The Buried Treasure on Route 66: A Nancy Keene Mystery (7 page)

Everyone is deep in thought,
until Phyllis, once again, is the first person to locate the sign.
“At last!” she says.

“What a beautiful place this
is,” Nancy says. “I can’t wait to see what the neon looks like at
night!” The motel owners welcome them and show them to their rooms.
The owners tell them that it’s a tradition for all of the motorists
to sit outside at night, look at the neon lights, talk about their
travels, and get to know one another.

Later, when everyone gathers
to sit outside, there is a wide assortment of people: vintage car
aficionados, bikers, Europeans, and honeymooners. Everyone falls in
love with Nancy and Ned, who they think are “such a cute
couple”.

The following morning,
Phyllis and Drew manage to summon up the courage to ask the owners
if they “just happen to have a shovel they could borrow”. Needless
to say, the proprietors are quite curious about why they would need
one. It’s often said that there’s no one better than a sweet,
little old lady to tell a story that people will believe and find
sentimental. So, Drew leaves the explaining to her.

After hearing her story
about the buried bride and groom decoration, everyone goes outside
to find out where Phyllis thinks her buried treasure might be. When
some of the motel guests overhear the story, they also come out to
see what’s going on. Everyone wonders if she’ll be able to find the
exact location after 45 years have gone by since her
honeymoon.

Being such an expert at
locating things--as she has shown herself to be on this road
trip--she zooms right in on the exact location of her buried
treasure! “That’s it! That’s it! It’s right under the sign of the
swallow!”

Everyone in the group of
onlookers agree that she should be the one to use the shovel first
to try and find what’s buried. She starts digging, and then Nancy
takes over; and then Ned. She finally sees a white box still there
and says, “Oh, Lord! that’s it!” She lovingly reaches down and
pulls out the box. Her face gets flushed and she starts to
cry.

Nancy says, “I’m so sorry.
This has all been too much for you. All of the emotion. All those
years together as husband and wife. It must be very painful for
you, dear. Come, let’s go sit down in the shade and we’ll get you
some lemonade.” Nancy helps her to a chair and everyone else heads
in their direction to see what will happen next. After Phyllis
cools down, she opens up the box containing her bride and groom
decoration. She also sees some documents buried in it and says,
“That’s it! The new will! It’s got to be!” And sure enough, it
is.

****

Phyllis’s hands are shaking
as she’s holding the documents, so she says to Nancy, “Would you
please read these to me?”

Nancy looks at the papers
and says, “It’s a new will, just like you said. There’s also a
letter addressed to you.”

“Please read the letter
first.”

Nancy begins to read his
letter:

“My dearest Phyllis: I’ve
been thinking of you and all of the wonderful times we’ve had
traveling together. I never should have married that woman I left
you for. There’s just no excuse for it. Her sons were the meanest
men I’ve ever met. Plus, they are criminals. I got a phone call
when I was in Holbrook at the Wigwams that their mother had died.
That’s when it hit me that I needed to change my will.

I sent you that postcard
with our secret code about “remember the swallow”. I knew that if
those brothers happened to steal that postcard from you, you’d
still know where I meant.

Let me make this clear to
anyone reading this letter. These are my wishes: If I die, I want
my entire estate to be left to my wife, Mrs. Phyllis Wood. Only
her. No one else. Just my dear Phyllis.

Even though I haven’t felt
well on this trip, I knew that I needed to go back to the Blue
Swallow Motel to make sure to bury this letter and this will in our
special place. This will is valid. I had some of the guests at the
Blue Swallow Motel witness, sign and date it. The owner’s wife is a
notary and she took the necessary finger print and driver’s license
information to make it valid. I buried it with our bride and groom
from our wedding cake. I knew you’d find it. I’m on my way back to
Scottsdale and plan to sit down with my attorney there to make sure
he changes it, too. But, rest assured, this will is valid and it
supersedes any previous will. I love you, my dear and look forward
to seeing you again soon. Love, James.”

Phyllis is overwhelmed. “I
can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!” she keeps
repeating.

“It’s true, Phyllis. It’s
really true.”

Ned is reading the will and
notices the date.

“Phyllis,” he asks. “What
day did Mr. Wood pass away.”

It was May 15, 2013. I’ll
never forget it.”

Ned says, “Look; he wrote
this will two days before he died. He was on his way home to
you.”

“Oh, Lord!” Phyllis says.
She feels she’s lost so much. “Things could have been so different.
We could have gotten remarried. I would have found it in my heart
to forgive him for the divorce. I never stopped wanting him back in
my life. Ever. Now, it’s too late for us.”

Phyllis is crying and
overwrought. Nancy says, “This has all been overwhelming for you.”
Nancy helps Phyllis back to her room, lays her on the bed, turns
the fan on, and dims the light. “I’ll be right here with you if you
need anything at all. I’ll sit over in the corner in that rocking
chair resting my eyes.”

Drew says, “Wait, Phyllis,
before you go rest, I’d like to ask you if you know the name of Mr.
Wood’s attorney. I want to get in touch with him right away and
forward this new will to him.”

“The attorney’s name is
Oliver Brown and his office is in Scottsdale. Drew, before you do
that I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me on this
trip. How can I ever repay what you’ve given to me
today?”

“Phyllis,” he says, “You’ve
taught me a lot of valuable life lessons on this trip. The first
and foremost one is that you’ve taught me is how to let my beloved
daughter grow up to become an adult. You’ve taught me that it’s
okay if she has a boyfriend who loves her.”

“Oh, Drew. Thank you.” They
both embrace each other.

****

The next morning, Nancy and
Ned have a chance to be alone together before everyone’s ready to
go back to Phoenix. Nancy asks, “Ned, have you thought of something
that you and I can bury here, where we’ve been so happy? Wouldn’t
it be fun to come back here years later and dig it up?”

“Funny you should say that,
Nancy. As usual, our minds are sharing the same
wavelength.”

“Well, what do you think we
should bury?”

“First, I want you to drive
into town and buy yourself a new dress.”

“You’re kidding
me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Are we going to be burying
my dress?”

“No, silly. Do you know
where the center of town is?”

“I think I can manage, Ned.
What are you up to?”

“You’ll see when you come
back.”

“You are a man of mystery
today.”

“Isn’t mystery your ‘thing’?
Take your time, Nancy.”

“How can I be sure you’re
not just trying to get rid of me?”

“Good things come to those
who wait.”

“This better be
good.”

“Bye, bye,
Nancy.”

Nancy returns to the hotel
about an hour later. She thinks, ‘Well, I hope he approves of this
dress. He’s getting mighty bossy lately.’

Phyllis greets Nancy as she
is getting out of her car. “Hi, honey. Did you buy yourself a nice
dress?”

“Yes. It’s very pretty. It’s
made of blue silk.”

“It sounds beautiful. Let’s
go into your room, where you can put it on and see how it
looks.”

“Uh, okay,” Nancy
replies.

She is thinking, ‘Why is
everybody acting so weird today?’

After Nancy’s dress is on,
Phyllis says, “Oh, my dear! You look beautiful. That dress matches
your eyes perfectly.”

“Thank you. Ned likes me to
wear blue.”

“Then, he’ll be very pleased
with this dress. Speaking of your young man, he’s waiting outside
to speak to you.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Let me go get him for you,
Nancy.”

“Thanks.”

Nancy walks over to the
mirror and puts some lipstick on. Ned softly taps on her door and
she says, “Come on in.”

Ned walks in wearing a
tuxedo.

“Where in the world did you
get that?”

“Your dad & I went to
Santa Rosa and we found a tux shop.”

“Well, you certainly went to
a lot of trouble.”

“But, you’re worth it, my
dear.”

“What do you have behind
your back, Man of Mystery?”

“It’s a little token of our
friendship.”

“Ah, Ned. That’s sweet. Let
me see.”

Ned reaches for the little
box behind his back and gets down on his knees. “Nancy Keene, will
you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

For once, Nancy is
speechless.

Drew and Phyllis have been
trying to listen in through the keyhole. “What’d she say? Can you
hear anything?” she asks Drew.

“No. I don’t hear a word.
You could hear a pin drop in there it’s so quiet.”

“Maybe they’re making out,”
Phyllis says.

“Let’s go in there and see,”
Drew says.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Phyllis
says. “Let them take as long as they want.”

****

Finally, the two lovers come
out smiling and holding hands. All of the hotel guests applaud when
they see them together. Phyllis says, “Well, I hope she said
yes?”

Nancy says, “Indeed I did.
This is the happiest day of my life.”

Drew says, “Well, kids. How
do you feel about getting married right now?”

“Dad!” Nancy says. “You’ve
got to be kidding!”

“Well, honey; we went ahead
and invited a Justice of the Peace to come here and he’ll be here
shortly.”

“Dad! I can’t believe you’ve
planned my own wedding. That’s my job!!”

“Well, dear. I know this is
a mind-shift for you since you’re such a control freak, but why
don’t you just go with the flow for one day.”

“Oh, Dad. You know me so
well. Okay, let’s do it.”

Everyone has pulled out all
the stops for this wedding. There’s a wedding cake, punch in a
punch bowl, and white chocolate almonds wrapped in netting at each
table in the dining room.

“Not exactly how you
imagined your wedding is it?” Ned asks her.

“I love it! I just do! This
is so fun!”

“I’m so relieved you think
so.”

“But Ned, what is it that
you wanted us to bury here and dig up later?”

“You mean you haven’t
already deduced it? You haven’t been putting together the clues? Or
noticing the patterns?”

“Okay. Okay. I give up. What
is it that we’ll bury and come back to years later?”

“Nancy. It’s our wedding
cake’s bride and groom.”

The End

###

Thank you for reading
The Buried Treasure on Route 66
. We hope you’ve enjoyed the adventures of Nancy Keene. If you
did, would you please take a moment to leave us a review at your
favorite retailer? Thanks!

Check out our other Nancy
Keene mysteries:

“
The Ghost in the
Plantation” and “The Missing Bachelor Farmer.”

Travel with Nancy as she
goes to New Orleans:

Do you like Nancy Drew? Do
you like New Orleans? This humorous and PG-rated story about a
teenage sleuth especially targets women baby boomers who grew up
reading and loving the Nancy Drew series. Nancy Keene, the teenage
sleuth in our story, goes on vacation with her father and friends
to the French Quarter. What starts out as a sight-seeing trip
changes into a murder/mystery when a docent at Oak Alley Plantation
is murdered. Part travelogue, part ghost story, this book mixes
voodoo, ghosts, and bayous into a spicy gumbo of a
whodunit.

Excerpt From:

The Ghost in the
Plantation: A Nancy Keene Mystery
.

Available Now At Your
Favorite On-Line Bookstores

Chapter One

Today’s the day that Nancy
Keene and her friends have been waiting for: it is the first day of
summer vacation!! Nancy, a blond-haired, blue-eyed 16-year-old, who
looks like the picture of health, without a hair out of place, had
a slumber party last night, and invited her two favorite chums to
celebrate. This morning, her friends are sitting on a love seat in
her bedroom watching Nancy as she intently peruses travel brochures
that she has scattered across her bed.