Freedom's Treasure (14 page)

“I could make a few calls, see if I can find a mattress for that one in the meantime. Or you could stay at my place,” Hunter said it so matter-of-factly that Anna nearly didn’t catch the implications.

“Oh, thank you, Hunter. Maybe another time,” her head did a slow roll without moving. “What was that pill again?”

“Some kind of pain killer. The doctor wrote a prescription for it. I’ll pick it up in town for you later,” Hunter offered.

“Whew, my head’s a-swirling,” she clicked a few buttons and nodded in satisfaction. “Couch will be here in 2 weeks. If you don’t mind, please make those calls. Or we could bring my mattress down like we did the first time you stayed over.”

“Whatever you want, Anna, your wish is my command,” he shot her a cheeky grin and Anna had to smile back. A giggle escaped.

The rare sound of a motor caught their attention and Hunter went to the window to see what was what. “Ah, Colby’s here. I asked him to bring me some boards and stuff to fix the bathroom floor. I think I’ll have to replace the whole thing. Would you like to pick out a different tile?”

Anna shook her head. “No, the white works just fine for me.”

“Great,” he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Anna played a few games on her laptop and found she couldn’t concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. She wasn’t tired and a nap didn’t sound the least bit appealing. She looked up when Hunter and Colby came in.

“Hi, Colby!” her enthusiastic greeting slowed the man for a quick step.

“Hi there, Anna. How’s the leg?” the man with the small stature carried several large planks and Anna squirmed to attempt to see over them.

“It’s been better,” she nodded sagely and Colby squelched the grin. He knew women could get a bit testy about injuries.

“Sorry to hear that. I’m gonna take these over here to the bathroom. Hunter asked me to help out for a bit, is that okay with you?”

Anna raised a hand in what she thought of as the Queen Elizabeth fashion and Colby took that as acceptance. Hunter came through the door a few moments later, struggling with a bulky bag of implements he’d need to fix the floor. He nearly laughed at the petulant look on Anna’s face. She was changing moods faster than a performer changing costumes in the middle of a show.

As she watched the men go back and forth to their various trucks and argue about which tools were best for the job the dusty brown package on the table caught her eye. She stretched across to reach it and felt a coinciding twinge in her ankle. Her foot slid off the chair she’d propped it on. Fortunately the bulky boot the doctor had put on it protected it from the worst of the impact.

Hunter’s head popped out of the bathroom door. “Are you okay, hun?”

Anna sighed. “I’m fine. I’m going to look at what we found in there.”

“Ya’ll found something in here?” Colby’s voice was muffled.

“Just some papers,” Anna raised her voice to be heard over the hammer Hunter seemed to be wielding with glee. “Is destruction more fun than construction?” She slid to the edge of the chair. “I want to watch.”

The hammering stopped. “Don’t you dare. Between the pill and your lack of balance on that thing I’ll spend more time picking you up off of the floor than I will working in here. Just hang tight.”

“At least take some pictures for me,” Anna caught the whine in her tone and stuffed those feelings back down. Talk about unproductive.

“Already did for the insurance, don’t worry,” Hunter answered and went right back to destroying the floor.

Anna heaved her foot back onto the chair and started unfolding the cloth sack. It was brittle with age and tiny pieces fell to the floor as she smoothed out each crease. Briefly she thought about the movies she’d seen where the characters always wore special gloves or used tweezers when dealing with items this old.

“This isn’t a movie,” she muttered and pulled open the top of the bag. She reached in to her elbow and tried her hardest to ignore the scratchy feeling on her forearm before she felt the hard cover of a book. She pulled it out and looked it over.

It was the size of a modern day paperback book and bound with a faded brown leather cover. The tattered black ribbon used to hold it closed fell to dust as she attempted to ease it off of the edge. She winced and opened the cover while the dried leather creaked but held firm. The pages were brittle and the ink had faded. The handwriting was cramped though the script was beautiful. Anna nearly gasped when she read the few words on the title page.

Samuel Belvette

T
he year of our Lord 1862

Anna desperately wanted to start reading the journal but she could tell there were other items still in the bag. She gingerly reached in and pulled out several loose pages and what looked like extremely old paper money. She laid it all out on the table and only then realized the magnitude of what they’d discovered in the floor of a bathroom.

She bit her lip to stop from calling out for Hunter. With Colby in the house, someone she didn’t know very well, she thought it best to keep the discovery quiet for now. She quickly piled the loose papers together with the currency and slid them back into the bag, folding over the top and setting it in the center of the table. With a sense of awe she opened the journal once again and began reading.

Hunter and Colby stood
crammed side by side and looked down at the floor. They had pulled the tiles off and stacked them in the back of Colby’s truck to be recycled or disposed of. Some people could reuse just about anything, both men knew, and in times of economic hardship like the county was going through now, this tile could be a treasure for someone in need.

Both men stared at the hole Anna’s foot had put into the remaining flooring. “I just don’t see how she did it, man. When they built this place they built it to last,” Colby shook his head. “We’re going to need the sledge if we’re rebuilding the whole thing. And there’s no way we’re getting it done today. Your lady is not going to be happy.”

“Understatement,” Hunter agreed. “It’s soaked the whole way through. It’s practically squishing when we walk on it.” He eased his way to the gap where he’d cut Anna’s foot free. “I think there’s a reason this spot was weaker than the rest of the floor.”

Colby moved closer and looked down. “Do you have blueprints for this place?”

“I don’t think there were any,” Hunter replied. “I’m pretty sure Samuel built this place from plans in his head.”

“Huh,” Colby answered. He dropped to his knees and probed the smooth edges.

“Huh,” Hunter agreed again. “They didn’t have indoor plumbing back then. Maybe this was a den or something.”

“You thinking that was a floor safe?” Colby’s interest was caught and he couldn’t wait to tell, well everyone, about what Hunter and Anna had found in the old cabin.

Hunter’s head cocked to the side as he thought about the suggestion. “That would make sense. Were they building those back then?”

“Got me,” Colby was reaching deep and his hand came back up with something grasped in it. “What the Hell is this?” He opened his hand and revealed a silver coin. “Oh my God,” he breathed out.

Tears were sliding down Anna’s cheeks and she wiped them away as she gently closed the slim volume. Samuel had a beautiful way with words and the love he’d felt for Mary Ellen had shone through in nearly every entry she’d read
so far.

When she’d started researching the story of Samuel she’d never dreamed she’d find something like this. The Historical Society had one of his older journals and she’d read it carefully, enthralled by the story of his journey from the South.

Samuel had written of the kindness of the strangers who’d helped him and others along the way. Stories about hiding in barns and traveling only at night when there was no moon. Stealing vegetables from gardens when food was scarce and nearly freezing in the Northern winter. 

That journal had cut off abruptly before Samuel had reached Michigan and Anna realized she now held the continuation in her hands. “It’s just so sad,” she whispered.

“Anna!” She jumped at Hunter’s excited call. “You have to see this!”

She placed the book down and eased herself out of the chair. She must have been sitting longer than she knew as her bones ached from inactivity. She stretched her back, grabbed the cursed crutches and made her way clumsily to the bathroom where Hunter and Colby both knelt on the floor, staring at something in Colby’s hand.

“What is it?”

“Colby found a coin in the hole. We think there was a safe here.” Hunter looked over his shoulder and winced. He’d already forgotten Anna was partially disabled. He stood quickly, taking the offered coin from Colby’s hand and used it as a carrot to urge Anna back to her seat at the table. He snagged a dishtowel on the way and used it to polish the coin.

When Anna was once again seated with her foot propped up he laid the towel out in front of her and placed the coin. She inhaled sharply. “Hunter, it’s beautiful and still shiny!”

“Can you believe it?” Hunter was excited, she could practically feel him vibrating as he hovered over her. “It was just laying down there, waiting to be found.”

“Did you find anything else?” she asked, her eye flicking to the book and back to the coin.

“Not yet. Colby!” Anna jerked at the quick shout directed behind her. “Did you find anything else in there?”

“I’m still looking, man!” The response was muffled. “I need better light!”

“I’m on it.” Hunter looked down at Anna, enjoying the gleam in her eye. “Can I get you anything before I head back in there?”

“Would you grab me a bottle of water from the fridge, please?” Anna was distracted, her eyes going back and forth between the coin and the journal. When he returned with the bottle and a glass of ice Anna looked him square in the eye. “There was a journal in that bag. And some other papers I haven’t looked at yet,” her voice was low to keep it from carrying to Colby.

“Really?” Hunter started to reach for the journal and Anna’s hand darted out to stop him. She jerked her head towards the bathroom. “I don’t think we want everyone in town knowing
every
thing we’ve found just yet. Do you?”

Hunter didn’t have to think about that. “You’re right. We’ll finish up what we’re doing and you and I can go over this stuff later at my place. Why don’t you try to rest for a bit while we do that?”

“Hunt, are you coming or what, man?” Colby’s excited voice carried through the cabin.

“Yeah, I’m on my way. I wanted to get Anna settled.” He leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to Anna’s lips. “Even if we didn’t find the whole treasure,” he whispered, “we still found something amazing. Congratulations.”

Anna’s attention drifted between her own journal loaded on her computer and Samuel’s leather bound volume on the table. She was also trying to understand what Hunter was saying but the words seemed to be foreign. “What do you mean I can’t stay here?”

Hunter tried again, slower this time. “You don’t have bathroom access here, Anna. The floor is a wreck and I had to turn the water off.” He noted he finally had her full attention. “It’ll probably take about a week to finish it up. You’re getting a whole new floor in there.”

“A week!
Hunter, I don’t want to leave my cabin for a week! I love it here,” she was definitely whining this time.

“You can stay at my place,” Hunter stopped talking when Colby came inside from loading the truck. “Did you figure out everything we need, Colby?”

“Yeah, Hunt, I did. I have most of it at the store but if you want the same tile I’ll have to special order it.”

Anna knew she didn’t own the cabin but she felt proprietary. “I’m sure we can find different tile that’ll work.”