The Missing Mortals, page 11
“Sebastian!” Martha cried as she, Emma, and Doug raced to see what had happened to him.
They found him lying on his stomach in the tall grass. When he rolled over to get up, Emma saw what he had tripped over. Lying at his feet was a flat concrete slab that Emma immediately recognized as a grave marker. Emma frowned as she tried to figure out who could possibly be buried here. Darius and Rebecca didn’t have any children when they lived in the cottage, and it couldn’t be either of them. Emma bent down to get a closer look at the marker. Maybe it would have a name. By this time, the others had noticed it too and were kneeling over it.
“It’s got a blackbird and a rose carved on it,” Sebastian remarked.
“That’s not a blackbird,” Emma responded as a tingle of excitement began to spread through her body. She looked at Martha knowing she would understand what she was about to say. “It’s a raven.”
Martha nodded knowingly, while Doug and Sebastian continued to look on in confusion. “Do you think one of the sculptures could be buried here?” Martha asked Emma.
“Why else would there be a marker?”
Doug’s eyes widened as he began to understand what the girls were saying. A second later, he was kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. The pirate ship Darius had sailed was named the Raven, and in one of Rebecca’s journals, she had mentioned that Darius liked to call her his Irish Rose. Energized by the discovery, Doug raced to the root cellar with Sebastian following closely on his heels. He remembered seeing a shovel among the gardening tools. As he ran, he explained the significance of the symbols on the stone to Sebastian.
In moments, he was back at the marker with shovel in hand. Sebastian managed to lift the stone clear, and Doug immediately began digging where the stone had been. The recent rain had made the ground soft, so Doug was able to make quick progress. He had dug to a depth of four feet when the next shovel thrust resulted in a clanging sound. They had found another metal box. With all four of them working together, they were able to pull the box from its resting place. It looked exactly like the two others they’d seen. The rusty padlock broke easily after a few hard raps with the shovel, and soon Doug was holding up another of Marnatti’s magnificent sculptures. He held it up triumphantly, feeling as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders. An engraving on the bottom identified the sculpture as Martha. The figure was dressed in a long robe and was holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. On her head was a long flowing scarf. Emma remembered that Jesus had often eaten with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus when he was in their hometown, Bethany. This would explain the bowl and spoon Martha was holding. It seemed as if Marnatti had captured her in the middle of preparing a meal.
Sebastian stood by quietly, while the others talked excitedly. Finally, Martha noticed him and couldn’t help asking, “Sebastian, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I don’t understand why there was a marker for this sculpture and not for any of the others.”
It was a valid question, and the others were silent for a moment as they tried to figure out the answer. It was Doug who finally hit upon a plausible explanation.
“You know, there may have been a marker for the one behind the school, but it would have been out in the open—not protected by trees like this one. Exposed to the elements for three hundred years, the symbols would have faded away. It would have looked like any other flat stone.”
What Doug said sounded reasonable. The entire area around the academy was set on bedrock composed of limestone. This explained why there were so many caves and also why rocks were present in abundance. Doug had heard the school’s gardener complain more than once that the things that seemed to grow best in the flowerbeds were rocks. No matter how many he removed from the garden each day, the next day there were always more in their place. The construction crew wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary when they were digging the foundation for the gymnasium. If what Doug had said was true, the marker would have been worn smooth and would not have looked any different from any other flat rock.
Although he agreed with Doug’s hypothesis, Sebastian continued to look confused. “But what about the sculpture at the arch? There wasn’t a marker for it.”
It was Martha who answered this time. “Darius wouldn’t have needed one. The arch itself was the marker. From there, he’d know exactly where he’d hidden the sculpture of Sarah.”
“I get it,” Sebastian said with a nod. “Now, I only have one other question.”
“What’s that?” the others asked in unison.
“Why leave markers at all? I thought Darius didn’t want the sculptures to ever be found.”
“We’ll probably never know for sure, but I have a theory,” Doug replied after a moment’s thought. “Lord Dinswood said that the night Rebecca died Darius went crazy with grief, but maybe even in his grief, he realized that someday he might wish he had the sculptures back again.”
Believing she understood what Doug was trying to say, Emma said, “You mean, years later when his grief wasn’t so fresh and painful, he might want the sculptures to remember Rebecca by?”
Doug simply nodded, and as he did so, Emma was once again struck by his maturity. It was amazing how Doug seemed to be able to connect so easily with the thoughts and feelings of someone who had lived so long ago—someone he’d never known. If she didn’t know better, it was almost as if Doug himself was a descendant of Darius. Following closely on the heels of that thought was the realization that she was letting her overactive imagination have too much free reign. Smiling at her own foolishness, Emma followed the others who were already heading back to the cottage with their newest find.
A short time later, with the second sculpture of the day wrapped in Doug’s shirt and stowed safely in Sebastian’s backpack, they walked down the hill to their waiting bikes and headed back to the castle. It had been a tiring but successful day.
When they got back to the school, Doug and Sebastian took both sculptures to their room. They would be safe there, at least until Phil and Tom returned at the start of school. Phil and Tom had been Doug and Sebastian’s roommates last year and were going to be again this year. Doug decided not to signal the Reaper until just before the deadline. If they signaled their success too early, the Reaper might not give them as much time to find the next sculpture. Of course, they already had the next sculpture, but the Reaper didn’t know that.
The remainder of the time before the start of school was spent taking Dean Harwood to various fake locations. More often than not, Miss Jennings accompanied them. It was becoming increasingly clear, at least to Emma and Martha, that the two of them had feelings for each other. If Doug realized it, he never commented on it, and Emma still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask him about it. She didn’t want to stick her nose in where it wasn’t wanted, so she bided her time. Someday Doug would open up and talk to her about it.
Emma’s injuries continued to be painful for the next couple of days. The one on her thigh was a particular problem because her shorts rubbed against it. Each day after showering, Emma put antibiotic ointment on it. Then Martha would help her tape gauze over it to ease the discomfort. Fortunately, it healed quickly and seemed to go unnoticed by Dean Harwood and Miss Jennings when they were all together on a search.
As they had hoped when they had first hatched their plan, after visiting the fifth site with no success, Dean Harwood became convinced that the other sculptures were no longer in existence. On the evening of their last outing, Dean Harwood visited Lord Dinswood to deliver the bad news. As far as Doug’s dad was concerned, the search for the missing Mortals was over. Doug hated disappointing Lord Dinswood, but under the circumstances, there was nothing else that could be done. Lord Dinswood’s safety and that of his father had to come first. Even so, Doug’s heart ached for the old man he’d come to love.
The day before the Reaper’s deadline, Doug hung the Dinswood Academy banner in his window. The next morning when he checked his mailbox, he found a sealed envelope. Without opening it, he went in search of Sebastian, Emma, and Martha. When they were all assembled in the lounge, Doug showed them the envelope.
“Where did you find it?” Martha asked.
“In my mailbox.”
Just inside the double doors in both the boys’ and girls’ dorms were a bank of small rectangular mailboxes—one for each student. It was how the academy’s students received their mail. The boxes had the names of their owners on them and were basically just open cubbyholes. Anyone with access to the dorms would also have access to any of the mailboxes.
“What does it say?” Sebastian asked impatiently once Martha’s question had been answered.
Without a word, Doug opened the envelope and drew out the note inside. He quickly read it and then handed it to the others so they could read it for themselves. The note was brief and to the point. It instructed Doug to take the sculpture to the storage room beneath the kitchen and place it in an old wooden barrel that could be found at the very back of the room. Never having been in the storage room, Emma had no idea what the note was talking about. “Do you know where this barrel is?” she asked Doug.
“No, I’ve never been down there,” Doug answered with a shake of his head.
“I have,” Sebastian said proudly. “But I don’t know about any barrel.”
“Well, that’s just great!” Martha exclaimed sarcastically. “Why don’t you tell us what you do know?”
Ignoring Martha’s tone, Sebastian answered with a smile, “I know it’s never locked.”
That got Martha’s attention. Last year, Sebastian had chosen cooking as his hobby class. His dream was to someday become a great chef. As part of his cooking class, he had gotten to spend quite of bit of time in the school’s kitchen. Although she’d never thought about it before, it made sense that Sebastian would have also become familiar with the area where all the food was stored. Maybe he didn’t know about the barrel because he’d never had occasion to go to the very back of the large room. Martha just hoped that they would be able to find it. The trick was going to be finding a time when the cooks weren’t around. That would probably mean getting into the storage room in the evening after the cooks had finished for the day.
“I guess I’d better deliver the sculpture of Sarah tonight after the cooks have gone,” Doug said. “I shouldn’t have any trouble finding the barrel.”
“I’m going with you,” Sebastian immediately insisted.
“We’re going too,” Emma quickly added, feeling she could safely speak for Martha. She looked over at Martha for confirmation and saw her nodding her agreement.
“Look, guys, I really appreciate it, but the note says for me to deliver the sculpture.” Doug was grateful for their offers of help, but he didn’t want to risk angering the Reaper and thereby endangering his dad or Lord Dinswood.
“The note doesn’t specifically say you have to deliver it alone,” Emma pointed out. This was exactly what she had feared, that Doug would think he had to do this by himself.
“The Reaper must know we’re all working together to find the sculptures. Surely, he would expect us to do this part together too,” Martha added in an attempt to persuade Doug to let them help.
“Look, Doug, we’re not going to let you do this alone,” Sebastian said in a no-nonsense tone that the others had never heard him use before. “If the Reaper doesn’t want us along, then he’d better say so in the next note. This time we’re coming.”
Doug looked at the determined faces of his friends as he tried to decide what to do. What they had said made sense. The note didn’t actually state that he had to deliver the sculpture alone. As long as the Reaper received the goods, why would he care who brought it to the drop site? Doug wasn’t afraid to carry out the task by himself, but he would rather have the company of his friends. After another moment, Doug relented. “Okay, you guys win. We’ll go together.”
Emma let out the breath she’d been holding, her shoulders sagging in relief. She had been certain that Doug would not agree to let them go with him. She could tell from their expressions that Sebastian and Martha were equally relieved.
Sebastian clapped Doug on the back with a smile and said, “Okay, let’s plan our strategy.”
Compared to some of the things they’d had to plan last year when they were hunting for the treasure, this was going to be a piece of cake. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that they would all make their way to the kitchen just after dark. The halls would be clear of any traffic at that time as most of the staff would have retired to their rooms, and at the moment, there were no other students to worry about. Although the school employed three security guards, they didn’t begin their rounds until after ten o’clock. Emma realized that once school started, it was going to be a bit more difficult to get the sculptures to the storage room, especially since Bobby Wilcox had promised at the end of school last year that he would be watching their every move. Oh well, they’d just have to worry about that when the time came. Right now, they needed to focus on delivering the first sculpture to the Reaper.
The rest of the day passed quickly. Sebastian suggested that they go swimming one last time. It was a sunny day, and the weatherman on the radio had promised a temperature in the upper eighties, so the others readily agreed. It was their last full day alone together before the start of school, so they made the most of it. The next day would be Friday, and the new seventh graders would be arriving for orientation. The rest of the student body would begin arriving on Saturday and Sunday. School would officially begin on Monday.
There was a part of Emma that was eager for the new school year to begin, but there was also a part that hated to see the summer end. She was going to miss the freedom they had enjoyed the last couple of weeks. When school started, their wanderings would once again be confined to the school grounds. Sneaking off to look for the remaining sculptures would mean breaking a long-standing school rule and facing possible expulsion from the academy. Although they’d broken school rules in the past, it was never something that Emma enjoyed. This time, however, they really had no choice. Two lives hung in the balance.
Later that evening, just after dark, Emma and Martha crept from their room to the double doors that marked the entrance to the girls’ dorms in Brimley Hall. Martha pushed one of the doors open just enough for her to take a quick peek down the main hall. Seeing that it was clear, she pushed the door open the rest of the way and motioned for Emma to follow. Their sneakers were nearly soundless on the polished floor as they quickly made their way past the library and lounge to the kitchen on the southeast side of the castle’s ground floor. Even so, Emma didn’t relax until they were safely inside the kitchen. The boys had not arrived yet, so the girls waited quietly. Fortunately, there was still enough light coming in through the kitchen’s south-facing windows to allow Emma to get an idea of the room’s general layout. There were several industrial-sized ovens in a row in the center of the room. On either side of the ovens were rows of stainless-steel countertops. Numerous pots and pans hung from hooks above the counters. Several large sinks ran along the west wall of the kitchen. Industrial-sized stainless-steel refrigerators and freezers ran along the east wall. During mealtimes, a portion of the north side of the kitchen opened into the dining hall and consisted of a long buffet table containing warmers from which the food could be served. A partition of glass separated the students from the food much like a salad bar in a restaurant. A large metal roll-down door that reminded Emma of a garage door closed this area off when not in use. The appliances gleamed in the meager light coming in through the windows, and everything looked clean and spotless. She was just beginning to wonder where the door to the storage room was when the boys arrived. Doug entered first with the sculpture wrapped in a sheet. Sebastian followed closely behind.
“Where’s the storage room?” Emma asked Sebastian immediately upon seeing the boys.
“It’s to the left of the last refrigerator. Just follow me,” Sebastian replied, enjoying his role as leader. As they were now standing in the opposite corner of the kitchen, Emma immediately understood why she couldn’t see the door to the storage room. The ovens were blocking her view.
No one spoke as they all followed Sebastian to the far wall lined with refrigerators and freezers. Just as Sebastian had said, there was a door next to the last refrigerator. Without hesitation, Sebastian grabbed the doorknob. Emma held her breath. Sebastian had told them that this door was never locked, but he had been wrong before. She needn’t have worried though. The knob turned easily in his hand, and in seconds he was pulling the door open. Before heading down the stairs, Sebastian flipped a switch just to the right of the door, and a light came on. He then led them down a wooden staircase and flipped another light switch at the bottom of the stairs. Two banks of lights came on, and they found themselves in a huge windowless underground room. The room contained row upon row of shelves all filled with canned goods, sugar, flour, and an assortment of other food items for the upcoming school year. Along the walls were more refrigerators and freezers, which were no doubt also well stocked. Emma was amazed at the amount of food stored down here. It looked like enough food to feed the academy’s students and staff for an entire year. Considering the school’s location in the mountains and the harsh winters it experienced, it made sense that the school wouldn’t be able to rely on weekly deliveries of groceries and would have to keep a rather substantial supply of food on hand.
“Where’s the barrel, Sebastian?” Martha asked, interrupting Emma’s musings. Emma had been so busy looking around that, for a moment, she’d forgotten their reason for being there. Feeling a little guilty, she headed to the back of the room in search of the barrel the Reaper had described in his note.
