"No, not stupid at all. You did what you had to do," Rory said. "But we should get out of here before that guy comes back out."
As they approached the vehicle, Chet had struggled to his feet and he leaned against the Jaguar, confusion written on his face, "Rory, I saw Buck shoot you. I thought you were–"
A man's scream tore through the air.
Everyone looked to the Haney house to see a figure, completely on fire, stumble out of the front door. Buck Walker Harrison screamed and beat at the flames that engulfed his body. He took one step off the porch and collapsed on his face, flames and sparks from his body dancing with the force. Behind his burning body, flames tore through the house, the old boards and timbers snapping and crackling. Black smoke began to creep through the door and the strong smell of burning wood filled the air.
"Mom, our house," Corry whispered.
"It's okay, sweetie, we can always get a new house. It's people that matter."
The black smoke crept across the yard and swirled around them and Corry and Emma coughed.
"We have to get moving," Rory said urgently, "the fire will bring people. And if other KGC members show up...."
"You're right," Donna-Lou said. "Emma, get the car doors open. Corry, help me get Rory up."
Emma waved swirling smoke away and pulled on the passenger side door beside Chet. "It's locked!" she cried.
Chet swore, "I...I had the keys when Harrison jumped me." He placed a hand against the Jaguar, holding himself steady as he looked around on the sidewalk, "I think I dropped them...."
Emma spun around, frantically looking for the keys p she pounced to the side of the Jaguar just behind him, "Here they are." She aimed the key fob at the Jaguar and pressed the button. There was a slight thunk as the doors unlocked and then Emma opened the passenger side door.
"Good girl," Donna-Lou said as she urged Rory to get up.
Rory groaned in pain as he slid into the car and sat heavily on the passenger seat.
Corry pulled open the back door, helping Chet to slide inside.
Donna-Lou slammed the passenger side door shut, took the car keys from Emma and ran for the driver's side, yelling to the kids, "Get all the stuff and put it in the car. Hurry."
Corry and Emma gathered up all the dropped treasure items, along with Chet's dropped Glock and threw them into the Jaguar. Then the two kids ran around the car and jumped into the back seat, slamming the door shut behind them.
Donna-Lou started the Jaguar and looked at Rory "Where do we go?" she asked desperately.
"Just drive," Rory said as he winced in pain. "We can't stay here in town. Head towards Greenville and we'll find a hotel along the highway. We don't know if any other troopers are members of the KGC, so you need to keep your speed down–"
"Like that's going to be easy," Donna-Lou complained as she stamped on the gas pedal and the Jaguar squealed away from the corner, leaving behind the heavy smell of the house burning and the smoldering body of Buck Walker Harrison.
Chapter 31
DONNA-LOU DROVE for half an hour along I-85, trying hard to keep her nerves under control and not speed away from Golden as fast as possible. The sun was up and she felt exposed in the daylight, her eyes constantly moving back and forth, watching for any signs of a state trooper. There was no telling where a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle could show up.
Chet and the two kids were dozing in the back seat while Rory was slumped in the passenger seat, leaning against the door and trying to keep watch with her. As they passed a highway sign, Rory pushed himself up in the seat, groaning as he did, "Okay. I want you to take the next cut-off. The sign back there said there's a town twenty miles to the south."
Shaking her head, Donna-Lou said, "But we're still half-hour at least away from Greenville. I thought that's where you wanted us to go to get away from them?"
"I know," Rory said. "But I've been thinking. We can't stay in this car. Harrison pulled me over when I was going back to Golden and any of his state trooper buddies could have the make, model, and license number and be watching for us. Especially after finding Buck's burned body and his car at your burning house by now–"
Donna-Lou voice rose an octave in fear, "I know. I've been watching. But if we don't get far away, if they see us–"
Rory held a hand up to calm her, "I know. I understand your fears. But we can't take the chance on staying in this car. Besides, we have to find the treasure before they do–"
"We just call the police," Donna-Lou stated firmly. "They can take care of it."
"I thought we had agreed–"
"I've changed my mind," she shot back. She glanced into the rearview mirror at the kids in the back seat, "After what happened back there at my house...at what's left of my house...I can't take the chance."
"Okay. So which police do we call?"
There was a moment of silence and then Donna-Lou's jaw clenched and rippled with anger.
"Which ones can you guarantee won't be members of the KGC?"
More tense silence.
"Are there more judges like the one that was at Jesse's house? Which members of the–"
"Okay, okay. I get your point." Donna-Lou cursed under her breath.
"Just trust me on this. Okay?"
Licking her lips and working to push her fears back down, Donna-Lou finally gave him a nod, "Okay." Her hands gripped the steering wheel hard, "But if something happens, so help me...."
"I understand."
In five minutes she took the next off-ramp and drove south for another twenty minutes before finally reaching the outskirts of a small town.
The kids stirred in the back seat, rubbing the sleep from their eyes as they sat up to see where they were.
"Okay, here's what we need," Rory said as he pointed ahead on the left. There were three car dealerships. Rory leaned ahead and examined the signs coming up. "Turn off at the second dealership," Rory said.
Donna-Lou nodded, turning off the road into the dealership's lot, driving between two lines of cars that stretched to the left and right.
Rory pointed off to the left, "Okay, park over there."
In a moment, Donna-Lou pulled the Jaguar to a stop on the left of the large garage for the dealership.
Rory peeled off the bullet-proof vest off, groaning in discomfort as he did. "Do you still have your weapon?" he asked Donna-Lou.
She nodded, reaching under the seat and pulling out her Glock 19 handgun, showing it to him.
"You're bad ass mom," a proud Corry said from the back seat.
"Language young man," she chided with a half smile.
Chet stirred in the back, where he had been lying against the door, holding his head as he slept.
"Here's your gun, Mr. Calhoun," Emma said as she handed Chet his Glock from the floor of the back seat.
"Thank you, sweetie," Chet said. "Now, does anybody have any aspirins? I'm not sure what hurts worse, my arm or the back of my head."
"We'll get you some as soon as we can," Donna-Lou said as she looked back over the seat with concern.
Rory removed his shoulder holster containing the Baby Eagle and set it on the floor in front of his seat. "I'll be back in a moment. Keep an eye out," he said as a got out.
HALF AN HOUR LATER, Rory was driving towards the Jaguar in a large Land-Rover Range Rover. He parked to the left and rolled down his window, calling over to Donna-Lou, "Let's transfer everything to this vehicle."
Donna-Lou nodded and it wasn't long before everyone and everything was transferred to the Land-Rover Range Rover. Rory drove the Jaguar towards the back of the dealership and then came back a few minutes later, holding a hand against his chest.
"Are you okay?" Donna-Lou asked as Rory jumped into the driver's side.
Rory nodded, "Just a little sore, is all."
"Do you want me to drive?"
"No, it's fine," Rory said, "I've had some driver training in evasive maneuvers and if someone tries to stop us...."
Donna-Lou no
dded in understanding, "What did you do with the Jaguar?"
Rory glanced at the building, "I didn't tell the dealership, but I parked it in the back lot with a bunch of other vehicles. It should be some time before anybody finds it." He put the Range-Rover in gear and they left the lot behind.
Ten minutes later, they were parked in front of a Best Western Inn and Suite and Rory took three adjoining rooms. Everyone enjoyed room service and several hours of sleep before they got up just after noon and began to plot out their next move.
Chapter 32
RORY GATHERED EVERYONE in the living area of the central suite and they were all sitting in front of a large whiteboard he had borrowed from the hotel. Standing next to the board, he began by gesturing to the pile of items set up on a folding table he had borrowed as well, "Okay, Corry. Chet and I brought everything up from the Range Rover. Before we make our way up to Cherokee Ridge–"
An eager Corry bounded up from his chair, "We're really going?" He looked at his mom, "Yeah?"
Donna-Lou still looked conflicted but she nodded, "Yeah. We're going." She looked at Rory, "And nothing better happen."
Corry pumped his fist, "All right."
Rory gave Donna-Lou a nod and then said, "Why don't you set everything up on this board, Corry and show us what we're going to be looking for."
"Okay." Corry said as he looked towards the table, "I'll need the topographical map of Cherokee Ridge first."
An equally eager Emma bounded up from her own chair, "I'll help." She ran over and picked up the map, unrolling it as she brought it over to Corry.
There were a number of spring clamps set along the edges of the board and Corry took one in hand, waiting for Emma to place the unrolled map across the whiteboard.
"Explain what you're doing and why you're doing it," Donna-Lou said, "for us uninitiated treasure hunters."
Nodding and smiling, Corry said, "Okay, this is a topographical map. It gives us a lot of detail for the area, including hills and lakes and stuff like that." He worked with Emma to clamp both sides of the map as well as the top and bottom to the whiteboard. When they were finished, Corry pointed to several spots on the map, "What I did is I used a magic marker to put a small black dot on this map exactly where I found each sign."
"You mean each treasure sign? Like the one we have on the tree in the backyard?" Donna-Lou asked.
"Uh huh, I borrowed Ronnie Gentry's cell phone," Corry said. "He had a free app on the phone that he used for geocaching and it gave me the exact coordinates for the map."
"You mean you used the exact longitude and latitude for each sign? That's smart," Rory said.
Donna-Lou looked a little sad, "I'm sorry you had to borrow a phone, sweetie. I know you wanted one like the other kids, but we just didn't have the money...."
"That's okay," Corry said. He shrugged it off as no big deal. "Okay. Now we need the slicker to put it over top of the topographical map."
Rory had the oilskin in hand and Emma darted over, taking it back to the whiteboard. She placed the oilskin against the map and began to unroll it, "Like this, Corry?"
"Yep," Corry said. He and Emma unrolled the oilskin completely, each holding an end. "This slicker has most of the signs that we need on it, Corry explained. "We just...place the center of each sign on the skin...over the dot on the map where I found it...."
Emma worked with Corry to shift the oilskin around, looking at each black dot, getting it just right. "There," Corry said finally. "Can someone put clamps to hold it?"
Rory stood up and placed spring clamps carefully in place to hold the oilskin in position.
Donna-Lou and Chet stood up, both of them moving closer to the whiteboard.
"This the first time I've really had a real chance to look at this oilskin," Rory said.
"Me too," Chet said quietly as he leaned over, narrowing his eyes, examining the skin in detail.
"I'm not really sure what I'm looking at," Donna-Lou said.
Corry and Emma gave her a rundown of how it worked and what the different features of the topographical map showing through the skin meant.
After a few minutes, Rory pointed to the left of the oilskin, "Two of the signs on the left side here are faded so badly I can't really make them out. That one on top of those two is readable but...."
"That's why I needed these two photocopies of the signs," Corry said as he retrieved them from a coffee table. "This is the last one I found," he added as he tapped on the oilskin on a black dot on the topographical map underneath, "it's exactly here." He placed one photocopy on the skin and directed Emma to put a piece of scotch tape to hold it. He went back and got the next one.
Donna-Lou stepped closer to Chet, looking closer, watching in fascination as the treasure map was built by her son.
"I think this sign is the distance sign," Corry added as he placed the next one. "I think the number of feathers shows how far we have to go to find the next sign - or maybe the treasure."
"Are you sure?" Donna-Lou asked.
"Pretty sure," Corry answered with a shrug.
"Does the number mean a distance in feet? Or in number of miles?" Chet asked.
Corry shrugged again, "I'm not really sure. But this is the last one...it was on the tree they cut down at Cherokee Ridge." He held the last paper over the spot on the map and had Emma tape it in place. Corry then said, "We still have to figure out exactly where it was, though. That's the other problem...."
Rory placed a finger on a photocopied sign, "So...if this feather sign is the distance one...and we figure it out...how do we know which direction...?"
"That's where the flag comes in," Chet said. He turned to get it but Donna-Lou put a hand on his shoulder, "You just stand there and I'll get it. You're still a bit unsteady on your feet."
Chet blushed a little at the attention.
Donna-Lou got the old Confederate flag and handed it over to Chet, along with a brief smile.
Chet took the flag in hand and folded it carefully along the seam in the flag. Then he held it against the oilskin, "From what I know...if we just align this repaired-looking star...over this star on this sign...."
Corry moved in and helped to adjust the star on the flag over the star on the sign.
"And you follow the direction of the seam?" Donna-Lou asked as she moved closer.
"Yes and no," Chet said in a distracted his voice. He readjusted the flag.
"Yes and no?" Donna-Lou repeated. "You're confusing me."
Chet looked at her, "Remember what I said about the guide when we found the flag and the other items up in the attic?"
Donna-Lou made a grimace, "Not really. Sorry."
Chet looked at Emma, "Would you hold the flag for me, please?"
Emma eagerly moved in and took up Chet's job in holding the flag in place.
Stepped back beside Donna-Lou, Chet said, "Okay. The signs were set up as a treasure map that could be rebuilt. In order to find the treasure again years later, any KGC member could go back to the signs and copy them back onto a slicker in the exact pattern in which they're found in the area. In our case, we have what might be the original oilskin that set up all the signs in the first place–"
"So they would rebuild the treasure map, just like we just did," Donna-Lou said.
"Right," Chet said.
"But two of the signs are too faded to read on this oilskin," Corry added. "So I added the two photocopies."
Yes, I can see that," Donna-Lou said. She winked at Rory, obviously proud of her son's abilities.
Chet continued, "So the slicker they draw on would be placed over top of a topographical map scaled to fit the area where the signs were found. Which is what we have here. Now...here's the tricky part...one of the signs in the area was the keystone...."
"That's the sign with the star on the oilskin...and you aligned the star on the flag on top of that," Donna-Lou interjected, eager to understand the whole thing.
"That's right," Chet said.
"You're getting i
t, mom," praised Corry.
Chet held up a finger, "But...remember what I said before. One of the signs was the guide. Which means one of these signs on the oilskin...matches something on the flag. You line up those two - like we did with the stars - and you now have the exact direction to go in."
"Got it," Donna-Lou said. "So...which of the signs is the guide?"
Chet scratched the back of his head as he looked at the oilskin, "I have no idea."
Donna-Lou moved in next to her son as she looked at the flag and the oilskin, "Any ideas, Corry?"
Corry shook his head, "No. But I think we'll know once we go up to Cherokee Ridge and find out exactly where that last sign should be on the map."
"Okay," Donna-Lou said slowly. "But...what if we can't figure out exactly where?"
Giving it a moment's thought, Corry then shrugged, "Then we're F'd."
Donna-Lou's eyebrows rose abruptly, "Language young man, language!"
Corry gave her a big belly laugh.
Chapter 33
THEY LEFT WELL BEFORE SUNUP the next morning. Rory drove north and then took the Old Greenville Highway west before working his way back south towards the Golden area. The sun was just peeking through the trees when Rory came to a stop on a narrow back road in the middle of nowhere. He hit his power button and let his window roll down. The air was warm and carried the rich scent of pine trees. The twittering of birds competed for his attention with the chattering of squirrels.
Despite the pleasant atmosphere, Donna-Lou went on alert and sat up in the back seat, "Why are we stopping here?"
Rory looked over his seat, "Everything is fine, don't worry. From here, we're going to head cross-country to Cherokee Ridge."
Chet had been dozing in the passenger seat and he stirred with the conversation, sitting up as well and looking around at the surrounding trees, "You want us all to get out here and walk now? I have no idea where we are, but...I think we're still a long ways away yet, Rory."
Corry stirred in the back seat as well and set his forehead against his window, "Yeah. I don't know where we are either."
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