Buried Treasure
It was a cold, gray day in mid-December in La Push. First Beach was empty, except for the seagulls picking at the sand, and the dog that had just run across the beach, scaring the birds into flight. The dog would have barked at the birds, but his mouth was full of something, and he knew he could bark at them later.
He continued down the beach, looking for just the right spot. He found a spot just out of the reach of the water, and he furiously started to dig. When the hole was deep enough, he dropped his prize in, and immediately covered it up, as quickly as possible. Then he ran back towards the rocks, hoping to keep his vault of buried treasure hidden from the approaching people.
Three little boys, all bundled up in hats, coats and boots came exploding onto the beach. They were each carrying their weapons: a hockey stick for the youngest, a dust pan with a long handle for the middle child and a snow shovel for the oldest. They ran towards the shoreline, loudly exclaiming their victory at having found the dog and heading towards it. The older child, a handsome young boy with copper skin, dark hair and light brown eyes, stopped short when he realized the dog was sitting calmly, panting. His eyes narrowed at the dog. His younger brothers, who looked almost exactly like him but had slightly lighter skin, or slightly darker eyes (depending on which one you were looking at), promptly bumped into him and both fell on their butts in the sand. "Hey! What'd you stop for?" the middle child questioned.
Jason, the older boy, glanced down at his brother and said, "We're too late. He's buried it already." His gaze returned to the dog, who was sitting with his tongue hanging out and looking very much as if he were grinning. Jack, the youngest, frowned and said, "It could be anywhere then. Where should we start?" Jonah, the middle child, and astutely observant, said, "He's been digging on the beach. Look at his front paws; they're covered in wet sand." Jason agreed with his brother and clipped out an order, "Yep. He's dug around here somewhere. Spread out and let's see if we can find it."
The boys wandered the beach, looking for a potential dig site. The dog, now worried that his loot would be found and reclaimed, started running back and forth between all the boys, trying to distract them. It was Jonah who found the little mound of sand that held the dog's burgled booty. When he started scraping at it with his handled dustpan, the dog came running over and tried to lie on the pile and rolled over to show his belly. Jonah muttered, "Busted," to the dog, and called out to Jason to bring the shovel over. Jason and Jack came running over, and shooed the dog away. "Yep," Jason said, inspecting the mound, "I'll bet it's there. Good job, Jonah."
They started digging, each with their own tool of choice. Admittedly, Jack's hockey stick did not move as much earth as Jason's snow shovel, but it didn't really matter. The dog just rested his head on his paws and whimpered, thinking he should have headed for the forest instead of the beach when he'd made his big escape. They unearthed the dog's ill-gotten gains and then ran back to their house as quickly as they could, with the dog running around and amongst them.
Once they got home, they quickly dumped their tools outside, shucked off their boots, coats and hats, and heard a throat clearing behind them. They all spun around to see their father looking down at them with raised eyebrows. Jason spoke up first, "We found it, Dad, but it's in bad shape." Their father frowned slightly, nodding; then he said, "Ok, well, let's see it." Jonah handed his father the dustpan handle. Jacob looked inside the dustpan and grimaced as he saw the mangled, dirty thing. He pulled it out and sighed. He glared at the dog, as it went behind the sofa with its head down.
Jacob stared at the stuffed double heart and sighed. Bella was going to be so disappointed. What had started out as a beautiful, pale pink stuffed conjoined double-heart with very delicate embroidery on each heart was now a soggy, sandy mess with punctures throughout from the dog's teeth. She had seen it in a catalog and loved it. He had ordered it for her as a Christmas present but he didn't know how he was going to give it to her now. That wasn't the worst part, though; he could order another little pillow. It was the secret compartment that he was worried about. The real present was a beautiful mother's bracelet with the charms and birthstones representing their 3 boys and their twin girls that were due this month and it had been inside the hidden compartment of the pillow, which was only secured with a tiny piece of velcro. If he opened that little panel and it wasn't there, he was going to … well, he didn't know what he was going to do to that damned dog, but something, for sure!
Jacob closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the panel. He looked down, opened one eye, and exhaled slowly. That was a damned lucky dog, so he guessed the boys had named him right. Grinning, he gave them the thumbs up, holding the bracelet up for them to see. They all smiled and Jack gave his dad a high five.
Jacob slipped the bracelet into his pocket. He put the little pillow into a paper bag and stashed it in the back of a cabinet, where he knew it would be safe. Bella could no more bend over to look in the cabinet at this point as she could jog around the house. He'd see if Sue could rescue it, but if not, he wouldn't worry about it. The little double heart pillow with their daughters' names embroidered on it could be replaced later. The bracelet was more important. With Bella due any day now, he wanted to make sure he could give her a really special gift that let her know how amazing and wonderful he thought she was, and how much he appreciated the children she'd given him and the life they had together.
Bella came out of the bedroom then, looking a little flustered. She smiled at him, and said, "Jake, I think you'd better start the phone chain and then get the car. My water broke. It's time."
A few hours later, Bethany and Bonnie Black were born – healthy, happy and loved.