Andrew
Lane had heard folks buzzing about the stranger in town and the fact
that he had been questioning people about the Lane family of years
ago. Andrew didn't have anything to hide but he had made a promise
to his grandfather that he would find out all he could about the Lane
brothers and the woman who seemed to be so important in their lives.
Andrew was happy being a history teacher in the local high school and
was a content family man. He had never had the time or the desire to
investigate the mysterious disappearance of his ancestors. Maybe it
was time he paid a visit to J.K. Ellingsworth. Andrew had discovered
several years ago that his favorite mystery author wrote under the
pen name of J. K. Ellingsworth. As was typical of Andrew, he never
did see any reason to reveal to anyone Mr. Harcourt's true identity.
He had heard Mrs. Wharton's tale of finding a threatening note on
Max' door that morning. Andrew decided it was time to confront Mr.
Harcourt. He was beginning to worry that his beloved daughter might
be falling for Max. He honestly didn't think that was such a bad
idea but he did need to find out for himself whether Max was a
charlatan or just an interested writer who was as smitten with his
daughter as she was with him. Andrew arranged for Mrs. Green to
oversee his classes for the remainder of the afternoon and set out
to meet with Max.
Max
wasn't totally surprised to see Andrew turning the corner and heading
toward the park. The two men greeted each other cordially. Andrew
confessed he knew about J.K. Ellingsworth. Max explained that he had
submitted dozens of manuscripts under his own name before he became
J.K. Ellingsworth. He decided since Maxwell Harcourt had worn out
his welcome with every publishing company he would try another name
and it worked. Andrew questioned Max about his interest in the Lane
disappearances of long ago. Max explained finding the newspaper
article hidden in the reference book. As a writer, he couldn't let
the matter go without investigating. He did promise Andrew that he
would do nothing to embarrass the Lane family and had already decided
he was not going to make it the basis of his next novel. Andrew let
Max know about his promise to his grandfather. He thought maybe now
was the time to make good on that promise. They both went to see
Oscar Crowley and let him know that Andrew's grandfather had asked
him to find out what happened to his family and that Charles Lane had
been left on the doorstep of an orphanage. Max left the law office
to meet Sarah as she would be closing the library shortly. Andrew
and Oscar were still deep in conversation.
Sarah
was just walking down the steps of the library when she spotted Max
walking toward her. Her heart skipped a beat as he took her hand.
Although there was a chill in the night air, the couple found a bench
by the lake where they didn't think they would be disturbed. Max
explained that he didn't mean to deceive Sarah but he was the author,
J.K. Ellingsworth. Sarah's heart skipped another beat. She was
silently fearing she would call Max by her hero's name Delmartin.
Max thought maybe he had lost any chance with Sarah because of his
dishonesty.
Sarah
then turned to him and exclaimed “I can't wait to tell my book club
friends that J.K. really is a man.”
Max
filled Sarah in on all that was known about the Lane brothers. She
remembered when she was young, she and her friends would go into the
woods behind the Camden Hill Ski Lodge looking for the Lane cabins.
Although the days were getting shorter, the couple thought they would
have about an hour to explore the location before the sun set for the
day. They borrowed Andrew's horse and buggy and were off into the
woods to see what they could find.
Sarah
could feel the excitement building inside her. She felt she was off
to solve a mystery with her favorite fictional character, a living,
breathing Delmartin Trent. It was a much shorter ride to the old
cabins than Sarah recalled. Both cabins were barely standing. They
walked to the first cabin, it was rather small with a fairly large
area combining a cooking, eating and sitting area. Beyond was a room
with a large bed and chest of drawers. The bed was covered in a
handmade quilt that, although covered in dust, looked lovely on the
hand carved bed. There were two very tiny beds in the corner of the
room. Max wondered why after all these years, someone hadn't torn
down the cabins or at least taken the furniture out of them. In
spite of the dust and cobwebs, it appeared to be in the same
condition as the former occupants left it so long ago. Max carefully
examined every piece of furniture in the cabin. He discovered a
journal secured to the underside of the chest in the bedroom.
Carefully, he removed the journal from its hiding place. At the same
time, Sarah was examining the quilt. There was a small tear on the
left edge of the it and Sarah could tell something was inside.
She
carefully felt around with her fingers and pulled out a piece of
paper in shaky handwriting, it said “Something is happening to me.
I am afraid Sylvia has been poisoning me with one of her potions.
Simon will not believe me. I fear for my boys. With all the
strength I have left in me, I have buried the treasure in the hollow
of the old evergreen tree at the edge of the woods. I want my
precious little boys, Charles and Seth to have the treasure. Please
tell them how much their mother loves them.”
It was
signed Hannah Lane.
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