A penny earned, p.8
A Penny Earned, page 8
“What in the entire hell is this nonsense?” Fred asked, pulling out his foot and landing on the floor in a thud. He took careful steps as he tip-toed around the faux wall, peering into the darkness. Unable to see inside, he used his shoulder to bully his way around the opening.
Cotter stood beside him, using the bulk of his body and weight to pull out the wall. A walkway, narrow and dark was revealed. Fred shone a light into the crevice, reluctant to walk down it considering the spiderwebs he’d encountered before having the house exterminated.
Penny came along, found a light switch, and flipped it upward. She stared as well at the black textured layers inside of the walls. The longer she stared, the more the puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
“These are the original walls,” she said, noticing the wallpaper. “Look here, if I’m not mistaken, this black wallpaper is Damask,” she said as she noticed the ripped paper against the wall. “This doesn’t make sense.”
Penny pulled the paper, feeling the rip vibrate in her hand. The paper tore evenly, but it did not break the design of the Damask pattern on the sheet. She held it in her hands, in between her fingers feeling the texture. It was heavier than she imagined. In the dimly lit space, subtleties were lost. She stepped out in the dining room towards the brighter light, looking at her hands. Dark splotches covered her fingertips as she held the paper up to the afternoon sunrays pouring through the windows.
“This black is coming off of the paper,” she said, moving towards the kitchen. The metal countertops gave the kitchen an industrial feel and always seemed out of place to her in the Victorian home. She lay the paper on the counter but stopped when she heard the paper clink when it made contact with the metal counter. “What in the world?”
Both Fred and Cotter were also in the kitchen. Cotter picked up the torn sheet, and dropped it on the counter, also hearing the click. Fred, not to be outdone, picked up the sheet, also dropping it on the counter to hear the click.
“If you tell me those knuckle grazing, pucker hole sniffing cretins melted down the gold and dyed it with all the damned black ink to make these fancy fucking designs on wallpaper inside a wall, I will eat your sock,” Cotter shouted.
Fred found himself laughing as he disappeared, returning moments later with more ripped sheets of wallpaper. All of the sheets clicked on the countertop. He burst into laughter as he removed his boot, yanking off a sock and passing it to Cotter.
Penny wasn’t amused. In all the harebrained Nancy Drew schemes she’d ever read, this one by far took the entire shelf filled with cakes from the bakery. Her nose crinkled as she asked, “They melted the gold in the kiln, added the dye, then poured it into the template, but how? Those templates are silicone?”
“Flash rates,” Cotter said. “I watched my friend’s husband who is a potter make Raku pottery. You know, get it hot and then flash cool the ceramics to get those fancy cracks. They must have done something similar, waited until the gold melted, dyed the gold with the high-intensity heat process, and then cooled it enough to dip the templates and press them to the wall.”
Fred scowled. “This is just dumb. The walls became a bank?”
Penny stared at the paper. She picked it up again, dropping it on the counter and hearing the click. She thought of the gold coins, the American Eagles, and then the doubloons.
“No, the doubloons became the currency,” she corrected. “The gold is stored on the wallpaper. When they needed money, tear off a sheet, melt it down again, and pour it into the doubloon’s molds. If they used the pressing plates to make Spanish or Portuguese coins, they could easily sell them to European collectors for ten times what they are worth. It was a con.”
Everything Philoneus Mason did was a con. Fred’s honeymoon, or what he considered to be a honeymoon, had a very large hit man hanging out with them and he wanted it over. He didn’t plan to spend another night in the house, let alone any more time in the company of Cotter Wihlborg.
“If it is okay with all of you,” he said, “I will run to the home improvement store to purchase half a dozen or so black containers. While I’m away, pull down every sheet and cut it so it will fit in the bins. Thirty minutes. I want us loaded and out of this house.”
Cotter’s eyebrows raised. “Listen at you sounding all efficient and in charge.”
“One less day I have to spend in your company suits me just fine,” Fred said. “Are we in one accord?”
Penny shook her head no. “I am sitting in the Hyundai, trying to understand all of this.”
Fred was done with it. “Baby, they were con men. They stole the gold, melted it down, dyed it, and stuck it on the walls to hide it from plain sight. When they needed money, a sheet was ripped off, melted down again into gold coins and sold at auctions. They were crooks.”
“Wallpaper though?”
“It worked. No one knew where it was. All three of us needed the other to figure this out. We figured it out, and I’m out,” Fred said. “I’ll be back in thirty, and we’re rolling.”
“And me?” Cotter asked.
“We figure out how much is there, make a reasonable decision, and walk away as friends,” Fred said.
Penny watched his face. Fred was a fair man. He would cut Cotter in on the loot, shipping the majority of it to the Society still in wallpaper form and no one would be the wiser until he explained it. Since the Society didn’t know about it, he could share with Cotter and rest well at night.
She stood in the doorway watching the width of his back as he walked away. Tears formed in her eyes knowing she’d chosen well and had a good man as a husband and father to her child. He was right; their days of adventure in old houses which smelled of mold and mildew were ending.
Cotter watched her watching Fred. “You love him a lot, don’t you?”
She swatted away a tear as she turned and said, “Yeah, he’s kind of amazing.”
“He seems like a fair man. Is he, you know, actually going to let me take some of this gold, or is he just saying that and coming back with a gun to blow my head off?”
“Fred says what he means and means what he says,” Penny said from a firsthand perspective. “Let’s get those sheets pulled down, cut evenly, and ready to be packed. You good?”
“As good as can be, but the jury is still out and we shall see,” Cotter said, pulling the door to the wall as far open as he could.
Penny aimed the light inside to determine how far the paper went on the walls and to her surprise, it was only one wall that had the Damask. The other walls had been cleared. It wouldn’t be six bins worth of paper, but possibly only four. The other two bins could take the plates and some of the ink by her calculations.
In silence, she and Cotter removed the paper from the walls with ease, lying the sheets on the floor in even stacks. By the time the pages were all down, Fred returned with the bins and industrial scissors with a T-square ruler. He didn’t speak and he went to the floor, measuring each sheet evenly, marking, then cutting.
Cotter watched him work at a consistent pace for nearly an hour until all the sheets were evenly cut. In the end, Fred cut 96 square feet of paper into three stacks of 32. He pointed at the 32 for Cotter.
“For me? I get all of this?”
“You found it,” Fred said.
“You guys are taking the rest?”
“No, I will ship the other 64 sheets, along with the pressing plates and ink, to the Society of the Golden Orb in Boston,” Fred said.
Cotter looked shocked, “You’re not keeping any for yourself?”
A torn piece lay on the floor which Fred picked up and passed to his wife. “For Chapter 9,” he said, smiling at her.
Penny, happy with her reward, accepted the corner of paper, holding it to her chest. She began to place the other sheets in the container, smiling to herself as she worked. Fred too began smiling as he loaded the bins, his grin far wider.
“Nerds are weird,” Cotter said, loading his bin and heading for the exit. “Nice working with you, Doc.”
“Yeah, same,” Fred said, carrying the first container to his truck. Outside, he stopped Cotter. “Thanks. I understood what you were trying to do, and I appreciate it. Maybe I do need more friends, but this is my last adventure. We are heading home to raise our family.”
“Good enough. If you’re ever out this way, look me up. I will be in the pool house, working my way through my feelings,” Cotter said with a small salute.
It took less than twenty minutes to load the vehicle with luggage and whatever food stores they’d purchased. Fred changed his mind on St. Louis and started driving for home. When his eyes got heavy is when they would stop for the night. He would continue until he reached home and his own bed.
There were no more gastronomy stops. No big balls of yarn to see at out of the way places, but his home, his bed, and his wife. She sat in the passenger seat, resolved with an issue in her head, prompting him to ask Penny for her thoughts.
“I’m happy,” she told him.
“Happy? Did I do something to make this happiness?”
“Yes, you did, Fred Quartermaine,” she said softly. “You are exactly who you said you were. For a minute, like Cotter, I wondered if your plans were to shortchange him, but you didn’t. You shared fairly and even gave me a token, but more importantly, you didn’t turn into a greedy man, trying to get everything you could. I appreciate that and love you for it.”
“Aww shucks,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s next for me Penny, whether it’s teaching or being a stay-at-home Dad, but I don’t want any more of this life on the road.”
“We will figure it out together,” she told him.
“Fair enough,” he said, feeling the happiness himself as he drove through the night. Tomorrow, if patience were on his side, they would be home and resting well in their own bed. The idea alone spurred him forward, filled with ideas of his next steps.
Chapter 9 - Bank
Patience left every fiber of his being as he sat in the middle of the bed waiting for his wife to come from the bathroom. Happy to be home, he wanted a bit of loving before going to bed. He’d driven them across the country, stopping for one night to sleep for a bit, and got them home in record time. Fred wanted a reward for his good driving and safety. He wanted to feel her arms around him and hear the soft moan from her lips as he connected their bodies, followed by the heavy breathing when she found her release. His body craved Penny.
He refused to lie down in the bed because a tiredness he didn’t understand awaited him, and he knew the moment he lay down, it would be all over. Tonight was important to him. Therefore, he sat impatiently mulling over his feelings.
Penny exited the bathroom, billows of steam encircling her frame as the door opened. A towel wrapped around her hair meant she’d washed the loose hair and would need time to manage it before going to bed. He did notice she never slept with her hair loose, and at some point, in the near future, he’s ask the question but not tonight.
“Make love with me,” he said in a husky voice.
“Fred Quartermaine, I would not call what you do making love. Sure, it starts off that way, but mid-way through, it turns into this carnal coupling that got me pregnant,” she told him.
“The good news is that I can’t get you pregnant tonight or any night for the next few months,” he said, smiling. “Can we get carnal, coupled, and all hot and sweaty?”
“Is that why you’re sitting in the middle of the bed?”
“Yup,” he said, reaching for her hand.
Penny had barely made it to the side of the bed before Fred pulled her down next to him. He whispered sweet words in her ear as his fingers worked magic all over her body raising her body temperature until her breathing became ragged. Unable to withstand the teasing, she rolled Fred to his back, mounting him like a prized stallion and taking over. The feverish pace her hips worked made short work of the coupling session, as they both collapsed into a sweaty heap.
“That carnal thing you mentioned was on you,” Fred said holding her tight. “I liked it.”
He held onto her, not wanting to let go. His mind raced with unsaid words, wanting to talk about so much, yet in the same breath, say nothing. The feel of her in his arms brought him a comfort he never understood, at least he didn’t think he did until now.
“Are you okay, Fred?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said, squeezing her tightly.
“Do you want to talk about the gold, Cotter, or next steps?”
“Tonight, no. Tonight I only want to hold my wife,” he said, snuggling close, inhaling the scent of the soap in her skin.
“I didn’t think we’d find it. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we did. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if you were going to share it with Cotter,” she told him. “Fred, I have traveled the world and worked beside men of vision, men of adventure, and men of courage. However, very rarely, if ever have I seem to be gracious when finding a treasure. They want it all for themselves, and here you are, boxing it up and being fair with those who worked beside you. I love you for that. I love you for being a good man.”
Penny raised her head from where it had rested on his chest. She expected to look up into the brown eyes which saw so much and connected small pieces of puzzles to large pictures. Lips which kissed her with unbridled passion were closed as well as the eyes she loved to gaze into. Fred Quartermaine, was asleep.
“Well, ain’t that about a bitch?” She chuckled as she pulled the covers over them, sighing, and calling it a night. What she wanted to get off her chest was off her chest, and for now, it was good enough.
EVERY PHONE IN THE home seem to ring at the same time. Penny made it downstairs with her phone in hand as her sister called to discuss the weekend plans that Penny knew nothing about. The next call came from her mother, who also wanted to discuss the weekend plans, followed by her father, who wanted to come down for a sail with his cool son-in-law. The third call came from her agent, who moments ago had received the final pages of her manuscript, Unfortunately, the woman never read the entire book. Her nasty habit was to read the first three chapters, followed by Chapters Seven, Ten and the final chapter for the ending.
“Darling, I read the ending. I love it. I absolutely love it; how in the world did you get it finished so fast? Never mind; the twists were amazing and the treasure! What a treat. Dr. Dobbs receiving a memento from the hero is swoon worthy; my God, I love you,” Ginny Robson shouted into the line.
Penny never had much to say to the woman, normally agreeing to whatever schemes she concocted to sell books. She had some news for the agent. “Ginny, I’ve gotten married and am expecting my first child. I will be taking some time off.”
The line was silent. In the background, she heard a shriek and turned to see Lana holding a large cup of Koffee. Fred’s assistant was back at work, and life would return to some form of normal.
“Ginny, are you there?”
“No, I’m over here crying silently to myself,” she whispered. “The swashbuckling days are over, and Dr. Penny Dobbs will become a MILF. I can’t handle it. I need a moment.”
The line went dead as Penny held the phone. She turned, seeing Lana still standing in the middle of the floor with her mouth open. Her eyes went from Penny’s face to her belly, and finally, she began to cry.
“Lana, why are you crying?”
“I’m going to be an aunt, or an Auntie-sistant, or something. We’re having a baby. Is it a boy? I hope it’s a boy. Ooh, or a girl and we can have tea parties, I’ve always wanted to dress up and do that,” Lana said, which gave Penny an idea.
She called her sister. Then she called her mother. Next, she called her mother-in-law and just for shits and giggles, a call was made to Mexico. The smile on her face was wide when she turned back to Lana.
“Saturday, I am having a bridal, baby, engagement shower,” she said to Fred’s assistant. “We will have high tea, so get out your white gloves and choose one gift to bring for either of those life events.”
“A what?”
“A bridal, baby, engagement shower,” Penny said, smiling. “Hey, do you know of any caterers? I think we should cater the event.”
“I can call a caterer,” Lana said.
“Good, we need food for twenty. Make sure it is good food that will stand up to leftovers for Sunday,” she said, feeling a spark in her soul. “Wear something cute and a big hat. I love big hats.”
“Okay then,” Lana said, watching Penny walk away pleased with herself.
In the other room, Fred didn’t seem pleased at all. In that short period of time, he received back-to-back calls. First from his mother, who was excited for the shower on Saturday for the new wife and baby, and she was uncertain of what she should bring as a gift since they didn’t know the sex of the child. Finally satisfied, she ended with a lentil salad, considering the iron levels in his wife were low, based on her personal assessment of Penny’s hair.
He’d barely hung up the call when his father dialed, wanting to know if he wanted a bachelor party or a Dad-to-Be Night Out.
“Daddy, I don’t know what that is,” Fred said.
“It’s a dude gathering where you remember you have a set of balls before your wife snips them off,” James Quartermaine said. “Hey, did you find anything in Philoneus’ old house? You guys are back so soon.”
“Nothing worth mentioning,” Fred said.
“Okay, so do you have any cigars and dark liquor?”
“Don’t drink dark liquor,” he mumbled.
“Great, I will bring the cognacs and whiskey,” James said, cheerfully ending the call.
Fred sighed, realizing slowly that his life of ease and comfort would more than likely be a parade of nonsense for the rest of his days. He knew it to be true when his phone rang and it was Cotter Wilhborg. Fred closed his eyes in a silent prayer before answering the call.
