The Secret of the Stones

by Ernest Dempsey

  “No. In fact, they only found two skeletons, one at each site. Turns out, the bones found at the Rock Hawk site were of a female, and those discovered at Rock Eagle were that of a man. What tipped me off, though, was an odd little detail of the story.”

  He paused for a moment, reflecting. “It is said that Indians from many parts of the region would make a pilgrimage to both sites to place stones there. Over the years, there must have been hundreds and hundreds of rocks brought from all over the southern part of the continent to be placed on the giant stone birds. Generations of Indians traveled to the altar where “the sacred bones lay.” The two people buried there must have been extremely important. Perhaps even the first Natives to settle the area.”

  “According to the new theory, the first Egyptians to settle here,” she realized.

  “Exactly. They were the father and mother to a new nation.”

  The moment was heavy in the truck as the last little detail sank in.

  “So, you think these two birds will lead us to the chamber?”

  “More than that, Allyson. I think the birds watch over it.”

  Joe and Allyson cast a questioning look at him.

  “Think about it. The medallion Tommy found has two birds on it divided by some kind of line or pole. I think that line marks the location of the first chamber.”

  “You know,” Joe added, “I think you might be right. But how do we find that line?”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure about that until I remembered another oddity in the area. You see, the two birds face each other even though they are miles apart. Almost exactly at the midpoint between them, a set of totem poles was erected.”

  “That is interesting.”

  “Even more fascinating, these totems were built out of stone, not wood. Now why would the Natives go to so much trouble?”

  “They wanted them to last forever,” Allyson jumped in.

  “Exactly. But there is one more piece to the puzzle. And if I know Tommy, he has already figured it out. If he’s smart, he will take those guys to the totems without the key.”

  “Key? What key?”

  “Remember the riddle,” Sean continued. “It said there was a key.”

  “Do you know where this key is?”

  “I think so. When the bones of the man were discovered at Rock Eagle, there was only one other artifact recovered with his body: a quartz arrowhead.”

  “Quartz?” Allyson inquired.

  “Yes. It was an odd material for Natives to use, considering they made most of their weapons from flint in the early days. Spearheads and arrowheads were almost exclusively made from the soft, gray stone. So, when the archaeologists found one that was made from quartz, that naturally seemed strange.”

  “And you think this arrowhead is the key to the chamber?” Joe looked hopeful.

  “I do. It’s the only thing that could make sense.”

  “Where is this key then?”

  “It should be at the museum at Rock Eagle. My guess is it should be on display there.”

  “How do we know that Jurgenson won’t get it before us?”

  “We don’t,” Sean said with determination. “But if Tommy’s smart, he will take them to the totem poles first, which should give us enough time to get the key.”

  “And just how do you plan to do that?” Allyson asked skeptically.

  He answered with a sly grin. “I’m sure the museum can make an arrangement for one of its principal contributors.”

  53

  Eastern Georgia

  Between the majestic peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the plains of Southern Georgia lies a happy medium. Putnam County’s rolling hills. A little farther south, the golf course famous for dogwoods, azaleas, and green jackets rested quietly awaiting that fabled weekend in early April.

  One of the perks of being wealthy was the ability to attain the unattainable. And no sporting event in the world was less attainable than a ticket to the Masters at Augusta National.

  Being an avid golfer, Tommy had paid an outrageous amount of money to make the pilgrimage to the annual tournament among the pines and flowering bushes. Sean had tagged along more for the story than anything else but was dazzled by the immaculate beauty of the course. He had gawked at the explosion of colors and had wondered at how the groundskeepers could shape nature into such perfection.

  Tommy’s mind snapped back from the brief daydream as he and his two captors approached the welcome center of the Rock Eagle Effigy Mound. The lengthy drive seemed to take forever, and his legs ached from inactivity.

  Brown signs pointed the way to a picnic area nearby. Ulrich had not said much for the last few hours. The SUV came to a stop in front of the building, and the three men got out amid a flurry of schoolchildren. Apparently, their field trip had run a little late. Tommy wasn’t sure if he would rather be in his current situation over having to drive one of the buses back with the screaming kids on it.

  “Where to, Thomas?” Ulrich interrupted his thoughts.

  Tommy glanced around for a second then pointed to an enormous pile of rocks about sixty feet away.

  Perhaps the most amazing thing about Rock Eagle was that it looked as if someone had been standing on a thirty-foot-high scaffold, directing the placement of the stones. Why they had done it was a whole other matter.

  Tommy led the way over to a historical information plate that stood a few feet from the base of the stone bird’s tail. An elderly couple had just finished reading the placard; they were slowly making their way back toward the parking lot.

  His eyes scanned the raised metal words. He’d probably read hundreds of those things over the years. According to what the sign said, a sort of earthen wall had originally surrounded the bird effigy. It went on to say that the entire stone representation was raised about four feet higher than the rest of the ground around it. Historians could not offer a logical explanation as to why it was there, but a few details were mentioned that Tommy thought interesting.

  Of course, he already knew the story. Archaeologists had assumed the sites to be mass graves, but the remains of only one human had been found at both Rock Eagle as well as the sister site of Rock Hawk—only a few miles away. He was also aware of the quartz arrowhead that had been recovered from the bones of the male skeleton in the pile of stones before him, a little detail that needn’t be mentioned to his captors at the moment.

  Ulrich seemed unimpressed by the information. “What does this mean?”

  “Nothing. I just thought there might be some helpful info here. It’s just the story about how this place was discovered. Maybe we should check out the welcome center and see if there is anything helpful in there.”

  Ulrich only thought for a second before he nodded and fell in behind Tommy, who was headed toward the old wooden building.

  Having been there a few times, Tommy remembered that inside the information center, artifacts on display were few in number. The three men entered through the single glass door and casually made their way over to a map in the corner of the room. A small group of schoolchildren was filing out, complaining that they had to go back to school. If they had been able to understand the concept of time, they would have realized that by the time the bus got back, school would be out for the day.

  Ulrich seemed uncomfortable around the children, and the guard, in particular, looked a bit out of sorts.

  Tommy smiled to himself as he stepped closer to a poster-sized aerial photo of the location. “Okay. This is us,” he said as he pointed at the building in which they were standing, marked by the usual You are here dot. His finger then traced the outline of the giant stone bird effigy from where they’d just come a few minutes prior.

  “This is Rock Eagle,” he stated. He then moved his hand to another, similar formation opposite of the one he’d just mentioned. “And here is Rock Hawk.” He tapped the map and took a step back. Staring at the map, Tommy was puzzled by the entire scene.

  “So where is the chamber hidden?” Ulrich
asked plainly.

  Tommy gave him a drop dead look. “Beats me. There’s a lot of land between the two formations. Rock Hawk is about seven kilometers from here. It could be anywhere.”

  The clock on the wall read, 4:25. Right on cue, a nondescript woman wearing the light-brown button-up shirt of a park worker announced that the building would be closing in five minutes.

  Tommy ignored the woman, still gazing at the map in an effort to find a hint, anything that might show them the way. The screaming voices of the elementary students just outside the windows made thinking difficult.

  His mind wandered to the ancient people who’d built these places. The reason behind Fort Mountain was clear to him. A three-dimensional stone replica of the Nile was a clue to the early settlers’ mysterious past, but the giant rock bird effigies stumped him. Though animals were revered in ancient Egypt, it was still unclear why they would be here, unless that’s all it was: a clue to the past.

  Perplexed, he pulled the sketch of the amulet he’d found out of his pocket. His eyes pored over its contents. The clue on the back was clearer, but not complete. They’d found the birds the riddle spoke of, but something was still unsolved. Tommy examined the picture of the birds again in hopes that there was something that would spark the answer.

  His two captors remained calm, standing a breath away, but Tommy could sense the urgency in Ulrich’s eyes. The man had become extremely impatient, jittery even. It was a characteristic he’d seen in many treasure hunters throughout his life. The closer they came to their goal, the more inexperienced treasure hunters hoping for unimaginable wealth could almost taste their dreams of a life of ease and luxury. Even this trained killer seemed to have caught the fever. Or was it something else that bothered him?

  The woman in the brown shirt had started closing up her counter and was about to announce that the park was closing when Tommy had a thought. His eyes locked onto something in the picture. “Excuse me…Miss?”

  “Yes, sir, can I help you?” The response from the frumpy woman was forced. She must have been tortured by the high-pitched voices of the youth all day. Her eyes had bags under them, and her hair was tangled like she’d been running her hands through it in frustration.

  “I know you’re about to close, but I just have a quick question for you.” Tommy’s understanding seemed to ease her frustration momentarily. “This picture here, with the totem poles…where was it taken?”

  He knew well that the ancient Mississippian Natives of the area had constructed many such monuments, but the ones he was looking at in the picture seemed different than most.

  “Actually, it was taken just a few miles from here. If you look right here in this area,” she pointed to the map at a spot between the two bird formations. “There are eight totems here in a place the Indians used to call, “Khan Ug.” They are remarkably preserved, and scientists have dated them to before the time of Christ. The most interesting thing about them is that they are some of the only stone-made totems on the continent.”

  “Did you say there are eight in this location, and they are made out of stone?”

  “Yes. And another interesting point of fact is that the location is exactly three and a half kilometers from Rock Hawk and Rock Eagle. This demonstrates that ancient Indians who lived here might have actually been using the metric system long ago.” She looked at her watch, obviously done being courteous.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” Tommy could hardly contain his excitement. “But how would we get there?”

  She gave them an annoyed sigh and then a few quick directions before excusing herself to finish closing up.

  Tommy nodded his head in the direction of the door, and the two men followed him back outside. The sidewalk area in front of the building was finally void of the noisy children.

  “So we are going to the place on the map?” Ulrich asked as they neared the vehicle.

  “Looks that way. I’d say the place is at least worth taking a look at. It’ll be getting dark in a little while, and that’s pretty much the only guess I’ve got at this point.”

  Ulrich looked awkwardly at the prisoner. So far, Tommy had been right on with every guess. And, surely, they were getting close. It just seemed too easy. Still, he had no other choice.

  The woman’s directions had been accurate, and it only took about five minutes to get to location she’d shown them on the map. As seen in the picture, eight tall stone carvings ominously stood in a small patch of grass. The setting was surrounded by an amphitheater of looming oaks and narrow pines.

  Tommy slammed the door of the truck carelessly, unable to take his eyes off of the magnificent structures as he stumbled toward them.

  Seven of the poles were similar in height, around fifteen feet from what he could tell. But the one in the middle was different in every way. First off, it was several feet higher than the others.

  The differences didn’t stop with mere height. More intriguing was that each of the other seven totems displayed carvings of animal groups. One had birds, another showed cattle and other agricultural animals, and so it was with each monument. Though each one contained different animals, the animals were part of a similar species group. On the largest piece of stone was a representative animal from all of the other seven, like some kind of montage.

  Moving slowly with both guards in tow, Tommy walked from one pike to the next, examining the intricate handiwork. He stopped at the largest one in the middle and ran his hand over the face of a fierce-looking cat, a cougar as far as he could tell. Then he stepped over to the other three, his face alight with admiration.

  “Amazing,” he finally broke the silence. “It must have been an extremely painstaking effort to create them.”

  The silent guard seemed to be slightly interested. Ulrich was less intrigued. He stood, arms crossed, with a stern demeanor.

  Tommy stopped at the last sculpture and examined it closely. The animals on it were foxes, wolves, dogs, coyotes, and what looked to be something like a hyena. He traced the stonework with his finger, still amazed by what the ancients could do.

  “What are you looking for, Mr. Schultz?” Ulrich’s annoyed voice interrupted his thoughts.

  He’d been crouching over slightly and at the question, had stood back up straight. “I don’t know for sure.”

  Ulrich motioned for the guard to start looking down at the other end.

  Tommy finished inspecting the first pole and moved to the next, Ulrich staying close with him. They spent several minutes meticulously checking the surfaces of the stone without coming across anything out of the ordinary. He walked around the granite centerpiece, still hoping there was something there to be found. This had to be the place. Everything they had found thus far had pointed to it.

  As he came back around to the front of the chiseled stone, he noticed it. Small, almost invisible at first glance, Tommy had not seen it before, even though he’d thought he was looking carefully. An owl stared at him, its eyes lifeless and eerie. The animal’s face contained amazing detail. Its mouth, in particular, caught his attention because unlike the other animal carvings, the beak was open.

  He moved his finger up to the opening. “This is it.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Yeah,” Tommy replied. “I’m sure. It makes so much sense now. In ancient Indian lore, owls were guardians to the other world. They protected the spirits of ancestors who were already on the other side. It was also believed that sometimes the bird itself was a long-gone relative who had returned as a guide for a person or people. Seems logical that whoever built these would have put an owl here to protect their greatest secret.”

  Ulrich stood up straight again. “So, what do we do now?”

  Tommy sighed, thinking for a moment. “There must be some kind of key we have to use here. If my guess is right, whatever the key is probably fits into this owl’s mouth.”

  “Why do we not simply pick lock?” The guard suggested in broken English.

  “We can’t
do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Do you honestly think that the ancient people who put this here would have hidden everything so well and simply closed it up with a padlock? My guess is it is probably rigged with some kind of antimanipulation device. If we try to mess with it without the correct key, we may lock ourselves out of the chamber forever or something worse.”

  “So how do we find this…key you speak of?” Ulrich asked, as if Tommy could make it appear out of thin air.

  “You mean this key?” The male voice interrupted the conversation from behind.

  All three men turned around quickly, surprised by the sudden intrusion. Sean, Joe, and Allyson stood about fifteen feet away, guns trained on the two villains.

  In his left hand, Sean held something small and white, precariously gripped in his fingers, was a quartz arrowhead.

  54

  Eastern Georgia

  The astonished looks on the faces of Ulrich and the guard were priceless. Tommy’s head went back and forth, not sure if he was hallucinating. “Boy, am I glad to see you guys.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Schultzie.”

  Joe echoed the sentiment. “We weren’t sure if we were gonna see you again.”

  “Likewise,” Tommy replied, reflecting on the past forty-eight hours.

  The guard and the blond man stood frozen, a deer-in-the-headlights look on each of their faces.

  Sean cautiously stepped toward the group. “Wasn’t that difficult to find you, actually.”

  He glared at Ulrich. “Shooting the old man was a mistake, but leaving him alive was a bigger one. He gave us the final clue.” Sean laughed. “Although I have to admit convincing the park that the IAA center needed to borrow this arrowhead for analysis was a bit more difficult than it should have been.”

  Tommy stepped away from his kidnappers. “Thanks, gentlemen. It’s been real.” He smiled, “So, Sean, how did you know that the arrowhead was the key?”