Hannah's Treasure ~ Part 2

By the time the stranger woke up, Sheriff Mendenhall who had checked his identification was just receiving a telegram from the Baltimore Police Department. Mr. Errol Reynolds was wanted on fraud charges up and down the east coast. Errol's head hurt and his vision was blurry. He was afraid he was about to die and decided that the only chance for salvation was to tell the truth.

Errol confessed to being the great great grandson of Horace and Sylvia Reynolds. His grandfather, Horace Jr. was the only child born to Sylvia and Horace. Junior was brought up by his grandmother while his parents were going from town to town conning unsuspecting innocents like Caleb Lane. Normally, they only stayed in town a few weeks, that was usually all it took for their victims to succumb to Sylvia's charms and part with their money. Caleb Lane was just another chump but when Sylvia charmed her way into the Simon Lane home, her new friend Hannah was the answer to her prayers. She knew it wouldn't be difficult to get her hands on the treasure Hannah spoke of. Once they were through with Camden Corners and the Lanes, Sylvia and Horace would be able to take a vacation. Maybe spend some time with little Horace, Jr.

Horace had arranged for one of his old prison buddies to officiate at the wedding of Caleb and Sylvia. He knew he didn't have any competition in Caleb because Sylvia was slipping potion into Caleb's food and drink. She was doctoring Simon and Hannah's food too but she never went so far as to taint the twins' food. She wasn't a totally despicable person.

Hannah and Caleb died within a few days of each other. Simon was so distraught and suffering from the effects of the drugs he had been given it took all his strength to bury his brother and wife in the woods. As he was walking back to the cabins, Horace picked up Caleb's rifle and shot Simon letting his body drift down the river. He gathered up the twins piled them and a stunned Sylvia into his buggy and drove off. The foursome traveled to the county children's home near Baltimore and left the baby boys on the doorstep just before dawn. Horace and Sylvia headed back to their home and Horace, Jr. without the money from the treasure that Hannah had talked about.

Sylvia never recovered from the ordeal of seeing her husband kill a man in cold blood. In her mind it was worse than slowly poisoning someone. Horace, who had a penchant for gambling was shot and killed when he was caught cheating at poker. Sylvia rambled on day and night about the treasure in Camden Corners. Horace, Jr. promised his mother on her deathbed that he would find the treasure. Several years later he walked into the Cedar Cove Library, found the newspaper article and buried it in a reference book and put the book as far back in the corner as he could. Junior thought he would be back to look for the treasure but went home to Baltimore and married Daphne Hill who gave birth to Errol's father.

When Errol was a youngster, his grandfather talked about the treasure. He never did go back to Camden Corners, Daphne called him a dreamer and wouldn't let him go off on a wild goose chase.

Errol heard the story of the treasure so many times he knew he had to find it. When he came into town a week ago, that nosy writer was already there and Errol thought he was snooping for his great grandmother Sylvia's treasure. He tried to scare him away but only managed to scare his landlady. He was going to make sure Mr. J.K. Ellingsworth never wrote another book. He thought he had him cornered when suddenly he felt a blow to the back of his head and now he was dying. After his confession and arrest, he was turned over to the Baltimore police department for prosecution in several crimes. Mr. Errol Reynolds would be incarcerated for many years.

Near the end of October Max finished his novel. It wasn't the story of the Lane family, but of the folks of a town similar to Camden Corners. The hero this time wasn't his old pal Delmartin Trent but a young writer who was looking for the perfect town and found it along with the perfect young lady. With encouragement from Max, Sarah wrote her own novel. She didn't want to let Max see it until it was finished and didn't tell him that she was writing a tragedy. Sarah felt Hannah's story deserved to be told. She asked Max to read it and give his honest opinion.

Max couldn't believe that Sarah had told her great great grandmother's story so beautifully. He didn't let on that he had read it. He told Sarah he needed to finish his novel before beginning hers because he would lose his concentration. She thought he was probably afraid he wouldn't like it and didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Max and Sarah were married soon after and moved into the small cabin in the woods where Hannah and Simon had been so happy for such a short time. They were able to buy the land and cabin from the county. Neighbors all helped to make the cabin liveable for the honeymooners.

A few days before Christmas, Max and Sarah ventured into the woods behind their home looking for a pine tree to decorate for the holiday. Max found a tree that had been around for at least 100 years. It seemed to reach to the sky, as Max and Sarah stood back to admire the huge tree, Sarah happened to notice a bulge in the trunk. Max pulled away some of the bark and dollar bills began to flow. They knew they had found Hannah's treasure. They gathered up all the money and were astonished to find they were all $100 bills totaling over $100,000.

They took the money to Sheriff Mendenhall and called Oscar Crowley and Andrew to meet them at the Sheriff's office. Since the money was found on Max and Sarah's land, the conclusion was that it rightfully belonged to them.

Without hesitation, the couple chose not to accept the money for themselves. The treasure had caused enough heartache for Hannah and her little family. They decided to donate it to the orphanage in Baltimore where the Lane twins had been left so long ago.

On Christmas Eve, in the quiet of their cabin home, Max presented Sarah with two beautifully wrapped gifts. Sarah was thrilled to receive the first edition of Max's new novel dedicated to her. The second was another book, she opened it up and there was her very first published work, Hannah's Treasure. Sarah was laughing and crying at the same time as Max took her in his arms.

Sarah suspected Hannah somehow knew that the real treasure was love. Just then Sarah glanced out the window and saw the stars twinkling brightly and reflecting on the old evergreen tree that had held Hannah's Treasure.