“Do you get to play catch on a regular basis, like with your dad or on a Little League team?” Jason asked.
“I don’t get to very often now that my parents have divorced,” Jamie replied.
“Oh, sorry to hear that,” Jason said. “I hope I didn’t bring up a sore subject for you.”
“It was really hard to deal with at first, but I am used to it now.”
“It has to be tough on you when your family breaks up,” Jason said sympathetically. “Are other things troubling you as a result of the divorce?”
Jamie’s face darkened a little, and he paused to gather his thoughts. “Yeah, I guess. This whole thing about which parent we spend time with on any given day is confusing. I hardly see my dad anymore.”
“Anything else?” Jason followed up.
“No, not really,” Jamie answered.
“You mentioned that you liked playing scavenger hunt games. Tell me about that,” Jason went on.
“That is something I usually do with my dad. I don’t know what else I can tell you about them,” Jamie replied vaguely.
“Where do you play these games?”
“I really can’t say. Every time we do them, they are a little different.”
It was now time to walk back to the cabins, as Jason’s parents wanted to leave for their afternoon drive by one. Jason and Jamie walked back to the cabin area. When they reached Jamie’s cabin, Jason gave him a hit of knuckles. “It’s been fun playing ball with you, Jamie. Take care now.”
Chapter 9
The Scavenger Hunt
(Monday Morning)
Monday morning Gary and Melinda Holmes were packed up and ready to return home early in the morning. They would arrive by noon and would be able to see clients Monday afternoon. The weekend had been a great break for them, culminating with a very nice dinner in the resort’s restaurant Sunday evening. Daniel was up early to say goodbye to his parents, and then he went back to his room to get more sleep. Jason was still sound asleep.
Over at the Newton’s cabin, across the way, Jamie and Olivia were also up early. Their mother, Abigail, had received a gift certificate for a massage and makeover at the resort spa, which was scheduled for Monday morning at 9:30. The plan was to bring Jamie and Olivia to the resort day care center where they would spend the morning while Abigail was at the spa. After eating their morning cereal, the two kids were told to bring along some toys to play with at the day care center. Around 9:15 the Newtons locked up their cabin and walked over to the day care center.
The day care center wasn’t really a formal, licensed center. It was a service provided by the resort during the daytime hours for guests like Abigail, who had little kids that needed watching while they took advantage of hotel amenities like the spa and beauty parlor. Mostly the center was staffed by teenaged workers, who worked there during the holidays and summers. Today there was just one person on duty, Jocelyn Sanders, a relatively new part timer, who had just been hired last week. Jocelyn smiled and greeted Abigail as she introduced Jamie and Olivia.
“I will be at the spa and beauty parlor all morning,” Abigail explained. “Both Jamie and Olivia have brought along some things to do, and they usually are very good about cooperating when someone is watching them. Isn’t that right?” Abigail said, addressing her two children.
“Yes, Mom,” they both replied in unison. Abigail then said goodbye and left for her appointments.
“Come with me,” Jocelyn told Jamie and Olivia. She brought them into the day care playroom. There were already a dozen other kids inside running around and playing with a large dollhouse and building blocks. Jocelyn showed them that room and also the outdoor play area, which was a fenced in yard. Inside the yard was a playground set with a slide, swings, and chute, a basketball hoop, and lawn area. “As you can see, we have plenty of things to do here. Have a good time!”
Jamie and Olivia played outside on the swings for a while. But Jamie had another agenda for the day. Just like Abigail was given the gift certificate for a free massage and makeover at the resort spa, Jamie was been given a special invitation to go on a scavenger hunt. This was an activity that he liked to do with his father, but hadn’t been able to go on one lately due to his parents’ divorce. Today’s scavenger hunt was supposed to be a special one.
Jamie had received the invitation for the scavenger hunt inside a book that his father had sent to him recently. The invitation was on a small square card with embossed gold lines. The card read, “You are invited to a scavenger hunt at the Whispering Springs resort Monday morning. Be sure to bring Olivia. This is top secret! See Chapter 12 for directions.”
Inside one of the pages of Chapter 12 was a thin piece of paper with detailed directions on how to get out of the day care center. The directions explained that there was a small gate on the fence surrounding the yard outside. When no one was looking, Jamie and Olivia were to open it, close it again, and then go to the north side of the resort. There they were to look for a tree with a no trespassing sign on it and look for their first clue behind the sign. A small map showed how to get there.
Excited about their adventure to come, Jamie and Olivia played outside in the yard for a while. Jocelyn had gone back inside and was occupied with several kids who were fussing and arguing over the toys inside. Jamie looked around carefully. No one was watching. He went over to the gate and opened it. Once he and Olivia were outside, he closed it carefully, like he had been instructed to do. Normally this gate would have been locked, but today there was no lock on it.
Now Jamie opened the map he had been given. It directed them away from the day care center and main building over to an access road on the side of the property. The road would take them to the north side of the resort. Jamie was very good at reading and following maps. He had studied this map and compared it to the one they received when they checked into the resort. After ten minutes of walking, Jamie and Olivia reached the north end of the resort property.
They began looking around to find a large tree with a No Trespassing sign on it. “There it is!” Olivia pointed at a tree just beyond the fence surrounding the resort. The fence was a small wooden rail fence. Quickly the two climbed over it and hurried over to the tree with the sign. Although the sign was nailed to the tree higher than Jamie, he discovered that if he jumped up, he could grab onto the sign.
Jamie tried this a couple of times with no success. On his third attempt, he was able to grab onto the sign, but it ended up getting ripped off of its nail. The sign and Jamie came tumbling down to the ground along with a piece of paper hidden behind the sign.
“Look, I found our first clue!” Jamie said excitedly. He opened up the piece of paper and began reading what it said to Olivia. “Welcome to Captain Hook’s Treasure Hunt. A treasure chest filled with gold coins awaits the lucky person who can figure out the clues. For your next clue travel forty paces until you find an old canteen. Look inside!”
Jamie counted to forty as he walked to find the next clue. Eventually they found the canteen, which had been placed on top of some protruding roots from a large oak tree. Eagerly Jamie picked up the canteen, which contained no water but instead had a folded piece of paper inside.
“What does it say, Jamie?” Olivia asked.
“Look for the thin tall sign that says ‘Lake Trail’. Walk ten paces to the left of the sign. The next clue is hidden under a rock.” After reading the clue, Jamie soon found the rock and the clue underneath it.
“Let me read it!” Olivia demanded. “I want to read the clue.”
Jamie handed the folded piece of paper over to his younger sister. “Follow the trail to the lake,” she began reading. “Stop when you see a cabin on the right of the trail. Look inside an empty flower pot on the porch of the cabin.”
This time the walk down the trail took fifteen minutes. There was mostly forest until after a wide turn in the path they spotted a clearing ahead. Now they could see the lake, and on the right was a log cabin. “There’s the cabin!
” Jamie declared pointing to his right. “It doesn’t look like anyone is around.”
Jamie and Olivia veered off the trail that they had been traveling on, and went up to the cabin. There was a small porch. Olivia quickly spotted the empty flowerpot. This clue was on a larger piece of paper and had a lot more writing on it. Olivia handed it to Jamie.
“Congratulations!” Jamie read aloud. “You have successfully completed the first part of the treasure hunt. Now you must play the second game called Peter Pan, which is even more difficult! Somewhere hidden in the cabin is a treasure chest of gold coins. If you find it, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams. But be careful! The treasure belongs to Captain Cook and his pirates. They don’t want to give up their golden treasure. If they spot you looking for their loot they will take you prisoner! But don’t worry. Even if you are captured by pirates, Peter Pan will come and rescue you.”
“Pirates!” Olivia exclaimed. “I didn’t know that there were pirates around here. What are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry,” Jamie replied. “I think that it is all part of the game. If the treasure was too easy to get, the game wouldn’t be as fun. Let’s be real careful and quiet when we go to look for it.”
Reassured by Jamie’s words, Olivia went along with Jamie after he opened the front door. The cabin was dark inside and didn’t have any electric lights that Jamie could spot. Gradually their eyes adjusted to the dim amount of light that came from the dirty and streaked windows. They looked around the main room of the cabin, which was the living area with fireplace and small kitchen. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything in here,” Jamie said in a low voice. “Let’s look in the other room.” The other room was a bedroom. Inside there was a decrepit looking bed, a chair and table with a cracked basin, and a chest at the foot of the bed.
After checking the bedroom out, Jamie began to focus on the chest. It was an older cedar chest with a large black metal hasp. Jamie began to fool with the hasp until he was able to open it. When he opened the lid, both he and Olivia gasped in surprise. The chest was filled with gold coins. Even in the darkness of the room, which like the main part of the cabin only received light through some dirty windows, the coins sparkled and glittered.
“This is it! This is the treasure!” Jamie said excitedly. He scooped some up in his hands. “Let’s go outside so we can take a better look!” Jamie and Olivia hurried over to the door and went back into the main part of the cabin.
As they were hurrying through, a man’s voice yelled at them. “Just where do you two young sprites think you are going?” the voice demanded. “Especially with my gold!” Surprised and suddenly fearful, Jamie and Olivia looked over and saw a man completely dressed in pirate gear and wearing a Captain Hook mask. The man had a large black pistol in his hand.
“Freeze and put your hands up in the air or I will blow you both to smithereens!” Captain Hook ordered. “You will pay the price for trying to steal my gold!”
The sudden orders and threats brought tears to Olivia’s eyes. “Don’t hurt me! I haven’t done anything!” she said in a tearful voice.
“Is that you, Dad?” Jamie asked.
“Silence!” Captain Hook shouted back. “Put your hands up now or I will shoot!”
Scared for their safety, Jamie and Olivia obeyed the man and put their hands up. When Jamie complied, some of the coins fell out of his hands.
“Caught red-handed stealing my loot, Boy!” Captain Hook yelled at Jamie. “If we were on my ship, you would be walking the plank for what you did! Now march over to that wall and sit down.” Captain Hook pointed his pistol at a wall of the cabin that had no furniture against it, but did have metal shackles attached to it. Reluctantly the two kids did what they were told to do.
Once Jamie and Olivia were seated, Captain Hook again waved his pistol at them. “Don’t move if you know what is good for you.” When he could see that the two children were complying with his order, he set his pistol down and came over to Jamie. He grabbed Jamie’s right wrist and attached it to one of the shackles.
“Ow!” Jamie complained, “You are hurting me!”
“You have no idea what hurt is, Boy, and you don’t want to find that out! Now give me your left hand!” The pirate man soon had Jamie’s other wrist shackled to the wall. He did the same thing to Olivia who had tears in her eyes. “That should hold the two of you for the time being.”
“Why are you doing this?” Jamie asked. “We didn’t do anything to you.”
“Oh, you didn’t?” Hook replied. “Looks to me like you were out to steal my chest full of gold.”
“But we were on a scavenger hunt,” Olivia said. “You are supposed to find and take things on a scavenger hunt.”
“How many scavenger hunts have chests of gold in them? That’s a pretty flimsy excuse for stealing!” Hook answered.
“Let us go!” Olivia went on. “Peter Pan is going to come and rescue us anyway. Now let us go!”
“Peter Pan, eh,” the pirate said. “I can see that I had better silence the two of you so he won’t know you are here.” He took out two large bandannas, which he used to gag Jamie and Olivia. When he was finished, Captain Hook stood up and looked at his two prisoners.
“There, that is much better,” the pirate said. “Children should be seen not heard, I think!” he said with a laugh. “Don’t you agree?”
Jamie and Olivia’s only response was to make muffled noises into their gags.
“Now I will be taking my leave of you. My men and I will come back in a couple of days to move the treasure, since it is no longer safe here. In the meantime, you two sit tight!” Then the man in the pirate costume left the cabin.
Jamie looked over at his younger sister to reassure her. He still was convinced that everything happening to them was a part of the treasure hunt game described in the note.
Jamie and Olivia waited patiently for help to arrive, like they were led to believe would happen. But help never came. They began to squirm and twist in their shackles and cry into their gags. But they were unable to escape from the shackles or work the tightly tied bandannas out of their mouths. As the minutes and hours of the day slowly passed on, they become more frustrated and frightened. Worse yet they began to experience hunger pangs, were thirsty, and in need of a potty break. With their struggles to no avail, Olivia and Jamie began to pass in and out of consciousness.
Chapter 10
Jamie and Olivia Are Missing
(Monday Afternoon)
At the Whispering Springs Resort Day Care Center, Jamie and Olivia’s disappearance from the center went unnoticed due to a sudden staffing change. The cashier in the gift shop was coming down with flu symptoms. Although she bravely tried to do her shift, it was obvious after an hour that she was not going to make it. The manager of the resort, John Gifford, told the cashier to go home and get better. Two additional part timers, Santos Gonzales and Maria Posada, had just arrived for work. Because Jocelyn Sanders knew how to run a cash register and do credit card sales, she was summoned from the Day Care Center to work in the gift shop.
“The children are either in here or outside in the play yard,” Jocelyn told Santos and Maria as she was leaving. “Watch out for those two at the doll house. They have been on a tear all morning. The rest of the kids have been fine.” Santos and Maria took over the job of watching the kids not realizing that two of their charges were actually missing. They didn’t discover this until Abigail Newton returned at 11:30 to pick Jamie and Olivia up.
“Hi, I’m here to pick up Jamie and Olivia Newton,” Abigail told Santos, who was at the front counter when she arrived.
“Okay, I will get them for you,” Santos said. “Do you see them inside here?”
“No, I don’t. Where is the girl who I left them off with?” Abigail replied.
“Oh, Jocelyn got called to work in the gift shop because the regular cashier got sick. Maria and I were sent over here to rep
lace her. Jamie and Olivia must be playing outside. Let me check for you.” Santos went outside into the play yard and called out their names. No one responded from the half dozen kids who were playing out there. Santos then checked with Maria. “Do you know where Jamie and Olivia Newton are?”
“I don’t recognize those names,” Maria responded. “I have been dealing with the kids inside here mostly, but don’t remember a Jamie or Olivia. Are they on the list?”
Santos returned to the front desk and got the clipboard with the names of the kids who were checked into the center that morning. “Here are their names. They were checked in at 9:25 this morning. That was before we came on duty.”
“Can you describe your two children, Mrs. Newton?” Santos asked.
Abigail was furious. “I left my two children here in your care and now you are telling me that they are missing!”
“We don’t know that for sure, Mrs. Newton. If you could describe them, we can tell you whether the two of us saw them when we got here.”
After Abigail described the general look of Jamie and Olivia, and what they were wearing this morning, Maria replied, “I don’t remember seeing anyone matching those descriptions here this morning. They must have left the center while Jocelyn was on duty.”
“How could two kids just waltz out of here on their own without anyone noticing?” Abigail asked angrily.
“I know that no one has gotten out of here since I arrived,” Santos said. “I have been in this part of the center since I arrived. No one has left although we did get some additional kids in here.”
“I want to talk to this Jocelyn right away and I want to see the manager!” Abigail ordered.
“I will call the manager right now,” Santos said apologetically.
Within a few minutes, John Gifford came into the day care center. “I understand there is a problem here,” he said. “What’s going on?”
Jason's Network Page 6
