The Mystery of the Golden Amulet

By Elaine C. Briggs

ELAINE C. BRIGGS was born and raised in Minnesota. She and her
husband Marvin lived in Colorado for fifteen years and returned to Minnesota in 1998. They have been in the business world all their lives but are now retired. They have
been blessed with five children, fifteen grandchildren, and ten greatgrandchildren. Elaines goal now is to write books that are suitable for the young reader and the young at heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462880928

Elaine C. Briggs

Elaine C. Briggs was born and raised in Minnesota. She and her husband Marvin lived in Colorado for fifteen years and returned to Minnesota in 1998. They have been in the business world all their lives but are now retired. They have been blessed with five children, fifteen grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. Elaine’s goal now is to write books that are suitable for the young reader and the young at heart.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Elaine C. Briggs.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011908931

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4628-8091-1

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4628-8090-4

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4628-8092-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elaine C. Briggs was born and raised in MN. She and her husband Marvin lived in Colorado for fifteen years and returned to Minnesota in 1998. They have been in the business world all their lives but are now retired. They have been blessed with five children, fifteen grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. Elaine’s goal now is to write books that are suitable for the young reader and the young at heart.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I need to thank the Lord for his help for without it I could not have put two words together. Kudos and thanks to my dear husband Marvin who not only coedited this book but encourages me in all my endeavors. I wish also to thank family and friends for inspiring me for some of the characters in this story. I don’t want to forget my cat Baxter whose personality is equal to that of the naughty cat in this book. Last but not least, my appreciation to the staff at Xlibris for their much-needed help. Thank you and God bless you all.

If you forgive those who have sinned against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

—Matthew 6:14

FOREWORD

A teenage girl lay bound and blindfolded on a dirty musky-smelling mattress. She seemed not to be aware of her surroundings but felt an overwhelming sensation of fear and had started to make little whimpering noises that sounded like a kitten.

Two men stood nearby. They did not seem to notice as they were quarreling loudly. The youngest of the pair was a large man, well over six feet tall with a broad chest. Muscular arms protruded from his short-sleeved T-shirt. He was sweating profusely, and he angrily swiped his face with his left arm and then grabbed the smaller fellow’s shoulders and shook him violently. Good grief! cried the swarthy little gentleman. What do you think we should do? Let her live so she can escape and go to the police with her little story? Why don’t you take care of this little matter here and now?

With a low threatening voice, the younger man growled. I’ll do it when the time is right and not before. Now get out of here before I really lose control. With that he gave the little man a shove that sent him flying through the doorway.

Meanwhile the effect of the drug that had been injected into the girl seemed to be ebbing, and for a few short moments she was able to listen to the men speak. I have heard that voice before, she thought, but as she struggled to remember who it was the fog in her mind began to return, and she again slipped into peaceful oblivion, completely unaware of the danger she was in.

CHAPTER 1

Two weeks earlier there had been a little rain during the night, but by morning the air was clean and fresh, with the tantalizing perfume of spring flowers drifting on a soft breeze.

It was 6:00 AM on June 1 as the six-passenger Cessna lifted off the airstrip. Three passengers were aboard today, and the pilot, Len Brownston, smiled to himself when the two teenage girls seated behind him gasped as the plane bounced a little on takeoff. He knew they were quite uneasy about flying, but he had assured them earlier that once they reached a higher altitude the flight would be smooth. His plan was to take it up to three thousand feet, and if they hit more turbulence he could go higher.

Len was never happier than when he was in the air. He flew his plane every chance he got and felt safer in it than in a car. He was a seasoned pilot and had learned to fly from his uncle at the young age of fifteen. Two years after graduating he enlisted in the air force and later was sent to Germany where he piloted an air ambulance.

Chloe, his wife of three years, was seated in the Cessna next to him, and he reached over and gave her knee a squeeze. The couple met four years ago, and it was love at first sight. From that time on they had eyes only for each other.

Len enlisted right after Chloe graduated from high school, and the night before his departure for boot camp he knelt down in front of her as he held out a beautiful diamond ring and asked if she would do him the honor of being his wife. Of course she said yes, and when it came time for him to leave they clung to each other, neither one of them wanting to let go. Chloe promised to wait for him, but neither one of them realized at the time just how hard it would be. They promised each other they would write every day, and with that he was gone.

The separation didn’t last for too long, however, because on his first furlough home they were married. Chloe’s mother tried every argument she could think of to talk her eldest daughter out of a hasty wedding, and there were many tears shed by both. In the end her father took Chloe’s side, which settled it all. They had a beautiful wedding, and Chloe went to Germany with her new husband.

Now they were happily settled on their five-hundred-acre farm, which they were able to purchase with a large inheritance Len had gotten from his father who passed away recently. They built a lovely five-bedroom house, and Chloe wanted nothing more than to fill it with children. Len raised cattle and horses so most of the farmland was in pasture and hay. He did, however, make room on the property for his own landing strip and several hangars. There was also a barn for the horses. Their first child was due right before Christmas and the couple could not be happier.

Chloe turned to look back at the girls. There was Lacey, her younger sister, who was seventeen, and Annie, their cousin, who was a year younger. Growing up, the two spent most of their time together and where one went you were sure to find the other. They even shared the same birth date but one year apart.

Lacy would be entering her senior