by Tricia Goyer
Then, just as Andrea was finishing telling about last year’s school trip to Italy, a spout of words burst from Christopher’s lips.
“Grandma, can I please share what Dylan and I found at the library? I promise it will only take five minutes.”
“You’re right. I’m so sorry. I’ve been putting it off all evening. What did you want to show me?”
“Finally!” Christopher jumped from his seat and hurried to his backpack by the door. He pulled out two copies of something and brought them to her.
Charlotte looked at the photos. Emily rose from her seat and came around to get a better look too.
One was a photo of a woman and a little girl. Emily pointed to it.
“Oh, yeah, I saw that one, although it was big and framed. How did you get a copy?”
“Dylan was looking through a box, and he found it. The date said July 4, 1879.”
“Do you think they’re the ones who stole the money?” Sam leaned over to get a better look too. “Hmm, she sure does look like a robber.”
“No, don’t look at the lady.” Christopher shook his head. “Look behind her. Look at the building.”
Charlotte lifted the paper closer to her face. Because it was a photocopy of an old, black-and-white picture, it was hard to distinguish what it was. “Are you sure that’s a building? It looks like a stage or maybe a blanket on the ground.”
“No, I see that too, Grandma. It’s a floor or something, like a foundation,” Emily said. “June—the lady who’s working at the library—said it was the basement for Bedford Community Church.”
“Really? That’s interesting. It makes sense since the letter Andrea just translated for us said that construction workers had been at the church the day the bag disappeared.”
“Okay, now look at the other one.” Christopher pointed to the second photocopy. The picture had been taken at the same angle, and the wooden platform was only half done.
“I don’t understand.”
Christopher grinned. “The date on the photo said March 31, 1879. Which means …”
“Which means it was taken the day before the money disappeared. They were working on building the foundation!” Charlotte placed her fingers over her lips.
“Is it possible that Elijah could have put the bag inside the footings and didn’t remember doing that?” Bob asked.
“Remember? That one letter said he fell asleep,” Andrea said.
“Yes, Lavina’s journal did too. It mentioned Elijah resting.” Charlotte scanned the excited faces around her. “And if he was disoriented when he woke up, and he just went on home—why, the foundation could have been finished when he went to the safe the next day. Even if he retraced his steps, he wouldn’t have found the bag.”
“If so, I know how we can find it.” It was Kendall’s voice.
“Oh, yeah!” Sam jumped from his chair. “Grandma, do you still have the key to the church? I know how we can totally find out tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlotte had tried Pastor Evans one more time on Emily’s cell phone. Finally, after three rings, he’d picked up and had agreed to meet them at the church. Now she looked around at the faces of those assembled with her in the church basement: Pastor Evans, Bob, Emily, Andrea, Christopher, Sam, Kendall.
She turned to Bob. “I don’t know. What do you think? Should we go ahead and try?”
Bob tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. “I don’t see how it will hurt anything.” He turned to the preacher standing beside him.
Pastor Evans looked at Kendall. “Start her up. Let’s get this thing rolling.”
“Okay, sure. Just as long as I have your permission.” She glanced at Sam. “After all, this is private property.” She winked.
“It’s also community property,” Bob added. “It’s our church. And this is something I bet the community will be very interested in.”
Kendall slipped her arm into a loop and grabbed the handle of the metal detector, and then Charlotte watched as she pushed some buttons beside a small screen.
“That thing is cool.” Christopher’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“I’m programming this to look for coins. See, on this screen there’s a menu that allows you to pick out what you’re looking for. It makes it more accurate.”
“I had no idea those things were so complicated.” Pastor Evans scratched his head.
“It’s like it has a little computer,” Charlotte observed.
“Well, most of them don’t. This one is a little fancier. I’ve been begging for this model. I told my dad if he got it for me he wouldn’t have to buy me another Christmas or birthday gift for five years.”
Kendall flipped through the menu until she got to COINS. “Okay, it’s set. It will be ready to go as soon as I turn it on. Where should I start?”
Charlotte looked around the basement, eyeing the well-worn wooden floor. Thanks to the efforts of the women’s group, it was mostly clean.
“I think we should start in the corners,” Emily suggested. “In the photo it showed that lady standing by one of the corners.”
“Yes, but it’s hard to tell which way she was facing since the only thing behind the church’s foundation was prairie.”
“I’ll just pick one.” Kendall moved to the north corner, and everyone followed. Then she flipped the machine on. It made a low buzzing sound. Slowly, she swept the round head of the machine over the area, back and forth.
“Folks.” Sam spread his hands out. “Please give her room.”
Everyone backed up, but only slightly.
As the metal detector moved along, Charlotte heard the smallest of beeps. Bob must have heard it too because he looked at her. “Do you hear that?”
“Actually, those are just the nails in the wooden foundation. If we find coins you’ll hear a much louder beep.”
Kendall continued on, covering the entire corner. Then she slowly moved along the wall.
Charlotte leaned closer to Sam. “She sure seems to know what she’s doing.”
Sam patted her back. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Grandma. You should see her in the field.”
“Can you go faster?” Andrea asked. “I cannot wait.”
“Actually, I need to move the search head slowly. Otherwise we could miss something important.”
“Is it going to do something—you know, to tell you if there’s something there?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, when you pass over a target object there will be an audible signal,” Kendall explained. “And fancier detectors, like this one, will even tell you how deep the object is.”
Slowly, surely, she moved to the second corner. Then, just as she was about to move down the next wall there was a louder beep.
“I’m gonna push the locator button to narrow it in.”
Beep, beep. The sounds were quiet. Beep, beep, beep. They got louder. Kendall moved the detector in the other direction. Again the beeps were quiet at first, and then they got louder.
It got louder still, and Sam put his finger on the spot on the floor. Kendall moved the detector again. “Umm, a little to the right, see? That’s where it’s loudest.”
Kendall looked at Bob. “Do you have that ax? I’m pretty sure there’s a coin under there.”
Bob stepped forward and Kendall stepped back.
“Are you sure, pastor?” Bob asked one more time.
Pastor Evans nodded. “Let her rip.”
Bob looked behind him to make sure no one was there. Then he swung. The wood split in a terrific crack. He did the same thing ten more times until he’d cut out a hole about eight inches in diameter. Then Bob knelt to the ground.
“Here’s the flashlight.” Christopher stepped forward. Bob took it from him and clicked it on. Then he pointed it down into the hole. “I think I see something. Emily, come here and hold this flashlight for me.”
Emily did as she was told, and Bob reached his hand down.
“Bob, are you sure? There co
uld be spiders or something.” Charlotte sighed.
“Too late now, Grandma,” Christopher mumbled.
Bob’s hand reemerged. Then he stood and opened his hand. In it was a silver coin.
“Wow! We found something.” Andrea bounced where she was.
“Yes, but it’s only one. Do you see more?” Christopher took the flashlight back and peered down the hole.
Bob stared into the hole again too. “No, I didn’t see any more. Do you?”
Christopher sighed. “No, nothing. Just dirt and stuff.”
Bob handed the coin to Charlotte, and she held it up to the light. On the front was a woman in a dress with a shield that said LIBERTY. “Eighteen seventy,” Charlotte read.
Kendall moved next to her. “That’s a really old and valuable coin. Ones in good condition like this one go for a couple thousand dollars.”
“No way! Are you serious?” Emily’s jaw dropped open.
Although it was a great find, Charlotte felt the hope puffed up inside her deflate. “It could have just fallen from someone’s pocket. Just because we found it doesn’t mean there are more.”
“Well, we can keep looking; maybe there’s more somewhere else.”
Kendall turned on the metal detector again. She had hardly gone ten feet when the beeping started again. This time it was louder, stronger. She swept the detector back and forth, but the sound didn’t fade.
“Sounds like you found another coin!” Christopher called.
“Make that coins.” Sam reached his hand toward the ax. “I’d be happy to do this one, Grandpa.”
Everyone stepped back again, and in six strikes a large gap was in the floor.
“Here’s the flashlight, Sam.” Christopher held it out.
Sam pointed to Charlotte. “Give it to Grandma. I think she needs to be the one to look.”
Christopher did as he was told. With shaking hands, Charlotte took the flashlight from him. There wasn’t a sound in the room as she knelt on the floor. She was almost afraid to look.
Then, taking in a deep breath, she pointed the flashlight into the hole. Easily visible, not a foot away, was a bag. It was dusty, but the words were still clear: UNITED STATES MAIL.
IT TOOK ALL THE SELF-CONTROL they possessed, but they waited to open the bag until Pete and Dana met them at the church.
Inside were several silver dollars—just like the first one they’d found. They also found a stack of paper bank notes of varying denominations.
Also inside was a stack of letters. “Oh, look. Here’s one from Wilma to her sister Peggy—the one Peggy confirmed had never showed up.”
“Now we know why,” Sam quipped.
There were other letters too. Charlotte wanted more than anything to open them and read them, but she wouldn’t. They all agreed the best thing to do would be to let them be handled by the postal authorities.
“Look, Charlotte,” Dana touched her arm. “It’s a letter from Lavina to someone back east.”
“Yes, I’m not sure if it was a sister or a friend, but I’d recognize that handwriting anywhere.”
“Well, Mom, you did it. You did it for Granddaddy.” Pete wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.
“No, Pete, we did it. And we did it for us. For our family—past and future.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nearly a week had passed since they’d found the bag, and it indeed had become the talk of the town. It also had become the talk of the church—important enough that the church leaders called a special board meeting.
“I wonder what they want to talk to us about?” Charlotte mused, playing with the zipper of her jacket as they waited, moving it up and then back down again. Up …
Charlotte, Bob, Pete, Dana, and the kids sat in folding chairs along the hall just outside the church’s meeting room.
“Even weirder that they wanted all of us to be here.”
“Maybe they’re going to give us the money we found and then we’ll be able to buy dirt bikes to ride around the farm,” Christopher said.
Pete squeezed the back of Christopher’s neck. “I don’t think so.”
The door opened, and Pastor Evans motioned them inside. “Come in, folks, and bring your chairs. We don’t have much room, and strong, hot coffee is all we have to offer, but I think this will be worth it.”
As soon as they had carried their chairs into the room and were situated, Hannah’s husband, Frank, stood.
He cleared his throat and began speaking while Bob reached over and took Charlotte’s hand.
“On behalf of Bedford Community Church, we would like to offer you this document officially clearing Elijah Coleman’s name of any wrongdoing.” Frank moved across the room to Charlotte and handed her a piece of paper rolled up as a scroll with a red ribbon tied around it.
“Thank you,” Charlotte managed to squeak out, pressing the document to her chest.
Nancy Evans rose, her smile spreading over her face like butter over hot corn. “We have something else. We want you to know that the postal authorities agreed to let us donate the letters and papers in the satchel to the Adams County Historical Society and their new museum room at the library. In addition, with Edna’s help, copies of the letters will be given to any family members we can find, many of whom still live in Bedford.”
“That’s wonderful. Such a treasure,” Charlotte heard Dana comment.
“We’ve also had some help figuring out what to do with the money.” She motioned to a man sitting next to Pastor Evans, a man Charlotte didn’t recognize. “This is Hank Richardson, Kendall’s father. He put us in contact with a museum in Boston that’s interested in the money. We’re going to sell it for its historical worth and put the proceeds into the church’s building-and-reconstruction fund, since that was its original purpose.”
Mr. Richardson rose. “It was an honor to help represent you folks. My daughter, Kendall, has said wonderful things about your family, Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson, and I appreciate your welcoming her into your home. I’ve been searching for treasure most of my life, but this discovery—and the people I’ve met here—well, they’ve made me decide that maybe some of the best treasures around are found in the company we keep. Thank you.”
A few minutes later the meeting broke up, and the room erupted into several conversations, all going on at once. Hannah and Frank approached and offered quick hugs, but Charlotte wasn’t focused on them. In the corner of the room, she saw Mr. Richardson slipping out.
“Excuse me, Hannah. I’ll be right back.”
“Mr. Richardson, it’s so nice to meet you,” Charlotte called, following him.
He turned and smiled, removing his cap and holding it in his hands. “Hank. You can call me Hank. Everyone does.”
“Okay, Hank. I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your help—both with lending us your daughter’s talents and with helping the church know what to do with the money.”
He shrugged. “It’s nothing. It’s stuff like this that I live for. Makes it all worthwhile.”
“Yes, well, I not only wanted to thank you, but I also think it would be great to have you and Kendall over for dinner sometime. I’m sure you have some fun stories to share.”
Hank’s face brightened. “Sounds good. Thank you. I’d better go now.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m supposed to meet Kendall over at the dump. I have a feeling in my bones that it’s going to be a day of discovery.”
He walked away with a wave, and Charlotte crossed her arms and watched him go, enjoying the quiet of the hallway and the deep peace she felt inside before returning to the board room.
“I’ve been feeling that way, too,” she whispered to herself. “Day of discovery. I like that.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Are you nervous?” Charlotte asked Emily as they drove to the church for the open house. It was hard to believe how much had happened since they found the coins and cleared Granddaddy’s name. Every morning she woke up excited about what they’d done.
“Nah, we’ve already done it in class and got an A. I don’t think anyone from the church is going to grade us. Besides, I know everyone there. There shouldn’t be any surprises.”
The car drove up the small hill, and Bedford Community Church came into view. Charlotte’s hand reached for the dashboard as if that would somehow lessen the surprise of the sea of cars that filled the parking lot. Cars even overflowed along the side of the highway.
“No surprises?” Bob chuckled. “Think again.”
“Oh great, the whole town showed up.” Emily looked down at her clothes. “I should have dressed better.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Charlotte glanced back at Emily. “You look beautiful, and you will be wonderful.”
Bob dropped everyone off in the church parking lot and drove away to find a place to park. As they started walking toward the building, Charlotte glanced at Sam. Ever since the other night, she’d wanted to talk to him. She thought about the day and everything it held. Charlotte knew if she didn’t do it now she wouldn’t have a chance to.
“Sam, can you hold up a minute?” she said.
Sam paused. The other kids did too.
“The rest of you go ahead. I need to talk to Sam just a minute.”
The others walked on ahead, and Charlotte looked up into Sam’s face. “Honey, I just want to apologize. I haven’t been very fair to you or to Kendall. I jumped to all types of conclusions without really getting to know her. It wasn’t fair to her or to you.”
Sam’s eyes were fixed on hers, and he nodded. “Thanks.” He gave her a quick hug.
“No, wait, there’s more.” She hurried on before she changed her mind. “I still have a couple of questions that haven’t been answered, like why she misses so much school and why you were out driving with her during school time.”
“All right, Grandma. Just so you don’t freak out again, I’ll tell you,” Sam said. “The day you saw us in her car we were out during an early lunch break—we have off-campus privileges, you know. And Kendall isn’t in school full-time because she takes online college courses. She’s actually really smart.”
