Waypoint: Cache Quest Oregon (7 page)

9

P
anic and fear overcame Ben; he didn’t know what to do. Where was his aunt? Did she drown? He started to spin in a circle, searching for any sign of her in the distance. Not seeing anything he started to swim back to the punchbowl as quickly as he could, he had to find her. Tears began to fill his eyes and a lump grew in his throat, he was having a hard time breathing, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

He finally made it back to the bowl, the waves continued to push him around, but they were nothing compared to what he had just endured. He pulled himself back onto the ridge of the bowl and began to slide on his stomach as he had done earlier to reach his aunt. As he made it to the cliff wall, he saw that the ledge was empty, the case must have gotten pushed off, it was now lost in the ocean along with his aunt. For some reason he didn’t even care about the case, and in a way he seemed to feel relieved to find it missing.

He pulled his way back to the original steep pathway they had slid down, and began to climb up. The water was so high, it wasn’t a very long distance and within a few minutes he was back to the cyclone fence. He stood on the ocean side of the fence, and looked once again at the sea’s crashing waves. How could she just be gone? He wiped his nose on his sleeve, and shivered from the cold, then dropped his head and cried.

“Tissue?” A familiar voice asked. Ben turned in shock to see his aunt, standing on the other side of the fence. She had huge cuts and scrapes all over, her hair was stuck to her head and sand coated her entire body.

“What? How did you? Oh my gosh! You’re alive!” He jumped over the fence and almost knocked her over with a huge hug. It took Lacey by complete surprise; this kid hadn’t hugged anyone willingly in years.

She pushed him back and asked, “Ben you okay?” he rubbed his eyes, and then shook his head.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m fine, I just thought you were dead, ya know.”

“I almost was, I was sucked through that hole so quickly, I didn’t know where I was, then all the sudden I felt this huge stick come under my stomach, I know it sounds strange but I just rested on the stick and somehow made it to some rocks. I don’t remember what happened, but it was like I was lifted onto them.” She lifted her hand and pointed to the left, where some jagged rocks seemed to be growing out of the water below them. “As soon as I felt them, I just hung on; I didn’t know where I was. Then as the wave receded I jumped off onto the sand and crawled to the shore.” She shivered from the ocean breeze.

Ben gazed over the edge at the rocks, then far in distance he saw someone. It was hard to tell exactly who it was, they were so far down the beach now, and then it hit him. The figure walking on the beach was tall and wore a long dark cloak, in his hand was a long walking stick, “Oh my gosh, look, I think that’s who saved you!” He pointed in the man’s direction.

Lacey looked in the direction Ben was pointing and saw no one. “What do you mean, what are you pointing at?”

“You don’t see him? Look it’s the man from the lighthouse!” He pointed and tried to give more direction, then suddenly in the distance the figure turned and looked up toward Ben, as soon as they made eye contact Ben saw a bright flash of light come from the man’s face, then he was gone. “What? Wait, he was just there.”

“Ya know what, it’s okay, this has been crazy, we are both so tired it makes sense we are seeing things.” Lacey tried to reassure him.

“No he was just there, I swear it!” Ben realized that it didn’t matter if Lacey believed him, he knew what had really happened, he closed his eyes and quietly whispered “Thank you” to the man who had just disappeared.

“What?” Lacey asked.

“Oh, um, never mind. Anyway, the case is gone, must have gotten washed away with those huge waves.” Ben said with a tone of sadness, as he looked toward the beach once again.

“Man, I’m sorry, this totally sucks…I mean at least we’re still alive. Dang, all that for nothing.” Lacey turned to the car, and then patted her jeans pocket. “Shoot, my keys are gone!”

“What?” Ben asked.

“My keys, they must have gotten pulled from my pocket in the ocean, shoot, the spare is in my purse, I am gonna have to call Triple A, let’s go back to that restaurant and ask to use the phone.”

Immediately Ben began to dig in his pockets, “well I guess it doesn’t matter now, but the GPS is gone too, I’m sorry.”

“Hey no worries, I’m just glad I don’t have to call your mom right now to tell her that I killed you on a treasure hunt.” She put her arm around Ben’s shoulder, he quickly lifted it off. “What?” Lacey asked.

“Yeah, the moment is so over.” he joked.

“Whatever!” She said as she opened the restaurant door. The old lady was in the exact same spot behind the counter. She eyed Ben and Lacey, and suddenly brightened.

“So you guys
are
okay.” She said.

“Um, yeah, can we get too large bowls of clam chowder, and can I use your phone to call Triple A?” Lacey asked politely. “Oh and can I pay you for the clam chowder when Triple A gets here, my purse is locked in my car.”

“You just go take a seat; I’ll get you some hot chocolate and bring you the chowder.” She handed a portable phone to Lacey.

“Oh, thanks.” Lacey was taken completely by surprise, “shoot can I also use your phone book?” The old lady handed Lacey the phone book and pointed to an empty booth that overlooked the ocean. Ben slid in, shivered in his wet clothes, then just stared at the ocean, they were so close, he had that ten thousand dollars in his hands, and let it go.

Lacey dialed Triple A’s number and was talking to a representative when the old lady approached with two steaming bread bowls of clam chowder. She set them down then came back with two mugs of hot chocolate, each with a towering mountain of whip cream.

“Thank you so much.” Lacey said as she covered the mouthpiece on the phone. The old lady nodded, then turned and went back to the kitchen. Lacey hung up the phone, “Well, it’s gonna be a while for them to come, sorry Ben, this totally sucks.” She licked some whip cream from the edge of the cup.

“It’s okay.” Ben said in a melancholy tone. Just as he was starting to add something to it, Lacey’s eyes widened, then the old lady appeared again at the edge of the booth. She was holding the metal case, and handed it to Ben. His mouth dropped wide open.

“A man told me that if you two made it back up, that I needed to give this to you, boy I was so worried when he told me you were out in the water. I don’t want to be mean, I know you have been through a lot, but there is a reason that fence is there. You ain’t supposed to be climbing down in that bowl!” Ben and Lacey just stared in disbelief. The woman retreated to her counter. Ben shoved his bread bowl to the center of the table and brought the case closer to him. He looked up at Lacey.

“Well, open it!” She squealed. Ben lifted the two latches on the case and lifted the lid. His eyes narrowed as he focused on what was inside. “What? Ben what is it?” Lacey reached over and pulled the lid down, she had expected to see a stack of one hundred dollar bills, but instead saw a familiar piece of paper. Her heart sank in her chest.

Ben picked up the slip of paper,
“42 degrees 28’11.7” North and 122 degrees 14’13.7” West, Up in a tree, you’ll feel so free, it’s quite a hike
—
so pack light.”
He put his hand to his face, and then said, “and there is something else, it says,
'give me a smile, once in a while.’
but that is hand written, the rest is typed.” he handed the slip to Lacey. She looked at it intently, trying to figure out who one earth would be watching them, wanting them to smile.

“It must be the van guy.” She said as she took another drink. “What a freak, wait, do you think he is looking for the treasure too, and is following us so we have to do all the hard work? He probably stole the case when we were in the water, then once he saw it wasn’t the cash he gave it back so we would lead him to the next place!”

Ben swallowed a huge bite of clam chowder, “I guess, but this guy could kill us, what if we find the treasure at the next spot and he just kills us and takes the money?”

“Well, what should we do?” Lacey asked.

“I don’t know, this is getting really hard, and now we don’t even have a GPS.” Ben stirred his chowder as he thought out loud.

“Well, why don’t we do this, neither of us wants to give up, especially after what we’ve been through, so once Triple A comes and we can get in the car, we’ll get some dry clothes on, then we can go to a sporting goods store in Newport, it’s not that far away.” She gripped her mug tightly, trying to absorb as much warmth as possible.

“Yeah, I guess so, at least with a new GPS we’ll know where the next spot is, so we can decide if we want to go.” Ben sighed, “Aunt Lacey?”

“Yeah bud?”

“What if there is no treasure, what if this is all a joke?”

“I don’t think it is, they wouldn’t actually go to the work of putting the caches in place if it weren’t real, and if it isn’t real then that is false advertising and we can sue. Heck we would probably make more than ten thousand dollars if we sued them!” She laughed to herself. Ben could never understand her optimism, but ultimately knew she was right.

They both began to eat the clam chowder and savor their hot chocolate, the old lady brought them each a refill, she seemed so happy to have “kids” around to take care of. They both recounted some of what had happened in the punchbowl, and then stared out the window, gazing at the ocean that almost took their lives. The sun had set and the dark sky seemed to swallow the horizon.

The man in the blue van watched them, with the restaurant illuminated he could see them clearly, but knew they wouldn’t be able to see him parked in the shadows. He picked up his phone and entered a number.

“Yeah?” a voice answered.

“Got ‘um, They have the case; I think they might actually go to the next one.” He continued to stare at them through the glass and wondered how they could be giggling and smiling after what they had just been through.

“How long, you think?” the man on the other end of the phone asked.

“I’d give them a day; I’ll follow them tonight and let you know if they stop anywhere.”

“Don’t let them see you again, be careful, we can’t afford to mess this up.”

“Yes, sir.” the man in the van said as he heard the line go dead. He closed his phone, “this is too easy.” He said to himself as he turned on the radio. He sat and waited and watched. When he saw a tow truck pull into the lot he started the van and headed out of the parking lot. He waited on a pullout right off the main entrance to the punchbowl. Within fifteen minutes he watched the tow truck leave, shortly after he saw the green SUV that he had been following for the last few days. He waited a few seconds after they pulled out, and then merged onto the highway slowly, trying to maintain a good distance. As he spotted them around the next corner he shook his head and laughed, then said, “Yep, way too easy.”

10

“W
ell this is it.” Lacey said as she turned the engine off. V V They had just entered the Sky Lakes Wilderness area in southern Oregon.

“It’s pretty cool here.” Ben said as he unstrapped his seatbelt. “I’m glad we came.” He hopped out of the car. Lacey reached in the backseat and grabbed a packing frame that they had purchased when they picked up the second GPS unit the night before. As she stepped out of the car she noticed the huge Ponderosa pines that surrounded the parking area, they stood like soldiers protecting the forest.

“It’s amazing out here.” She said as she slipped the pack on her back, and tightened the shoulder straps. “I’m glad I had you pack this thing while we drove, we saved a ton of time, you ready?” She asked Ben.

“Yeah.” Ben said as he tightened his shoelace, “ready.” He took the GPS unit from his pocket and checked their location. “Looks like we need to go five miles north east.” He looked around the parking area and saw a trailhead on the Northeastern side, “Yeah let’s take that trail.”

As they hiked the narrow trail they joked and recalled their experiences on the trip, it was nice to have this time with Ben, Lacey thought. How many aunts actually get to spend this much time getting to know their nephews? What was even more amazing was what a wonderful time she was having, even though she was in college and Ben was nine years old.

“Ya know this is awesome out here.” Ben said. “Thanks for doing this with me.”

“No problem, hey I want that money just as bad as you.” Lacey said reassuringly. “I wish we would have brought a camera, it is really amazing.” She stopped and looked up at the sky; the trees were so tall they created walls, which lead to a crystal blue ceiling.

They followed the winding trail as it crested small mountains; the terrain wasn’t tough; they were more exhausted from the previous week’s experiences than anything else really. But the feeling that this could be the last location kept them going.

Ben pulled the GPS from his pocket once more, “Okay we are almost three miles in, man we’re kicking butt!” He said loudly, as he spoke birds flew from the trees, startling both of them.

“Cool! Hey, you getting hungry?” Lacey asked.

“Nah, I’m fine.” He waved a hand in her direction.

“Well then, let’s kick it up a notch.” she passed him on the trail as she increased her pace. She had to have him back to his parent’s house by tomorrow morning, and she didn’t want to have to call and ask her sister’s permission to keep him a few more days.

As they crested the next small hill Ben exclaimed, “Wow look at that!” He pointed to a section of sparkling blue water that funneled through the tree line. “That must be Blue Lake; it is supposed to be the first lake we pass.” Seeing the sparkling water made them increase their pace even more, they were almost there. They focused on not tripping as they carefully but quickly stepped over tree roots and rocks that had come loose in the trail’s soil, if not for the Sunday deadline, they could have spent days here, just exploring.

“Half a mile!” Ben called ahead as they jogged the trail next to the lake. The pack was becoming heavy on Lacey’s shoulders; she tightened the belt strap once again and tried to tell her mind to ignore the ache in her shoulders and spine. They continued to jog, Ben giving an ETA every few minutes.

Within two hours of leaving the car, they had made it to the coordinates on the GPS unit. They decided to use a ten-foot diameter, just in case the coordinates we’re off, but couldn’t find anything. The area was covered with pine needles and a few dead weeds and grasses that already couldn’t handle the summer’s heat. In the center of the circle they had created was a tall dead Ponderosa Pine; it must have stood over sixty feet. Its charcoaled body looked as though it was going to topple over at any minute. Maybe it was a lightning strike that had taken its life or perhaps it was the forest’s only recollection of a fire many years prior. They hadn’t given the tree much thought after they searched its base and found nothing.

Ben kicked some pine needles around and heard something in the distance; it was a bird of some sort, screeching. He looked up and in the bright blue sky saw a Bald Eagle fly over. “Wow, Aunt Lacey, check that out.” His arm jolted up enthusiastically.

“Wow, don’t see that every day.” She said back, and then continued to search the ground “Maybe we should have brought a shovel.” Lacey thought out loud.

“Nope, I don’t think so.” Ben said, his head still focused at the sky.

“Why? It obviously isn’t here.” Lacey said as she pointed to the huge circle they had cleared around all of the trees.

“’Cause, you’re forgetting something.” He looked at her, she looked completely exhausted and overwhelmed, the thrill of detective work was quickly becoming old. “Remember, it said
up in a tree, you’ll feel so free,”
he pointed up to the top of the burnt tree, Lacey twisted her head to get a better
view.
Sure enough at the top of the charcoaled tree was a nest, a huge nest. “I think it’s the eagle’s” Ben said, he moved his hand following the eagle as it circled the area.

“Well, shoot, we can’t climb up to an eagle’s nest, it’ll kill us!” Lacey said as she took the pack frame off and allowed it to drop to the ground. She wasn’t in the mood for any more games, she just wanted to find the treasure and go to sleep for maybe a week straight!

“Yeah, I’m not climbing up there.” Ben said casually.

“What?” Lacey yelled.

“I um…don’t climb, sorry it’s just a rule I have.” Ben said as he drew circles in the soil with the toe of his shoe.

“Okay, well what will you give me to climb that?” Lacey said.

“What do you mean?”

“How much of your share of the treasure will you give me to climb a burnt tree that will most likely fall over?” Her face became red.

“I’ll give you an extra hundred bucks.” Ben said “How ‘bout five hundred?” Lacey said.

“Serious? Oh man! Okay, you win.” Ben shook his head.

“Okay then, an extra five hundred, if I fall you owe me a thousand!” She walked over to the tree, “well give me a boost.” She demanded. Ben hurried over and put his hands down to boost her up high enough so she could grab the first branch. As her hands locked onto the burnt wood charcoal dust fell onto her face. “Nice” she complained. She wiggled onto the first branch trying to move slowly. It was actually surprisingly stable. As she reached up she tested more branches, when she found the one that felt the safest she would move up and around the tree.

“Aunt Lacey.” Ben called.

“Yep” she answered as she pulled herself up higher, her entire body was now covered in charcoal, her face and hair were a dark gray, when she looked down to Ben the brightness of her eyes caught him by surprise.

“Um…” he began to laugh. “Sorry, you look so funny!”

“Um, hello, up in a tree here…can you tell me why you are interrupting my joyful climb?” She yelled sarcastically.

“Sorry, um, oh, yeah that eagle is still circling, so be careful.”

“Thanks, I hadn’t noticed its large talons and flesh eating beak from this height, I’ll keep it in mind as I attack its home.” She sighed loudly, obviously frustrated. Ben could sense the fear in her voice. She began climbing faster, obviously fear was overcoming her, and along with the fear she was eager to see if this was the last cache, she wanted this treasure hunt to be over with, she wanted that money.

She was closing in on the last ten feet when the eagle first attempted to protect its nest. It swooped in and tried to grab her hair; she tucked her head in and screamed. Ben panicked, not knowing what to do he picked up some small rocks and began to throw them at the bird, one hit Lacey in the leg, “Not helping!” She yelled. Ben then saw the pack frame, maybe he could distract the bird with the turkey sandwiches they had bought for lunch.

“I’m going to get the eagle to eat the sandwiches!” He yelled up to his aunt.

“What?” Lacey was totally thrown by his comment; she looked down at him, big mistake! Suddenly a wave of nausea came over her, she felt dizzy, and as she tightened her grip she heard the slightest bit of crackling from within the branch. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. “Ben” she yelled. “You’re feeding a bird another bird?” Ben looked up at her, one of the sandwiches was already unwrapped, he was setting it on a stump about ten feet away from the tree.

“Um, yeah.” He said as he looked at the sandwich. “Is that not okay?” He asked sincerely.

Lacey analyzed her current situation, she was standing at least fifty feet up in a dead tree, holding onto a branch that may break at any moment, with an eagle swooping her as she attempted to attack its nest. “Sounds good!” She called down.

Ben took some of the pieces of meat and tossed them in the air, he took the sandwiches and lay them open faced on the old stump, and then ran to the base of the burnt tree. For a moment it was quiet, and then all of the sudden Lacey felt the draft from the huge bird as it swooped next to her, then down to the ground. It grabbed the pieces of meat that he had thrown, then landed in a tree about twenty feet away.

Lacey watched, terror came over her as she pushed herself up to the top branches, not knowing what she was going to find when she looked over the edge of the nest she reached in and felt twigs and grass. The nest was huge, it had seemed so small when they were on the ground, but it must have been three feet in diameter. She felt two eggs, and pulled her hand back quickly, almost in shock. They were large and warm, she looked at the eagle again, it was now on the stump eating the sandwiches, she couldn’t tell how much time she had, so again she stuck her hand in the nest and continued to feel around. The third egg she felt was different, it felt slippery, and cool. She used all of her strength to hoist herself up just a bit more, as she looked over the edge she saw two yellowish colored large eggs and one white plastic Easter egg.

She grabbed the plastic egg as quickly as possible and called down to Ben. Immediately she knew her mistake, as the huge bird made contact she felt the wind knocked from her lungs. She felt as though she was floating, and then realized she was falling. She reached for a branch, her nails scratched a few, as she tumbled down the tree, and amazingly the branches weren’t breaking, although she felt like her bones were. She was finally able to grab on and keep hold of a branch; she caught her breath and looked down. Ben was standing there with his hands over his mouth, obviously in shock. She rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes to try to collect herself. That bird had just come out of nowhere, she was lucky that it hadn’t used its talons to cut her open, she thought to herself. She took one more deep breath the slowly came down a few branches.

Ben seemed to collect himself, then looked around to find what had fallen, he saw the egg resting in the soil and went over to it, as he picked it up the eagle dove at him.

“Ben! Heads!” she called. Instinctively Ben dropped his head to his chest and the bird missed. “Run” she yelled. Ben looked at her, then saw the bird circling once again and made a run for it. He was headed back up the trail, he looked back to see the bird aiming for him once again. He couldn’t run fast enough, he felt the slightest scrape on his back, turned, saw the talons of the eagle coming for his face, then everything went black.