Fellowship & Fairydust

The girls were mostly quiet on the way back to Lilac Inn, each lost in their own thoughts. So, they had all the clues now, everything they needed, as Josiah’s final poem said, to find the treasure. Now they just had to put the pieces together and see how they fit, if they could even get them to fit correctly. Was it hidden in Ariel Park? But where exactly? Nancy couldn’t think of any other reason for why Josiah gave them the map of Ariel Park next to his house if it wasn’t important, so the only logical explanation was that the will was buried there. That made sense. But now, the question was, where exactly in Ariel Park? Maybe that was where the rest of the clues came in, to give them a hint to the exact location of the will. Nancy squeezed her eyes shut for a second. She had to wait until they got back to Lilac Inn before she could let her mind wander over the different possibilities. Right now, she had to concentrate on getting everyone to Lilac Inn safely. But her brain just wouldn’t stay quiet. She was so close, she could feel it. And she had to keep a constant eye on Jane, the Tophams, and now Buddy and Jean. She bit her lip, would she be able to find the treasure and get the evidence needed to put them all behind bars if they were indeed just trying to worm Emily’s inheritance out of her? A lot of that would just be suspicion and circumstantial evidence, really, not very many hard facts. The only one she might be able to put behind bars was Mary Mason since she did steal all the jewelry, provided they could catch her. And catch her they must. 

When they entered Lilac Inn a little bit later, they had a surprise waiting for them. 

“Nancy! Emily! Helen!” 

“Why Judy, you’re here!” blurted Emily as she knelt to give the tyke a hug. 

“Well, you two certainly acted fast,” said Nancy as she walked towards the front desk where Mary and Edna were standing surrounded by some luggage. 

Mary shrugged. “It was my day off. Figured to get the moving started, at least.” 

“That, and it was easy since we told Judy we were coming to see you. She was really helpful!” Judy grinned at the praise. Edna glanced at Jane. “And Jane here was wonderful! She found us a room that we could use!” 

Jane waved her hand. “Oh posh, it was nothing. We had an empty room, might as well put it to use, right?” 

Edna grinned. “Right!” 

Jane turned and took a key out of the desk. “And speaking of, here’s the key to your room. Let me take you up and we can figure out where Judy’s bed is going to go.” 

“You’re bringing Judy’s bed here?” blurted Helen, eyes wide. 

“Yes,” said Mary firmly, “that bed has been in the family for generations, we are not parting with it now.” 

Jenny nodded. “Fair enough.” 

Mary glanced at her. “Um, I don’t believe we’ve met . . . but you look familiar.” Nancy quickly introduced them. 

“Oh!” blurted Edna. “Why you’re Jim’s little girl! Except you’re not so little anymore, you’re practically all grown up!” 

Jenny grinned. “Basically!” 

Edna hugged her. “Well, it’s great to see you! But we really should try to get as much moved over here as possible.” 

“Would you like some help?” asked Nancy. “I have my car. It can fit quite a bit.” 

“Oh definitely,” said Emily, shooting a knowing look at Helen. 

“What? What’s wrong with being prepared?” 

“You just don’t need to bring the kitchen sink,” quipped Emily. 

Helen scoffed. “Lucky for you, I didn’t.” The girls burst out laughing. 

“Anyway,” said Edna, interrupting them. “Thank you for the offer, my dear, but Jane here was just telling me you were getting closer to finding Josiah’s will. Why don’t you concentrate on that. We’ll just bring over a few more boxes and call it a day. Maybe I can use your car tomorrow. Deal?” 

Nancy smiled. “Deal.” 

“Oh,” said Mary, holding up a finger, “and maybe your four can look after Judy while we finish up.” She glanced at Judy. “That way she stays out of trouble.” 

Judy pouted. “But Auntie Edna said I was very good!” 

Edna knelt and chuckled. “You were very good, very very good!! But Auntie Mary and I need to know that you are safe while we finish up. Besides, it’s why we packed your toys, you wanted to show them, remember?” 

Judy smiled. “Yes!” 

“But, you have to let them do some work too, work that’s very important, alright?” 

Judy nodded solemnly. “Yes ma’am.” 

Edna smiled and gave her a hug. “Good. Now, why don’t you follow me and Auntie Mary to our new room so we can unpack your toys.” 

“OK!” She turned and waved to the girls. “See you later!” 

“See you later!” the girls chorused, waving back at Judy. Jane took a bag and led the Turners up the stairs, the three women chatting. 

“Alright, let’s get started on reviewing all our clues,” said Nancy.” 

“Um, I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the front desk, if you don’t mind,” said Emily. 

“No, of course not! We’ll have everything out when you come up,” said Nancy. 

Emily smiled. “Thanks, but it could be a while if they’re figuring out where Judy’s bed is going to go.” 

Nancy nodded. “True, but everything will still be out.” 

Emily laughed. “Oh, alright, you’re right. Besides, you might have it all figured out by the time I get upstairs.” 

Nancy grinned. “We’ll see about that. You still have information and insight we might need.”

Emilly nodded. “True. Alright, don’t solve it too quickly.” 

Nancy laughed. “We’ll try not to, but considering how the treasure hunt’s been so far, I highly doubt it.” 

Emily laughed. “Quite true with that. And if that’s the case, you three had better get started.” 

Jenny grinned and saluted. “Roger that.” 

Helen placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, yeah, sure, get behind that desk and you think you can boss us around, huh?” 

Emily grinned. “Yup.” 

Nancy laughed. “Come on, let’s get upstairs and get this ball rolling.” 

Helen groaned. “Fine.” Nancy led them up the stairs. Judy was waiting for them in front of their door. 

“Judy! What are you doing here?” Nancy asked as the tyke got up. 

“Auntie Edna and Auntie Mary wanted me to wait here for you.” She held up a well-loved pink bunny and a baby doll dressed in blue. “Bobby and Cindy were keeping me company.” 

Helen blinked as she turned to Jenny. “Bobby and Cindy?” 

Nancy knelt to get eye-level with Judy. “Can Bobby and Cindy keep you company while we get some work done?” 

Judy nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes! They like keeping me company!” 

Nancy smiled. “Good, because we have some important work to do and can’t talk to you all the time.” 

“Can I help you with your work?” 

Nancy rubbed her chin. “I don’t know if you can, but I will let you know if we do need your help.” 

Judy beamed. “OK!” Nancy patted her head before rising. She fished in her purse for the key to their room and unlocked it. As soon as everyone was in, she closed the door behind them. 

“Alright, let’s get everything out and see what we can come up with,” said Nancy. Judy came over to watch, but was very quiet. Nancy cut up the paper with the four poems and laid them out, then paired them with the items each poem led them to, the key, the book, the underlined words, and the map. They read the poem again before opening up the map. Nancy’s finger traced Ariel Park. “It’s got to be in this park,” she muttered, “just where exactly? Josiah probably wouldn’t have wanted us to dig up the entire park to find it.” 

Jenny scoffed. “I don’t want to have to dig up the entire park to find it.” 

“Here here,” said Helen. 

Nancy drummed her fingers on the floor. “So, the words ‘lion’ and ‘heart’ probably refers to the hiding place . . .” 

“But there aren’t any stone lions in Ariel Park,” said Jenny. 

Helen huffed. “Well, there goes that idea. It was a good one, though.” 

Nancy nodded. “It was, but apparently that wasn’t what Josiah was talking about.” 

“So, we’re nowhere closer than we were before,” said Jenny. 

“We’re a lot closer than we were before,” said Nancy firmly, “we now know that the will is hidden in Ariel Park. We just have to pinpoint its exact location.” 

“And all we have are the words ‘lion’ and ‘heart’,” said Jenny. 

“Lion and heart, lion and heart,” muttered Helen. The girls looked at the map for several minutes, seemingly trying to see if something might pop out at them. Nancy’s eyes would go back to the poems every now and then, but for the most part, she kept her focus on the map. The poems weren’t going to give her anything new, it seemed that they gave everything that they were meant to. Nancy did wonder what the five and eight in the last poem were for. As Frank had pointed out, it seemed that Josiah liked having every line mean something. So what did the five and eight stand for, or needed to be used for? 

The girls were startled by a loud knock at the door. Judy scooted closer to Helen who placed a protective arm around her while Nancy rose to open the door. 

“Oh, Miss Turner! Judy’s doing alright.” 

Edna chuckled. “I think you had better start calling us by our first names, it makes things so much easier.” 

Nancy smiled. “Right.” Judy came dashing up to Nancy and peeked around the door. 

“You startled us, Auntie Edna!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” 

Nancy chuckled. “You’re fine! We just got so lost in thought, that’s all.” 

“Any luck?” 

“Not really, we need to think more on it.”

Edna nodded. “Of course. Well, I just came by to tell you we’re heading back to the house to get a few more things. We figured on making one more run today. Jane found out that one of her night guards, Buddy, I think, has a truck and he and the other night guard were kind enough to help us bring over the bed and a few other things. I think they had to help the chef with a few things before they could come over.” 

“Oh! Are they here now?” 

Edna blinked. “Um, yes, I believe so.” 

Nancy glanced at the clock. The lunch rush hour was upon them, meaning now was the best time to talk to Gil and Buddy without Jean or Jane hovering nearby. “I need to talk to them about something.” She glanced down at Judy. “Stay here with Emily and Jenny, please.” 

Judy nodded. “OK.” 

Nancy turned to Jenny and Helen. “I’ll be back soon. Keep brainstorming!” 

Helen gave her a thumbs up. “You got it!” 

“Oh, you’ll let Nancy boss you around, but not Emily?” said Jenny. 

Helen scoffed. “Nancy’s the only one I’ll let boss me around.” 

Nancy grinned as she closed the door and followed Edna down the stairs. Emily was still at the front desk, Jane having just taken a couple to a table. 

“Nancy, where are you going?” 

“I need to talk to Buddy and Gil without Jane hovering nearby,” whispered Nancy. “I’ll try to make it quick.” 

Emily nodded. “Good luck.” 

“Thanks.” Nancy dashed out of the inn. Buddy Holmes and Gil Gary were talking to Mary Turner. Edna was making her way towards them. Nancy began walking towards them as well. By the time she nearly reached them, Mary and Edna were getting in their car. Buddy glanced at her like he knew she was coming to ask them questions and he was not going to like it one bit. 

“What do you want?” he grumbled. 

“Jane needs you to do something.” 

He sighed. “What now?” 

“She wants you to answer my questions.” 

Buddy tilted his head. “Why didn’t she come tell us this?” 

Nancy nodded at the inn as another couple entered. “It’s busy in there right now, so she couldn’t leave.” 

Gil nodded. “OK, I’ll answer your questions.” Buddy glared at him, but said nothing. 

“First off, what exactly happened last night?” 

Gil shrugged. “Buddy and I were making our rounds for most of the night. He left me at one point to use the restroom.”

Nancy glanced between them. “When was this?” 

Buddy shrugged. “Around ten or so.” 

She looked specifically at him. “Did you see or hear anything when you left the inn?” 

Buddy shook his head. “Nope.” 

Nancy glanced at Gil. “And where were you at this time?” 

Gil glanced at Buddy and seemed to hesitate for a moment. When Buddy nodded, he spoke. “Well, I was checking out the forest by the old servants quarters.” He pointed to the forest by the building he mentioned. It was almost well hidden by the foliage being it was rarely in use. “I, uh, I thought I heard a noise over there.” 

Nancy glanced at him in surprise. “Really?” 

“Yeah, but I didn’t see anyone, or anything, so I wondered if it was just my imagination. I mean, Buddy wasn’t there to hear it either, so . . .” 

Nancy nodded slowly. “A feasible explanation, but considering what happened last night, I think our little ‘ghost’ was distracting you so she could get into the house unseen. It was a perfect scenario, Buddy was inside, using the restroom, and you had your attention elsewhere.” 

Gil’s eyes widened. “You-you mean . . . Oh miss, I’m so sorry!” 

“Oh no, no, you’re fine! This just means that our ‘ghost’ has a better view of what’s going on at the inn that we do of her.” She glanced between the two men. “And what happened after that?” 

Buddy shrugged. “Well, when I came out of the inn, I found Gil over there by the old servants quarters. He told me what he heard and I started helping him search through the forest. But I thought it was leaving the inn wide open, so I told him to go watch the kitchen door. Then, well, you and the ghost came running out, and obviously I wasn’t fast enough to catch the ghost.” 

Gil nodded. “And when I heard the screams, I went the long way around to make sure no one went that way.” He sighed. “Obviously that was a mistake.” 

Nancy nodded. “Well, um, thank you, for all that information. I’d better let you go help the Turners.” 

Gil smiled. “Thank you, miss.” He went and got into the truck. Buddy seemed to pause, like he wanted to tell Nancy something, but seemed to think better of it and turned to follow. But Nancy wasn’t going to let him yet, not after seeing that look. 

“Was there anything else you wanted to say, Buddy?” asked Nancy. “Like, say, about Jean?” 

He turned to face her and blinked. “What do you mean?” 

“Like, is she really your daughter?” 

His eyes seemed to widen for a bit before narrowing. “Yes she is,” he said firmly. 

Nancy’s eyes narrowed. “Your actions seem to say otherwise.” 

“Is that how you interpret them?” 

“Isn’t that how you would interpret them?” 

“You’re determined to get to the bottom of this, aren’t you?” 

“Yes, this is my friend they’re targeting . . .” 

“Who’s they?” 

Nancy let out a breath. “This ‘ghost’ obviously has help, I just don’t know . . .” She gasped when Buddy grabbed her arms. 

“Listen to me, you stick to finding Josiah’s will, understand?” 

“So you do know something!” 

“I will handle the rest,” he continued. “And by the grave of Catherine Grace Parker, I will see this through.” 

Nancy’s eyes widened. “What, what did you just say?” 

“You just find Josiah’s will, alright? Just, just stay away from the lake!” He quickly let go of her. “Damn it, I’ve said too much. Just find Josiah’s will!” He quickly jumped into the truck and pulled away from the driveway. Gil glanced between Buddy and Nancy as they drove past, wondering what had been said. But Nancy could only stare into space, shocked. So Buddy practically admitted that he did know what was going on! But why was she getting an inkling that he could be trusted? And how in the world did he know her mother’s name?

 

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