Mystery Busters, The Curse of the Monster's Tooth

by R L Wagner

  “What’s that lost wax about?” Benny asked.

  “Sasha at the shop uses wax as an impression to make jewelry shapes. The wax is lost when hot metal is poured into a clay mold that surrounds the wax and the metal replaces the wax then cools. The foundry tools and gloves help melt metal. I’m guessing Uncle Scott used a clay mold to make the gold keys. I suppose we could put in the letter to us asking to find him and bring him home.”

  Benny moved the card like it was a chess piece.

  “Even giving us the house might be part of it. Is this like sorting through a video game, Benny?” I asked, sitting back.

  “It’s like sorting a word puzzle,” Benny smiled.

  “I think ‘The Mystery Clues’ are what was written on the pads and stationary,” I said. “I’ll move the cards for the Harpooner, the Philosopher’s Stone, Camera Obscura, and Alchemy.”

  “And don’t forget the stuff that Uncle Scott left on tables: the maps of England and Scotland, da Vinci’s notebook again, the books on mammals, dinosaurs and the 10-year-old mammal tooth, the size of a plesiosaurus tooth,” Benny said while aligning those cards.

  “I have three…” We laughed, saying it at the same time. We poked each other and drank the last drops of soda.

  “You first,” Benny said.

  “Look up on the laptop ‘alchemy’,” I said, feeling so impressed with Benny.

  “Here, read this,” Benny passed the laptop over to me. It took me a while to read.

  “Well basically, it says alchemy is the mythical science of turning base metals, like iron or copper, into the noble metals silver or gold. It goes back to Egyptian references. It mentions Isaac Newton and some other guys. ‘The professed practice of alchemy is found

  abundantly in the Italian Renaissance period’. There are lots of references to the Philosophers Stone in here.”

  “Okay, so making some metal into gold,” I said. Italian Renaissance...the man in black? I kept my thought to myself.

  “Now mine: the Philosophers Stone,” Benny took the computer and a moment to find the site.

  I read over his shoulder. “The

  Philosophers Stone is present in most continents’ ancient mythology and legends… The

  Philosophers Stone is the fundamental stone of life. The stones early most, extensive, historical references include Tibet, China, Central and South American, India, and the British Isles, France, and Italy. The stone is said to contain all of the elements found in humanity, all life, and the cosmos… further, contained in each stone are earth, air, fire, and water…stones were said to have been secretly bartered for by both king and sorcerers...and was most coveted by alchemists…blah blah blah… Oh! Check this out! The stone is said to be either red or green and had the ability to change metals into other metals or other elements, capture immortality, and to control time,” Benny and I got quiet. We both reread the information again to ourselves.

  Without talking, Benny looked up Camera Obscura. I skimmed the article aloud. “Camera Obscura is Latin for cameraroom, obscuradark…a visual device designed by the 15th century master Leonardo da Vinci that projected exterior images into a dark domed chamber or room through a small hole in the rooms

  wall…light spilled from small hole onto a mirror then reflected that image onto an opposite wall…suggested that Renaissance artists use the camera obscura to paint actual full-life accurate images…hand-held Camera Obscuras were first sold in limited production in London in the late 1880s, early 1890s …origin references go back to early Chinese inventers who called their innovation ‘the treasure room’, Aristotle’s writing describes chambers of moving magical pictures…”

  “They had one of those rooms at the San Francisco Cliff House, remember?” Benny said.

  I scrolled though more site listings. “Here. There’s another site on ‘Secrets of da Vinci’. Let’s see, camera obscura, page 58, here we go,” I read further. “A persistent but unverified story, tells of a merchant and alchemist, who provided da Vinci with art supplies. Some scholars argue this merchant commissioned the master to create a hand-held camera obscura. If authenticated, this invention would predate all known cameras and rewrite the fundamentals of modern photography.”

  Benny and I sat quietly. It’s was a lot to take in and see the reality of an alchemist who built the first traveling camera using alchemist gold and philosopher stone keys. The camera stones are red and green. Uncle Scott was making keys from old Italian gold coins and trying to get home.

  “I have another. What did the man in black say? I tried to write it down in the curator’s office,” I handed Benny my writing.

  “Let’s see, if your spelling is c lose, the menu will correct it,” Benny said, searching.

  “I’m not even sure I want to hear the translation,” I said nervously.

  “You were close: ‘il passato’ means the past, and ‘il presente’ means the present…” Benny kept typing. “Here we are. You’re sort of close, ‘che cosa arrivera a me’ means ‘what will come to me’. The past, the present, what will come to me,” Benny said.

  A chill shot up my spine. “He looked right at me when he said it,” I said under my breath.

  “I think we were right. The man in black probably is another traveler and wanted to use us as his artifact,” Benny said, then took a deep breath.

  “To get further into the future!” I said.

  “The man in black is from Italy like the alchemists. Here let me give him a name,” Benny typed and hit the enter key. “There… wait for it,” Benny pronounced it in his best Italian accent, which wasn’t very great. “‘Signore Alchimista’!”

  We laughed, probably to release some tension, and got up to stretch. We definitely needed a break. Rammie was meowing at the front door. We went outside, and I turned on the sprinklers that we hadn’t tried yet. We sat on the grass and let the water splash us. It felt great on this warm, summer, early evening. I knew there was more to our mystery. The Italian man was just one part of the puzzle.

  “But that’s not all of it!” I said kind of loud.

  “What?” Benny said, shuffling his shoes on the lawn.

  I walked over to Benny and lowered my voice. “Uncle Scott is working on getting home because he has to. That leads us to all the camera stuff. But that’s not Uncle Scott’s mystery. Why did Uncle Scott travel to 1883 and where is he? Come on!” I said. Benny followed me. I shut off the sprinklers that weren’t working so well and started walking and talking our way back to the mystery table.

  “So, are we storytellers or detectives yet?” asked Benny.

  “Well, first, we kind of got this camera connected to da Vinci, Signore Alchimista, and the Philosopher’s Stone, right?” I said.

  “And we get that everything points to Uncle Scott trying to get back home by himself, but so far he hasn’t been able too. I bet Uncle Scott gave us the inheritance and wrote the letter as a safeguard,” Benny added. “Well, he probably wanted us to have the house anyway, just saying.”

  “And Rammie probably knocked over the table with the camera, satchel, and tea which startled Uncle Scott, so he clicked the big camera’s trigger button and took the picture before he meant to,”

  “And the entire downstairs is Uncle Scott’s collection gathered after years of traveling. I think we’re detectives!” Benny said as we high-fived. We made it back to the mystery table without tripping over the

  meowing, under-foot Rammie.

  “But where, Mr. Detective, do these cards come in?” I said. Under the ‘?’ card lined up the cards for the Curator, the 10-year-old tooth, the plesiosaurus tooth, the dinosaur book, all the maps, atlas, the Harpooner, the Inverness stationary, and the mammal book.

  “And don’t forget H. G. Wells,” Benny said, and handed me his card.

  “Yeah, him too,” I said.

  The phone rang. Benny answered it. “Hi. Early supper? Cool. I mean, that’s nice, thanks. Yeah, we were outside. Okay, great. 30 minutes? We’ve got milk. Thanks, b
ye.” Benny put down the phone. “It’s burgers, salad and, apple pie over at Mrs. Krebs in 30 minutes.”

  “More apple pie?” I said. Benny grabbed his stomach. “We’ve been at this all day. I bet we’re right on most of it, but we’re no closer to finding out ‘what’ Uncle Scott’s mystery is and ‘where’ it might have taken him.”

  “Don’t give up, we’ll find him,” Benny said walking upstairs to get ready for dinner.

  “Yeah, somehow,” I said hoping for the best. I changed my shirt and pants and washed my hands and face.

  We went over next door a little early. Mrs. Krebs met us with a “Please, call me Aida.” She could not thank Benny enough for the yellow and orange flowers he brought her. I helped her with a little Hibachi grill. Out on her back deck, we ate burgers and a salad with fresh tomato and red onion. For a good couple of hours, over homemade apple pie, Aida told us all about Scotty, Mom, her Walter, and the rest of our families. Though she wouldn’t hear of it, Benny and I washed and dried the dishes anyway.

  Back at the house, Benny, Rammie, and I sat on the porch steps. It was a sparkling, black night with a sliver of a bright new and waxing moon. It was around eight o’clock, about 90 degrees out, and maybe a couple hundred crickets sang out their country love songs. Benny and I couldn’t remember ever seeing the sky so crowded with stars. Clayton was peaceful, but I was restless tossing everything over and over in my mind. Somewhere, Uncle Scott, you’re out there, and we have the camera to bring you home. I’m sure we have the clue telling us where you are, but we can’t see it. What clue is the key that unlocks your mystery, Uncle Scott? I looked down two steps at Benny. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without the little gamer.

  “Wow! A shooting star!” Benny said, pointing.

  “It’s beautiful.” I could smell fresh, warm grass and the faint smell of a grill in the neighborhood. It wasn’t just what I could see, it was everything about the place. Clayton had surprised me.

  “I like it here,” I said.

  “Me too. The stars look so close. This night sky reminds me of Ducks Cove. Do you remember the place Mom and Dad took us to, up on the coast? The place they went on their honeymoon, right?” Benny asked.

  “Yeah, we kayaked there. I remember it so well, all of us together, really great people, great hiking. We all laughed so much. Inverness is pretty special. It would be great to see those folks again” I said. Several minutes passed. A drum line of the chirping crickets and purring Rammie performed a lullaby softly.

  “Why do you think Uncle Scott took stationary from the Inverness Inn to his London apartment?”

  It took a second then I stared wide-eyed at Benny.

  “That’s it, Ben! Say that again, exactly.” I stood up and leaned forward, wanting to hear it once more.

  Benny looked up at me puzzled. “Okay… Why do you think Uncle Scott took stationary from the Inverness Inn to his London

  apartment?” Benny said slowly, deliberately listening to his own words. I waited with a grin.

  “He didn’t take it, did he, Sis? It’s Inverness isn’t it? That’s where Uncle Scott is!” Benny got it too! He jumped up like a fire cracker went off in his pants.

  “And that stationary might be the artifact too. And we have maps!” I almost shouted. Benny and I raced to the table. Confused, Rammie followed us. I grabbed the stationary pages out of the satchel.

  “Smell that, Benny? It even smells like him, vanilla!” I said, shoving the pages under his nose. Benny went for his laptop. I went for the atlas.

  “I’ll take England, you take Scotland, and we’ll meet in Wales. Come on, come on. Boot up, boot up. We’re coming Uncle Scott, we’re coming!” Benny was frantic. His knees pumped like pistons.

  “Yes! I have it!” I shouted, scaring Rammie. “You did it, Benny! Check out Inverness, Northern Scotland. What’s it say?” I said hugging the atlas.

  “Okay, I’m on.” Benny’s fingers raced as he typed. “Now, Inverness Scotland, got it!” Benny took a deep breath and read, “Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands and is regarded as the governmental center and the capital of the Scottish Highlands…”

  I put down the atlas and reached for the satchel.

  “Inverness dates back to 565 A.D… originally constructed as a fortress… famous for its breath-taking siteseeing… located on the Northern tip of Loch Ness.” Benny stopped reading and looked wideeyed at me. “Sis… Loch Ness!”

  I pulled out the 10-year-old tooth and pitched it to Benny. “Uncle Scott is going after the legendary, sixty-foot-long, mysterious lake creature, ‘Nessie’,” I said. Both of our smiles grew from ear to ear.

  We shouted together, “Uncle Scott’s going after the Loch Ness Monster!”

  “The purpose of opening the door to some adventures is simple: some mysteries need to be solved just to have the answer.” Well said Uncle Scott.

  14 “Expect the Unexpected!”

  ‘LochNessMonster.com’ was Benny’s two hours of research before bedtime, and he paid for it. I had already rushed in twice to wake him up. He had yelled out again, this time lost in virtual world nightmares.

  “Stop it! Go away! Stop it!” Benny shrieked, sitting up.

  “It’s another nightmare, Benny. It’s just another nightmare,” I said, feeling really badly for him. Benny had a nightmare almost every week.

  “Water monsters were eating me and you and castle dwellers and Mom and Mrs. Krebs…”

  “Benny, you’re awake now. You were dreaming about Uncle Scott’s game again,” I said holding his clammy hand. His eyes still shut tight; he squeezed my hand back tightly.

  “It looked so real! Thanks, Sis. Mom says when I’m older they’ll go away.” Benny’s head hit the pillow. “I miss Dad,” he muttered, falling back to sleep. I got back in my bed, shut my eyes, and then the bright morning was on us. We rushed down to breakfast, knowing every hour was a day longer that Uncle Scott was waiting for us.

  As soon as we finished wolfing down our cereal, we were packed and standing in front of the camera all set to travel. There was Uncle Scott’s cautious, but excellent, advice. The black sign was a perfectly placed reminder, hanging from the ceiling and directly facing us. Rammie continued sharing his lengthy comment of meows.

  “Yeah, so now I get it!” Benny said shaking his head and pointing to the four-foot long sentence in gold letters.

  “Expect the Unexpected”

  I wasn’t sure if I fully got it. Considering our first travel, we took the sign’s obvious advice and double-checked our packs,

  determined to fix our ‘past’ mistakes by being really prepared this time. However, considering my experience of our first travel, what I really wasn’t prepared for was my understanding of “Expect.” I think what the sign meant was to expect the unexpected by staying open to possibilities that I might have never imagined of before.

  “It’s time, Sis. Let’s go over what we’re bringing,” Benny said.

  “I have Uncle Scott’s key ring for our return artifact, his silver coins, and the journal with camera’s working instructions. I have copies of period Loch Ness maps, the tooth, a first aid kit, compass, and the camera, but not the revolver.” I looked at Benny.

  “I have our notes on the Inverness Inn stationary for our traveling artifact, pencils and a note pad, my combination pocket knife, extra candy bars, water bottles, our changes of socks, our tooth brushes, two flashlights, and my pocket flip camera.”

  “A pocket flip camera?” I questioned.

  “If there is a monster in Loch Ness, I want digital proof!”

  “A video of the monster in 1883?” I said wide-eyed. “Interesting.”

  “Just saying,” Benny grinned.

  Mom’s Christmas Carol costumes were a shoein for the time period, though I wasn’t so happy about my long, brown and gold, plaid dress, so I wore my jeans and sneakers under it. I did like the long knit gloves and the heavy, brown wool coat was perfect with big pockets and a hood. Benny looked smar
t in his black leather cap and gray wool scarf, easily passing for a Cratchit kid ready for Scrooge’s Christmas goose dinner. Rammie let out a long meow and jumped into the bed that Benny fixed up on Uncle Scott’s desk. Benny gave Rammie a scowl.

  “And you stay there. No accidents this time.”

  Admittedly, I was still apprehensive. I could tell deep down Benny was too, but it would be different this time. We now knew how the camera worked, what year we were traveling to, we were wearing the right clothes, and most importantly, we knew Uncle Scott was out there.

  “Let’s go find Uncle Scott and maybe find Nessie too!” Benny yelled in my ear. He shook my arm like jelly, held a sheet of the Inverness Inn stationary directly in front of us, and made it dance across my face. Someone was definitely ready to go.

  “Benny, grab your bag,” I said, forcing a smile. I pulled the satchel strap over my head to my shoulder and checked again that I had the return camera. I stepped over to the tripod camera to make sure the key was turned to ‘There’. I picked up the shutter release cable and stepped back to the white ‘X’ taped on the carpet. Benny wore the costume’s leather backpack this time. He flashed me a smile and held up the stationary again. We put our arms firmly around each other’s waists.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  “We’ll be back with Uncle Scott, Rammie. Don’t wait up,” Benny joked. Rammie stretched out to us, yawned a long meow, and rolled over in his bed.

  “I’m ready!” Benny smiled and nodded his head back. He tried to look like some cool astronaut or something.

  I rolled my eyes and punched his

  shoulder.

  “Okay. Ready, set, here we go!” I squeezed the camera’s trigger, and quickly read, “Expect the Unexpected!” The clapping noise started us traveling again. A million stars raced in, replacing our view of the fading office. A tiny, green, glowing light grew brighter and brighter, larger and larger. It raced toward us and then covered us completely. We traveled silently for several seconds, floating just like before. Now it was familiar. I tightened my grip around Benny’s waist. A sudden flash and the green light winked out. A dark, warm moment passed.