Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,48

waited breakfast.

Oscar had instructed Mrs. Babineaux to prepare only a light breakfast this morning and she had complied as best she knew how. But a light breakfast to Mrs. Babineaux meant stacks of fluffy pancakes served with a hot fruit compote, poached eggs and sausage patties, hash browns casserole, fried apples and chilled sliced peaches. Henry was filling his plate as if he never expected to eat again.

Grace glanced up as Noah walked into the dining room yawning hugely. Her voice heavy with concern, she asked, "How's Dana this morning?"

"She's fine, like nothing had happened. I tell you," he boasted proudly, "Nobody bounces back like my sister." Nonchalantly walking past Josie, Noah casually stuck a finger in her ear. Josie squealed and giggled and playfully slapped his hand. "They should be down soon. I think they were getting a head start on her packing. She tends to wait until the last minute and Jack wants to be gone as soon as possible."

*****

"D, how do you lose one shoe?"

"It's not lost, Jack, it's just not where it's supposed to be."

Jack cut her an irritated look over his shoulder from his position on the floor where he had been peering under her bed. Dana was leaning against the wall with her arms folded and grinning widely. "What's so funny? And why aren't you packing?"

"I'm otherwise occupied," she said.

"By what, holding up the wall?"

"No, I'm ogling your bum." Dana cocked her head and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It's a very sexy bum, by the way,”she mused. "I wonder why I never noticed before."

"You can ogle it to your heart's content once we get home. But right now, help me find your shoe."

Dana wrinkled her nose. "You're no fun." She slid the missing shoe towards him with her toe from where she'd had it hidden behind her feet. "Party poop."

Jack grunted in irritation as he got up. "Quit playing around, I'm not in the mood for it this morning."

"Oh, grumpy, grumpy. What's a matter, baby, didn't get enough sleep last night?" She batted her eyes at him outrageously.

This elicited a reluctant chuckle. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. He gave her a quick, hard kiss. "It is too early in the morning for you to be this obscenely cheerful. Now," as he turned her around and pointed her towards her suitcase, "finish packing."

"What's your hurry? We don't leave until two."

"And when the clock strikes two, I'm dragging you out of this place even if I have to throw you over my shoulder. I don't want there to be any excuses as to why I can't."

But instead of resuming her packing, Dana sat on the bed and chewed her lip. "You know I feel kind of guilty about leaving Oscar and Josie alone here without knowing what's been going on."

"How do you know Oscar hasn't been behind these stunts all along? Maybe they are part of the whole haunted castle package he's trying to peddle."

Dana frowned. "You don't really believe that."

Jack sighed. "I don't know what to believe, but my point is neither do you. What do we really know about him? About any of them?"

"Jack, it's not Oscar."

"Maybe not, but how do we know?"

"The same way you knew we would be more than just friends. Sometimes you just know people." Dana plopped backwards onto the bed. "I really wanted it to be Austin, but they went home before this last thing happened. That threw my theory out the window with the trash. That means there's some other nameless nasty lurking in the shadows. But if that’s true, then he wants everyone gone, not just me. And this is Oscar and Josie's home. They can't leave. I don't want to read in the paper about them having their throats slit in the middle of the night."

"It's not your problem."

Dana jumped up from the bed completely incensed. "Well, why the hell not? I know you want to protect me, Jack, but don't get so good at it that you forget how to be human."

At the look of hurt in his eyes, Dana wanted to bite off her tongue, spit it out and grind it under her heel. But before she could apologize he was at the door. "Excuse the hell out of me! You can finish your packing by yourself. Maybe I'll be fit company once I've had some coffee. It might help your disposition, too,”he added as he stormed out.

"Dana, you bitch,” she muttered disgustedly at herself. She