Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,31

to teach them, but I really spent more time fussing at them, telling them to straighten up and fly right. Once I had dreams of shaping young minds, you know? But spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one gets full the quickest."

"You taught me, grandpa,”said Mark loyally.

Henry's eyes twinkled with warmth. "That I did, boy, that I did. Which reminds me," he said, turning to Oscar, "you said something about a school teacher bandit the other night. I've been meaning to ask you more about it."

"Yes, Roan Davis was his name. He lived here in Raven Keep Castle as the schoolmaster for the Randolph children."

"Randolph. You mentioned that name before."

"I remember,”said Grace.

Oscar seemed surprised and delighted that she remembered. "That's right. By all accounts, he was very well thought of by Mr. Randolph and very popular with the children. But, the story goes that at night he was secretly preying on coaches. There were also claims that he robbed banks and trains, but I believe those were simply embellishments, since he was only supposed to be doing his thieving at night. I would imagine it would be quite difficult to rob a train in the dark."

"I believe that Josie said that my room was the old schoolmaster's bedroom," Dana said.

Oscar nodded at Dana. "That's right, Roan stayed in that room as well as several other teachers throughout the years. Many wealthy children were home-schooled in those days. Originally, there was a door that connected it to the nursery. But that was boarded up when I remodeled. Jack and Noah are sleeping in what had originally been the schoolroom and nursery."

"At least Noah is,”Rose cracked.

"So what happened to Davis?" asked Dana, ignoring the remark.

"Eventually he was caught and sent to prison amidst much scandal, as you can imagine. A legend sprang up that he had hidden his treasure somewhere in this castle, taking the secret of its location with him to the grave. One story has it that a fellow inmate claimed that Davis told him just before he died that the secret to the location was hidden in a letter. What became of the letter, or if it ever really existed, no one knows. But off and on people have been looking for the treasure ever since."

"But I remember you saying that you didn't believe the story,”observed Rose.

"Oh, there is historical evidence of Davis and the fact that he went to prison for robbery. But I have always had difficulty believing in stories of hidden booty."

"Like pirate treasure?" asked Mark.

"Exactly. The mere idea that bandits and thieves would hide their money rather than spend it always seemed a bit ludicrous to me."

"Now there's a point I've never considered,”mused Rose. "Oh well, I know this is our last day here and all, but I'm kind of bored with looking for treasure. And Grace has always been more interested in the ghosts than a pot-load of cash that may or may not exist. I'll tell you all the truth; I've had more fun just hanging out with you folks. It's kind of been like a cruise that never left land."

Yawning mightily, Josie wandered in. "I didn't miss breakfast did I?"

Oscar smiled indulgently. "Just about, sleepy head. Why so late, didn't you sleep well?"

"Not really, I had these weird dreams about maniacal laughter."

Dana turned red and Rose hooted with laughter of her own. Josie looked around. With another yawn she asked, "Where's Noah and Jack?"

With an evilly gleeful look at Dana, she replied, "They're out back discussing the consequences of maniacal laughter."

*****

Noah wasn't laughing when he asked, "So are the two of you getting married?"

Jack gaped at him. "Whoa, aren't you jumping the gun a little bit?"

"Why not, you're with each other almost all the time anyway. You just don't live together. You love each other, don't you?"

With a shock, Jack realized that he hadn’t actually told Dana that he loved her. But then again, she hadn't told him either. "Your sister and I have always loved each other."

"Don't treat me like a kid. You know what I mean." With sudden wariness, Noah studied him. "Or was last night just about sex?"

"It wasn't just sex,” Jack replied with some heat. Not for him. And dammit, he thought, not for her either. Hadn't she said she wanted to move forward? But maybe she meant something different by that than he had. Did she just want to be friends who slept together sometimes? No, he told himself fiercely, the