Gasparilla's Treasure (Trip Mongomery Book 1) (3 page)

By the time Trip made it to lunch that day, he had all but forgotten the incident with Eli.  He and Josh exchanged theories about Pappy’s trunk, which was way more interesting than anything that could ever have happened with Eli.

“I bet it's full of stock certificates,” said Josh excitedly.  “Or maybe some really valuable baseball cards... oh, or maybe some first edition comic books or something.  Something really expensive, I’m sure.  I guess you’re just
gonna have to wait to find out.  Sounds like your mom isn’t letting you anywhere near that trunk.”

“There’s no way I’m waiting,” challenged Trip.  “I have to know what it is.”

“Well, allrighty then,” said Josh.  “No waiting for you.  But on to more pressing matters.  Are you going to eat that little cake roll thingy?  ‘Cause I really love those things.”  Josh did not wait for an answer.   He plucked the cake roll right out of Trip’s hand.

Just as Josh was about to eat his newly found treasure, it was snatched from his hand.  It was Eli, and he crammed the entire cake into his mouth.

“Hey!  That’s mine!” Josh cried in outrage.

Trip was about to remind Josh it was only his for about two seconds, but Eli stepped in.

“You know, boys,” mused Eli.  “That was quite a stunt you pulled this morning.  It's amazing how good it was for business though.  I just hope you realize what a bad idea it was messing with me.”

“Look, Eli,” Trip started.

“Don't interrupt me.  My mom says it's very rude,” said Eli, loudly, so the entire lunchroom could hear.  “Now, because I'm such a generous humanitarian, you're getting a second chance.  Get me my money first thing in the morning, and the beatings will end.  If you don't have my money...”

Eli grabbed Trip’s chocolate milk and slowly poured it down the front of Trip’s shirt.

“I guess we’ll just have a repeat performance every day until you can get me my money,” said Eli.

Just to drive home his point, Eli tossed the empty milk carton in Trip’s face as he walked away.  Trip was devastated.  Everyone in the cafeteria had witnessed this scene, and Trip had just sat there and let Eli do it.  And worse, Sarah saw the whole thing.  He just wanted to crawl up in a ball under the table and wait until everyone was gone.  But if he did that, Eli would have a total victory.  If Trip was going to salvage this, he needed to do something now.  All eyes were still on him, so he cleared his throat and spoke loudly.

“Well, that was uncalled for.  Anyone know a good dry cleaner?” said Trip with a laugh.

Josh joined in with a laugh, but they were the only two.  It was not what Trip hoped for, but everyone started going back to their own business.

He looked over towards Sarah’s table, and she had resumed talking with her friends.  She snuck a look back his way one last time and gave him a little smile.  Trip knew he must have looked pretty silly with chocolate milk all down his shirt, but he tried his best to return the smile and hang on to a bit of his dignity.

“What’s that goofy smile all about?  You look like a total dork,” said Josh.   And with that, lunch was over.

Trip disposed of his lunch tray and made his best effort to clean the milk off his shirt, but it wasn’t working too well.

“That’s a nice shirt.  I hope it cleans up OK,” said Sarah as she headed towards the tray window.

Trip was caught off guard, and felt a bit silly about the whole situation.  But then again, Sarah did say she liked his shirt.

“Oh thanks, I think the milk adds a little something extra.  I may just keep it this way,” said Trip in an attempt to bring some humor to the situation.

It worked.  Sarah gave a little chuckle, and her laughter sounded like music to Trip.  There was something about her that just made Trip feel comfortable.  Only a minute ago, he felt like he never wanted to see anyone again, and now he felt like everything would be fine, even if Eli decided to follow the chocolate milk stunt with a side of nachos.

“You know,” said Sarah.  “You promised to walk me to class this morning.  And then you stood me up.”

“I’m sorry.  I was a bit… occupied this morning,” said Trip sheepishly.

“Well you can make it up to me after school.  Why don't you meet me out front, and you can walk me home?” suggested Sarah.

Trip could not have been happier.  He thought he had completely blown any chance of getting to know Sarah, and here she was asking him to walk her home.  Even all the horrible humiliation with Eli would not be able to ruin this day.

Just then the principal’s voice boomed across the loudspeaker in the lunchroom.  “Attention, please!  Would Francis Montgomery the Fourth please report to the principal's office right away.  Francis Montgomery the Fourth to the principal's office.”  The voice rang out through the entire school.

Trip’s expression immediately changed.  He looked horrified.  He hated the name Francis.  Why had the principal used his real name?  He filled out the name change request card and hand delivered it to the principal himself.  Every time one of the teachers called him Francis, the other kids were relentless in their teasing.  And to make it worse, they added
the fourth
to the end.  When he heard his whole name, together like that,
Francis Montgomery the Fourth
, it made him want to bully himself.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sarah.

“Oh, nothing.  I’m sorry.  I just gotta go, that’s all,” said Trip.

And of course, here came one of Eli’s goons and a few of the goon’s friends.

“Oh Francis,” taunted the goon.  “Why can't I have a boy's name?  Please someone give me a boy’s name.”

The friend added stuffily, “Yes Francis Montgomery the Fourth.  Report hastily to the principal's office.”  They both laughed and patted each other on the back.

“Oh you guys are so funny,” said Trip.  “Ha, ha.  I've never heard anyone make fun of my name before.”

He hurried away, careful not to make eye contact with anyone as he went.

Trip arrived at the principal’s office to find Mom there waiting, barely holding herself together. Tears ran down her face, and this stopped Trip in his tracks.

“Pappy had a heart attack,” Mom managed to squeak out.  “He's in a coma.  They don't know if he's going to make it.”

“But I just saw him… He… Pappy said…” tried Trip.

The words would not come out.  All of a sudden everything that happened today meant nothing.  Pappy was in a coma and he may never come out of it.  He may even die.  Trip melted into his Mom’s arms and they cried together.

Trip and Mom spent the rest of the day with Pappy, talking to doctors.  When they got home, Josh was waiting on the front porch playing a video game.  Josh really was a great friend, and Trip was happy to see him.  For nearly a full second, Josh gave Trip sort of a half-hug.

“Dude,” said Josh.  “That’s pretty messed up.  You know, with your Pappy and all.”

“Thanks Josh, but didn’t you have some gaming competition today?” asked Trip.

“SOME gaming competition!” Josh said excitedly.  “It’s only the biggest gaming competition in the country!”  Josh calmed himself, “Yes, I was supposed to, but when they told me about your Pappy… I mean I guess I’ve never really known anyone that died before.  I did have a fish die once, but we just flushed him down the toilet.”

“He’s not dead, Josh.  He’s going to be fine,” said Trip, not sure if he believed it himself.

“OK, if you say so,” said Josh noncommittally.  “Is your head all screwed up or anything?  Like, are you
gonna need some therapy or anything?”

Trip was used to his inability to have normal human interaction, so Josh’s dispassionate attitude didn’t bother him a bit.  It was actually kind of nice to have someone talk straight about the situation with Pappy.  Everyone Trip talked to today treated him like a fragile mental case, but not Josh.  He came right out and said what he was thinking, and Trip felt comfortable saying what was on his mind around Josh.

“I just keep thinking about that trunk,” said Trip.  “It's so strange... Pappy tells me about this thing.  More like he’s GOT to tell me, and then goes into a coma.  Don't you think the timing is a little weird?”

Trip had thought about it most of the day.  He remembered what a struggle it was for Pappy to hold on to reality yesterday while he told Trip about the trunk.  It must have been extremely important to him.  Did Pappy somehow know that he would go into a coma, or even die?  Did he feel it was his last chance to tell Trip about the trunk?  If only Pappy could have told him more about what he was supposed to do. 

“I guess that trunk thing was pretty important to your Pappy,” said Josh.

“Not WAS important.  It IS important to him.  So it’s important to me.  I’m going to find that trunk, and Pappy will be OK.  You’ll see,” said Trip.

The answers were in that trunk.  If he could find the trunk, Pappy would be OK.  He just needed to find a time when Mom was not paying attention so he could sneak into the attic and get it. “Oh.  I almost forgot,” said Josh.  “I saw Sarah after school today”

“Aw, man!  I was supposed to walk her home today.  That’s twice I’ve stood her up,” Trip groaned.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” said Josh.  “I kind of saw her from far away.  She was with Eli.  He was kind of hugging her, and they were about to kiss.  It was really nasty.”

This was one of the times when Trip wished Josh did understand human interaction.  This felt worse than getting punched in the stomach.  He had totally misjudged Sarah.  But he could not focus on that right now.  He needed to find that trunk.

“Mom is on the other end of the house checking her emails and doing some business stuff,” whispered Trip as he pulled down the creaky attic steps.  “That usually takes about an hour before she starts to make dinner, and she’s been in there about fifteen minutes.  That should give us plenty of time to get in and get out.”

“Are you sure that thing is even up there?” asked Josh dubiously he peered up into the attic.  “You know I have asthma, right?”

“Pappy said it’s in the attic,” said Trip firmly as he started to climb.

“Um Trip, you may want to come back down for a second,” said Josh.

“Don’t be such a baby.  It’s just an attic,” Trip replied.

He turned around and saw that Mom stood in the hallway with her arms across her chest and a look on her face that could stop a charging bull.

“What are you doing?” asked Mom in a rigid voice.  “I told you that you are not to go after that trunk!”

Trip did his best to wiggle out of the situation.  “We were just going up to look for that...umm.”

“...old video game we used to play,” finished Josh, trying to help out.

“Yeah, the one we played when we were kids,” added Trip. “What was it called again, Josh?”

Mom boomed back, “DO NOT LIE TO ME!  You were going after that trunk.”

Josh jumped back, startled, but Trip was not scared.  He was ready for a fight.

“This is what Pappy wants!” shouted Trip.

Mom returned the shout, “And the other day he wanted you to look after his pet dinosaur, Harry!  Your grandfather is delusional.  If he hadn't spent his whole life on that all consuming quest for God knows what then maybe he would have...”

Trip could not contain himself.  “You never let me do anything!”

“That’s because you’re a kid!  You have no idea what you’re getting yourself in to.”

Trip made his final stand, determined.  “I am going in the attic and I’m getting that trunk.”

Mom moved to block the attic stairs.  “Then you’ll have to go through me.” 

They stood in steely silence, staring each other down, neither willing to budge.

Josh finally broke the silence.  “Um this is a little bit awkward for me, so I think I’m just gonna go now.  So if you need anything…”

Josh put his fingers up to his ear like a phone and mouthed
call me
.

Trip stared at the ceiling, listening to the silence as he lay in bed.  He looked at the clock.  It was 2:34 a.m.  There was no way he could sleep after a day like this.  First, there was Sarah, then the run ins with Eli, next Pappy was in a coma, and finally the blow up with Mom.  He went to bed over five hours ago, and just lay there replaying the events of the last couple of days.  It was driving him crazy, he had to find that trunk! 

The house had been quiet since he heard Mom go to bed around eleven o’clock.  Trip tiptoed down the hallway as lightly as he could.  He paused as a floorboard shifted under his weight.  With the house as quiet as it was, the tiny little creak sounded like a gunshot.  When he was sure the house was still silent, he continued.

A door down the hallway swung open slowly.  His heart pounded so hard in his chest that it sounded like a drum.  He ducked behind a piece of furniture for cover, and nearly sent a vase crashing to the floor.  He risked a peek down the hallway and saw the cat saunter through the door.  He took a deep breath and let his pulse return to normal.

At the attic entry, he carefully pulled down the rusted ladder.  When he finally got it down, he took one last look around and climbed into the attic.

With a click, Trip pulled the string to turn on the single naked bulb.  Feebly, light tried to reach across the attic, but there seemed to be more shadows than illumination.  It was spooky up here at night with all these old dusty piles. 

Trip dug through the old junk.  He pulled blankets off musty furniture, looked in the drawers and cabinets.  Yellowing books were stacked in moldy cardboard boxes.  He pulled one blanket away to reveal a mirror, which nearly scared him to death when he saw his own reflection. 

He searched nearly everything, and was ready to give up for the night when his foot nudged against something.  It was subtle, but the floor was definitely uneven under a faded old throw rug.  He removed it, dust clouds flying through the air.  Trip nearly choked, and he found it difficult to suppress a cough.

He pushed on the floor and found few loose floorboards that he easily removed.  And there, in the hidden compartment under the floorboards, he saw it. A dusty old wooden trunk.

It was smaller than he imagined; only about the size of a toaster oven, but it was masterfully crafted with a circular wooden inlay.  Around the edge of the circle were some mysterious symbols designed from a darker wood.  Right in the middle of the trunk was a solid lock that securely guarded the trunk’s secrets.

Trip looked around excitedly for something to force the lock open, but he just could not seem to find anything useful.  This was a problem he could work out tomorrow.  He had found the trunk.

He clicked off the light, carefully climbed back down the ladder into the hallway, and closed the attic entry.  As he turned, he ran face first into Mom.  Busted!