Read The Lost Treasure Map Series Online

Authors: V Bertolaccini

Tags: #adventure books, #mystery suspense, #mystery detective, #classic horror, #national treasure, #quadrilogy, #classic bestsellers, #science fiction classics, #ancient lost treasures, #fantastic journeys

The Lost Treasure Map Series (9 page)

Bryson turned,
and nearly laughed, but saw how serious it was. The room was an
absolute eyesore. It actually had becoming more messed up than it
had been – and he had considered it to be in its worst state when
he had last seen it.

He strolled
over to the bed, while he removed the key. He lunged at an old
chest, sitting under the bed, at the center of the bed.


They
don’t do things by half!” Robert uttered, glaring at the broken
lock sprawled over the floor, at the opposite wall (probably
thinking of it as competition).

Bryson picked
up the broken lock. And he checked if the key fitted it. But it
definitely did not fit, even though it almost was the same
size.

He now
suspected that it belonged to something else.


Have
you tried one of those keys there?” Robert mumbled – crossing the
floor – avoiding the loose planks and other obstacles in his
path.


What
keys ...
?”


There
they are!” he spoke, grabbing the keys.

Bryson knew
instantly that one of them fitted perfectly into the keyhole of the
chest, and that his gold key definitely never belonged to a
chest.

Chapter 21

 

No Traces

 

Bryson
approached the room where Merton and Mortimer were, and Mortimer
peered out, hearing his footsteps; and Bryson saw that he looked
almost unchanged since he had previously seen him.

Merton stood
silently, observing him entering. “Shall we look outside? We may
realize something from what is out there – gain an entirely new
perspective of this place.”


Good
idea!” Mortimer spoke, tiredly stretching out his arms. “And, of
course, we can check if that thing, you said chased you through the
wood, has left any traces ...”

Merton walked
to the window, and allowed one of the scientists there to pass him.
“It looks cold out there – we better put on some warm
clothing.”

They then
proceeded to the door.

Once Merton
and Mortimer had put on the right outdoor gear, Bryson led them to
the door, going out the back of the castle, out of the way of the
police.

The sunshine,
and white snow, blinded them as they squeezed through the door,
partly jammed with snow, piled up against the side of the
castle.

Mortimer
shuffled through a knee-high layer of snow, moving away, and
Merton, at first, could not move, but shuffled after him, tightly
wrapping his jacket around him, shivering from sudden cold
chills.

The snow
thinned, as they went further out from the wall.

At the corner
of the castle, Mortimer stopped and waited for them to catch up
with him. He did not seem in a hurry to go anywhere – more like
rushing to make himself warm. They had been stuck in the dark
castle for a long time, without much exertion. Perhaps they should
have eaten more than they had. With more sugar and protein, to keep
them warm.


Over
there ...!” Bryson said, looking at part of the wood, where he had
swiftly escaped out of the wood, the night before. “Our footprints
are still visible!”

Mortimer
approached them. “I see that the three of you were running.”

Merton studied
the separated prints, as they moved along.


Perhaps
it would be best to find something to defend us!” Bryson muttered,
trying to warn them. “If we destroyed it, we would stop it harming
someone someday.”


It!”
Mortimer muttered. “Let’s find their prints first. And obtain some
type of insight into what we are up against.”

Bryson
examined the snow all around him, keeping his eyes peeled for
anything, in the trees. It was hard to believe that he was at the
same place as the night before, and that the thing that chased them
had even existed. There were no signs that anything had been
there.

They strolled
through the wood, following their frantically placed prints, and
even came across a patch of marked snow where James had fallen over
onto the ground, and they had frantically pulled him to his
feet.

Bryson looked
at every place he had heard the things, and every conceivable place
that the thing could have been; but there were no traces of
anything.

They finally
gave up when they reached the place where the light had been; and
Mortimer then led them back.

It
astonished Bryson that the evidence of them being there, which
should have been completely visible, was not anywhere. It was
absurd believing that there was a chance that the snow had covered
it. Why would it
only
have
covered it ...? They had their prints there! And there would be a
larger level of snow.

At their
approach to the back door of the castle, Merton stopped and looked
at him.


Your
encounter might have been with an entity!”


It had
to be a floating one!” he joked. “But why was it so loud? I heard
it crashing through the wood, charging towards us.”


It
might have created the sounds itself. Or like the sounds in the
castle: they might have manifested from elsewhere!”

Bryson
considered the facts from different angles, while he and Merton
cleaned away the snow from about the door, before entering.
Mortimer seemed to be doing the same, behind him, but, when he
observed him, he saw that he was checking something further
out.

After a few
minutes, Mortimer crouched down to study something, on the snow.
And they followed his path through the snow – to where he was –
where the snow thinned out.

Suddenly,
almost like magic, Bryson saw shoe impressions appear, going
through the snow, leading away from the castle, and he rushed
towards Mortimer.


Whose
shoe is that size?” Mortimer instantly asked.


I don’t
know!” Bryson answered.

It was
impossible to tell, from the vague marks.


They
look as though they were made at about the same time as my prints
were made – over at the wood. They could not have been made
earlier, as they would be covered over with snow. And they could
not have been made later, as they would have no snow on
them.”


Someone
left the castle, at about the same time as you entered it! And they
went off into those trees over there.”


But
nobody left! Everybody was in the castle when we arrived back. And
who would have left in the dark to go over there?”


We
better tell Inspector Bailey about it!”


I’ll go
and find him?” Merton spoke, leaving them.

Mortimer
finished examining it, and he stood with Bryson. It did not take
long for Inspector Bailey’s heavy voice to appear from the castle –
and rapidly come towards them. He was intensely questioning
Merton.

He turned
silent as he emerged from the castle – slightly shivering –
observing the blinding snow.

He carefully
examined everything about him. Merton walked past him, and two
policemen came out.

They all moved
over to them, and stood beside Bryson.

Inspector
Bailey looked as if he wished to pace back and forwards, but saw
the print and depth of the snow. He eventually satisfied himself by
putting his hands at his hips, while chewing his lip.

The two
policemen analyzed the prints, considering whether to start
brushing away snow from one.


Have
you been over in that direction?” Inspector Bailey asked, looking
at their trail going along the castle.


No!”
Merton replied swiftly. “We were over there...”


Let’s
follow them,” Inspector Bailey announced, setting off, going along
the side of the prints. And they followed him, leaving the
policemen at a footprint.

As they
increased their distance, forensic investigators emerged out of the
doorway, glancing at them and at the prints going off into the
distance.


This is
a hell of a place!” Inspector Bailey mumbled.

It gave the
impression that he had always been saying such things, but Bryson
knew that it was something different to him, and he was handling
something beyond what he normally had been dealing with. It
surprised Inspector Bailey that there had been someone at the
castle, and that the person had made such a dramatic exit.

The marks gave
the impression that the person had rushed away. Perhaps the person
had calmly strolled through the castle first. They were spaced
further than normal, and unevenly separated, going in a slightly
altering course into the trees.


It
might have been one of the servants taking a short cut!” Bryson
asked, to see what he would say, and break the silence between him
and them.


You
have to be kidding! None of the servants would walk out here during
the day – never mind at night – at this place! The new owner may
have to replace them now.”

He increased
their pace, determined to arrive quickly at the trees.

They only
slowed as they entered the first trees.

Crows, barely
recognizing humans, flew up into the air, from above them, sending
snow spraying about them, melting on their faces.

Mortimer led
them deep into the wood, where it was more lifeless and still.
There were no signs of anything.

The sun
faintly shone, like the moon, through a thin cloud vapor.

Merton and
Mortimer bored of searching for nothing, just copied Inspector
Bailey, searching about the trail for clues left there. And Bryson
intensely checked the undergrowth and branches, which went about
them – in case the person had left anything, while going through
the wood, in the dark.

To the their
disappointment, a small farm road emerged across their path, and
the prints vanished into the heavy tread marks going along it.


Where
does this lead to?” Inspector Bailey asked, trying to recall
something like a map, studying the prints going onto the
road.


The
village,” Bryson answered. “The person must have walked there, or
used a car ...”

Bryson
realized that it had been a daft idea. The path would not have
directly led to the person! The person would have to have been
raving mad!

He was glad
that they did not have to follow it any further. Because he wanted
to return to the castle, as the lawyer would probably be arriving,
with the video. And he had better and more urgent things to do.

Chapter 22

 

Direct Action

 

A policeman
soundlessly guarded the dining room, with an occasional subdued
degree of confusion – surely considering things told to him by
Inspector Bailey.

On Inspector
Bailey’s nod, he automatically turned off the lights, and the
chattering dispersed.

The butler
turned on the video, and as the picture appeared, Bryson watched
the lawyer look nervously at Inspector Bailey, standing near him.
He was sure that the police had realized something. Yet many of
their reactions could be put down to a number of things. And he did
know that Inspector Bailey for one wanted to move out of the castle
as soon as he could. But he was considerably determined to solve
the case first.

Some of the
police, in nearby rooms, sounded as if they thought that the
showing of the video was amusing. Their remarks, coming through the
hall, were loud mutters, as someone had told them to speak
silently.

When the video
was started, Sarah and a few of the others sat with pens and pieces
of paper, ready to record any valuable information, like tourists
on a treasure hunt. Yet when it got under way, they did not write
much, to his amusement.

It became
apparent that Sir Richard had planned the video in more detail than
they had been imagining. He seemed to have thought over every
second and every word, like a good businessman, and no longer
looking as insane as they had recently been thinking of him. (He
avoided mentioning anything that was not to do with his
speech!)

Bryson
suspected that he was hiding things, and that the whole speech was
an elaborate plan, carefully concocted to achieve something. When
the video ended, and they had the lights on, he wondered if the old
guy had actually done what he had said after all – and if it had
been his
last vengeance
for something, perhaps at that time, which Robert had once
suggested. Even though they had not done anything to
him!


Well,
what are all of you going to
do
now?” Inspector Bailey uttered, looking at no one in
particular.


If any
of you need
me
, I’ll be back
tomorrow,” the lawyer swiftly spoke, as he removed the video from
the machine himself – opened his briefcase, and dropped it in. He
fixed his glasses on his nose, and made his way towards the
door.

Bryson saw the
policemen react strangely at the doorway, before the lawyer arrived
there. The others in the nearby rooms stopped talking, as though to
listen to the lawyer.

The lawyer’s
eyes bulged out, from behind his glasses, as he went around the
door. And he held his head down, and rushed forwards, ignoring who
was at the door.

A policeman
finally summoned Inspector Bailey, and he crept out to the
door.

As soon as he
heard voices, coming from outside, it was evident that the media
had arrived. However, as they continued talking, they all became
interested, and he followed Robert and some of the others to the
window.

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