The Lost Journal

by Chris Blewitt

  “Then do this for me,” the man said in a quiet whisper. “Go out to the barn and in the last stall at the end, climb the rails and look in the loft. You will find something. Bring it to me.”

  Bushrod did as he was told and came back moments later holding a small leather satchel. “This?”

  “Please, come hither.”

  Bushrod brought the man the small pouch and laid it on his chest. He suddenly bolted upright from a coughing spasm and had trouble getting his breath back. His throat was full of phlegm as he spoke. “Son, do you remember everything we discussed this past autumn? The war? The redcoats from The Revolution?”

  Bushrod nodded at the man and awaited his instructions.

  “Inside this pouch, for those willing, there is a way to discover what you and I have spoken about. I ask of this to you; never, ever let this out of your sight. Pass it along to family members and them alone. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, uncle.”

  “Never use this information for yourself. Never go near it, Bushrod. It will only cause you great pain. Never destroy it either. Someday it may prove useful. Do with it as I have done with it. Hide it in a location that you and you alone know. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, uncle.”

  “Good. Now go along. I don’t want you to see me like this.” The man had a brief coughing fit but lay back down and turned his head toward the window. “Bushrod, remember me.”

  “Of course, uncle.”

  Bushrod laid a hand on the man and closed his eyes for a silent prayer. When he finished his uncle had closed his eyes and was sleeping soundly. He grabbed the satchel from the man’s chest and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Curious by nature, Bushrod opened the satchel and reached his hand inside. He pulled out a brown notebook, a little bigger than a deck of cards. His eyes grew big as he flipped through the pages, reading bits and pieces of this man’s life and the secrets he held.

  CHAPTER 5

  Arthur had the small brown book in his hands and was holding it up to the light like he could see through it. He had taken it out of the safety deposit box without another word, gingerly handling the fragile cover and the pages it held. There was a smile on his face, one that Seth had not seen in some time. He didn’t flip through it or open it, he just held it in his palms, like it was a newborn child.

  “What is it?” Seth asked.

  Arthur chuckled to himself and closed his eyes. “Seth, I have not seen this in twenty-five years. Then I remembered it and could never find the key. So I forgot about it again. Until now when you showed up with the key.”

  “Granddad, why was the key hidden where it was?”

  Arthur face turned serious. “Did you tell anyone about this key?”

  “For the tenth time, NO!”

  “Good. Seth, a lot of people are looking for this and some will stop at nothing to get it.”

  Seth thought of the men following him and how the bald guy had asked about old books on Saturday at the yard sale. He thought of telling him about the men but decided against it. He still didn’t know what was in the book.

  Arthur lowered his voice. “Son, you will know in due time why this book is so precious and why no one must know we have found it.”

  “Well, aren’t you going to—”

  “No, I’m not going to tell you about it right now and certainly not here.” Arthur skimmed the first few pages. Seth tried to peek over his shoulder and see what he was looking at. All Seth could see was the worn parchment paper and some handwriting he could not recognize. Arthur carefully closed the book, put it back in the box and locked the door with his key.

  Seth was dumbfounded. “What are you doing? Let’s take it with us.”

  “No, not here, not now. We will do that later.”

  “Why?”

  Arthur ignored him, finished locking the box and turned toward the exit. He knocked on the door and Madison opened it from the outside.

  “Find what you wanted?” she asked.

  “Yes, my dear, we have,” Arthur responded. They climbed the stairs and came around to Madison’s desk. Seth and Arthur sat down in two red-cloth chairs while Madison took her seat behind the desk in a plush leather reclining chair.

  “Mr. Layton, I must say it was odd that you haven’t visited that box in twenty-five years. Curiosity overtook me and I searched your account. Sorry, but I have that right. Anyway, lucky for you, you paid for the lifetime package. We don’t offer that anymore, but back in the eighties, you could rent a safety deposit box for life for one thousand dollars. That’s what you did, and you’ll have access to that box until the day you die.”

  Arthur looked up at her with a look of concern. “Let’s hope that’s not anytime soon, my dear.” He saw her scanning the computer and asked, “Has anyone else tried to access my box in the past twenty-five years?”

  “I can’t say for sure Mr. Layton, but we don’t let anyone access safety deposit boxes without proper identification and the key they were given.”

  “Huh,” was all Arthur said. He leaned in close and lowered his voice, “Listen, I need access to the box again.”

  Before he could finish, Madison said, “Sure, Mr. Layton, you can visit that box anytime you wish.”

  He shook his head. “No, I need access to that box without anyone knowing I’m looking in there. Does that make sense?”

  Madison was confused. “Not really. Mr. Layton, we do not reveal anything about personal access to anyone’s safety deposit box. There will be no public record of your visit today.”

  Seth was confused and chimed in, “Granddad, what are you asking here?”

  Arthur leaned in closer across her desk. “I need access to that box after hours.” He felt pleased with himself and confident in his request as he leaned back in his chair.

  Madison reciprocated and leaned forward. “Mr. Layton, I’m sorry but we don’t allow anyone in this bank after hours, not even the branch manager. The alarms are set on timers and we set them as we leave and there cannot be anyone in the bank or the alarms will go off. Why do you need access after hours?” She sat back in her chair and looked at Seth.

  “Beats me,” Seth said as he shrugged his shoulders. “He won’t tell me anything about what’s in that box.”

  “My dear, without going into specific details, there are certain people who want what’s in that box. I need to look at what’s inside and take it without anyone knowing I’m here. Who knows, there could be people watching us right now.”

  Seth fidgeted and thought about the black SUV that was probably parked outside the bank. Madison just stared at the old man. She hoped for a better explanation, but she never gone one.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Layton, there’s nothing I can do.”

  Seth rose from his chair and watched his granddad stare at the young woman, hoping for a little compromise, which he never got.

  “Very well, let’s go Seth.” He got up to leave and then leaned his arms on the desk and said, “I hope you know that you could be endangering the life of Seth here.”

  Madison raised her eyebrows at the thought of endangering anyone’s life, but she didn’t cave. She couldn’t. Rules were rules, and there was no way she was letting anyone in the bank after hours. The two men said their goodbyes and headed out the door. As they approached their car, Seth saw the two men exit the SUV not parked far away. They walked over to Seth and his granddad and the bald guy removed his sunglasses.

  “Find what you are looking for?” he asked.

  Seth and his granddad exchanged puzzled looks.

  Seth spoke first, “What are you talking about?”

  “Didn’t you tell your grandson what you’ve been hiding all these years, Arthur? What’s in the box in the bank?”

  Arthur turned to the man and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Baldie sighed. “Hand it over. Let’s save us all a bunch of time.”

  “I don’t have it. It wasn’t there.”

>   Baldie reached into his sport coat and pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “Who are you kidding, Arthur? I could pat you and the kid down—you want that?”

  “Go ahead,” replied Arthur. “You won’t find anything.”

  Baldie nodded to his partner and he began the pat down, first with Arthur then with Seth. He went in pockets, under the arms, and between his legs, there wasn’t a place he missed. He looked over at Baldie and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Let’s go,” Baldie said. As they walked away, he turned. “We’ll be watching, Arthur. You come to this bank again, we’re gonna nail you.” He put his sunglasses on and flung his cigarette in their direction before walking back to their SUV.

  Arthur and Seth got in their car and started it up. Before backing out, Arthur turned to Seth. “What is going on here?

  “Those guys have been following me since Friday.”

  “You’ve seen those guys before?” Arthur asked.

  “Seen em? They’ve been at your house, then they followed me to a diner this morning, and I guess they tailed us here. The bald guy even came to the yard sale and asked if I had any old books for sale!”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Gosh, we should have never come to the bank.”

  “Gosh is right! Now we may have endangered Madison.”

  Arthur turned toward his grandson. “You know her?” he asked.

  Seth composed himself and responded, “Well, we met the other night at the yard sale.”

  Arthur’s eyes lit up and he said, “Perrrrfectttt.”

  <><><><><>

  The two men retreated to their vehicle and once again tailed the Chrysler as it pulled out of the bank. It was getting old. The driver stayed too far behind the car and risked losing them.

  “Step on it!” said Kohler.

  Pierce did nothing of the sort. “Why? What’s the point?”

  “We got a job to do is why.”

  “I don’t give a shit about this kid and the old man. We don’t even know what they have, where it is, or why it’s so important.”

  “Pierce, I could give two shits about what you want. All I know is that we were given a job to follow this kid until he found the book. Well, if it’s in the bank, guess what? We found it.”

  Pierce still didn’t accelerate to catch up with the fleeing Chrysler. It was now a good quarter mile in front of them. Kohler looked over at him and their eyes met. For a brief moment, it looked like Kohler was going to cave in. But he didn’t. Pierce stepped on the gas and gained ground on the black car ahead. Kohler pulled out his phone and made a call.

  “Sir? Yeah, we’re back on the road.”

  “They didn’t find it?” the voice on the line asked.

  “If they did, they didn’t have it on them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We staked out the bank. When they came out we searched them and found nothing.”

  “How long were they in the bank?” the voice asked.

  “Fifteen, twenty minutes.”

  “They found it, goddamnit. And you’re sure they didn’t have it on them when they left the bank?”

  “No sir,” Kohler explained. “We did a pat down in the parking lot.”

  “What are you nuts?”

  Kohler was caught off guard as he spoke. “Sir, you told us to look for the book.”

  “I didn’t tell you to pat down civilians in the parking lot of a public bank! And stop talking right now! Stay on them and update me later!”

  Click

  Kohler looked over at his partner who had the smallest inkling of a smile as he drove.

  “Shut up and keep driving.”

  CHAPTER 6

  After Seth dropped Arthur off at Harper’s Grove, he drove back down to the bank but waited in his car instead of going in. He was observant of his surroundings and didn’t see the SUV but knew they were around. Seth was now concerned for Madison’s safety. It was bad enough his granddad was involved; he didn’t want to get a woman he just met mixed-up in this. Around twelve o’clock, he saw Madison exit the bank and get into a white Audi.

  Seth pulled out of the lot after her and followed Madison to a supermarket. He parked far away from her and went into the store. After a couple of minutes he spotted her near the salad bar, taking a carryout container and filling it with assorted greens and vegetables.

  “Hey,” he said.

  She turned her head and almost dropped her container. “What are you doing here? You are stalking me.”

  “Just keep making your salad, don’t look in my direction.”

  She ignored his request. “Why? What are you talking about?”

  Seth looked around the store but didn’t see the two men anywhere. “Listen, I can’t stay here. I don’t want to get you involved.”

  “In what?” she replied.

  “Good question,” he responded. “I don’t know. My granddad won’t tell me what’s so important about the book in the box right now. He said we need to look at it together in private.”

  “Seth, what’s with all this cloak and dagger stuff? You know that vault is private.”

  “I know, I know. You heard him though, if we’re in the vault too long, whoever is following us will know that we read the contents.”

  “Someone is following you?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Who?”

  “Another good question,” he said. “I don’t think my granddad is crazy. I’m leaning toward believing him right now, especially since I’ve been followed ever since I cleaned out his house.”

  “I sure as hell don’t understand what’s going on, but you must understand that I can’t let you in the bank after hours.”

  They both filled up on meats and cheeses and then added dressing, Lite Italian for her, Blue Cheese for him. Seth topped his salad off with bacon bits, Madison with sunflower seeds.

  “There has to be a way for us to look at it without anyone knowing,” Seth said.

  She thought for a moment before saying, “I can get it for you.”

  “What? No, I told you I don’t want you involved.”

  “Seth, if they’re following you, they’re certainly not keeping tabs on me.”

  “Not yet at least,” was all Seth could muster up.

  Now it was her time to lower her voice. “Just give me the key and I’ll bring it to you.”

  “How?”

  “I’ll just go down there and get it. I have the other key at the bank. I’ll be risking my job if I get caught, but I’m about to quit anyway. I got another offer to be a Branch Manager at one of their competitors. Plus, it sounds like fun.” She smiled at him and they moved toward the cash register.

  “This may not be as much fun as you think, especially if you get caught.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and placed her container on the conveyor belt while grabbing a Diet Coke from the mini fridge. Seth snagged a Coke for himself and put his container behind hers. “I got both,” he said to the cashier, a freckled face woman in her late thirties. Madison thanked him for the gesture.

  The cashier bagged both salads separately and Seth paid with his debit card. He grabbed the receipt and they headed for the door.

  “Wait,” Seth said. He grabbed her arm and pulled her against the wall. “I don’t want them seeing us together. Are you sure about this?”

  “Yeah, why not? Listen, I’ll try to get it today and I’ll bring it home with me. You and your granddad can come over my house tonight and look through it.”

  “I don’t like this at all,” he said.

  “What other choice do you have? I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, but be careful.” He reached into his pocket and took out the key that he convinced his granddad should stay with him.

  She smiled, took the key and gave him her address, which he plugged into his phone’s notepad and they exchanged phone numbers. She said, “See you tonight,” and left the store.

  Seth waited almost five minutes before he exited with his lunch
and then went back to his car and ate it inside. He thought about the past seventy-two hours. Friday night, Granddad’s house, found key. Saturday at the yard sale, creepy bald guy. Saturday night, met Madison, the only bright spot. Sunday, saw Granddad, another bright spot in a way. Monday, followed to the diner, to Harper’s Grove, to the bank, found some book inside a safety deposit box that hasn’t been opened in twenty-five years. Searched and threatened by two men. Just your typical weekend.

  His granddad didn’t expect him when he arrived a few hours later at Harper’s Grove. He told the receptionist on duty that he was taking Arthur to a movie. She said that was okay as long as he was back at Harper’s Grove by eight o’clock sharp. She even said the word ‘sharp’. They got into the car in silence and Seth explained the plan that Madison laid out.

  “Brilliant!” exclaimed Arthur. “I knew she was a keeper.”

  “Granddad, she could get in trouble,” Seth replied.

  Arthur put his calloused, wrinkled hands on the dashboard and drummed along to whatever nineties hit was on the car radio.

  “I feel alive, Seth! For the first time since I got to this god-forsaken place, I have something to do, some kind of purpose.”

  Seth pulled over to the side of the parking lot and shut off the car.

  “What? Let’s go!” Arthur exclaimed.

  “Not before you tell me what’s going on and what’s in the book,” Seth responded. He had to admit, this was the most energy his grandfather exhibited in a long time. He was glad, but he also worried about the danger that might lie ahead.

  Arthur undid his seatbelt, opened the door and said, “Get out.” He walked to the side of the parking lot where there was grass and even a small pond stocked with Koi fish. He put his foot up on the rocks that surrounded the pond and stared down into the water before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “Stole these from Miss Cartwright.” He paused and playfully put the cigarette in and out of his mouth. “Back when I was your age, what are you twenty-five?”

  “I’m thirty-two, Granddad.”

  “Right, well years ago, this had to be when I was about twenty, we’re talking 1960, I had a conversation with a man who told me about this book.”