Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,10

her closer to him, their hips merged and they swayed and dipped to the slow, erotic beat. They had practiced this dance a hundred times.

This was the first time it took her breath away.

Dana felt a warm tingle infuse her body and she looked at Jack in startled surprise. Their eyes locked. If he was aware of the unfamiliar sensations coursing through her as a result of his closeness, he gave no sign. Still, without breaking rhythm, he managed to pull her even closer to him. Funny, she thought, I never realized his eyes were so blue.

When the song neared its end, he spun her away from him once again into the swing dance style. So familiar was she with the dance that she didn't miss a step, but Dana wondered how she didn't fall over her own feet.

The dance ended with a flourish, with her bent backward over his arm. He stared down at her one second, two seconds, three…then he leaned forward and kissed her on the temple. They had always ended the dance the same way, but this time Dana felt the floor disappear from under her.

"Oh, wow, Dana. That was awesome!" Josie was beside herself in excitement. "I wish you were staying longer than this weekend so you could teach me how to do that."

Dana risked a cautious look at Jack, who looked almost as confused as she felt. She was slightly relieved that she wasn't alone in this strangeness. Noah looked smug.

The others were effusive in the praise they heaped upon their dance efforts. Dana barely listened and missed the knowing looks passed between Grace and Rose. What is wrong with me? She asked herself yet again. She knew what it felt like, but… No! That’s ridiculous.

The party broke up a short time later and everyone went to their own rooms. Dana, however, was restless and unsettled. Finally, she gave up and did what she always did when she felt troubled. She set out in search of ice cream.

She knew her way to the dining room and deduced the kitchen must be one of the two doors that had been unopened during dinner. The dinner plates and serving dishes had all been cleared away, presumably by the unseen cook, or maybe by the ghosts, she thought facetiously. She picked the right door on the first try, and went into a large, old-fashioned kitchen, so clean the shine from it almost hurt her eyes.

Very little in modernization had been done in this room. The refrigerator easily dated back to the 1950s and the cook stove was even older. She found a chest freezer against the far wall, which Dana made a beeline for. It was the newest appliance in there. Judging from the avocado green color, it was probably as recent as the 1970s.

Digging through the freezer, Dana failed to find a carton of ice cream, but did find a box of ice-lollies. Unwrapping one, she took a more careful look at the variety of items the Cook had laying around her domain.

Her eyes widened in shock as they fell upon a genuine Kitchen Magician, circa 1870. She had never seen one outside the pages of an antiquing catalog. While Dana did not consider herself an antique enthusiast, her mother had been and she had passed on to her daughter a genuine curiosity about the current value of old things.

It always amazed Dana at how many once ordinary, common things were now worth high dollars to collectors. The Kitchen Magician, a handy gadget that was a dredger, grater, cookie cutter and much more, could fetch at least a thousand dollars, maybe more. She looked around and spotted an old coffee mill, floor mill, batter pail, and an actual nineteenth century hand-carved butter print, plus many other items. She knew that, conservatively, she was surrounded by at least three to four thousand dollars worth of collector items.

Making a mental note to tell Oscar at the first opportunity, Dana headed out the back door to sit on the porch. Despite the night air, it was still hot and muggy outside.

"Care for some company?"

Lost in her own thoughts, she had not heard Jack come into the kitchen. She popped the last of her ice-lolly into her mouth and looked through the screen door at him, a dark shape backlit by the kitchen light.

"Sure." She moved over to make more room for him on the stairs. He pushed open the screen door with a squeak. He sat down next to