The Hargus Lake Boys

By Gary Mogan

Strong, character-driven novel about four young country farm boys who experience a horrific event, which profoundly changes all of them and how they attempt to grow past the disastrous experience. Taking place in the 1950s, four inseparable brothers fight to save themselves from an unknown killer after they witness the unimaginable while playing in the woods around the tranquility of their favorite playground, Hargus Lake. The experience haunts them into adulthood. Fast-forward twenty years, where after their father and one brother are murdered and a second seriously wounded by an unknown murderer, they decide to secretly devise a plan to draw the killer back into an area they know they can defend themselves, the deep woods surrounding Hargus Lake. A work not to be missed. A work of imaginative thinking. Hope you enjoy the story as much as I have enjoyed writing it for your entertainment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640271760

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The Hargus Lake Boys

A Novel

by

Gary Mogan

Copyright © 2017 Gary Mogan

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64027-175-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64027-176-0 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my mother, Dorothy Ann, who incredibly raised four sons. Without her relentless spirit for life, dedication to family, none of the work I’ve done would be possible. Mom, you’re the best!

Also, to my wonderful wife, Kathleen, and daughters Alicia and Shauna, for your support and understanding even though sometimes I seemingly ignored you to keep pace with completing this work. You all were amazing.

Although all the circumstances, appeal, and often-times the charm of the characters mentioned are all fictional, I have taken some remembrances of my youth living near Hargus Lake to help stimulate my imagination. For instance, we did regularly play in the woods all around the lake. We swam in the creeks feeding into the lake and were known to swim in the lake itself, ignoring the No Swimming signs posted all around the water’s shoreline. And my next oldest brother and I did take our little brother, who was three years old at the time, out in the cornfield behind our house and left him to find his way home on his own. We sat on the wooden fence posts listening, finding humor in hearing his cries for help while he tried to find his way home. We were rightfully reprimanded as a result. Otherwise, most all events, names of persons, and a great many places of business are completely fictional.

As you can determine for yourselves, during the time the fictional work takes place, country children had to be incredibly creative with occupying their spare time. We did have egg fights in the barn, chased the cows every chance we got, and used a grain scoop shovel to sled-ride down the snowy hills in the winter. Although our family lacked financial means of any sorts this time compared to most during this time, remembering, I would not wish to change any of our time living in the country. Our family had to rely primarily on one another for everything. Consequently, our lifestyle made us much closer. My brothers are still my best friends, and my parents have stood beside us in all endeavors, encouraging us to live life to the fullest. I’m confident I speak for my three brothers and myself when I say we have all done precisely that.

The names and personal characteristics of the primary and supporting characters are of course all fictional. As with all works of this nature, identities must be created so readers can connect with the person, whether in a positive and/or negative way. There are a great many actual locations used, again recalling from my childhood the roads all around Hargus Lake and the references to the town of Circleville, Ohio, along with several references to Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church. In that regard, I attempted to make the characters as real-life as possible by having them travel, visit, and live in genuine locations. This also aided my creativity in that I was able to visualize the story characters standing in specific locations, what the boys could hear, see, and smell while on the farm or in the woods behind Hargus Lake or even what they were seeing while driving from one location to the next. My wish is my readers become so connected with the characters that they too are able to place themselves in the woods around Hargus Lake and make the journey with the O’Hara boys.

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Fall 1955

All four boys instantly froze as the rumbling echoed through the bare branches of the forest trees. It was not that they had never heard the mechanical noise before; it was that they had never heard it back here, in their private backyard. It was late fall, and all the leaves had abandoned their seasonal roost on the forest trees, so the noise slipped loudly past the naked branches. The four O’Hara brothers had come to adopt this area of the woods as their own secret play area. However, the annoying noise was increasing in sound, meaning it was coming their way, invading their privacy.

What is that? the youngest asked.

Not sure, but it sounds like a truck, the oldest brother replied, who was, without question among them, the undisputed leader of the adventurous group.

They all stared at one another with highly puzzled looks about their faces until the oldest, Brian, commanded, Let’s go.

The O’Hara boys followed Brian down the gulley, hopped a muddy ravine, and scampered up the other side. With their knowledge of the woods, agility of youth, and endless energy, Will, age 13; Leaf, age 11; and James, age 10, all followed closely behind their oldest brother, knowing he would protect them as he always had in the past. The boys were at the top of the next hill in nothing flat. The noise was certainly increasing, which again meant it was definitely coming their way. The hill the O’Hara boys had positioned themselves on overlooked an old logging road, no longer used by much of anyone. In fact, the O’Hara family visited it more than anyone because they used the road to ride their horses to the lake for their swim and an occasional bath. Sometimes even their father used the old road to drive one of the tractors to the back of the lake to wash it off after plowing a dusty field. Frankly, the O’Hara brothers used the entire north and west side of the lake as their playground. The woods surrounded a beautiful country lake, with crystal-clear blue water. It was, however, almost too cold for the average person to swim in except the O’Hara brothers were not your average people, so the terribly cold water did not deter them from swinging from a vine or a rope they had tied to an overhanging tree branch to swim and cool off after a long day’s work in the hot summer fields. The boys lived on a two-thousand-acre farm that overlapped into the woods, which legally granted them complete littoral rights to the entire west side of Hargus Lake. Between planting of crops, herding cattle, attending to the barnyard animals of hogs, goats, and chickens, the boys were kept extremely busy. Thus, the love for the extended free time in and around the tranquility of Hargus Lake was treasured.

The roaring continued, as the boys lay atop the ridge, shoulder to shoulder, studying the area for the intruder.

See anything yet? Will asked.

No, but it’s gotta be comin’ down the logger, Brian, the oldest, replied. The logger was the shortened nickname the boys used to commonly refer to the old logging road.

What do you think it’s doing out here? young James asked.

It’s the county sheriff looking for you, Leaf, teased his youngest brother.

Stop it Leaf, Brian ordered. Brian was very protective of all his brothers, especially the youngest James. When Will and Leaf lead him out into the cornfield one summer day and left him there to find his way home while crying endless alligator tears, Brian made the two go after him without their boots to teach them a tough lesson of what it would be like to have to find your way out of such an area the hard way.

There! Will shouted, as he pointed up the old logger to a dusty black car heading straight toward the lake. The boys were as still as the Mother Mary statue in Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church over in Circleville, as they studied the approaching car. The car sounded as if it was really struggling to manage the old bumpy road. In the first place, it was traveling way too fast. The fallen forest leaves were wildly flying up and all around as the city car continued to come into view.

Holy moly, look at how fast it’s comin’, Will stated in pure disbelief.

What a dunce. Who would drive a city car like that out here? Brian added, while shaking his head in skepticism.

The boys went silent as the car continued its approach. Just before the car was directly in front of them, it finally began to slow. As it did, the curious boys were able to see two men occupying the front seats, the driver and one passenger, both of whom wore fancy hats. The car slowly passed below them until it came to an abrupt stop. The O’Hara boys crawled like military soldiers along the rim of the hill until they were within a short distance from the strange vehicle and its occupants. They all had an unobstructed view of the vehicle, which suddenly began to exhaust a steady stream of vapor from under its large hood. The two men swiftly exited the steaming dusty car. The driver jumped away with ease almost directly below the mesmerized O’Hara brothers, while the other man on the opposite side of the car, seemed to struggle. After he was finally clear of the car door, the man on the far side of the car slumped and fell to the ground, almost disappearing under the thick fallen leaves. With noticeable agility, the driver skirted past the back of the car to go over to attend to his partner, all the while the O’Hara brothers stared awestruck at the unwanted activity on the road below them. The driver knelt beside his companion; as the boys could hear him ask if he was okay. None of the boys had a good line of site at this point because the steaming city car was blocking their view. As if in unison, they all crawled a bit more toward the lake to see all that was taking place between the two men. As they settled, they had a real clear view of what happened next. The driver rolled his cohort over onto his back, and as he did, his overcoat flung open to reveal a gooey mess of bright red blood. The smear of blood covered the underside of the opened overcoat and completely covered the front of the suit coat and white shirt he wore underneath. The vivid red fluid had further coated his chin and neck. The O’Hara brothers were in such a state of disbelief at what they were looking at, none could mutter a word, as they remained frozen. The expressions on their young faces pretty much said it all.

Oh shoot Barney, you’re hurt pretty bad, the driver stated.

I … I… then came a bloody cough before he screamed, I need a doctor!

The man didn’t reply, he merely stood and slowly backed away. The injured man continued to cough blood as he lay in the leaves trying to also catch his breath. Not more than a second or two later, the O’Hara brothers witnessed the bloody man take his last breath. His body appeared to ease back down into the bed of leaves as the air left his chest. His partner was now leaning against the dusty vehicle, which too appeared to be taking its last breath as the vapor merely puffed itself out. As the brothers lay in dead silence, the man leaning against the car began to move. He went to the trunk of the car, opened it and then reappeared in view holding a long handled spade. Will was about to say something but Brian cut him off out of fear the man might hear them. Strangely, the wind had completely stopped so every sound the peculiar man made, echoed brilliantly through the unclothed tree branches. The outsider began to walk off the old logger and into the surrounding trees. As he did, he seemed as if he was looking for something lost in the leaves because he was using the long handle spade to push the leaves around, while also using his feet to kick the leaves to one side and then the other. For what seemed like an eternity to a young boy, which in reality was only less than five minutes, the man suddenly stopped as if he had found what he was looking for. He leaned over and began to brush aside the leaves until a neatly stacked pile of slate rocks was exposed. The man stood up and slowly backed away from the unusual pile of rocks then, as expected from a person holding such a tool, he began to dig.

What’s he doin’? Will whispered.

After a few seconds, Brian replied, He going to bury his friend.

Such a horrible thought had never occurred to the youngest of the boys; therefore, they all remained unmoving in disbelief as they watched the man push the digging tool into the hard Ohio dirt. After a few minutes the man stopped, removed his topcoat and hat, placed them inside the dusty car on the front seat, and resumed his morbid task of digging a grave for his companion. Leaf and James could not stop staring at the dead man and the blood covering his clothes, while the older two brothers, Brian and Will, continued to study the gravedigger. The mesmerized O’Hara brothers had more or less settled into the idea the grave digging was going to take a very long time, because being familiar with the difficulty of digging a hole in the ground on their farmland, it was no easy task. And to think the man pounding the hole in the ground with a hand tool was going to dig a six foot deep grave for his departed friend, well, the O’Hara brothers made themselves comfortable because they weren’t going to miss a thing if they had to stay out here all day. Fortunately for them, it was still hours before lunchtime. Suddenly however, the gravedigger stopped and tossed the spade aside. He dropped to his knees and was using his hands as if he was brushing the leaves and dirt aside.

What the … ? Will whispered just loud enough to allow the other awestruck boys to hear him. His comment brought a firm elbow to his side from Brian, who was taking no chances on being seen and or heard by the unusual man below. The city man quickly leaned over the shallow hole he had dug in the ground and continued to use his hands to sweep away more dirt. It only took another minute before the O’Hara brothers could see why he was on his knees taking great care to use his hands to make the hole deeper. There was something under the ground he had uncovered and it looked like a wooden box top or something. The man seemed as if he was moving quicker as he rapidly swept with his hands to remove the remaining dirt from the top of the object.

It’s a coffin, Leaf softly hinted.

Shush! Brian insisted, as he angrily looked his way.

Suddenly, as happens in the backwoods, the silence was broken by the sound of a country crow making his presence known and, in doing so, startled the strange city man on his knees below them. The sound echoed mysteriously through the bare branches. He instantly stopped his scratching at the dirt to look around to see if something had alerted the noisy bird. In unison, the O’Hara brothers all ducked their heads behind the hilltop. Truly it would have been hard enough for anyone to see them, given their high position above the activity, but scared kids generally take no chances when it comes to being found out, especially the wary O’Hara boys; therefore, ducking their heads was the instinctive thing to do. They remained stationary until they could hear the sound of the stranger resume his digging. As on cue, they slowly raised their heads to peer over the rim of the small hilltop to see the man was indeed back to pushing the dirt away from whatever he was uncovering. The boys all seemed to exhale at the same time too because they all had been holding their breath to maintain absolute silence. In the country, kids have to find ways to entertain themselves and on the cold winter days, the O’Hara brothers would play a traditional game of hide and seek in the barn or wherever they chose. All of them took the game seriously and worked hard to perfect their hiding skills and one of those ways was to minimize your breathing because in total silence, they learned a person could find you by hearing the sound of your breathing. Now that they were breathing again, they continued to study every move the man had made. Within a few more minutes, the stranger stopped and got to his feet. He was looking at the object he diligently worked to uncover. What the O’Hara brothers could not see was a square wooden shape buried about a foot below the man’s feet. It was unquestionably a wooden box of sorts, but what could it be used for? Brian was asking himself. Last year they all attended the funeral of an uncle who had passed and the wooden box he was lowered into the ground in was much bigger than the box the stranger had uncovered. Brian continued to think, there was no way the big man lying dead (and he was most certainly dead) in the leaves was ever going to fit in that small box. What the heck can it be? He continued to ask himself.

The city man (and the boys called anyone who wore the kinds of clothes these men were wearing city people, because you can’t perform farm work in those type clothes) walked away from his hole and then picked up the long-handled spade. With some force, he swayed it backward before he quickly moved it forward and downward, where it stuck directly into the top of the wooden box buried under the dirt. The stranger was using the tool as a wedge to pry open the top of the thing buried in the ground. It took the man a few minutes using some hefty energy but all at once the square wooden top creaked up just enough where the man was able to fully wedge the spade inside the opening. This time it was much easier for the man to pry off the top. Instinctively, and certainly with the natural curiosity of a child, the O’Hara brothers (again in unison) all raised their heads higher off the hilltop because they had to see what was inside.

It’s another dead person, Leaf silently told himself.

He’s going to cram that dead body in that little hole, Will suspiciously told himself.

James was too young and far too frightened to even think at this point.

Their thoughts were disturbed by the stranger’s next movement, because all of a sudden he walked away from the hole in the ground and back to the car. He retrieved two small leather traveling cases and a peculiar bag that had tie strings at the top. The O’Hara brothers were completely unfamiliar with such belongings. One of the carrying cases did look like a bag the men who sold cattle at the cattle auction used to carry their money around but otherwise, they had no idea what could be inside. They did not appear to be too heavy because the manner in which the stranger carried them and then tossed them down in the hole, he wasn’t struggling too hard. Struggling would be like when one of the boys was told by their father to carry a sack of grain or a pale of water over to the chicken coop, those were heavy and by golly a fella’s hands hurt after that. But the stranger didn’t seem to struggle; he tossed the bags into the hole. He then got back down on his knees and reattached the wooden top. He used the opposite end of the wood handle on the spade to tap down the wooden top before he shoveled the dirt back over top. It is always quicker to fill a hole back in than it is to shovel it out; therefore, the city man had the entire hole filled-in and covered back over in less than fifteen minutes. He even took a few extra seconds to kick a few leaves back over the fresh dirt to hide the spot. Before he left the spot, he leaned over and made sure the pile of slate rocks that had been so neatly arranged, were secure.

The strange city man removed a couple of what appeared to be glass bottles from the backseat of the car. The bottles looked like the bottles of whiskey their father and uncles would bring along on all the picnics and hunting trips they took together. He began to walk down the logger toward the lake and as he did, he turned the bottles upside down and was pouring out their contents. He did stop once before he got down to the lake and drank the last few gulps of the fluid from one of the bottles before he bent down and placed the bottles in the lake water. Leaf whispered, Looks like he’s going to fill ’em up, but what for?

Within a few minutes, the city man was walking back toward his car. He stopped at the front of the car and fussed with the hood until he got it raised. After he removed the cap to the radiator, it was obvious what he was up to. He began to pour the lake water into the radiator, which at one point, was blowing steam like the steam engines trains that ran past the east end of town. The boys always liked to get stopped at the railroad crossing and watch the huge machines rumble past. They sometimes counted the number of cars the locomotive was pulling or made funny sounds to imitate the roaring noise of the train, while their father cursed at the train for making him late. After he emptied the second bottle of water into the car’s cooling system, he tossed the bottles aside and walked over to where his dead partner was lying. He grabbed him by the feet and pulled him over next to the dusty car. The boys couldn’t quite see because the action was taking place on the opposite side of the vehicle, but it did appear the city man was trying to get his dead friend into the backseat of the car. The man was able to somehow flip the limp body of his dead friend up and into the backseat, before he slammed the rear door, hurried around the back of the vehicle, opened the driver’s side car door, where he quickly plopped himself behind the driver’s wheel. It took a solid minute before the man was able to get the old tired car started. At first, the O’Hara brothers were afraid the man was going to be stuck back here with them and they would have to hide all day, but when the engine finally turned over, the city man gunned it several times before placing it in gear. He had to move forward to the lake to find enough level ground to turn the vehicle around. After he got it turned and was coming back up the logger toward the O’Hara brothers, he slowed as he drove past the area where he neatly stacked the rocks, as if he were remembering one more time where he placed his marker. After a brief double-check by the man in the dusty vehicle of his secret hiding spot, he sped away almost as fast as he drove in. The O’Hara brothers, ever so cautious, waited until they could no longer hear the roar of the powerful engine before they scrambled to their feet. Although Brian said, Let’s go, he really didn’t have to say anything because once they were on their feet; they began to scurry down the hilltop of their vantage point and toward the old logger road. As they excitedly ran onto the old road, young James stopped and picked up one of the whiskey bottles the city man used to fill his radiator.

Look, he said, as he held the bottle high above his head.

Ah, James, put it down, said Leaf.

No, bring it here, Will instructed. I’m going to keep it with my collection. Living so far in the country, it was hard to find things to keep the energetic O’Hara boys busy, even on a farm with endless chores. At times, they would ride their bicycles up and down the country roads and collect things discarded from the vehicles brave enough to travel these roads out here. It was mostly high school kids or other young adults out joyriding in the country with cans of beer or bottles of liquor. When they were done, they tossed the empties out the window, only to have the O’Hara brothers find the treasures at a later date. The pop bottles and even the nicely crafted beer bottles of the times were redeemed over at the bait store by the lake for two cents, while the larger pop bottles were worth a nickel. The bottle James was holding was worthless to anyone else but Will, who collected what seemed like to the other boys, everything. Handing it over to his brother, James asked, Going to put it in the barn with the others?

I reckon so. It’s a nice one, he said as he rubbed the dust off.

Put that thing down and get over here, Brian ordered.

James and Will caught up to the other brothers who were standing directly in front of the stack of rocks the city man had engineered.

Wonder why I never noticed it before? Brian asked, more to himself than to his brothers.

"Noticed what?’ asked Leaf.

These rocks, they’re slate don’t you see. They don’t belong over here. When did you ever see slate rock over here in the bottoms? All the big slate rocks are on the other side of the lake near the lagoon. Those men must have brought them here for a reason, and I think I know why. They wanted to mark this spot. Even if the rock pile were to get knocked over by the snow, or an animal of some kind, they would still be able to find their spot by using these kinds of rocks.

You really think so? asked Will.

Yes, I do. All right you guys, the dirt is probably pretty soft right now ’cause the guys was just digging. Let see what’s buried there.

What, use our hands? asked Leaf. We’ll need a spade, a couple of them to dig that thing up Brian.

No we won’t and besides, you want to run all the way home and back just to get a couple of spades? The moment dad see’s you he’s going to give you a chore to do and you won’t make it back. Besides, we ain’t going to dig it all the way out. We’re just going to do what that guy did, dig down to the top of the wooden box and see what’s inside. Shouldn’t take all that long with the four of us digging.

In no time the others followed the lead of their older brother by dropping to their knees and wiping away the leaves. Next they used their hands to grab at the dirt and pull it to one side and then the other. Brian was right because in less than fifteen minutes, the complete wooden top of the buried box was exposed. The boys had all stood up to get a better look at the top and to figure their next move.

How we going to get the lid off? asked James?"

Suddenly Brian began to dig in his pants pocket and pulled out his trusty pocketknife. Although it only had a three-inch blade, it was darn near razor sharp and highly sturdy.

Will, Leaf, you got your knives on you?

No, replied Leaf.

I do, added Will with excitement.

How many times have I told you guys to always bring your pocketknives, Brian scolded.

Yeah, but I don’t own one, young James shot back.

Soon enough, little brother, Brian calmly told him while he rubbed his head in kindness of not to worry.

Okay, Will, come over here on this side, let’s work this thing together. Brian got down on his knees and Will naturally followed his lead. Brian began to insert the blade of his knife under the top boards. Once he got the blade in far enough, he began to twist the blade, creating space between the top boards and the side wood of the box.

There, Will, go ahead and put your blade right next to mine to hold that up while I dig my knife deeper. It worked because now they had enough space created between the top wooden slats and the side pieces buried in the ground. There were two more boards to be lifted off and they performed the same technique for those pieces before they sat back and rested a moment.

What next Brian, what next? asked James, who was bursting with excitement.

Let me see if I can pull them up. he replied. Before Brian had a chance to position himself to see if he could pull one of the pieces of wood off the top, Will had stood over the box and grabbed at the edge of the middle piece of wood. He began to pull with all his might but nothing happened.

Here, stand back and let me do it, Brian said with irritation. He had just enough room to place his fingers underneath the board before he too began to pull with all his might. Nothing happened.

Darn, that thing is on there, Leaf said. Maybe we are going to need the spades after all Brian. Brian stopped for a moment and all the brothers looked at him because they knew he was thinking up a plan.

James, give me your slingshot.

You going to shoot it open, Brian? the youngest brother asked innocently, as he removed his slingshot from his back pocket and began to hand it over to his oldest brother.

Nope, little brother, but I do have an idea how to use its handle.

Getting back down on his knees, he inserted the thick wood handle of his brother’s slingshot underneath the middle wood slat. He used the handle as a lever to wrench the wood slats higher so he could get a better grip on the ends of the boards. Having worked his magic with all three wood slats, he was ready to try again. This time he said, Will, get on the end and I’ll grab this side of the board and Leaf, you count to three, and on three, we pull like the dickens. Got it?

Got it, Will answered.

When Leaf counted to three, the two indeed pulled like the dickens. The board came up slowly but steadily until it was pointing directly toward the sky. The boy’s natural curiosity made them look down in the box, but it was still too dark within to really see much of anything except some kind of cloth. Almost immediately Brian and Will performed the same method on the next two boards until all three wood slats were standing straight up. The mid-morning sunlight was just right, as the golden glow shot between the bare tree branches and shown perfectly into the hole in the ground where the treasure box was buried. Aside from the leather satchel and what looked like a cloth bag used to keep grain, there really wasn’t much to see. The younger boys were waiting on Brian to see what he was going to do, but he appeared tired from lifting the top boards off, so they used all their strength to keep their emotions in check until big brother gave the word.

Will, you, and Leaf, hand up those bags, and see what’s so important some fellas gotta drive all the way out here to hide.

Brian didn’t have to repeat himself a second time because in two shakes of a badgers tail, the boys were on their knees grabbing for the goods. The bag Leaf grabbed didn’t appear all that heavy as he pulled it out without too much difficulty. On the other hand, the white cloth bag Will grabbed seemed much heavier.

What the…, Will said, as he was struggling with both hands to slide the bag out of its hiding place. Darn, this thing is heavy. Must be full of nuts and bolts. Finally, he was able to drag the bag out far enough to where it was lying at his feet. Leaf handed his not so heavy bag to Brian. He instantly began to untie the strings at the top. Once completed, he wiggled his hand inside the opening and pulled out a wad of paper. Only it wasn’t paper at all. It was folding money. Good old United States currency, and lots of it.

Good Lord Almighty, Will busted out. They all froze and stared for a moment as if they couldn’t believe what Brian was holding.

Oh, he cursed! young James claimed.

Those aren’t curse words, and besides, I was only thanking the Good Lord Almighty for letting us find this treasure.

Treasure? You can bet Jiminy Cricket’s umbrella it’s a treasure, all right, said Brian in a low, unbelieving style of voice.

What’s in that bag at your feet Will? asked Brian.

Will was frozen with disbelief. He had completely forgot about the heavy bag just at his feet until Brian had asked. He blinked his eyes rapidly a few times as if being awakened from a hypnotic trance and dropped to his knees. The bag was much too heavy to lift up so he got down on the ground and frantically began to unlace the tie straps around the top. Excitement was shooting through all four of the energized O’Hara brothers, so every movement was noticeably accelerated. After the top was opened, out came a rush of silver coins.

What in heavens name? Leaf muttered.

Will you look at that, Will replied with so much excited, he was giggling.

This is a treasure! young James burst.

Be quiet, you guys, Brian ordered. You want someone to hear you and come snooping around? At the same time, he too was feeling the excitement of what they had uncovered. One of the first thoughts that crossed the conniving mind of Brian was, We’re rich.

I’ve never seen so much money, not even at the cattlemen’s auction. I bet it’s a million dollars, Leaf clamored with exhilaration.

Brian shoved the handful of money back inside the bag. As excited as he was, the idea of holding more money than any of them had ever seen in their short lives, well, made him terribly nervous. Not Will however, as he had poured every coin out of the bag onto the ground. The coins made a sizable pile once out of the bag and he just couldn’t stop staring at it. The paper money was also hypnotic to the stare of the unbelieving boys.

Look at the different numbers on that paper money, James muttered, as the bills reflected 2-, 5-, 10-, 20-, and 50-dollar numbers. And clearly, there was a sizable quantity of each.

Hey, Brian, how many more bags are in the grave? Leaf asked.

It’s not a grave you dunce, but let me see. Brian got down on his hands and knees and began to pull the cloth bags from the sunken wooden box. It was fairly easy to remove the bags stuffed with paper money but it was not so simple to remove the bags filled with coins. After he had removed all the bags, he counted six bags completely stuffed with folding money and four bags filled with coins.

What are those yellow things at the bottom? James asked inquisitively.

I … I, don’t know, Brian replied as if terribly confused.

Finally Will said, They’re not yellow. I don’t have any crayons in my Crayola crayon box that color. It’s darn shiny, that’s for sure.

What do you think it can be? young James once again asked.

Monsignor Mason said once anything that glows like that is radioactive, so we’d better not touch it, Leaf warned.

Don’t be a toad, Leaf, Will replied. If it was radioactive them guys who buried it wouldn’t have been alive to come back and bury more stuff. It’s just … so shiny.

Once I saw a color in a rainbow that looked like that, added Leaf.

Yeah, I did too, but I don’t know what to call it? Will answered. Hey, Brian, why don’t you touch one?

They all stood silently still as Brian reached far down into the box and placed his outstretched finger directly on the closet curious object. Two things he ascertained instantly. One, it was very cold and second, it was incredibly solid.

Not being able to hold his breathe any longer while waiting on his oldest brother to spill his guts, Leaf asked, What is it?

Very unsure of what he was touching and staring at with unblinking eyes, all Brian could say was, I … don’t know. It’s darn hard that’s for sure.

"Can you pull one out of there so we all can have a look?’ James asked, more liked begged.

Not sure what else to do, Brian leaned far into the smelly wooden box and tried to get his fingers under one of the rectangular objects to lift it up. The object would not move as it was far too heavy.

Jeepers, that thing is heavy, he muttered more to himself than to the others. He leaned back out of the hole and gave it a little more thought. Brian was far too stubborn to give up after only one try and the other younger brothers knew it; therefore, they didn’t have to encourage their determined brother to give it another try. They were a little surprised as to what he did next. He leaped into the sunken box and was standing directly on the long shiny objects. This time he bent over and once again attempted to wiggle his fingers under one of the objects, with no success. He leaned back upright to easily reach into his pocket and he took out his trusty pocketknife. He knelt on top of the objects and inserted the knife blade in between two of the objects. That did the trick as he was able to wedge one of the long rectangular objects up just enough to slip some fingers on the side.

Will, get down here quick.

He didn’t have to repeat himself because the boys were so excited he practically jumped over Brian to get to the opposite side of the foul smelling buried box.

Hold the knife right there while I get a better grip on this thing. This blasted thing is sure heavy.

If it’s heavy, it’s worth a lot of money, Leaf whispered to an unmoving James frozen next to him.

Without realizing it, Leaf and James were standing as close as they could possibly stand to the opening in the ground they had exposed. Leaf instinctively wrapped his arm around his little brother to keep him from falling on top of the others, still struggling with the heavy shiny objects. With as much might as he could muster, Brian pulled up on the solid object and was able to lift it up to his waist and then in one quick motion, swung it over to the ground next to the hole.

Jimmy’n Cricket, that thing is sure heavy, Brian commented as he leaned back away from the object.

What on earth could they be? Leaf curiously asked.

I’ll be darned if I know but there is at least … 20 of them, as he did a quick count pointing a finger at each one on a top row and calculating the underneath row also had ten objects.

They look yellow but … shinier. I’ve never seen a crayon that bright, James said.

What are we going to do with them Brian? If they’re that heavy, they have to be worth a lot of money. Besides those guys wouldn’t come all the way out here to bury something so shiny if it was worthless. If they buried it with their money, it just has to be valuable, Will added.

Oh they’re valuable all right. We just need to find out what they are, Brian replied. After a quick moment of silence, Brian began, Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to move all this money and these heavy metal bar things over to our fort and bury them behind the crown.

We can’t do that Brian, that’s stealing, young James innocently said.

Where do you think these guys got all this money and those things in that box James? Brian firmly replied while pointing to the bags of money and the unknown objects. You can’t steal something that was already stolen James, Brian lamely rationalized to his unknowing brothers.

"Okay, but how’re we going to move them Brian? We can barely lift them here. How are we going to get them all the way to the crown?

Brian sat down to think a moment. The brothers all were aware not to disturb him when he had that certain I’m thinking look about this face. Generally he solved the problem; so they all stood silently still to allow the leader to think things through.

Will, you’re going to have to go back to the barn and get Socks.

Socks? What for? You can’t bring her back here. You know what dad said about bringing any of the horses into the woods.

I know what dad said, but we really need her if we’re going to move this heavy stuff, Brian replied.

Leaf said, Why not bring Tex or Myrtle? They’re both a lot stronger than Socks Brian.

I know, but Mom would shoot us on the spot if she knew we brought her horseback here, and besides, Tex and Myrtle are too clumsy to walk through the woods. Socks has nimble feet, you heard dad say that a thousand times and that’s why we need her, Brian rationalized.

Still, she’s not strong enough to carry all that stuff, Leaf said.

She’s not going to carry it, she going to pull it behind her. Remember when she pulled that log out of the road and dragged it all the way to the ravine. That’s what gave me the idea. Will, you’ll have to get the long rope and potato sacks from the barn and bring those too. Put my saddle on her because the horn is good and sturdy. One other thing Will, bring the two spades from behind the chicken coop. When you ride Socks back out here, go by the fort first. Leaf and James will meet you there. Give them the spades so they can start digging the hole to bury this stuff in. Then ride back here with the rope and potato sacks and we’ll start putting this stuff in the sacks for Socks to drag on over to the fort. Will, one last thing and this is very important. Don’t let mom or dad see you. You know how dad is, if he spots you, he is going to give you some chore to do and you can’t waste that much time. Stay low. Walk Socks just past the ridge before you get on and then ride like the dickens.

But what if mom or dad spot me? What do I say? Will asked nervously.

Brian paused for a moment before he