7. Brother Lost
Joe looked at Nancy, unsure if he understood her right. "Then there are more family members that could know the secrets?" Joe questioned.
"Well," Nancy thought, "nobody knows what happened to Jocelyn's son. I suppose it is possible that he could have survived and married. Walter had one son and one daughter. His son died in infancy. The daughter, I assume, is Gabriel's ancestor."
"But, other than your father, Nan, every other known family member has died." Bess pointed out.
George looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Nan, why didn't you mention Jacob Drew when you talked about the house?"
"By the time that house was built Jacob was well into adulthood. He had already married and had a son. He never saw the house."
"Why not? Didn't he ever visit his father, or help search for Jocelyn?" Frank asked curiously.
"He was already dead."
Gabriel gasped. "He's the one?"
"What is it?" Nancy looked at Gabriel with an air of expectance.
"I had heard about a brother of Jocelyn's, I simply assumed the story was about Walter. He was somewhat of a dreamer in search of treasure. Supposedly he found some, but nobody knows how much."
"He did find some." Nancy whispered. "One of the heirlooms passed down through my family is part of that treasure. I grew up with that same story, but I knew who the dreamer was."
"Well one thing's for certain, we need to get back to that house. Someone feels that something inside that house is valuable enough to steal."
"Frank's right." Gabriel agreed. "Someone is trying to keep us away from anything that may tell us where that treasure is. Things are getting out of hand."
The decision made, everyone climbed into Gabriel's and the Hardy's car. Gabriel led the way down the road. Frank followed closely behind. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Each knew that someone was observing their movements. Someone knew the family secret. Someone was out to see that nobody else found whatever that house hid.
The house seemed even more forlorn and dismal than Nancy remembered. Tracks peeled out of the long driveway. The front door stood open. Everything about the house spoke careless abandonment.
Frank and Gabriel parked in the driveway and climbed out, followed by the others. Everyone was cautious, watching for any signs of another living being. Nobody wanted to be caught off guard by a surprise attack.
Gabriel led the way into the house, followed closely by the others. They had no real idea what they were looking for but they knew that something in that house was worth finding. They were determined to search until they found anything that would lead them in the right direction.
Several hours passed as the group carefully and methodically searched the house. Each room was searched from top to bottom. Nothing was left untouched. Finally the group had one place left to look.
"Do you think there's actually anything here?" Bess asked. "We've looked everywhere."
"Everywhere except the attic." George reminded her with a grin as she led the way to the attic stairs. "So what are we waiting for?"
"Let's go." Frank and Nancy chorused as they followed George.
"Ohh." Groaned Bess as she started up the steps.
Gabriel fell into step next to Bess. He smiled a reassuring smile at her. "It's not so bad."
Bess smiled back. "I guess not."
In the attic Frank was already sorting through a trunk while George and Joe were searching dressers. Nancy stood at an old writing desk studying the contents carefully. Bess and Gabriel made their way to some old boxes stacked in a corner.
Time passed slowly as everyone searched through their areas. Each search left the group more frustrated than the last. They were just about to give up hope of finding anything when Bess let out a shriek. At the bottom of the box she was searching was a journal. The name on the journal was Jocelyn Marie Drew.