The Lost Journal

by Chris Blewitt

  “Wait, Seth—”

  Seth ended the call and sat down at the table with his granddad. His phone vibrated again in his pocket. It was his dad; he ignored the call.

  “Who was that?” his granddad asked.

  “Ah, just work.”

  Madison strolled into the kitchen. “Mmm, Mexican for breakfast?”

  “I can eat Mexican food anytime,” Seth responded.

  “Me too.” She sat down at the table and joined them. Her hair was still wet, and the curls clung to her neck. She wore a green tank top with sparkles around the neck and snug fitting dark jeans. As she sat, she tucked her right leg under her left and bounced it up and down. She looked over at Seth who watched her intently. She took a bite of the omelet and winked with her left eye. “Good work,” she said.

  “Now, what’s the plan today?” Arthur asked, finishing his omelet in record time and wiping his mouth with a napkin.

  “We start with finding that building with the flag on it,” Seth said.

  “Then let’s go,” Arthur replied, “no time to waste.”

  Both Seth and Madison finished their breakfast and coffee and cleared the table. As they packed up, ready to leave, Arthur came back into the kitchen. “We have a slight problem, those guys are back and waiting outside.”

  They all went into the living room and pulled back enough of the curtains to see the SUV across the street and the two guys from last night sitting inside.

  “Shit,” Seth said. “They’re going to follow us all day.”

  “Maybe not,” Madison said. “I’m going out the front into my car. You two go out the back, through the gate in the backyard and through the neighbor’s yard behind mine. You’ll be on the other block in thirty seconds.”

  “Okay, but they’ll still follow you.”

  “No they won’t. Your car is still out front, they’ll think you’re still inside. They only have one car so they’ll stay here and wait for you to come out, which you won’t.”

  With that the plan was hatched and executed. Abbott and Costello were a little confused when they only saw Madison come out of the house and hop in her car. Reluctantly, they stayed and waited for Seth and Arthur to come out but they never did. Madison picked them up around the block and they headed toward Center City Philadelphia.

  Seth called Harper’s Grove and told them he was taking his grandfather out for the day. He pulled the laptop out and was reading online about the various buildings in the city as she drove. “Well, scratch out City Hall. That building was built in 1871, way after Washington’s time.”

  “At least that narrows our search,” Madison said.

  “Then head to Independence Hall,” Seth replied, typing away.

  “I don’t know the address either, somewhere around Sixth and Walnut, I think.”

  “You two have never been to Independence Hall?” Arthur asked. “Never seen the Liberty Bell? You should be ashamed of yourselves, living in this town so long.”

  “I have, back in grade school. But that’s it,” Seth replied.

  “Same here,” Madison chimed in.

  Arthur just shook his head from the backseat. “It’s Sixth and Chestnut.”

  The Audi exited Interstate 95 and proceeded onto Route 676 toward Philadelphia. It was only a couple of blocks before they found the huge city block with grass and concrete pathways. Madison turned the car into an underground garage where they parked. They walked out into the sunlight, found their bearings and headed for the signs pointing the way toward Independence Hall.

  The three of them took their time, taking in all of the sites and attractions that surrounded the park. The first statue they saw was of John Barry. It was tall, almost twenty feet high. His arm was outstretched like he was leading the troops into battle. Arthur stopped and read the inscription below that indicated his birth in 1745 and his death in 1803. Dubbed the ‘Father of the American Navy’, he and his crew fought and won the final naval battle of the American Revolutionary War.

  In front of them now loomed Independence Hall. In the center, a four story building rose and was topped by a clock tower that stood another two stories high. It was attached to two-story buildings on either side. The building was constructed of red brick except the clock tower which was made of a pale gray stone.

  “Wait a minute,” Seth said. He stopped walking and pulled out the drawing from last night. “This is not it.”

  “No?” Madison asked.

  “Look at the drawing we made.” He leaned in close to her and together they glanced at the drawing, then back to the building, then down again. “The building we’re looking for is very small. This place is huge.” He pointed toward the building.

  “What about those side buildings?” she asked.

  Seth glanced down at the drawing once more. “I still don’t see it. The place we’re looking for is two stories with an attic or a small third story.” He looked down again. “And a chimney!”

  Madison could sense he was right. The place on the paper looked like a stand-alone building, not some huge place like Independence Hall.

  Seth looked around the park. “Where’s my granddad?”

  “He was here a second ago.”

  “Shit, come on, he couldn’t have gotten far.”

  They walked behind the statue and through a small open gate that led them closer to the Hall. When they approached the entrance, they saw Arthur talking to a man dressed as Benjamin Franklin.

  “Granddad,” Seth began, “don’t walk away from us like that.”

  “Son, you know the Liberty Bell used to be right up there in that tower? Ben here has some memory. Better than mine.”

  They all turned and looked up at the huge building and found the bell tower.

  “Not kept there anymore,” the faux actor said. “It’s across the street now at the Liberty Bell Center. Same Bell though, two thousand pounds of her. Same crack, all twenty-four and a half inches.”

  “See, listen to that!” Arthur said.

  Seth pulled the paper out of his pocket and was about to open his mouth before Madison grabbed his arm. She whispered, “Don’t ask.”

  The two of them walked a few steps away and Seth was the first to speak. “Why not?”

  “Why get him involved? If we’re being watched right now, then so is he.”

  Seth looked around the complex park. Lots of people walked the pathways, others studied the statues, parents held their children’s hands, older couples read maps. Anyone could be out there watching them.

  “But he could help us,” Seth pleaded.

  “The less information he knows the better.”

  He looked down and realized she was still holding his arm. “You’re right,” he said. They walked back to Ben Franklin and told Arthur it was time to go.

  “He says this here on our left is Old City Hall and on the right is Congress Hall,” Arthur said, pointing.

  “Cool, let’s go Granddad, lots to see here today.” He grabbed his arm and led him away from Ben Franklin.

  “What’s the big rush? I liked talking to him,” Arthur said.

  “This is not the place,” Seth replied. “Time to move on.”

  “To where?” Arthur asked.

  “I have no idea,” replied Seth, “do you, Madison?”

  She didn’t respond at first. Her eyes were locked on something across the park.

  “Madison?” Seth asked.

  She kept her gaze in the distance and replied, “I know where we’re going next.”

  “Huh? Where?”

  Madison looked over at Seth and smiled. She then turned her head back to what she was looking at. Seth followed her eyes. He was looking at the buildings, but none of them fit the one they wanted.

  “Look at the people, not the buildings,” she said.

  “The people?” Arthur asked.

  Both men looked back in the same direction she was looking. There were kids running in the park, their parents trying to catch up. There was a man dressed as U
ncle Sam handing out balloons. Then he saw it. Or rather, saw her.

  “Damn!” Seth said.

  Near the corner of the park was a chubby little woman with a bonnet on her head and small wire-rimmed glasses. Her hands were tucked inside her long flowing dress that covered her feet. A dress that depicted the American Flag.

  “Betsy Ross,” Seth said.

  CHAPTER 10

  The small apartment outside Philadelphia was trashed in less than thirty minutes. Maximus and his team from across the pond had found Seth’s place of living with the address given to them from their boss. They arrived shortly before noon and tore the place apart. The three of them emptied drawers and closets, they searched everywhere for the missing book their boss told them was in Seth’s possession. Chloe let Max and Evan do the physical labor while she was more selective in her search. She watched Max turn over mattresses and Evan flip over couches, while she checked Seth’s calendar, his voicemail machine, and his desktop computer. But they found nothing.

  Evan leaned up against the couch he had just turned over. “Now what?”

  “Now we go to the old man’s house is what,” replied Max.

  “It’s not going to be in that house, we gotta find that kid.”

  “Says who? That’s where the boss says it’s been for the past twenty years. It’s probably still there.”

  “Bannister said the kid found it.”

  “He only thinks he found it,” Max said back to him.

  Chloe had enough. “Shut up you two. Let’s think a minute. I don’t want to call Bannister just yet without finding anything. I agree with Evan, it’s not at the old man’s house anymore.” She sensed Max was going to protest and held up her hand. “That being said, our next bet is the girl’s house. Where’s she live?”

  Max pulled out his phone and scrolled through a couple of applications until he found his notepad. He took the address and plugged it into the phone’s GPS system. Seconds later he said, “Fifteen minutes from here.”

  “Okay, let’s grab a bite to eat and head to her house. But,” she held up her hand again, “I don’t want to trash that house. I think if they found the book, which obviously we all think they have, it’s not at her house. They have it on them.”

  “Then what?” Evan asked.

  “We wait until they get home and beat the piss out of them until they give it up,” Max chimed in.

  <><><><><>

  The trip from Independence Hall to the Betsy Ross House was only a couple of blocks. They walked up to the faux Betsy herself and asked directions to her house. She told them to proceed down Arch Street then turn on 3rd and follow the signs. Arthur was trailing behind, clearly getting winded from all of the walking they did today. Seth offered to grab a taxi, but Arthur refused. As they got closer to their destination, Madison picked up her pace, but twenty yards from the house she slowed down. Seth stopped next to her and they both looked down at the drawing Seth was holding.

  “This is it,” he said.

  “Sure is.”

  The Betsy Ross house looked almost identical to the drawing. It had the chimney on the left side and had a small window at the top of the house. It was very narrow and tall with two second floor windows and one on the first floor. The only difference was that the door was on the opposite side of where Washington had drawn it. Arthur caught up to them and asked, “That’s it, isn’t it?”

  “Let’s go inside,” Seth said.

  “Wait,” Madison said, “What are we looking for?”

  Seth reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the second drawing and said, “This,” waving the paper at her. “It’s gotta be some kind of bookshelf or something with levels almost like a stadium.”

  Arthur peered over his shoulder, “Or stairs,” he said.

  Madison raised her eyebrows and said, “Or stairs!”

  “Let’s go,” Seth said.

  Outside the house a few people were gathered, talking in groups of two or three. To the left side, they entered a small courtyard where people milled about. There was a snack bar, a few tables and chairs scattered about, and a middle-aged woman giving a lecture to a dozen children. They walked up to a ticket booth and asked to see a tour of the house.

  “Three dollars for the self-tour, five dollars for the audio tour, please,” the man at the counter said.

  Seth pulled out his money clip and handed the man a ten dollar bill. “Three self-tours,” he said.

  “I want an audio tour,” Arthur said.

  Seth pulled out two more dollars and gave it to the man. “Two self-tours and one audio tour.” The man took the money and reached behind him into a small box and handed Arthur a set of earphones and a small device about the size of a deck of cards. “Every time you enter a new room, push that button there.”

  Madison and Seth grabbed a brochure and they walked into the house. The first place they entered was a gift shop that sold various trinkets of Betsy Ross, the American Flag, or other things relating to Colonial Times. Through the shop, they came outside again and into a small open tunnel that led to a small room and a narrow winding staircase which climbed up.

  They tried to examine the staircase but other tourists were behind them and they had little time to stop and search. On the next floor there was a small bedroom straight ahead and a bedroom on the left that held a few heirlooms such as glasses, a quill and notepad, and a snuff box. There was a set of stairs on the right that had a rope across them and a small sign that said “Closed”. Madison made eye contact with Seth and she took her chance. She lifted her leg over the stairs and walked up to the next level.

  Seth tried blocking the staircase with his body but he didn’t have to do it long. Madison was back down in less than thirty seconds.

  “Dead-end,” she said.

  “What about the steps?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see anything relevant.”

  They went back down the stairs, then down another staircase which took them to the basement. The ceilings were very low and it was eerily dark in the small narrow space. Other tourists were there looking at items on the wall, a musket in a glass case and a ladder that seemed to lead to a closed cellar door.

  “There’s nothing here,” Seth said.

  Arthur was busy listening intently to the audio tour and always pulling up the rear. They went back upstairs, through the kitchen and back out into the courtyard. Although the house was one of the most famous in Philadelphia, the tour had taken them less than ten minutes. Arthur handed back his headphones and transmitter to the man at the front door. Heads down, Seth and Madison led the way away from the house.

  “Now what?” Seth asked.

  “Well, we can’t just go break in there and start ripping apart those steps,” Madison replied.

  “But if that’s where we have to look, what else can we do?”

  Arthur was standing there watching them discuss their newest quandary with a slight grin on his face. Madison noticed it first and said, “What?”

  “Well, if cheapo over here,” pointing his thumb at Seth, “had ponied up the extra two bucks for the audio tour, you would’ve heard exactly what I heard about those stairs.”

  “Which is?” Madison said impatiently, extending her arms.

  “The stairs were completely eliminated from the house during the renovation of 1937. Some guy Kent offered up twenty-five grand to do the whole thing.”

  “That explains the front of the house changing,” Seth said. “Did they say anything about moving the door to the other side of the house?”

  “Yep,” Arthur replied.

  “So where are the stairs now?” Madison asked.

  Arthur shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me,” he said.

  “Let’s grab the laptop from the car and find out,” Madison said.

  “Whoa,” Arthur said, holding out his hand to stop her. “I need some food before we go any further.”

  “Fine, Granddad, head on over to Eulogy Tavern, it’s a few block
s from here on Chestnut. Madison and I will get the laptop and meet you there.”

  “Wait, you’re not leaving him alone,” Madison said.

  “Well I’m not leaving you by yourself either,” Seth replied.

  “I can fend for myself,” she replied.

  “So can I,” Arthur spoke up for himself.

  Madison leaned in close and gave Seth a kiss on the lips. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Seth watched her walk away and turned back toward Arthur who was smiling.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” Arthur said. He turned down the street toward the tavern. “I like her.”

  Seth smiled and joined him. “So do I Granddad.” They walked in silence for the first block as Seth thought about the news that his father told him earlier that morning. His granddad was dying and needed a new liver soon. Being with him these past few days he saw a renewed energy and spirit in him, something that Seth had not seen since his grandmother died a few years ago. As crazy as the thought sounded, he was having fun with the old guy.

  “How’ve you been, Seth?”

  Seth thought that was an odd question to ask at a time like this. “Fine, why?”

  “Work going well?”

  “Sure.”

  “Just wondering that’s all,” Arthur said.

  Then it hit him. Seth hadn’t spent this much time with his granddad in years. Many, many years. He used to spend summers at his grandparents beach house before he got to high school. Then girls came into the picture, then sports, then part-time jobs every summer, then college, then the real world. They saw each other on holidays, on birthdays and unfortunately at funerals. But that was for a couple of hours, not day after day. He felt guilty, especially with time running out. He started to say something but Arthur interrupted him.

  “It’s okay son. Everyone grows up now and again. Hell, I don’t even see your father that much anymore. No need to explain why, I know why. But don’t let that stop you from informing the old man about your life.”

  “I won’t Granddad,” Seth said. He felt like a child again as the words of his grandfather were spoken. He was close to tearing up but was interrupted by the swinging bell of someone walking out of Eulogy Tavern. Two young men in jeans and a t-shirt held the door as they walked in.