The Campaign: A MacGyver Story Ch 8

AN: HUGE apologies to everyone! I have been so distracted all day with my housekeeper, then a WebInar conference, etc., that I completely forgot to post this chapter! So Here it is, a bit belated...

Chapter 8

(MacGyver POV)

As soon as the lantern slipped through my fingers I knew I had to get out of there, but landing on the floor in a puddle of kerosene didn't help anything. Fortunately for me my jacket was wet from the rain and my little dip in the cistern and that protected me from the flames, for the most part anyway, and the wet grass extinguished the rest. A couple of the fellas helped me to pull down my tent before the fire could spread to the office area. Of course, by this time both Phil and the Senator were long gone. As more of the crew showed up, Randy had them set up a couple of the spare tents and move the office stuff into them. They could sort through the papers in the morning.

Ellen came running and threw a blanket around me before helping me up to the house. Once there, she pulled my jacket off. "What happened here? I haven't seen you all day. Where've you been?"

What could I say? "I'm not really sure.." Harry always said that honesty was the best policy… "Can you tell me what day it is?" The look she gave me made me wonder if there wasn't a little more to Harry's little gem of wisdom?

She gave me a look of consternation while she examined my hands, "Honestly! Where have you been? You've been here one night and already you don't know what day it is? And just how did you get so wet? You must have gone swimming out in the lake with your clothes on! "

Well, I tried to get a word in edgewise, but I was kinda worn out from it all, well, until what she said next made me sit up and take notice.

"Let's get you out of those wet things…" and she started unbuttoning my shirt! Now, that woke me up!

"No! Wait!… Uh, all my clothes were in that fire!"

"Mister MacGyver, I AM a doctor! You can wrap up in that blanket until I can find some clothes in your size… Oh my! Look at your hands!"

I guess I had been running on adrenaline and hadn't noticed the burns on my hands … she brought over a basin of warm water to rinse the grime off of my hands, but somehow the warm water started me shivering. "Umm... Ellen? I think I'm getting… a little bit…"

She took a better look at me and had me lie down on the cot where I was sitting, then brought out two more blankets. "Looks like you're going into shock."

It was getting hard to think, but I managed to say, "Bring the book in my jacket."

"Why?" she asked, continuing to remove my clothing under the blankets.

"Just bring it here." I didn't know how long I could stay awake, but I knew I needed to hang onto that book, and that bookmark … what did she call it? The key?

She started smearing some kind of salve on my hands and my face in places where it was burned and bandaged my hands, then handed me the book. "I don't see what good that's going to do you in the shape you're in…"

I thanked her and tucked the book under my pillow.

I must have slept the whole day because when I woke up the sun was hanging low in the sky.

"Well, it's about time! You hungry?"

I craned my neck around to see Rosie studying that bookmark. "Hey! What are you doing with that?" I started to get up before I realized that I had no clothes on! "Don't suppose you know where there's some clothes I could wear?"

"Yeah. Over on that chair." And she pointed across the room. "This bookmark has some interesting markings on it. Where did you get it?"

"It was in the book, now would you mind leaving so I can get dressed?"

"Huh? Oh! Sure!"

"And leave the bookmark here, please." She looked like I'd asked her to leave her kitten with me, so I added, " We can look at it together if you come back in a few minutes."

About a half-hour later we were sitting in the kitchen of the house, with the sounds of animals and birds who were recovering from treatment in various cages around the house honking and squawking to each other. Over some hot tea and biscuits we were comparing the markings on the bookmark, as we were now calling the metal thing and a sketch Rosie had made of the layout of the cellar.

"See?" she said. "It seems to correspond with the features in the cellar!"

"That's a cool bookmark. Where did you get it?"

What could I say? I didn't want her to think I was totally nuts, but I didn't feel like… OK maybe I should…? "Rosie, I had a dream about someone called Rosalind…"

"That was my grandmother's name!"

"Yeah… Do you remember anything about her ever meeting General Sherman?"

"Yes! Some Yankees came to the house and were harassing her and Sherman happened by and sent them off! She said he was really nice! She said he even gave her some cheese! Wonder where he got cheese from?"

"Cheese?" Where, indeed?

"Yeah. I guess he needed to hide some stuff, so she gave him a key to a room in the basement."

"Maybe this was something he had so he wouldn't forget where it was?"

"Makes sense… it was in the book with the maps."

"Except… but, well, there are four circles on the 'bookmark', as you call it, but you only have three rooms drawn on your layout: The cistern, the furnace room and the well on the other side of the wall. What's this other thing marked with an 'S'? Could that be a storeroom?"

"Hmm, well… there is a pantry over there, and … you're right! There used to be another room down there, next to the pantry!"

"You got a flashlight in here somewhere?" I wanted to have a look around down there, but I needed some light and I didn't want to advertise my presence by turning on a light switch!

She reached into one of the kitchen drawers and produced a small flashlight. I stood up and checked that the batteries worked. "Stay here and let me know if anyone shows up who doesn't belong here."

I headed out the door, but she followed me. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well… come on," I told her, speaking in a hushed voice and heading for the outside cellar door. "You can wait here in the outside cellar stairway," I told her as I opened up the cellar door and started down the steps. "Let me know if any cars pull in. But be careful. Don't let them see you!"