Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (25 page)

"Did he try to go out to the Dykstra's?" Polly asked, ignoring the slip. Rebecca and Andrew giggled again, but she gave them a look and they stopped.

"I asked Marybelle and she wasn't too worried. Jim was in the house with her and Elbert was guarding the door."

"Elbert?"

"Her Remington shotgun."

"I see," Polly said with a nervous laugh. "In other words, be careful if you visit the Dykstras."

"Oh honey," Beryl retorted. "You should be careful if you intend to frighten most of the farm families around here. They know how to take care of themselves and their property."

"Okay, okay." Polly waved her hand at the papers that Tallie had been spreading out. "What's all this?"

Beryl looked at the table, then at Tallie and then at Polly. "You're so boorish."

"What?"

"You brought tea and cookies for me and didn't offer anything to my bos'n. How coarse."

"I'm so sorry," Polly said. She reached for Tallie's forearm. "That was rude of me. I just wanted Beryl's terrible pirate accent to stop. What would you like to drink?"

Tallie laughed. "Tea would be fine."

Rebecca put her hand up. "We haven't had anything to drink either. Could I get it?"

"I'm the worst host ever," Polly said. "Yes, please, Rebecca. See if Heath wants anything."

After everyone was settled back at the table. Polly sat down beside Andrew and Tallie sat across from them between Rebecca and Kayla. Beryl had definitively claimed her place at the head.

"Heath is okay over there?" Polly asked Rebecca quietly.

"He said he's tired. He can hear us."

"But you think he's okay?"

Rebecca nodded. "Just tired."

Polly glanced over to see that Heath had shifted himself so he was lying on his side watching television. She hoped he would let her know if he needed anything, but more than likely, he'd tough it out until she pressed. Now was not the time, though.

"Tell us what we have here," she said.

"This is a plat map of the area from 1930," Tallie said. "That's the earliest one we could find. We also found an atlas of the county from 1909." She pushed both maps toward Polly.

Polly set the atlas aside and opened the plat book. "There's still some land marked as belonging to the Carters here in the Bellingwood township."

She pointed at one section. "This says it was owned by the Bellingwood National Bank. But that's not in town. See, these grayed out blocks are Bellingwood."

"That’s why we have the atlas," Tallie said. "So we can figure out where everything is. "And here's a current state map. I thought maybe this might help, too."

"Okay, now what?" Polly asked.

"Now we identify the most likely spots that Jedidiah would have buried his gold," Beryl said. She opened the tin box and took out a small stack of photographs.

"I've seen this one," Polly said. "It's Jedidiah and Cyrus in front of the bank."

Beryl slid her fingers into the stack and slipped out another photograph. "This is Pearl Carter with Cyrus. I wonder if she was writing him a check for her father's debts."

The photograph showed a young woman seated at a desk, with pen poised to write, while an older gentleman that Polly could now identify as Cyrus, was looking over her shoulder at the papers in front of her.

"And then there's this," Beryl said and handed Polly a small book.

"What is it?"

"Look inside."

Polly opened the book and in tight, precise letters, someone had listed all of the property owned by the Carter brothers. As Polly turned the pages, she saw various parcels of land being sold off and others purchased by Cyrus from Jedidiah.

"You have everything here," she breathed. "Now what about that big red X to mark the spot."

Tallie leaned across the table and tapped the book. "We know when Jedidiah robbed the bank, so we can eliminate property that was sold prior to that date. And honestly, if there was any property sold between then and his death, that can be eliminated, too."

"Yeah," Polly said. "He wouldn't be so stupid as to sell land where he'd buried his loot." She peered at Beryl. "Speaking of which, how much do you suppose he took?"

"That's right here," Beryl said and took out a newspaper clipping that had been folded up for many years. "I don't want to unfold that again. Tallie took a picture of it when I did earlier. Do you have that?"

"It's right here." Tallie swiped through her photos and showed the image to Polly.

"Three thousand dollars," Polly said. "What does that work out to?"

"We looked it up. Show her, Tallie."

"I can't find it that fast, but we'll say that an ounce of gold was around nineteen dollars."

Polly ticked on her fingers. "I'm calling it twenty dollars. I can do the math. He stole one hundred fifty ounces, or a little over nine pounds. What is gold worth now?"

Beryl grinned. "About thirteen hundred dollars an ounce."

Rebecca slapped her hand down on the table. "That's almost two hundred thousand dollars."

"No wonder there's such a fuss," Polly said. Then she slumped. "Can you imagine what it took for Pearl Carter to pay that back? That poor girl had to work hard. She could have done so many different things with her money, but her father flushed every cent of it away. And not just once, but over and over again."

A strange sound rang through the room and Beryl jumped out of her seat. "That's my phone. Where is it?" She patted the papers on the table in front of her and looked around, pushing the bags with her feet. "What did I do with it?"

"It's in your sweater pocket," Tallie said.

"Oh silly me." Beryl patted her pocket, took the phone out and said, "Hello, Beryl Watson here."

They watched as her face brightened, then grew serious, then grew even more serious and then she laughed out loud. "Good for you," she said. "I'm sorry you didn't get an opportunity to do permanent damage." She nodded and smiled and then said, "We're just getting into it. I'll let you know." She was quiet again and then said, "Thanks for calling."

"That was Marybelle Dykstra," Beryl said. "She scared the daylights out of our British gentleman and then told him she was calling the police to let them know that he was in town. I guess I'm the police."

"But we should call them," Polly said. "They'll want to know that he's still around."

Beryl flitted her hand at Polly. "That's your job. You have relationships with all the local law enforcement."

"Uh huh."

"Okay, so he's my best friend's husband. But trust me, I don't like having to call him professionally. He gets a little testy."

"Can I look at that book?" Rebecca asked.

Polly held out the property listings. "This?"

"Yeah. Andrew, Kayla and I can go through the pages and figure out what property Jedidiah Carter owned when he died. That sounds like fun."

"Sure." Polly glanced at Tallie and Beryl for their approval. Both seemed happy not to have to do the work. "There's paper in the middle left drawer of Henry's desk."

"I know where it is," Rebecca said. "Can we take that plat book too? I think the numbers correspond to it."

Beryl pushed the book to her. "Be careful with that stuff. It isn't mine."

"Of course we will," Rebecca replied. "Don't worry."

The kids took off for Henry's office and Polly took out her phone. She wasn't really sure whether to call Aaron or the police station. Aaron was used to hearing from her, but Bellingwood police had been tracking Darien Blackstone. It wasn't yet five o'clock, so she hoped that Mindy was still answering the phone.

"Bellingwood Police," a familiar voice answered.

"Mindy, this is Polly Giller."

"Hello there. It sounds like you had a rough night again last night."

"Yeah. And I'm calling about that guy. He's still in town and was just out at Marybelle and Jim Dykstra's house. She ran him off with a shotgun."

Mindy laughed. "Oh she did! I'm not surprised. There isn't much that scares her. Thanks for the call. I'll let Bert know. And I'll tell him to call before he gets there."

"Not a bad idea."

"There," Polly said after she put the phone down. "I've made yet another call for you."

Beryl bowed and rolled her hand. "Thank you, oh my wonderful master. Where would I be without you?"

"I have no idea. Show me what else you have going on in those totes while the kids are working on the real estate. Anything that pertains to this?"

"Not really," Tallie said. "It's fascinating stuff, but I don't think it will help us."

"Let's look anyway. Is there anything from the early nineteen hundreds? I'm looking for information about Bellingwood when the Bell House was built."

Tallie lifted a tote bag onto the table and pulled stacks of paper out. It was all still disorganized, but at least Polly knew that she could look through it without desperately trying to solve a mystery.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Returning the kids to their homework had been no easy task, but after Beryl and Tallie left, Polly took the real estate sales information away and sent them to the dining room table. The treasure had waited this long, it could continue to wait.

On Henry’s way back from Boone, he picked up supper and they ate in the media room. After the last few days, it felt good just to sit in front of a movie as a family. But by nine thirty, Polly was done. Heath was asleep, Rebecca had long since lost interest in the movie, and Henry was squirming and fidgeting in his chair. She told Heath and Rebecca that she didn't care if they went to sleep, but everyone was going to their bedrooms. Polly collapsed onto the bed and tried to read, but after Henry picked the book up off her chest the second time, she turned her light off and fell asleep, hoping that they'd get through the night without a crisis.

She turned over and looked outside to see the gray of pre-dawn.

"Good morning," Henry said. "Did you sleep well?"

"No dreams and nobody woke me up with alarms or phone calls," she replied. "I want a few more of those nights."

"Han and I are taking off early this morning. We won't be here for breakfast."

She sat up in bed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing abnormal, just a lot of work. But today will be a good day for him to go with me. Will that help you?"

"I guess. I like having him around, though."

Henry smiled. "So do I." He twisted around and rubbed his dog's head. "Hey buddy, wanna hang out with me?"

Han wagged his entire body and tried to climb up Henry's body in his joy.

"Silly dog." Henry swung his legs over the dog and sat on the edge of the bed. "What's up with you today?"

"I don't know," Polly said. "I'll check in downstairs. It feels like I haven't been there in a month, but I really want to get back to Bell House. We'll see what Heath thinks about being alone. Otherwise, I'll just stick close."

"Mom said that she and Molly would be glad to come over and spend the day with him if you had things to do."

"She's a wonderful woman," Polly said.

"She likes our kids."

Polly thought about that for a minute. No wonder Henry was so comfortable taking in whatever kids she found. His parents had taught him well. "I love her."

"She loves you, too." Henry leaned back and then tapped his lips so she would bend over and kiss him. "And so do I. Very much." He took a deep breath. "Okay, into the breach. Han, old buddy. I'd best get moving if I'm going to start this day."

"Do you want me to whip up some breakfast for you?" Polly asked before he disappeared into the bathroom.

He turned back to her and gave her a guilty laugh. "Please don't hate me for wanting to pick up coffee and a donut at Sweet Beans."

"You're a rat," she said. "I want to go with you."

"I'll take Obiwan outside and send him back upstairs before we leave. Does that help?"

"You're still a rat. But it's fine."

"Do you want me to call Mom?"

"If Heath needs a babysitter and I need to leave, I'll call her," Polly said. "No worries. And by the way..." She waited for him to turn around. "Cute butt."

Henry waggled it and went on into the bathroom to get ready.

Polly was in the kitchen when he came through. He stopped to give her a kiss and then took the dogs out with him. She had extra time before she had to get Rebecca moving, so she opened the cupboard doors and held on to the handles, leaning back. Surely there was something interesting she could make for breakfast. When nothing caught her eye, she moved to the refrigerator and then the freezer. This was pathetic. Hayden truly spoiled her on the weekends he came home.

She lifted the aluminum foil on a casserole dish and smiled. Leftover breakfast casserole it was. If she was lucky, there was a container of sausage gravy as well. After pulling both out, she started the coffee pot and lifted herself up to the counter top. She'd kill the kids if they did this, but who was going to catch her?

The morning continued to brighten. If this kept up, it was going to be a great day. Scrabbling toenails on the floor alerted her to Obiwan's return and she jumped down to fill his food dish.

After sending Rebecca to school, Polly tapped on Heath's door. "Are you awake?" she asked, chuckling. Because he was now.

"Come in."

She opened the door to find him sitting up on the edge of his bed, wearing a pair of sweatpants and his t-shirt around his neck. "Were you going to ask me for help?"

He groaned. "I should be able to do this, but I can't get my arms to go where I want them to go. It hurts too much." He looked down at his feet. "And I can't bend over to put my socks on."

"One arm at a time, then," Polly said. She helped with the t-shirt first and then knelt down. "Foot up." She put one sock on, massaged his instep, and did the same for the other foot.

He wriggled his feet away. "That tickles."

"Just checking," she said with a laugh. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Let me see if I can get out there by myself. I really am better. I don't want any pain pills today, either."

She stood and stepped back.

"Don't watch me," he said. "Just go away. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"You're sure?"

Heath glared at her.

"Got it. You're sure." Polly left the room, but hovered outside his door. He moaned and groaned, his breath hitched a couple of times, then she finally heard a first step and another. Before he got to the doorway, she made her way to the dining room.

"Polly?"

She ran back to him, worried that something terrible had happened.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I forgot to get my backpack and phone. And I can't go back for it now."

"Phone on your bedside table?" she asked.

"Yes, and the backpack is on the floor on the other side of the bed. I was going to work on homework last night, but I fell asleep."

"Go on out to the sofa and I'll bring it."

Heath's room was much cleaner than Rebecca's. She picked up the things he might need and went back into the dining room. "How are your wounds?" she asked.

He was standing in front of the sofa. He leaned forward, grabbed the arm, then stood back up. He turned around and grabbed the arm again, then stood back up. Finally, he lifted his leg and dropped himself onto the seat cushion and groaned.

"I could have helped," she said.

"I have to do it myself. I didn't know how much we used those muscles to do everything."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Just a minute."

She listened to him breathe in and out raggedly until his breath finally slowed. "Better?"

"Yeah." He peeled back the gauze from the wound on his arm. "Do you want to see it?"

"Not really. Do I need to?"

He gave her a wicked grin. "It's kind of gross."

"Gross, I need to get you to a doctor or gross, this is pretty cool."

"It's pretty cool."

"Then no, I don't need to see it. But I might ask Evelyn Morrow if she has time to check your bandages."

Heath moaned again.

"Something hurt?" she asked.

"No. You don't need to bring Mrs. Morrow over. Rebecca will help me tonight."

Polly chuckled. "Okay, then. What do you want to do today?"

"My homework. Sleep. Go to the bathroom. Watch television. Text my friends."

"Eat breakfast?" She'd warmed up a plate of casserole and gravy for him and put it on the table beside the couch.

"Thank you." He took the fork she handed to him. "Are you going to hang out here all day?"

"Do I need to?"

"Will you be mad if I tell you no, that you should go?" The pleading look on his face was priceless.

Polly sat down beside him. "Got some big date coming over?"

The look of shock was even better. "No! It's just that it takes me forever to move around and I don't want to make you worry. I'm really fine."

"Okay," she said. "But you have to promise me that you'll text me all day long and tell me you're okay. At least every hour. If I don't hear from you on the hour, or close to it, I'll be calling you. And if you want to take a nap, text me before you do that so I don't worry."

"Really?"

"Really." Polly put her hand on his thigh and rubbed his knee. "I worry about you. It's what a mom does."

"Thanks."

"I'm going to bring cookies and a couple of those travel bottles filled with water over to you," she said. "Do you want me to worry about lunch?"

"I'll find something. I have to start taking care of myself again."

She desperately wanted to hug him, but knew that would give him pain rather than comfort. "You're doing fine," she said instead. "The pain pills are on the kitchen counter if you decide you need one. Okay?"

He nodded.

Polly went downstairs after making sure that things were as easily accessible to Heath as possible. Stephanie smiled and greeted her as she passed through to her office. The plywood panel was still attached to the window. Polly laughed at herself. When the vandals had flung paint on Sycamore House, the one thing she'd worried about was what people would think. How young
was
she way back then? If people wanted to comment on this, that was their problem.

"The window people are going to be here this afternoon," Stephanie said. "They came up to measure things yesterday."

"Thanks," Polly said.

"Mrs. Watson called for you."

Polly frowned. "She called down here?"

"Yeah. She said she didn't want to bother you, but if you came to your office maybe you could call her." Stephanie smiled. "I was going to tell you even if you didn't come down."

"That woman is a nut," Polly said.

"She's really fun. The girl who is staying with her is nice, too. Kayla says they're trying to find where Jedidiah Carter buried the gold. Is it really worth two hundred thousand?"

"If it exists, it will be," Polly said. "But I don't have a lot of confidence about that. Too many years have passed and a lot of people could have found it between then and now."

"But it's still fun to think about. What would you do with it if you found the gold?"

"It's not mine," Polly said. "It probably belongs to Beryl's family since Jedidiah's daughter paid the bank back."

"Wow, that would be so lucky."

"Yes, it really would."

Stephanie looked as if she wanted to say something more, but she nodded and went back to her desk.

Polly decided two could play the game and dialed Beryl from the business phone on her desk.

"Hello, this is Sycamore House," Beryl said.

That didn't work. "Good morning," Polly replied. "You rang?"

"Tallie got a call from Aaron last night. They found Ethan's car down in Perry."

"Anything interesting in it?"

"Not a thing. Well, his clothes and personal items, but nothing that has to do with the treasure or might give them a clue as to who killed him."

"How in the world did it take so long for them to find it?" Polly asked.

"Aaron wouldn't say. But I don't know why he'd be embarrassed. Perry isn't even in Boone County. It's not like his deputies missed it. He did mention that it was disappointing you weren't involved in finding it."

"He did not."

Beryl laughed. "Yes he did. Maybe that's why it took them so long. You didn't have any reason to be in Perry, so it languished until the universe decided it had been long enough."

"Stop it," Polly said, laughter bubbling up.

"Do you want to do something fun today or are you busy?"

"What do you mean, fun?"

"Lydia offered to skip out on her church meeting this morning if we wanted to see the Reiman Gardens. If you go, you can keep her company while Tallie and I act all artsy-fartsy. I haven't been there in a long time, and there might be something interesting that I desperately need to paint."