Too Much Stuff
Page 23
“I’m going to write you three a check for three thousand dollars. That should cover things.”
We’d thought the party was over.
“The engine on my truck, that’s going to be right around eleven hundred bucks, rebuilt.”
She sighed. “Okay, James. I’m writing a check for four thousand dollars. Although technically, those two doctors were not my concern. Go buy yourself an engine.”
I looked at Em and James. Three thousand dollars for the gold coins, four thousand dollars from Mrs. T., and a rebuilt engine for James. For James and me, not bad.
“Maria Sanko did do a lot of work.”
Mary Trueblood gave me a dirty look. “Don’t press your luck, boys.”
“One last drink at the bar? Maybe a dip in the pool? This could be our last stay at a resort for a long time.” I hated to think about it.
“You guys go ahead,” James said. “I’m going to walk over to Rumrunners and see if Amy is there. There’s something I needed to know.”
He left and Em and I walked hand in hand to the pool bar.
“So you made some money.”
“We made some money. But I am going to talk James into parting with a couple hundred bucks for Maria.”
“We’ve been through a lot in our young lives,” she said.
“We have.”
“There’s no one else I’d rather go through stuff with.”
I hesitated before I spoke.
“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying?”
She laughed. “Heavens no. I’m just saying that—”
She kissed me.
I don’t know where we’re going, but there’s never a dull moment.
Author’s Note
In 2012, Florida, the East Coast, and The United States of America will celebrate the centennial of Henry Flagler’s historic railway. Nineteen twelve was the year that Flagler connected mainland Florida to Key West. The railroad pioneer lived to see the completion of his dream project, then died the same year. In 1935, a hurricane and twenty-foot tidal wave in Islamorada, Florida, destroyed the town and the railroad, killing over five hundred people.
Ninety-five percent of the historic information about Flagler’s railroad and the 1935 hurricane described in Too Much Stuff is true. Firsthand accounts of the horrific details are documented in a number of journals, and I was able to talk to several historians who painted a graphic picture of what life was like after the storm. Through a letter and an interview with a fictional hurricane survivor, I believe that I have captured an accurate portrayal of the aftermath of the catastrophic destruction.
By the time this book releases, the value of the lost gold may be even more than the presumed value of forty-some million dollars. That should make it even more attractive for the treasure hunters. Skip, James, and Emily exist only in my mind (don’t tell them that) and I am always flattered by the review from Booklist, comparing Skip’s storytelling to the narrative style of Mark Twain’s Huck Finn.
Oh, the 5 percent of the historical information that is fictional? You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.