced at Ian hoping he would back me up on this and he didn’t disappoint me.
“Pep will do just fine, and I won’t let anyone hurt her.”
My mom reached across the counter to pat Ian’s hand. “I believe you, Ian, but Pepper has a way of getting herself into less-than-ideal situations.”
“This from my mom who wound up falling into the college fountain with two men. And there better not be a repeat of such outrageous shenanigans tonight,” I warned teasingly.
My mom gasped. “Good heavens, don’t say such a thing. An incident like that could lose me the mayorship.”
“I don’t know about that. It won Dad the sheriff’s position.”
My mom laughed. “It did, though he doesn’t think so. Come on, Mo, we have a busy day ahead of us. Oh, I am going to be at the senior center today after lunch and Charlie Gibbons will probably be there if you want to stop by and talk with him.”
“I do. I will see you there. So, Mom, I assume you agree with my condition for you to take Mo for the day,” I said as she got busy getting Mo’s vest on him.
“I do, but I have a condition of my own,” she said with a sly smile which sparked a bit of concern in me. “You be the one to tell your dad what you did.”
I never saw two people leave a room so fast, neither of them wanting to stick around while I spoke with my dad. So, he may yell and tell me how foolish it was of me that I didn’t think it through, and I made things worse not better.
Waiting or hesitating to do something you dread only worsens the task and prolongs the agony. I grabbed my phone before I chickened out and as soon as my dad answered I rushed to tell him what I did. His response stunned me.
“Thanks, Pepper. I have been so worried about your mom’s safety and while I also worry about the consequences of what you did, you are young and quick and more likely to avoid the danger your mom faced. Don’t tell her I said that.”
I didn’t let my dad hear me laugh. “I won’t and I’ll be careful.”
“I’d like to think that, but I doubt it. You already have charged into this thing headfirst. The one thing that helps me to worry a little less than usual is that you now have Ian, and he doesn’t hesitate to come to your rescue when needed. But please, Pepper, be extra careful.”
“I will, Dad, I promise, and I’ll see you tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“The lecture at the community college.” I heard him groan and couldn’t help but tease him. “Beware of the fountain, Dad.” I hung up laughing, hearing him swear while telling me not to tell my mom.
I took the skeleton key with me to my office, now in the attic, Mo and Roxie following me. There was a window seat that the sun blazed down on that she loved but could only get to when I was working. She cuddled herself in a ball on the cushioned seat while I went to my desk at one end of the large attic. The other end of the attic I turned into a comfy zone with an overstuffed, forest green, velvet sofa that I loved to sink into. A purple velvet chair that embraced you like loving arms sat across from it, as did a gold and dark green print rocker that easily put me to sleep not long after sitting in it. Beneath the trio was spread a worn Persian rug my aunt had brought back in the days of her travels. Side tables, lamps for soft lighting, throws, plants, bookcases, and a round coffee table I bought secondhand and painted gold finished the area. But it was the large window I had installed that made me feel that I was in a treehouse sitting high among the many trees.
When I no longer needed to sit at my desk to work, I retreated to my comfy zone. I felt that I got my best writing done there. But for now, work called, and I stationed myself at my desk that had a view of the whole attic and out the other matching, large window, balancing the look of the attic.
The skeleton key weighed heavily in my hand or maybe it was the pressure I felt knowing my aunt expected me to know when to use it. She had entrusted it to me just as she did this cabin and the acres of land around it, including the lodge. She believed in me, and I didn’t want to let her down.
I briefly gave thought to keeping the key on me but that wouldn’t be practical or wise since I worried that I might lose it. I placed it for safe keeping in one of my desk drawers.
I got to work going through my emails first and was delighted to find a few resumes from people interested in the virtual assistant job. I perused them quickly and set a few aside that looked promising.
An email popped up from Amy just before my cell rang.
“Did you get it?” she asked.
“It just came in.”
“I did some digging on Professor Anderson, curious over the man who tried to kiss your mom, and I discovered this article dated five years ago.”
I opened it and my eyes popped wide staring at a picture of two men with the title of the article, in Hobbyist Magazine , blazing above the photo… The Real Indiana Jones , Professors Pierce Anderson and Evan Swatcher Treasure Hunters.