Sorry for the delay. things came up that I had to take care of. Here is my new chapter. I think you will it. If you know the Hardy Boys history there's a conversation between boys that I think you'll get the meaning. Review thank you :)
Iola's Treasure 19
Eight o'clock was approaching as Frank drove along the ocean front on Shore Road to Hattie's house. The sky was gun metal grey with a tinge of green. Thanks to the humidity the air felt heavy; enough that Frank's clothes felt sticky and uncomfortable. Then the wind began to pick up; the leaves on the trees began to sway violently to and fro. He glanced out the window towards the ocean in the distance as the mounting waves hit the shore line. Distantly, he could hear thunder starting to rumble as lightning began to flash.
The road was littered with pieces of branches; Frank had to swerve occasionally to avoid them. As he continued to drive, it began to rain, quickly becoming a steady downpour. "Great." Frank mumbled, "That's all we need on top of everything else going on".
Sitting in the backseat, Chet realized just how devastated he was over Frank's news about Hattie. He and Frank were equally concerned about Joe and how he'd handle it when Hattie's time came. Frank glanced over at his little brother; he hadn't said a word since they left the house. He'd stopped crying and just continued to stare out the window, lost in his own world.
"What if he can't handle Hattie's death? Maybe it's too close to Iola. Maybe he shouldn't be there when it happens? I should take him away from all this; he needs a break. As his older brother it's my job to protect him. I'll be damned if I'm going to let him be hurt again." Frank continued to think. "Yes, that's what I'll do, once we give Hattie her things. Mom and Dad will understand that I need to get Joe away from all this".
By the time Frank pulled into Hattie's driveway, the storm was in full force. The property was dark; the only light provided came from the van's lights as they illuminated the house.
"Is the house locked?" Chet asked from the backseat. "Do you have the key to get in?"
Frank answered, "No, she didn't give us one. By the look of the place though it doesn't look like it'll be hard to get in."
"Well, let's go!" Chet jumped as a bolt of lightning lit up the night sky. Reaching over Joe, Frank opened the glove compartment, pulling out three flashlights; giving one to Chet and the other to Joe. Suddenly, without any hint of warning, Joe bolted out of the van and ran into the storm.
"Joe!" Frank called out. He and Chet hopped out of the van and began running in the direction into which Joe had disappeared.
"What's that crazy kid doing?" Chet asked worriedly.
"I don't know. We better find him." Frank said keeping his eyes glued to the direction Joe had gone. They tried calling Joe again but their words were drowned out by the thunder. By the time he and Chet reached the back of the house they were soaked from head to toe.
They found Joe by the side of the house scanning the area with his flashlight. Frank ran over to him, shouting so he could be heard above the storm. "Joe what are you doing!?"
"Joe! Come on! We need to get inside the house!" Chet yelled at his friend. Oblivious to his brother and friend, Joe continued scanning the area with his flashlight.
"Joe, talk to me!" Frank grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing Joe to look at him. Joe looked up as rain continued to run off him. "I remember Frank! I know who tried to kill me!"
The rumbling of thunder grew louder and louder.
"What…" Frank's eyes widen as he wiped the rain off of his face.
"The man I saw standing over me was Underwood!" Joe pulled away from his brother and went over to the side of the house. He aimed the beam of his flashlight on the broken trills. "The man in the black mask was Albert Douglas. He tried to kill me!"
Frank's heart skipped a beat when he saw the wild look in Joe's eyes. He was back to dealing with that unpredictable person that he'd dealt with a few weeks ago when Joe had threatened to stop them from building the resort. His behavior had gotten so out of control he'd ended up getting arrested. As the thunder continued to rumble, Frank couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his brother's head.
"I want him Frank! Let's go find Douglas!"
"Joe we can't!" Frank shook his head. "You heard what Dad said, we are here to get Hattie's things and go home!"
"Frank we have too!"
"Guys, I hate to interrupt!" Chet interjected, trying to shield himself from the rain. "Could we discuss this some place dry?!"
"That's a good idea!" Frank shouted back. "Come on Joe we'll talk inside!"
"Wait!" Joe replied. Using the beams of the flashlight he quickly and carefully ran through the tall wet grass. Frank and Chet followed him to a small wooden shed only a few feet away from the house.
There was a pile of tools on the ground, "I had just opened up the shed, and all these tools fell out of it. I was in the process of picking this stuff up!" Joe explained, "That's when I saw Douglas climbing up the trills!" The rumbling of thunder grew louder and louder. Shielding their eyes from the rain, Frank and Chet followed the beam of Joe's flashlight to the second story window to Hattie's room. "I'll bet that's where we'll find the clues to James Barmet's vault!"
"What!" Frank exclaimed. "Please tell me you're not thinking of going to Barmet Island!" He just couldn't believe what he was hearing. Flashes of lightning lit up the darkened sky, followed by cracks of thunder as though in reply.
"Can we go inside please?!" Chet pleaded. "I don't care how you guys do it! Just get us inside!"
Just then something in the beam of Chet's flashlight caught Joe's eye. Before anyone could say anything to object, he knelt down and dug through the pile until he found what he'd seen. "Yes! Hattie's keys!" He exclaimed as he stood up holding up the key ring.
A few minutes later the boys were walking through the back door of Hattie's kitchen.
"Oh, thank God!" Chet let out a sigh of relief. "I feel like a drowned rat." He said as he wrung out his shirt.
Frank found a light switch, to his disappointment nothing happened. "The storm must've knocked out the electricity."
"We should try to find some candles." Joe stated. "So we can save our flashlight batteries."
"Good idea." Frank remarked.
"Perhaps we can utilize the fireplace?" Chet suggested.
"We don't know how safe it is?" Frank pointed out.
"I know it needs to be cleaned out." Joe told him. "Maybe between the three of us we can get the fireplace going."
"All right, let's find some candles first and then will check out the fireplace." Frank reluctantly agreed.
The boys searched the kitchen and found a few candles along with a box of matches. Then they went into the living room. "Look at all this stuff." Chet commented shining his flashlight on the endless stacks of newspapers and magazines as well as books, clothes and other objects cluttering the room. "I don't know how anyone can find anything in here."
"There." Joe directed the beam of his flashlight to the brick fireplace in the center of the room. Sitting on the mantelpiece was an antique clock and a pair of candle holders. He inserted the candle into them and lit them, giving them some light. A few minutes later the boys had the fireplace cleaned out and a fire going. They stood by the fire to dry themselves off.
Looking out the window all Frank saw was rain. It was coming down hard enough to cut visibility down to a few feet; Frank couldn't see how they'd get home any time soon with the weather the way it was.
"Do you know what Iola's last memory was?" Joe asked unexpectedly. The statement caught Frank and Chet off guard. Frank stared at him blankly. "Huh? Where did that come from?"
Joe turned to stare at the flames and said, "She caught me flirting with some girl at the mall. She never said a word, but I knew she was angry with me. Iola stormed off saying she needed to get something out of the car. Frank and I ran after her and then the next thing that happened, Boom! The car blew up with her in it."
Frank heard a gasp from Chet upon hearing the gritty details of his sister's demise. "Joe, stop!" He reprimanded his brother and then asked, concerned for his friend, "Chet are you okay?"
"Yeah." was all Chat managed to say.
Joe shamefully apologized. "Chet I…"
"Just forget it," Chet cut him off. "What's done is done. It's entirely in the past now."
"Is there a point to this?" Frank inquired, changing the topic.
"Yes, there is."
"Then make it."
"My point is," Joe went on. "The last thing Hattie will remember is that jerk Underwood taking Barmet Island away from her. She needs to be at peace when she… you know…" He couldn't say the dreaded word.
"What are you suggesting?" Frank challenged, knowing exactly where this was leading.
"That we get Barmet Island back for Hattie." Joe braced himself for an argument with his brother. "All we have to do is find Douglas..."
"No."
"And Underwood and get the deed back..."
"No."
… maybe even find the clues to the vault?"
"No!"
"Frank" Joe pressed on determined to win the argument. "The only way to do that is for us to go to Barmet Island."
"JOE" Frank began emphasizing his words. "YOU CAN NOT GO TO BARMET ISLAND. If you get caught, you'll go to jail."
"I don't care." Joe shot back. "It's not about me anymore; it's about Hattie. She's all that matters right now."
"Douglas and Underwood already found those coins." Frank tried to reason with his brother. "They dug up that island looking for them. They're probably long gone by now. Let Dad handle this. He'll find them."
"You don't know that!" Joe said heatedly. "What if they didn't find those coins? What if they hadn't left it all? There's still a possibility that they're on the island".
Frank adamantly shook his head as he repeated. "I am not hearing this, I am not hearing this." He had a nagging feeling that Barmet Island was the key to finding their answers. What if Joe was right? Deep down, his detective voice was telling him to go explore the island.
Yet, there was another voice in his head as well, speaking loud and with great authority, "You are to go straight to Hattie's house and back here", followed by, "Do not get near that island." Frank cringed at the thought of facing their father's wrath if they go against him.
"Joe, we would be defying Dad."
"It wouldn't be the first time." Joe responded. "I know Dad'll be angry with us and he'll probably ground us until we're thirty".
"He'll do more than that. He'll skin us alive".
"Yes, but Dad is a detective. He will understand why we have to do this."
The brothers fell silent, staring at each other daring the other to argue. The thunder rumbled on as Chet watched from the sidelines, wondering who would break first.
Joe broke the silence as he huffed in frustration. "Frank, aren't you tired of sitting on the sidelines? I know I am." He paused for a moment before adding the next point. "It's like telling an artist, not to paint when all he wants to do is paint. Only he can't because no one will allow him. It's the same way with us. We are detectives. Solving cases and mysteries is what we do. It's in our blood. I want us to be part of the action. I want us to investigate Barmet Island."
Once more the thunder continued to rumble. Frank thought about this. "You do have a point. But…"
"If anyone can find that vault, it would be you guys." Chet chimed in. "Or you wouldn't be the Hardy Boys."
"Thanks Chet." Joe said gratefully. "See he agrees with me."
"Yeah, thank you Chet." Frank sarcastically remarked.
"What about this?" Joe touched his neck. "Are you going to let Douglas get away with what he did to me?"
Frank's eyes instantly went to the still faint handprints encircling Joe's throat. All at once, the thought of Douglas getting his hands on his little brother sent rage through his body. Frank at last admitted, "There is no going back, if we pursue this case. This means we'd be going against Dad."
"You still want to do this?"
"Yes, I do." Joe said, holding out his hand to Frank. "Then I'm in." Frank said shaking Joe's hand in agreement.
"I'm in too." Chet chimed in laying his hand on the brothers' hands.
"Chet, I don't think so." Frank disagreed.
"Why can't I help?" Chet frowned.
Frank answered honestly, "Once Joe steps foot on Barmet Island he'll be violating the restraining order. I'll be an accomplice. So there is a probability I'll be sharing a jail cell with him."
"That is if Dad doesn't kill us first." Joe added. "We can't risk getting you caught up in all the madness."
"I still want to help." Chet insisted.
The brothers exchanged a look. Joe grinned and shrugged, saying, "The house is pretty big. He could help us search for clues.
"We don't know what we're looking for." Frank replied.
"Look for anything that has to do with Barmet Island or James Barmet."
"So does this mean I can help?" Chet asked smiling.
Frank hesitated for a moment as he thought about this. "You could be in a lot of trouble too."
"Are you kidding?" Chet stated. "I've been a part of your team for over eighteen years! I've always considered myself your third wheel. And don't forget; there have been plenty of times that I've come to the rescue."
"He's right" Joe admitted. "Chet's been a part of our team a lot longer than anyone else." Thinking back to their conversation at the hospital, Joe looked right at Chet. "Besides we can't leave our brother out of this."
Chet just grinned from ear to ear.
"Okay then." Frank sighed "This has to stay between the three of us." Joe and Chet both nodded in agreement..
"Now let's start with what we came here for." Frank said switching gears. "Where's the list?"
Joe took the soggy piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. "Guess the rain got to it." He frowned, it was illegible. "But I did read it before it got all wet."
"There are only three things on it."
"That's it?" Chet said scrunching up his nose.
"That's it." Joe nodded. "Where to find everything is written down as well. The first this is a blue floral print dress hanging in Hattie's bedroom closet. The second thing is a brown photo album lying by her bed".
"The third thing is an antique clock sitting on the fireplace mantel." Joe picked up the clock and heard something rattling inside.
"Why would Hattie want that?" Chet asked. "It's broken."
"It must be important to her." Frank replied.
"I might be able to fix it." Joe informed him.
"I'll go up and get the dress and the photo album." Frank said as he turned his flashlight on, while walking towards the stairs.
Joe flipped the clock over in order to open the back, expecting to find broken gears. "What is this?" He pulled out a round flat object about the size of a silver dollar. He held it up to the light of a candle. "Chet, it's a coin!"
Frank had found Hattie's room. After finding the dress he aimed the beam of his flashlight over to the bed. The photo album was on the nightstand by the bed, just as he'd expected it to be. On the cover it read, "Barmet Family Album." As he picked it up he heard his name being called. "Frank!"
"Joe!" Without a second thought Frank flew out of the room and ran down the stairs. Expecting to find his brother and friend in some kind of trouble, to his surprise he found Joe and Chet standing by the fireplace grinning from ear to ear.
He threw the dress and photo album in the couch. "What?" He asked breathlessly.
"See for yourself. I found a clue." Joe held out his hand.
Frank gasped as the thunder still rumbled in the background. Lying in the palm of Joe's hand lay a gold coin with two swords crossing each other!