“Thank you. And since you’re here, would you like to give me a leg up?”
With a nod, he cupped his hands and helped her draw up easily into the saddle. She hooked her leg over the pommel.
“Perfect,” she said, smiling down at him. “Again, thank you. I’ll see you soon.”
Soonwas such a nebulous word, she assured herself as she set off directly toward Angsley Hall.
*
Bess was canteringsmoothly, and the moon seemed to be keeping its glowing face out from behind the clouds, though Eleanor could see they were thickening to the east, behind her.
It only took her fifteen minutes to traverse the two miles and get to the lean-to and their abandoned supplies. That gave her plenty of time to muse upon Poe’s delightful story. Not a Gothic, terrifying tale like Shelley’sFrankenstein, it had been more an intellectual exercise with the very strange and seemingly inexplicable peppered in.
When she’d read the ending with the protagonist finding the buried pirate treasure, Eleanor knew Grayson would have buried something for her to find.
Dismounting, she found everything as they’d left it at the fishing shelter, but she couldn’t ride Bess and pull the wagon. Tethering the horse to a branch, Eleanor lit the oil lamp, enjoying its cheerful glow. Without wasting any time, she began dragging the small cart toward the oak twenty feet past the bishop’s hostel.
It was easy to find. From the base of the tree, she could look back and see the devil’s seat high upon the boulder. Above her, she could even see the white skull catching the moonlight. Though she very much doubted it was a human death head, since Grayson was not a fierce pirate, she would soon find out.
Tucking up her skirts, Eleanor took the string with the small kitchen weight already threaded onto it from the supplies. There was nothing else she needed up in the tree. The lantern would have to stay in the wagon for she couldn’t climb and hold onto it.
Then, as she and Grayson had been going to do together, she began to climb the oak.
With a wry smile, she realized he’d chosen a tree which, while following the dictates ofThe Gold Bug, was also an easy climb. The thick branches were close together so she could easily reach the first one and each subsequent one.
As she made her way up the tree, her only wish was for more light. With each passing minute, it grew darker, and, unfortunately, the creepy crawlies of the night had come out. As she placed her hand on the next branch, a spider crawled across her glove, and she screamed before she could stop herself.
Then Eleanor laughed, breaking the tension that had built in her. She was not afraid of spiders, nor snakes. It was simply the shock of the first encounter. There were bound to be more, but she truly hoped none were dropping onto her pinned hat.
In another ten minutes, having encountered nothing more frightening than a few bats and more spiders whom she startled in their webs, she reached the branch with the skull. Grayson must have come out on the night she saw the wet footprints in the hallway and set up the clue.How sweet of him!
Just as the servant Jupiter had done in the short story, Eleanor worked her way out onto the end of the branch. It turned out to be a goat skull, very old, the bone already bleached white, and held in place with a big nail.
She shivered. After all, it was not every night a girl found herself high in a tree with a skull of the once living. And on her twentieth birthday, too!
If Grayson could see her now, he would be appalled. Again, she laughed.
Crack!The first bolt of lightning split the dark sky, miles away over the river. The heated air boomed a moment later.
Oh, dear!She had best hurry.
“What’s next?” she asked herself aloud, recalling very well what she had to do. Untying the string from around her neck, she held it directly over the left eye socket. According to the story, and to the puzzle she’d deciphered, she had to let it fall through the skull. The small iron weight from Cook’s kitchen scale would ensure it went down straight to mark a spot directly below.
Another sizzling lightning bolt lit up the night, which she appreciated, as she let the weight fall from her fingers, watching it take the string to the ground and fall into the grass.
Boom!The thunder, closer now, seemed to shake the oak tree, and even caused the bats to fly about for a moment before they settled down again. Eleanor clapped her hands with excitement. She must move more quickly, or it would be pitch black and she would never finish the quest.
Climbing down was always a little harder and slower than up. Still, she was nimble, moving as fast as she could, and not minding when her dress caught more than once. Each time, she yanked, and eventually, it tore. She didn’t care. After all, Mrs. O’Connor was an excellent seamstress.
Nearly giddy with the excitement of her success so far, she jumped the last few feet to the ground, and her riding boot slipped on the damp grass.
The devil!
Gasping as her ankle twisted sharply, she held her foot up in the air for a painful moment. She should have worn her Wellies!
Could she walk?Testing her footing, applying pressure, she sighed in relief.
Definitely, she could feel a little tenderness, but not enough to stop her progress. Soon, she would be riding on Bess, and after that, she’d be resting in her bed. By morning, no one would even notice she’d been out late.
