Pulling her scarf around her neck, she glanced down the street just as Liam’s truck turned the corner. He parked nearby and stepped out, his face breaking into a smile when he saw her.
“Hey,” he greeted, a camera bag slung over his shoulder. “Ready for some treasure hunting?”
“I can’t wait,” she replied, returning his smile. “I hope you brought your sense of adventure.”
“Always,” he said, falling into step beside her as they approached the old steamboat museum’s wooden doors.
Pastor John joined them on the steps. “Sorry I’m late. I hope you haven’t been waiting for long.”
Chloe smiled. “We’ve only just arrived. Thanks for letting us look inside the storage rooms.”
“I’m glad there might be something inside that Liam can use in his book.” Pastor John handed Chloe a spiral-bound folder. “I brought the catalog with me. The sketches could be in room four, beside the other books and diaries we found.”
Pastor John unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. The bright fluorescent lights filled the foyer with light.
Chloe’s eyes widened. “This is a lot different from the last time I was here.” On one side of the room, models of steamboats and antique navigational tools lined old wooden shelves. Ahead of them, maritime posters filled the wall with a visual reminder of just how popular sailing across Flathead Lake used to be.
Pastor John led them across the room. “Percy wants to organize tours of the historic sites in Sapphire Bay. This building is an important part of our past, so we decided to give the foyer a facelift. We found what’s here in the same storage rooms we’re looking in tonight.”
Liam looked at the posters hanging from the walls. “I can’t believe everything’s in such great shape.”
“Percy was impressed, too. After the holidays, he’ll scan each poster and store them in the preservation society’s archives. Apart from what you see, the Christmas committee found some amazing family heirlooms. They aren’t valuable, but they’re extremely interesting.”
As they made their way toward the storage rooms, Pastor John handed them both a flashlight. When Liam raised his eyebrows, John smiled. “It pays to be prepared. The last time we were searching for something, half a dozen mattresses and an old-fashioned wardrobe nearly flattened my wife.”
Chloe smiled. All they needed was two more people and they’d be like the Famous Five, solving mysteries and finding hidden treasure.
Pastor John stopped in front of a dark brown door. “According to the catalog, the sketches should be in here. If they aren’t, they’ll probably be in the next room.”
Chloe turned on her flashlight. “The sketches were in an old trunk. I think it belonged to someone who worked on the steamboats, but it was so dirty it was hard to tell.” She wishedshe’d taken more notice of the trunk, but she’d been tired and didn’t think they’d need to find it again.
“Watch your step,” Pastor John cautioned as he opened the door. “The lighting isn’t the best in these rooms.”
Liam’s sharp, indrawn breath made Chloe move toward him. Filled with shelves and boxes stacked on every available surface, the room was a treasure trove of undiscovered secrets. As she moved the beam of her flashlight around the room, dust motes danced in the air.
“Wow,” Liam said, surveying the clutter. “This could take a while.”
Pastor John ran his finger down the catalog. “Not as long as you might think. Chloe added more instructions than the other volunteers on where she found things.”
Liam smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
Pastor John moved to the right-hand side of the room. “The trunk should be over here somewhere.”
Chloe frowned as John walked around an old dresser. Even though she hadn’t been back to the storage room, it didn’t look the same as they’d left it. “Would anyone have moved the furniture?”
“It’s possible,” Pastor John murmured as his flashlight skimmed across overstuffed boxes and piles of old books. “A few families have been here since we created the catalog.”
While John and Liam were hunting on the right-hand side of the room, Chloe stepped into the first semi-formed walkway she found. Navigating through the maze of artifacts—old life vests, shipping logs, faded photographs, and crates marked with dates long past—was just as exciting as the first time she’d been here.
She wriggled farther into the room, being extra careful around the large dressers and ornate cupboards leaning against the walls. A pained grunt coming from the other side of the room made her spin around.
“Is someone hurt?” she asked.
“It was me,” Liam said quickly. “I banged my shin against the edge of a bookcase. I’m okay.”
She turned her flashlight toward him. “Do you need more light?”
“Thanks, but I’ve got enough. I just need to watch where I’m going. Do you remember how big the trunk was?”
