The Lost Treasure Map Series (12 page)

Robert’s face
showed puzzlement, indicating that he had not realized what it was.
There was something in the book in front of him that interested him
more.

“
I’m not
sure,” Bryson replied, removing some books, and tapping the wood,
listening to see how hollow it was. There obviously was not any
stone behind it. He was sure of that!

“
Why
would someone put library shelves over an empty area?” James
replied. “They normally put them on a wall – attaching it – making
it secure! – using the full amount of room available for
it.”

“
Which
looks small to me!” Robert answered.

James marched
over to it, and tapped it at various places. “It’s hollow!” he
firmly confirmed.

Robert dropped
his book onto the table, suddenly looking more energetic – gaining
energy from the thrill that there was another discovery about to be
investigated.

“
It
would be a shame to ruin this library,” Bryson explained,
considering the tunnel that
he
had
made. “If there’s nothing there – we could make a hell of a
mess!”

“
How can
we check what’s behind it then?”

“
We’ll
need to tug at it,” Robert replied. “Then we may be able to find
out what is holding it in place.”

“
They
had to have fixed it to the roof, floor, and walls. How else could
they make it stay fixed in place like that without it?”

“
Let’s
check it first, before we come to any conclusions.”

The three of
them went to different places at the shelves, and they
synchronously yanked at it – feeling its weight and that it was
thick, heavy wood.

Robert’s side
then slightly shifted outwards – proving nothing was holding it
there, and that it only had something stopping it going further
into the hollow section behind it.

“
Let’s
pull Robert’s section out,” Bryson uttered, “and see if we can
shift it any further.”

When they
grabbed and heaved at Robert’s side, it shifted easily – and they
continued pulling it out in stages – like a giant door.

There was no
sign that anything kept it there. Its weight was enough to hold it.
And Bryson looked for what had been stopping it moving further
inwards, and he found a dark space had opened up behind it.

Large webs
stretched across it like a giant veil.

Bryson allowed
James to go into the gap, pulling away the layer of webs. At a
position where the blackness engulfed him, he fumbled about with a
cable on the wall.

Suddenly, the
whole wall shifted outwards, and Robert automatically pushed it,
until it was near the window – revealing a hidden section behind
it, full of books.

“
It’s
another section of the library!” James uttered first, looking
confused.

“
Someone
must have put it there to fit in more books,” Robert uttered
excitedly, looking at the cable.

Bryson traced
the cable, while they watched.

It went into
the wall that the corridor was behind. It had to be connected to
something to open it, in the direction of the study.

“
That’s
crude,” Robert observed. “I’ve never heard of that before. Perhaps
it’s a Victorian invention ... They had such contraptions
...!”

Robert glared
at the books with much interest. “These are a lot different
...”

Chapter 27

The Diary

Bryson observed the whole inner library, as
he entered it, from a distance, seeing what would become
noticeable. His sight instantly fell on an old black book.

For some reason, he could not determine why
it seemed as if it had been placed there!

He soon realized that it was not a normal
book: it was a diary, and it had events scribbled through it with a
quill pen.

“
What do you have?
”
James asked, with
interest.

“
It
’s
a diary ...
”

Bryson conjured up images of one of his
ancestors, wearing giant ancient clothes, at a desk, at it, giving
their daily thoughts ...

Yet the more he read it the more important
it became, and it then gave him details of hidden treasure.

There was no doubt about it, and he dropped
it on the table not caring if it damaged it.

It was an authentic diary of one of his
ancestors, who had stayed in the castle during the Victorian era,
and who had been the daughter of the owner. It gave extended
accounts of the woman, the activities that she had taken part in,
and the things that had happened to her. It was so personal in
places that he was sure that it had not been supposed to have been
read by anyone except her, and that she had written it to herself
to look back on at an older age.

The references in the journal to a treasure
began with mentions of tales that had been passed down to her by
her father, who had insisted that the family had passed the
information down to him (as they had done since the construction of
the castle).

“
So what is it?
”
Robert remarked, observing
his strange reactions.

“
I think that there
’s
another fortune hidden
here!
”
Bryson uttered, astonished, dropping the book again,
producing a bang.
“
This woman
’s
father told her about a treasure that their
ancestor who had the castle built had hidden here ...

“
There
’s
a page missing!
”
he announced, frantically
looking for it.

He then lost interest, and read more, trying
to find something that would prove him right.

“
Do you know,
”
he explained aloud,
“
that William
Randall hid the remains of his vast fortune ...
”

This finally grabbed
Robert
’s
attention.

“
It actually says
that?
”

Bryson turned it about, pointing at part of
the text. And he took it, and read it for ten minutes.

“
It does: it says William Randall hid
it in case any of his enemies attacked the castle. It mentions that
he intended to capture the castle back, and that he died with it
still hidden ...
”

Chapter 28

Perilous Endeavors

There were no
clouds in the morning sky. The snow had stopped at around
midnight.

Bryson lifted
the previous day’s newspapers from the floor, below the bed, and
recollected the weather, just before he came to the weather
forecast. There was a worsening forecast for the rest of the
week.

The servant’s
death, on the front cover, was startling, but he had known and
expected to see it. What it surprised him about was how far they
described where the castle was.

He did not
know why the reporters and other media people were taking such an
interest in the place.

But it was the
twenty-first century. People, even about this region, would not
take news events, even happening around them, very seriously – and
take that much notice. However, he was sure that they would have
noticed this story, with a murder occurring.

It made him
fully realize how out of the way the place was.

Bryson lifted
the sheets, to climb out of bed, and gave a spontaneous shudder, as
he felt the coldness of the room – with a slight draft blowing
through it, from the door to the window.

He dressed
himself quickly, and instinctively, ignoring it, trying to think of
a way to warm the room. Then he moved over to the window.

From the snow,
there were no signs that any cars had entered or left the castle –
also proving that the servants had not arrived yet.

He considered
how they would arrive at the castle if the snow blocked the road,
as it probably would.

It was just
like Sir Richard to die in the middle of winter – while blizzards
were tormenting the landscape.

Bryson filled
a bag with some things that he wanted to take with him. He cleaned
his winter jacket, and folded it over his arm. It felt slightly
damp though, which could prove that some dampness had entered the
room.

He wanted to
go out before it snowed.

He unlocked
the door, and closed it at the outside.

There were no
sounds from the other rooms.

None of them
had even suggested seeing the hidden library, and it surprised him
that they had not found it – considering the amount of ground that
they were covering.

As he wandered
through the silent corridor, towards the library, and to Merton and
Mortimer, he considered what to do. There were two main options,
which he could see: they could stay in the library or they could
keep looking in the rooms.

He glanced
into some of the rooms, to see if there were any doors similar to
the door on the library room.

At the library
door, he heard vocal tones from inside. They sounded very awake,
and that they had gone in there not that long ago – rather than
them being there for many hours.

But they
usually were more awake at late and early hours.

They usually
needed to stay awake to check things satisfactory. Even though many
investigators set up their equipment and left it – and checked the
results later.

They
enjoyed their work, and the thrill of the encounter. But he was
unsure that they had
fully
accepted that there were real dangers.

One look in
the library, and at them, confirmed that he was right – they were
active, cleaned up, and ready for action.

What they were
thinking of doing was not quite clear though, and he could not
imagine that they were excited about sitting in the library.

The books were
at their feet, and they were studying opened books, all over the
table.

“
Did all
of you have anything to eat?”

“
Yes!”
Mortimer replied. “And we had a good meal last night – with
Inspector Bailey.”

“
Did you
find anything here?”

“
Nothing
significant!” Merton replied, looking slightly guilty. “There are
Victorian books on psychic research, which are very interesting,
for our normal research, but there is little to do with here. Other
than the fact that the books show that someone here was interested
in explaining what was occurring here.”

What did they
think of the castle now that they had read the stuff and had
conducted their experiments (besides being confused about certain
things)? What sort of ghosts went rampaging through woods?

If the local
stories were correct, it was capable of smashing to bits a horse
carriage, and it could knock over trees.

Its strength
must have limits, or the entire wood would have trees strewn about
it, as though a hurricane had been through it.

However, when
they had checked the wood, there had been no prints from it, and
there had been no noticeable trees turned over. But it might be
able to do it under the certain circumstances (which could mean
that it could change its strength). Perhaps it could change its
speed, making it even more dangerous.

It could be an
entity with a type of computer intelligence, programmed to attack
humans.

But who had
programmed it?

“
We
would like to see those tombs you mentioned!” Mortimer declared,
smiling – instantly grabbing his attention – producing thoughts of
it smashing him to bits.

Bryson
hesitated for a moment, and steadied himself – calming his
mind.

They obviously
had a good reason for wanting to go there. Even though he did not
know why it was so important.

It even
managed to overshadow the sounds of that room – perhaps for the
first time in his life.

What would his
life have been like if he had met with those things in the wood
...?

“
Why do
you want to go there?” he answered.

“
There
are numerous reasons ...” Merton stated, obviously avoiding
answering his question. “We want to look around – as part of our
research!”

“
Nothing
should happen during the day,” Mortimer continued. “It only
manifests at night ...”

“
So all
the stories say! If you want to go there, then I’ll take you. But I
would prefer to go now, if you do not mind. It becomes dark pretty
early here. There’s also a chance that it may snow
today.
”

“
Perfect!” Merton replied.

Bryson walked
over to the window, to look about the trees. A few crows flew over
them, indicating that there was food or something near them – and
they were hungry.

Suddenly, he
saw something moving to the castle, through the wood.

The figure of
the butler emerged, on the road going to the castle, which was
attracting the attention of the birds.

The rest of
servants appeared, with the butler leading them towards the castle.
He was sure that they had walked from where they had parked their
vehicles. They more than likely had left them at a place on the
road that would not be covered over in deep snow, under a thicker
part of the wood, where they could reach the main road from.

He was not
aware of how dangerous it was. Why had nothing happened to them
before? Surely people had walked through there, in the dark,
countless times, over the years. The place would have had the same
weather conditions – the climate had created many blizzards over
the years. Could the place somehow be out of reach of the things in
the wood? Moreover, had he come across it by accident – being
incredibly unlucky? Its haunts, according to the stories, were at
distant and unpopulated regions of the estate. There was no
noticeable logic to this logic!