The Lost Treasure Map Series (20 page)

Merton and Mortimer still did not seem to
have any real ideas on where the spirits of the wood were. He had
expected some theories on where or what they actually were looking
for to arise, and they seemed more to be waiting for something just
to appear.

A bright patch appeared in the vegetation at
their side, where there were shapes moving about.

Bryson felt how tired he had become, but
decided not to slow; and he noticed that Merton was doing the
same.

It annoyed him
–
when he thought about
it
–
that
Mortimer was just taking them somewhere the others would go. Did he
think that they knew where they were going? And was he planning to
join them?

He had expected him to change their
direction.

Nothing that he heard from the others made
any sense (seemingly meaningless conversations), but he heard tones
of water, which mainly were splashes.

He was sure that it was only a small river,
from sounds of water rushing along, as they could be normally heard
a great distance away.

In the trees, at the center of a clearing,
he saw the river leading through, with a pool that they were
at.

Their presence drew the attention of some of
them.

He spotted Robert, next to James, sitting in
the middle of the group.

“
If we could hire a
helicopter,
”
Merton stated,
“
we could properly search all of this
wood.
”

Merton swiftly lit a cigarette, and blew out
puffs of smoke, enjoying its intoxicating effects.

“
Where
’s
the nearest place that they have
them?
”
Mortimer continued.

Bryson watched Merton draw in smoke,
trying to gain something from it.
“
Perhaps the police have one that we
can get hold of.
”

Merton and Mortimer nodded to disagree,
disapprovingly.

“
What
’s
that?
”
Mortimer discoursed, turning
left.

Bryson only noticed a faint shape of light,
glowing in a spot of dark green.

“
There
’s
a wall
–
in all that jungle
...
”

Bryson peered, but accepted that his sight
was now better than his.

“
I see it,
”
Merton admitted, stubbing his butt
into the bark of a tree, as sparks blew out into a gust of
wind.

Bryson stared again, not seeing
anything.

He glared into dimness, as they shifted
position, to a slightly different angle, and he saw what had looked
like rocks was really some form of wall. It resembled the remains
of an ancient house.

As they made their way there, Merton became
excited about what it could be, and constantly glared.

If they had found something, they would be
lucky.

He started to wonder again if Mortimer
knew something and had discovered something in the library
–
such as a map of
the grounds, showing another structure. He had insisted on taking
them straight there.

Bryson listened to them to see what they
made of it, before he examined it in more detail.

He saw that Mortimer was unduly inquisitive
about it. It was a small structure in the trees, branches, bushes,
long grass, and plants.

Moss and vines made it almost impossible to
see in that denser region of the wood, and they had to shove their
way into it.

It seemed remarkable how Mortimer had seen
it.

Chunks out of its walls were sprawled about
them. But it did not have any large holes.

“
The roof seems
intact,
”
Mortimer announced, glaring upwards, pushing away the thick
vegetation, as they moved around it.

The walls had thick blocks of stone
identical to the castle, firmly cemented together.

Most of the slates were still there.

He heard the voices of some of the others
moving on.

“
Well,
”
Merton uttered to Mortimer,
“
do you think that
it
’s
anything to do with that clue?
”

“
It seems be as old as the castle, but
I don
’t
see
anything ...
”

The voices of the others grew.

The door was almost rotted away, hanging
from rusted bolts.

Mortimer shoved it away, making it screech
over the floor instead. The interior had some dampness and rot, and
with loose and weak upper beams.

The inside was as gloomy as it could be.
Little light emerged through an old broken window, covered over in
green slime.

Smells of rot came from places that they
passed.

Through the window, Bryson spotted one of
the others moving past, looking in a frontal direction.

“
Well,
”
Merton spoke, smiling,
“
their group never
saw it ...
”

“
But is it of any
use?
”
Mortimer continued.

“
Who would want to stay out
here?
”
Bryson muttered.
“
It would be astonishing if anyone managed to
survive one night
–
with what those legends told
...
”

“
It doesn
’t
have any notable signs that anyone
lived in it. Why is there no fireplace, or anything, which a
cottage or farm would have ...?
”

It did have an unusual design. He felt the
texture of the stone. It was perfectly smooth as though it had been
cut by a machine. The window, under the muck, was ancient, and made
of thick glass, which had many warps.

Perhaps the thick walls had protected the
occupants from the things in the wood, and they had designed it to
withstand their powers.

Bryson helped Merton and Mortimer to sift
through the rubbish, scattered in a thick layer over the floor.

“
I can
’t
see us coming to a conclusion over
what the clue means,
”
he confessed, as Mortimer moved
past.

“
At the moment, I cannot imagine
finding it out. Or anything out here! There still is a chance that
the answer could be in the library. Have you considered the fact
that there could be other books, or even places where things could
be written ...?
”

“
Like a local
cemetery?
”
Merton announced, as though he had been thinking over the
matter for some time.
“
There has to be other graves! If we could
find other graves from the same era, which have the same type of
writing ...
”

“
Even if there
’s
another structure out
here, I cannot see it having anything ...
”
Bryson resumed.

“
If there is,
”
Mortimer replied,
“
the others may
not realize much from it. But they
’ll
tell us about
it!
”

“
That
’s good enough though
...!
”

“
So let
’s
not waste any more time
–
let
’s
go.
”

Mortimer moved for the door, and jerked
backwards.

A face emerged at the edge of the door. It
was one of the others, who looked as though he had decided to check
where their prints led.

As they left, Bryson noticed that they had
split up again, and that their voices came in low tones from about
them. And that they would have found the cottage anyway!

“
Back to the castle
then,
”
Bryson informed them, spotting another three of them already
moving in their direction. It proved that they were doing their
job, and that they would have a good chance of finding anything
else
–
for
him to investigate.

They moved out of the area, and Bryson
frequently turned to listen.

He watched a hare hop past, looking
terrified. It also looked as if someone else had recently been near
it, and had scared it.

It shifted nervously from place to place,
and as if its subconscious mind were only making it move past. It
was lost without a place to hide.

It did not seem to realize that it was
capable of running faster than them. It perhaps took their size to
be a sign of how powerful they were at running.

It was interesting walking through the wood,
instead of along the path. It gave him the feeling that they now
had an advantage, and that they could watch things occur without
being noticed.

Other animals were now visible. And his eyes
were accustomed to the darkest places, where they passed, and he
seemed to be able to notice everything about them, as well as
recognize vague noises, which he had not understood before.

Then, incredibly, he spotted distant
prints of the reporter, stopping behind a tree, where there was a
distant view of the vault
–
and he saw that the reporter had returned to
the tombs.

Chapter 40

The Village

Bryson led Merton and Mortimer along a grassy
trail, over to a small graveyard, while they reluctantly followed,
still wishing to continue with their previous investigations, but
realizing that their chances of finding any conclusions there were
vanishing.

They would have, of course, entered the
village church to observe its interior if they could have.

The vicar had beat a brisk retreat though,
over at the medieval church, bowing his head, as if ducking to
enter an extremely low doorway, as he vanished into a side door,
and going back to sanctuary.

Merton and Mortimer had spoken with such
ease to him that it assured him that they had done it before
(working at such locations on their investigations).

He had only suspicions on whether they
had any religious interests. Even though it could hold some vital
information that he never knew
–
especially on why they had such an interest
in psychic research, and such things
–
almost dedicating their lives to
researching it.

Why had they gone to such lengths to achieve
their almost impossible goal? There was no suggestion that they
were chasing large sums of cash doing what they did, and he had
never heard of anyone succeeding. It was interesting though, and he
doubted if anything that he did would come close to it. They were
modern explores! They went on assignments in remote places,
searching for fascinating freaks of nature.

He wondered if it was their first treasure
hunt.

Even though Mortimer had once been an
archaeologist. Perhaps that was another reason why they did it, and
they used hunting ghosts as a cover to investigate places where
there were chances of them finding valuable artifacts, or evidence
of their existence.

At the door of the church, the elderly
vicar emerged, and walked out, looking shyly at them, trying to
focus on them
–
hesitating and tempting himself
–
with some hidden
compulsion.

“
Gentlemen,
”
he called,
“
if you wish to look around
the church, please do, but I
’ll
not be able to join you, as I have my
work.
”

Bryson watched him creep back into the
church, wondering what he had reacted to, as he had not said
anything.

“
What will we do
now?
”
Merton muttered.

“
He doesn
’t
have any
information,
”
Mortimer replied first, explaining how much of a waste of
time that was.

“
I
’d
just like to check the
graves,
”
Bryson confirmed, watching to see if Merton had lost
interest.

The graveyard was on a hill, in an
open space, surrounded by the rest of the village
–
where they had
traveled to from the opposite side.

Bryson studied the peculiar effect of the
scenery looking immense, with it being on a hill, and the landscape
not having so many trees. The sight of endless trees filling the
horizon had altered his inner perception of a normal landscape, and
he expected to see trees, but only saw emptiness.

He realized how safe it felt, and that he
had returned to a natural place, holding a clear view of
everything.

Yet they probably could not find more
solitude than back at the castle.

Sparrows squawked hungrily, some
savagely fluttering their wings, and others hopped from hedge to
hedge, making expressions resembling growls at them, at attacking
their territory. They looked desperate
–
the snow covered most of the
countryside, and the hedges and ground looked empty of the things
to eat.