The Lost Treasure Map Series (22 page)

The policeman turned towards
them.
“
They
’ve
found them
–
at a location over there
–
near the
village. They made their way over there, and they are staying at a
hotel.
”

Bryson felt like falling over. They had gone
to the village instead of going back to the castle. It was
illogical! It was far more distant.

Why had they wanted to go there? And why had
they not phoned the castle.

He was annoyed, but happy that nothing had
happened.

“
Why are they staying at a
hotel?
”
he
grumbled.
“
They could have returned in a taxi, or have
phoned someone.
”

Mortimer could only shrug his
shoulders.
“
They might not have had a
phone.
”

“
A hotel without a phone
...!
”

“
It’s
probably
a small bed and breakfast, without a public
phone.
”

It was hard to believe that they had made it
to a hotel. They had strolled there, over hours though. It had been
earlier in the day.

Chapter 42

Escalating
Aspirations

The bedroom was more silent, empty, and cold
now, but he slept better.

It had the effect of making him even wake
late.

He stood at the window, and studied the
outside.

Now where should they begin, and concentrate
their investigations?

He felt about in his pocket for a piece of
paper, where he had scribbled the clue Sir Richard had given them
beside the writing from the tomb of William Randall. Then he
studied it, to try to jolt his mind.

If they had found something, he would have
been deeply surprised, he now realized. Not just because he, or the
others, could not think of anything, with all the things that they
knew now, but because the clue had little to do with anything, and
because of the way that Sir Richard had behaved on the video. They
would need to be lucky to answer it, and he was almost certain.

He even sensed that he was missing something
about Sir Richard, which he could not quite grasp (something that
he had not acknowledged had been true). He believed that he would
actually have to hear it in the right way before he would accept it
as being something.

And why would he have even hidden it near
him? The theory existed because they had mainly believed that he
would have wanted to make sure nothing happened to it. But it was
now clear that he could have done that and have put it almost
anywhere.

He now realized how hungry he had become,
and how cold the room was out of bed.

He watched the clouds roll past. And he
pushed his feet into his shoes, remembering why they were so
sore.

He had desires to leave the castle.

He picked up his radio from the table and
fiddled with the dials, trying to receive a clear signal.

He felt his cuts and bruises,
including his sore feet again, trying to recall where he had
acquired them
–
remembering the night before in vivid detail
–
realizing how
serious and determined they had been.

Suddenly, he saw the door vibrate, and a
knock emerged.

He opened it, and Merton and Mortimer
entered.

“
Incredible!
”
Merton uttered, looking out the
window at the wood.

“
Do you remember us discussing that
your uncle could have invested the cash in
something?
”
Mortimer suddenly remarked, recollecting something he wished
to say, before he forgot.
“
He could easily have concealed it
somewhere
–
without it being noticeable.
”

“
Somewhere!
”
Merton resumed.

Bryson considered the idea of a
painting being hidden.
“
You may be right
–
there may be. We
’ve
not even been in some of
the rooms yet. And I cannot imagine any of the furniture and
antiques being worth that much.
”

“
There would have been a risk that
someone could damage it, not realizing its value
–
or even future owners
discarding it.
”

“
Then perhaps it
’s
something that would not
be damaged, and be in a place where it would be
safe.
”

Yet he realized his previous thoughts, and
that he could just about hidden it anywhere.

“
I think that we should stay quiet
about it,
”
Merton uttered, making sure that someone would not be able to
listen from along the corridor.

“
That
’s
a good idea,
”
he replied, wondering what
they were trying to suggest.

“
Well, we were having a look for
it,
” Merton explained,
excitedly, “and
I think we found
somewhere.
”

“
Or
something else!” Mortimer said, calming him.

“
What?”
Bryson replied, wondering what they meant.

Merton indicated to him to follow them, and
they led him down to the room next to the library, where Bryson and
James had heard the wall was thinner, and they had realized that
the inner library could have been behind it.

Mortimer lifted part of the carpet, at the
corner of the room, next to the wall. And Merton grabbed the planks
of wood up, which were loose.

They examined the stone of the original
floor under it, from when they had built it (built when they had
installed the electricity in the castle).

Merton randomly tapped the lower floor.

Bryson heard parts of it were hollow.

“
I
’ve
not seen anyone near
here,
” Merton spoke
silently to Mortimer.

A faint crackle came from
Bryson
’s
radio, in his pocket, which he had left on. And he responded
by listening to the background sounds from it. Out of all the
devices that there was available, he had to have brought only a
radio!

He should have found and got a mobile
phone
–
at
the village
–
if any of the small shops sold them.

He did not know if the others were going to
continue their search of the wood or what. He was sure that some of
them had lost interest in it. There was nothing out there but
endless trees. The other legendary building, which Robert had
spoken of, did not exist, as far as he was concerned. Or was it
that cottage or whatever?

There was something about hunting
for
“
hidden
treasure
”
that he did not like, even though it really was his first
time. There were too many things suggesting where things could be,
which were dead ends.

Though many people had actually found things
while looking for other things.

He stretched his tired limbs, and thought of
going to the window.

“
Well, what do you
think?
”
Merton asked Mortimer, with a definite tone, looking
sideways, at the fascinated face of James, at the door.

“
What ...?
”
James grunted, amused, looking as
if he had lost an argument, and that he had not expected them to be
there.

Bryson noticed how much James was like
the way that he remembered him
–
when he had been younger. He felt like
smiling, but he was too tired, and he wished that he had stayed in
bed longer than he had done.

“
What are you looking for
there?
”
James voiced, to their amusement, probably trying not to look
daft.

Mortimer observed him, with a bewildered
expression.

“
Something is hidden down
here!
”
Merton confessed, when he moved in the room.

James grunted, and briskly stood at the
window.

Bryson smiled intensely, and studied the
floor.

Another look at Mortimer showed him that he
also had been up too long.

“
It
’s
already becoming tiresome staying in
here,
”
Mortimer confessed to him, slightly surprising him with his
sudden openness.

Merton ignored him, sleepily hunched over
the floor.

He tapped the floor, listening to see how
hollow it was. There obviously was not any stone behind it, and he
was sure of it.

“
Why would someone put anything down
there?
” Bryson
asked.

“
Which looks kind of small to
me!
”
Mortimer spoke.

Mortimer dropped down on his knees,
and pulled up a handle, hidden in the rubbish
–
at the center of the hollow
region.

He suddenly looked more energetic.

“
How can we check
what
’s
down
there?
”
James said, smiling.

“
We would need to tug at
it,
”
Merton
replied.
“
Perhaps we can find out
what
’s
holding it in place.
”

“
It will be all that
rubbish,
” Mortimer
assumed.

“
Let
’s
check it, before we come to any
conclusions.
”

The three of them went to different
places around the handle, and they simultaneously yanked it
–
feeling its
weight, and that it was thick and heavy wood.

Mortimer
’s
side of it slightly shifted
outwards first
–
proving nothing was holding it there, and the rest of it came
out simultaneously.

As it shifted out, it became clear that it
was a trapdoor, covering something.

There was no sign of what was in the
darkness beneath it.

Small, ancient webs stretched across the
corners of it.

James helped Bryson to squeeze into the gap,
swiftly pulling away the layers of webs for him.

At a position where the blackness engulfed
him, he fumbled about at the wall.

“
Another tunnel!
”
Bryson revealed, looking
down a line of stone steps, vanishing into darkness, somewhere
beneath the castle.

“
I
’ll
go and get a torch,
”
Mortimer said, going away
towards the kitchen, leaving him studying its interior.

When he returned, Merton shrugged, and took
the torch from him. He played with its switch, seeing how well it
worked.

Bryson firmly took the torch, and shifted
down the steps, stretching down to a point below.

Mortimer secured his feet, on the steps,
making sure that they did not wobble, and that he would not
fall.

Bryson watched the torch, making sure that
it would not pack in when they needed it. But it had enough power,
and it would last.

Mortimer climbed down, turning his
head from side to side
–
as he approached the bottom
–
seeing nothing
but webs shrouding a wall.

Dirt fell over them, but it seemed to be
dry. Though a stale odor suggested the contrary.

It had the look of being just a cellar,
which someone might have just added to the castle.

It gave him a light shiver, realizing what
they could be dealing with though, as he glanced about him,
exploring its depths, in the dim light. Had the haunting been
coming from down here?

He heard faint sounds, which sounded as if
mice were being strangled by a large bird.

Yet, if it did exist, and they could just
find something that would prove to the world that there were
supernatural phenomena, and solve the mysterious haunting of the
castle, it would be worthwhile.

He considered if supernatural elements
were part of the universe after all
–
and not just flaws in it! Their
existence could have helped create the universe, and made it
function
–
by a means, perhaps, that no human, alien, or computer would
ever fully comprehend.

Perhaps the universe had supernatural
dimensions and powers that it needed to exist. If the dangerous
powers of the suns never existed, there would not be habitable
worlds.

He considered what he would have thought of
what he was doing now, when he had first visited the castle.

Mortimer glanced at him, and stared at him,
tiredly, with the torch at his face, making it glow in the
dark.

“
Your passage seems to be a dead
end,
”
James
teased.

Mortimer nodded at him.
“
I
can
’t
see
why it ends ...
”