More Than Ordinary Treasure

By: Sydnee

            “Dude!” Eric shouted, hurting the ears of the two other passengers riding in the old, beat-up Chevy. “This house is sweet!”

            “Whatever!” Samantha said as she rolled her eyes. “As long as we get the house, I don’t even care if we have to come to England to see it!”

            “I guess you’re great grandfather liked his privacy,” suggested Susan, the siblings’ mother. “I’d guess that this driveway was two miles long!”

            The car was silent, except for the sounds of Samantha’s pink iPod. The three gazed at the old house in utter amazement. It was four stories high and never seemed to end in length. There was a huge fountain of water directly in front of the front door. The long cobblestone driveway circled around the fountain. Samantha, Eric, and Susan slowly stepped out of the car, their eyes wide with astonishment.

            “Shepard family?” asked a man in an expensive Armani suit. “I’m Drew Ginsley, William Shepard’s lawyer. I’ll be handling the will and his estate,” spoke again the lawyer. He held out his hand for Susan to shake, and she did so politely.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Ginsley. I’m Susan Shepard, and these are my children, Eric and Samantha,” introduced Susan.

            “Sup?” greeted Eric.

            “Hi,” yawned Samantha.

            “Well, I’m, uh, charmed to meet you both,” replied Mr. Ginsley rather rudely. “Why don’t we go inside and discuss your Great Grandfather William’s estate?”

            Mr. Ginsley gestured towards the front door, and the family stepped inside. The Shepards’ eyes opened as wide as possible and a look of amazement swept across their faces. The foyer was seemingly the most fantastic room in the entire world. It had antique furniture in perfect condition. Pictures painted of earlier generations of Shepards lined the walls. Displays of historical artifacts sat in airtight containers.

            “I knew Great Grandfather William had a hobby in archaeology and history, but I never knew he had so many treasures!” exclaimed Susan. She had never visited Great Grandfather William in his home as a child. He had always been a great mystery to her in her younger days.

            “OMG!” shouted Samantha. “There’s, like, really pretty old stuff here!” she blurted out as she gazed at the house’s beauty.

            “It is pretty cool,” agreed Eric.

            “Yes, yes indeed. Aren’t you excited that these things will belong to you and your family, Ms. Shepard?” asked Mr. Ginsley to Susan.

            “Why, certainly,” replied Susan. They all three were thrilled that these things would belong to them. It was too bad the horrible circumstances of Great Grandfather William’s death surrounded this excitement.

            “Let’s get down to business,” demanded Mr. Ginsley. “William Shepard has left all his things to your family, being all he had left. He has left individual letters for each of you. Kids, why don’t your mother and I discuss the boring stuff, and you all can go exploring the house?” suggested Mr. Ginsley.

            “Alright. I’ll find you when we’re done talking,” stated Susan, and the siblings raced up the stairs after receiving their letters from Great Grandfather William.

            “Let’s read our letters before we get too far ahead. You know, out of respect for the old guy,” said Eric, not meaning to sound rude. “I’ll read mine first:

            Dearest Eric:

            It is a sad moment if you are reading this letter. But if indeed you are, it is also a moment of urgency. All my life I have been researching the history and mystery of my house. There has been a legend for many years that some of the treasures of this world have been hidden here for years. Any historian would tell you that this house has only been here for two hundred years, but I have come to realize that parts this house could have been here as many as seven hundred years. Over time, the house was repaired and built over, leaving no physical evidence of its old age. 

            Over the course of my life, I have found many clues to the location of the treasure on my vast, one thousand acre property. By the time I collected enough clues to start looking for the treasures, I became old and weak. I have a request for you and your sister: continue my work after my death. Please do so. Enclosed is all the clues I have found to the location of this great mystery, but I have condensed it to what you need to know.

            Thank you for helping me. Don’t let my life’s work be a waste.

                                                                                    With Love,

                                                                        Great Grandfather William

            Eric looked in the envelope and found the “clues” William had written about.

            The treasures of the world are located on my property. The property was divided into five areas: the house, the guest house property, the activities lawn, the field, and the ruins. The ruins are filled with digs where I have looked for clues. Inside the house is legend to be rooms from seven hundred years ago where people have rebuilt over them. The most recent and useful clue that I have found is this: ‘Where there is truth, it will be pictured. Men on Earth will search for truth for years to come, but will have no success.’ I have not been able to come to any conclusions about this clue, because I have become sick.

            “So Great Grandfather William was a complete psycho. That’s fantastic. What if we become psycho living in the house? What are we going to do?” worried Samantha. She could be overly dramatic sometimes.

            “William wasn’t psycho, stupid. I think he might have been on to something. But I’m not too worried about finding any treasure. What’s your letter say?” asked Eric.

            Samantha opened her letter and skimmed through it. “It says the same thing as yours, except addressed to me,” said Samantha.

            “Let’s go look through the house. I don’t plan on finding any treasure any time soon,” replied Eric. Samantha nodded her head in agreement, and the two paced off. They examined rooms filled with antiquities, rooms filled with modern furniture, ones with paintings, ones with books, and ones with miscellaneous items. They stepped in the personal library of Great Grandfather William, and viewed his exquisite collection of books from the seventeenth century. They carefully walked through the guest bedrooms, and acknowledged the intricate carvings on all the fireplaces. In one of the closets, they even saw a sofa and a mirror large enough for an entire army to look at themselves. Eventually, they made their way back downstairs, and met up with their mother and the lawyer.

            “Perfect timing,” greeted Susan warmly. “I was just getting ready to come upstairs and find you.”

            “Yeah. I’m just glad we actually found our way back downstairs!” exclaimed Samantha.

            “It was pretty huge!” added Eric, flipping his long hair out of his eyes. “I’m just ready to eat something.” Both of the children walked over to stand by their mother.

            “Well I’ll leave you and your family alone, Ms. Shepard,” said Mr. Ginsley. “If you have any questions, just call me.” He reached inside his suit coat and handed Susan his card.

            “Thanks for your help,” replied Susan as the stiff lawyer exited through the front door. “What a day! You guys go get our bags out of the car, and I’ll try to find the kitchen and put something in the oven.” Eric and Samantha walked out to the family’s blue car and opened the trunk. Eric removed his and his mother’s luggage, while Samantha removed her five, large, pink luggage bags.

            “I hope I don’t break a nail carrying all this stuff!” worried Samantha. Eric looked at her and rolled his eyes. There was silence carrying the luggage inside the house. Both kids were thinking about their letters from Great Grandfather William. What if there really was a treasure? What if they found it and became famous? Both kids realized that it was a huge ‘if’ ,and it was an unlikely ‘if’, considering they would only be staying in England for four weeks. They would head back to the states for school, and then come back next to England summer.

            When the kids had finished bringing in all the luggage, they went to find their mother in the kitchen. “Hey, guys!” their mom said as the entered the room. It was absolutely humongous. It had a total of five conventional ovens, three sinks, and two restaurant size refrigerators.  “I found some stuff to make a pizza in this labyrinth of a kitchen, so we can all help out in making it.” The family of three prepared a delicious pizza, finished it off with some ice-cream, and headed off to bed.

            The next morning, the children woke up with a note on their nightstands that read: Hey! I went to the store to get some stuff we’ll need, so I’ll be back later. –Mom.  Eric crept out of his room and into his sister’s.

            “Hey Sam!” he yelled, waking her up. She looked at him, then the clock, then back at him. “What do you want to do today? I’m bored out of my mind!” expressed Eric.

            “I have no idea! What are you asking me for?” replied Samantha as she rolled her eyes.

            “I don’t know! I thought maybe you’d have a suggestion. I know! We can go searching for the treasure!” exclaimed Eric.

            “Eric, do you really think there’s any treasure in this house? Great Grandfather William was completely psychotic!” said Samantha with a tone of disbelief, looking him up and down as if he were insane.

            “Well do you have any suggestion more exciting to keep us entertained? I think not!” yelled Eric. “Now what was that clue thing?”

            “I’ll look,” replied Samantha. She fumbled through her pockets for her envelope. “Here it is. It says ‘Where there is truth, it will be pictured. Men on Earth will search for truth for years to come, but will have no success.’ I don’t get it!”    

            “Think. ‘it will be pictured.’ Maybe it means a picture as in a portrait. But who could paint a picture of truth?” Eric thought aloud. He looked around at all of the pictures on the walls.

            “DUH! It’s called abstract, genius!” retorted Samantha.

            “Yes, but in all the bazillion rooms we looked in yesterday, did you see a single painting or photo of anything abstract? No! Everything artistic that Great Grandfather William collected was all realistic. Nothing creative,” corrected Eric. “What should we do?”

            “I guess the smartest thing to do would be to look at the paintings,” said Samantha irritably. So the siblings set off looking at the paintings in the house. Most of the paintings were portraits of historical figures. Others were of famous landscapes. All of the paintings of people had a small bronze plate at the bottom of the frame, with either the name of the person the portrait was of, or a proverb or quote.

            “What’s that?” asked Samantha. She looked around to see what was making the noise of a door slamming.

            “I guess mom’s home. Let’s go see her. But don’t tell her about the ‘treasures of the world’ we’re looking for. I don’t want to get her worried,” instructed Eric.

            “Whatever!” Samantha said as she rolled her eyes.

            The kids went to greet their mother in the front room by the door. She came in with two large brown bags with Mart o’ Goods printed on the side.

            “It’s a pretty long drive from here to the nearest grocery store!” Susan complained. “I got us some food for the week and brought us lunch from the local café.” The three put the groceries away and ate their lunch of sandwiches. “So what have you guys done today?” she inquired.

            “Oh, we’ve just been listening to the radio and stuff. You know… chillin’ out,” he said casually.

            “Yeah. Chillin’ out,” Samantha agreed with him.

            “What did your letters say?” Susan asked.

            “Oh, just how he wished he knew us better,” lied Samantha.

            To the children’s disbelief, their mother didn’t seem the least bit suspicious. They spent the rest of the day wandering around the grounds and gazing at the beautiful landscape.

            The next day, Eric and Samantha got up early to search for the treasure.

            “We have to remember that there are some areas of the house that have been here for seven hundred years. I’d bet that some of these artifacts have been around that long too!” reminded Eric.

            “Yeah, these paintings and stuff look awfully old!” remarked Samantha.

            “Let’s get back to where we were yesterday. We figured that it must be talking about a portrait, but we couldn’t figure out what they meant when they said ‘painting the truth’. Let’s read some of the captions on these gold nameplate things,” suggested Eric. The two began at the room they left off in yesterday, a room with yellow flowered wallpaper in the east wing, and started reading the bronze plates on portraits. There were hundreds on paintings lining the walls of the mansion. The paintings could have been painted and framed hundreds of years ago. The inscriptions read everything from General Smith to The Landscapes of China to personal philosophies of the person depicted in the portrait. But Eric noticed one odd plate in particular.

            “Why is this inscription written in another language?” remarked Eric.

            “It looks like Latin. If these paintings are as old as they look, one of the main languages could have been Latin when the portrait was painted,” said Samantha intelligently. “How would you pronounce that?”

            “Let’s see, umm, Rex rgis, archos of verum. What’s that supposed to mean? It’s under a picture of a king from a long time ago,” guessed Eric.

            “I’ve got an idea!” Samantha said excitedly. “Let’s see if Great Grandfather William has any books about Latin!”

            “That’s a great idea! Let’s go look in his library!” leaded Eric. They paced towards the personal library of Great Grandfather William. Samantha looked on the left side shelves while Eric looked on the right side shelves. Because it was William’s private library, there was no catalog of books. They saw books so thick that Eric couldn’t even pick them up, and books so thin they appeared to be one page long. Eventually, Samantha saw exactly what she wanted.

            “I’ve found one! It says Latin to English Dictionary. Perfect!” said Samantha. “Let’s see. Rex rgis… that’s in the r’s…. aha! It means King. And archos… that would be in the a’s…. that means Ruler! And finally verum! …. That would be in the v’s… yes! That means Truth! The phrase means King, Ruler of Truth!” concluded Samantha.

            “TRUTH!” shouted Eric. “The picture is the next clue! Let’s go get a better look!” The siblings raced over to where they saw the picture of the king, three hallways over. Eric thought they were lost, but luckily Samantha knew exactly where it was located. Then they saw the portrait. “Careful now,” Eric warned as they lifted the picture off the wall. “This must be EXTREMELY old!”

            “I know. I’m not going to hurt it!” Samantha replied. Eric removed the frame from the picture. The parchment started to crumble in his fingertips. As he handled the picture, a small envelope fell from the frame.

            “This must be a clue! I’ll open it!” volunteered Samantha. “Okay. There’s a piece of yellowed paper in here. It must be extremely old. It says: As greatly as man needs water, he needs to be removed from things that could cause him great difficulties in life. Riches to great for one man to behold need to be contained as much as man needs water to live. What’s the big deal with water anyway?”

            “It’s symbolic, Sam. See, water is a necessity for people to live. But I have a feeling that the clue doesn’t just use water for symbolism. Maybe there’s another clue near one of the sinks, or maybe in a washtub or something,” thought Eric aloud.

            “Alright. Let’s go look around,” remarked Samantha. The two wandered around the house, hoping one of the kitchens or bathrooms was one of the areas of the house that was seven hundred years old. They searched all the sinks, washtub, and water containing devices that seemed relatively old. As they figured, they didn’t find a thing.

            “Look, I’m tired and I want to go talk to mom and just hang out,” said Samantha with a bored look on her face.

            “Okay, we’ll search some more tomorrow. I’m bored too,” agreed Eric. The two walked to find their mother so they could eat lunch with her. After lunch, the three played cards together.

            “What have you guys been doing all day?” inquired Susan.

            “Oh, nothin’,” replied Samantha nervously.

            “Yeah, nothing at all. Just exploring and stuff,” confirmed Eric.

            “Oh… okay then,” said Susan. “I figured you guys would have already broken something expensive by now, but we’ve all been very careful. I’m glad, too. Great Grandfather William would not have been happy if we damaged his things!”

            “Sure,” Eric said, his mind wandering elsewhere. He was thinking about where the treasure was and what they would have found there. He could just imagine himself and his sister giving some lecture about finding hidden treasure. He smiled at the thought. The Shepards finished their day by making small talk and watching the sunset through the large glass windows.

            The next afternoon, Samantha and Eric set out again in search of the hidden treasure. “Water. Water. Riches and water,” thought Samantha. “What can this have to do with anything?”

            “Water. The five areas of the property: The house, the guest property, the activities lawn, the field, and the ruins. Do you think there might be an ancient well in the ruins?” suggested Eric.

            “I don’t know, but that could make a lot of sense. I think we should go and check it out,” said Samantha.

            “Yeah, okay,” agreed Eric. They walked towards The Ruins area of the property. It took a good fifteen minutes to get there because of the huge size of the grounds. When they arrived, they saw lots of rocks and run down huts. There was what looked like large excavations. Eric guessed that they were where Great Grandfather William was looking for the clues. It wasn’t too long before Samantha saw a small rock formation that resembled a well.

            “That thing over there must be a well from years ago!” exclaimed Samantha.

            “Yeah. Let’s go check it out,” said Eric. They made their way over to the well and looked inside.

            “All it looks like is a really deep hole,” said Samantha in an upset tone. It was very deep, very dark, and very old. “Maybe it has something to do with the bricks.”

            “I’ll look,” volunteered Eric. He examined all the bricks at the well and touched a few bricks that looked suspicious. Most of the bricks were a dark gray color, and some were old and broken. But they all were very sturdy, except for one.  “What’s with this brick?” he asked. It was a slight different color and wiggled when he touched it. He gently pulled it out and he saw a small metal bottle. “I think I’ve found the next clue!” yelled Eric excitedly.

            “Open it and read it out loud!” demanded Samantha. Eric pulled a cork cap out of the opening in the bottle and retrieved a small piece of parchment.

            “Okay. It says: It seems that one would look inside the places where he keeps his most personal belongings. Your heart determines your actions, and that is your deepest place.” read Eric.

            “Whatever. I may not get it, but as long as it gets us to the treasure, I don’t really care!” stated Samantha. The two made their way back to the mansion. Along the way they discussed what they thought the treasure would be. Eric thought it would be some famous missing scrolls, and Samantha thought it would be loads of cash. They both daydreamed of being famous one day. If they found a great treasure, they would be known around the world!

            When they got back to the house, they thought of what the clue could possibly mean. “Where would you keep your most personal belongings?” asked Eric.

            “My purse,” answered Samantha. She absolutely loved Coach brand purses.

            “Yes, but people didn’t have purses hundreds of years ago. Where else would you keep stuff that’s important to you?” Eric asked again. He tried to think of where he kept his most important belongings, but his mind was blank.

            “My closet. I couldn’t live without the stuff in my closet!” replied Samantha.

            “That’s a fantastic idea! Maybe people kept important stuff in their closets! Let’s start looking at all the closets!” suggested Eric.

            “Let’s look at half the rooms today, and half tomorrow,” said Samantha.

            “Alright,” agreed Eric. They decided to search the top two floors. They saw closets of all shapes and sizes, of all colors and patterns. Eric saw a closet he liked; it had a shoe rack that he thought would be perfect for his skateboards. Samantha saw a closet she wanted to use; it had a coat rack perfect for her beloved Coach brand purses.  “Sam, except for some pretty awesome closets, I’m not seeing anything here.”

            “We should stop now and keep looking tomorrow,” Samantha said confidently. The two went downstairs and enjoyed the company with their mother. They were worried she would again ask about the events of their day, but she didn’t ask a single question. Eventually, the day came to an end and they all got a good night’s sleep.

            The next day, Eric and Samantha once again set out for yet another treasure hunt. They went back on their closet search, and found closets on the second floor that had two rooms. They even saw closets with old television sets and radios. Some closets even had their own bathrooms inside. Eventually, they came across a closet with three rooms inside.

            “Why is this the only closet in the house with three rooms inside, and why is the second and third rooms so intricately designed?” asked Eric.

            “Maybe this is it. Maybe this is how we get to the treasure!” guessed Samantha. “I have a feeling about this room. I think it’s important!”

            “Just look at the carvings in this third room,” said Eric. In the third room of the closet, there were hundreds of small rectangular carvings in the smooth walls. They were a dark, old wood color, and the inside of the rectangles were painted black.    

            “This is weird!” said Samantha as she took another look around.

            “Okay, there must be something different about one of them,” concluded Eric. “This has to be it!” Both siblings looked carefully at each carving. Eric could feel that they were on to something. Samantha could just taste the treasure being dangled in front of their faces. Eric could see endless wealth waiting before them. As Samantha ran her fingers over the intricate details of the designed rectangles, she felt something different about one rectangle.

            “Whoa! This rectangle isn’t painted black, it’s hollow!” observed Samantha.

            “What would exactly fit in here? Maybe a weight or something?” thought Eric aloud. “Maybe there’s a key, but the key was lost. Maybe the key was supposed to be with the clue, but was misplaced… or forgotten.” Both siblings thought about the possibilities of a key, and what could have happened with a key, that is, if there was one. Maybe the key was destroyed so no one would ever find the treasure. Maybe the key was just forgotten over the long period of time.

            “I’ve got it!” shouted Samantha. The look on Samantha’s face seemed like a light bulb just lit up above her head. “My iPod!” And before Eric could ask her what she meant, she pulled out her pink iPod from her pocket and put it inside the hole in the wall. It fit exactly. The kids stepped back, and suddenly the wall started to creak  and slowly move away from the other walls. There was an opening just enough for a person to step through.

            “I’ll see if there’s a flashlight in here,” said Eric as he opened drawers. In a matter of seconds, he found a red flashlight and removed it from the drawer. Both children slipped past the slender opening in the wall. Slowly and nervously, both children staggered through the narrow passageway. There were cobwebs trailing from the ceiling to the wall. There was a cool draft that gave Samantha cold chills and made her slightly frightened. Their feet slowly moved across the rocky stone floor. They both wondered what awaited them down the long path that seemed to never end. As the walked forward, they saw a room with a large doorway.

            “I guess we should go inside…” said Eric nervously.

            “Okay….” Samantha agreed reluctantly. They both could tell that the other was as nervous as they were. They slowly made their way through the doorway only to find a damper to their spirits.

            “We came all the way here to meet a dead end?” Samantha cried angrily.

            “No. This can’t be it. It just can’t be!” Eric replied. They both knew that this couldn’t be the end. They both refused to believe it. They had worked so hard to get this far in their quest for treasure and they would not stand for a dead end.

            Suddenly, Eric had an idea. He thought it was crazy, but it was definitely possible. “Let’s try to move the wall,” suggested Eric.

            “Are you out of your mind?” asked Samantha.

            “Just do it!” Eric demanded. Afraid to start an argument, Samantha agreed. They both pushed against the wall as hard as they could. The stone was rough against their hands and their arms were starting to ache. But to the children’s disbelief, the wall was starting to move.

            “Just a little bit more!” Eric instructed as the wall began to give way. Soon enough, the entire wall was moved enough to let them both pass by comfortably. “Just as I thought. It used a system of weights and counterweights, and when pushed in the right spot, moved right on forward.”

             When they saw what was before them in the hidden room, they both were out of breath. Standing before them was the gleaming, bright, shining treasure that they and their Great Grandfather William had been looking for for a very long time. There were pieces of gold from the Aztecs and from ancient time. There were books and ancient parchment just waiting for someone to behold their magnificent information. There were artifacts from the ancient Egyptians, and the wonderful lost treasure of the pharaoh Ramses. There was a document translating the written ancient Nubian language to Greek.  Missing pages from the most famous historical books lay scattered on a table. There were personal diaries from many people, and those including the journals of King Arthur himself. There was even the gleaming sword Excalibur that made Arthur a king. But most of all, on its own beautifully carved stand, was the famous, gleaming cup belonging to Jesus, known as the Holy Grail.

            “Do….do….do you realize what we have just found?” asked Eric.

            “Ye…yeah. I…I think so….” replied Samantha. “This is more than ordinary treasure!”

A Month Later

            “And this concludes the seminar at the National English Museum  on the findings of the hidden treasure, found by Eric and Samantha Shepard,” a man with an English accent announced.

            “You guys are something else!” exclaimed Susan to her children. “I can’t believe you found this stuff all on your own. You’ll be down in history, kids! History!”

            “We didn’t do it on our own,” remarked Eric.

            “Yeah. Great Grandfather William is the one who told us about the whole thing anyway!” added Samantha.

            “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have ever found all this stuff,” said Eric.

            “I’m glad you got to know your Great Grandfather, even if he has already passed on,” remarked Susan respectfully. Then they thought about their Great Grandfather William. If it weren’t for him, none of their adventure would have ever happened. They were grateful for all the treasure that they found and all the historians that they would keep busy for years to come, all because of Great Grandfather William.