CHAPTER 16
"Strange. I thought I knew each corner of that island. How come I didn't see this underground storage."
"Huh?" Neal arched his eyebrow.
Albert suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I liked rowing the lake with Rosemary. She told me we should not go to Hope Island because that's the Leagans' private property. Unfortunately that made me want to come even more. So when she's not coming, I often went here."
Albert was relieved when Neal just laughed about it. "When you go there, just be sure to be careful with the rocks," Albert added.
"I think I know approximately where Hope Island is," Stear muttered. "That must be in that part of the lake that we always avoided with Archie and Anthony, right Neal? The one with lots of sharp rocks."
Neal nodded silently and looked back down at the map. It would have been much easier if he could order a servant to prepare a boat and hire a good tour guide. But he couldn't. His boats are locked in the mansion by the police. He didn't exactly know which one was Hope Island either. Lake Michigan had many islands...
"I can take you there if you want," said Albert.
"Seriously?!" Neal couldn't believe his ears.
Albert's eyes twinkled. "Sure. It's my favorite place. I'd love to go there again. When?"
"As soon as possible" said Neal. His face went red with excitement.
"Tomorrow?" said Albert lightly. It was so easy. Neal had to fight the urge to give Albert a hug.
"Can I go too?" asked Stear, hopeful. He's been silent watching the whole discussion and dying to be part of the treasure hunting expedition too.
Neal thought for a minute. He didn't want too many people know about his gold. But, In case something happened, he could trust Stear more than Albert. So Neal nodded.
Stear grinned excitedly.
"We have lots of things to prepare. Stay here tonight, Neal. It's better to go early before it gets to be too hot," invited Albert.
Neal sighed. In return to their generosity, he felt compelled to tell him the danger of being with him. "I am a... er fugitive. You will be in trouble if the police found you're helping me."
"Everyone is innocent until it's proven guilty." Albert patted Neal's back. Stear nodded in agreement.
"So you know about this too?" asked Neal.
"I'm the patriarch of the family." Albert winked. "So… stay with us?"
"Thanks," said Neal. For the first time, he felt he could like Albert.
They sat on the floor of Stear's garage and started to discussed their trips in a low voice, just in case someone was listening. They locked the door with Neal occasionally looked out of the window to check if someone was eavesdropping.
Stear took a notebook and pencil. "What should we bring? I start with food and water." He jotted it down.
"Shovel" said Albert. Stear wrote it down too.
"Flash light?" said Neal, hesitatingly. He never really went outside without his mother prepare everything for him. He felt so proud when the two approved.
"A string," said Albert, quietly.
"What for?"asked Neal.
"Just in case we're trapped in a cave or something. It never goes wrong to have a string ready," explained Stear expertly.
Neal watched his cousin. Stear improved a lot! In the past, he would be as clueless as himself except in inventing machines.
A few pairs of socks." Albert looked at Neal. "We need a dry one. You can use mine."
Stear nodded and wrote that down.
"A kettle to cook water," added Albert.
While they listed things, Neal looked at them. Other than with Eliza, he hadn't been this close to his relatives before in a long time. Archie, Stear, and Anthohy... What a waste not to spend more time with them. William was amazing and a worthy patriarch.
Albert turned to see Neal who's watching him quietly. "Want to share us your thought, Neal?"
Neal went red. "I was thinking, it's nice to have you and Stear around. The title Sir William suits you. You're a worthy family's patriarch."
Albert laughed. "Call me Albert..."
"Albert." Neal smiled. He never thought that he would like Albert that quickly. They continued the discussion. Before they knew it, the night came. They slept and soon the next morning had come.
Neal woke the earliest. He was happy when finally Albert and Stear entered the dining room for breakfast. It seemed he had waited for them forever.
"I'm ready," said Neal enthusiastically. "Such a fine day today, we're lucky."
"On the contrary, we'd better not go," Albert said unexpectedly, gesturing to the window. "From how it looks, we'll have a storm coming."
Neal looked out of the window. The sky looked as blue as it could get. "It looks fine with me."
"But the wind is picking up, don't you notice? Smell the air," returned Albert.
Neal was silent for a minute, wondering if Albert wanted to take the gold for himself. He should be quick!
"I go by myself then. This matter is like now or bust to me."
Stear stared at Neal before staring at Albert. "I'm sure you're right but I go with Neal. He shouldn't go by himself."
"Fine, we all go then," sighed Albert. "But don't blame me if our boat got capsized or things like that."
Albert called his servants to prepare them with more food in case they're stranded in the island and other preparations.
They finished the breakfast fast since Albert kept telling them to race against the storm. When they arrived at the lake Geroge was already there.
"All set, Sir William," greeted George. He nodded politely to Stear and Neal too. "We have a storm warning. It should come before noon."
"I know George. Thanks," said Albert.
Albert, Neal, and Stear boarded the boat and the staffs pushed them off. Albert distributed the oars to Stear and Neal. Albert rowed splendidly just like how Candy said he was. Neal suddenly felt nervous and was happy that he's not alone in the gold exhibition.
The boat shot through the lake. Slowly a dark spot formed and grew larger as they came closer.
"Your island, Neal," said Albert.
Squinting his eyes, Neal looked more carefully at the horizon. The distant spot grew larger until it formed an island. It's a green little island with a hill. In the right side, there's a ruin like some unfinished construction looking grayish...
"Rocks ahead!" Neal heard Stear scream. The water looked different now. Sharp rocks were everywhere. A wrong move then their boat would be torn into pieces.
"Watch out!" cried Neal.
"Let me row. You two don't move," said Albert.
"Where should we land?" asked Stear.
"You see a cliff there?" Alert pointed. "We go around the corner and land behind it. Don't worry. This is Its my favorite island. I know every inch of it."
Skillfully, Albert worked the boat. He landed the boat on a rock-free beach. The sand was white and soft. The boat stopped gently and the three of them jumped out of the boat. Neal was so excited he always fell off the boat.
"Good work, Albert!" praised Stear.
"Let's pull our boat higher," said Albert. "We have a storm coming."
Neal silently laughed mocking Albert. The weather couldn't be nicer, the water couldn't be calmer.
Neal looked up. It was amazing. The island was small and hilly with lots of birds. He motioned to catch one. The gull calmly sidestepped and with a loud mocking sound flapped its wing and rose easily to the sky.
Albert laughed. "I tried to catch them too and never could. Look at that one with her eggs. Aren't they remarkable?"
"I like their grayish color," said Neal. "They're surprisingly tamer here than in the mainland."
"The last human who ever came to visit this island was probably young Albert," said Stear.
Albert chuckled.
Neal pulled copy map he made last night when he couldn't sleep and unrolled it.
"You made a copy?" asked Albert. "Very good!"
Neal grinned. The three of them studied it together.
"We're here." Albert pointed a spot on the map.
"It seems your great-great-grandfather used the same starting point like yours, Albert," murmured Stear.
Neal nodded slowly several times in agreement.
"We just have to follow this small path to this old well and climb it down to the underground storage. The gold should be down there." Albert talked and traced the routes on the map with his finger and stopped at the X sign.
It seemed surreal that they're hunting for gold. The three of them then walked along zig-zagging and passed through the unfinished construction they saw from the boat. Indeed, the wall was gray. It's made of gray bricks with roof of red bricks. It would have been an inviting little house if finished.
They kept on going. Unfortunately the route was blocked by a huge boulder. Neal moaned impatiently. He just couldn't wait to get the gold and rescue his family but it seemed it wouldn't be as easy as he thought.
"Hm this rock isn't in this map, is it?" asked Stear.
"Can we check the original map, Neal?" added Albert.
Neal picked up the original map parchment but there's no mention about the boulder there either.
"Strange," said Albert. "I guess this bolder wasn't here when your great-great-grandfather made the map. It just naturally rolled and blocked the path later on-"
Suddenly they heard a big rumble of the lightning. They had been so occupied that they didn't pay attention that the storm was coming. Big rain started to fall accompanied by lighting and strong wind.
Neal, Albert and Stear ran to the construction ruin trying to get shelter desperately under the broken-unfinished roof with many holes.
"Look how high the wave is. We need to pull out boat or we can't go home!" screamed Albert.
The three of them ran back to the boat. The water was already touching the boat. They pulled it higher and tied it to a dead trunk.
"Take some food!" commanded Albert.
The rain kept pelting down. Soaking wet, three of them were running back to the ruin.
"Albert! Stear!" Neal screamed so he could be heard though the roaring storm. "A cave!" He pointed to his right.
"Let's go there! Hurry!" Stear shouted.
Three of them dashed over the slippery rock . The cave was large and dry. It gave them a much better shelter than the broken construction. Inside it was as dry as it could be.
"Whew! I haven't been in a bigger storm," said Albert squeezing water from his scarf.
Neal just nodded, he was too stunt to make comments.
"I had plenty in the trench but yeah, this is bad too," Stear said calmly.
-To be continued-
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Sabrina: We'll have plenty of Stear. Thanks for reading!
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