As darkness crept over Eden, Martha and Miriam made their way to the barn where James and Jonas were to meet them. They moved quietly in the grass until they reached the door. Miriam leaned in to open the door, but it opened of its own volition, startling both women. Martha stumbled backward, but was able to maintain her balance. She looked up to see Jonas and James standing at the doorway of the barn.
“Sorry to frighten you both,” James said by way of apology.
“He could be on his way here this very moment, so let’s all get inside,” Jonas whispered to the group. Miriam and Martha exchanged looks and then nodded in agreement.
Martha and Miriam took cover in the darkness, while Jonas and James whispered the details of their plan together. When they had finished, Miriam walked over to Martha, hoping to be enlightened of the plot. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked in a hushed tone. “Do we just sit and wait?”
“Pretty much,” Miriam replied. “Jonas wants us to be safe, so we’re to just sit over here and watch. If Amos does indeed take the bait, they want to ensure that everything goes smoothly.”
Martha nodded; she understood perfectly. She sat quietly in the shadows as James and Jonas fidgeted in the dark. She could see their silhouettes as the rays from the moon shone through several small windows, dancing around the men as they prepared to their trap. They had placed a decoy door, all nicely wrapped to disguise the fact that it was not, in fact, the now-restored antique door, close to the entrance and readied themselves for the suspected vandal.
“I still don’t see anyone out there,” James whispered to Jonas.
“Jah, but if he’s involved in this in any way, he’ll be coming for that door,” Jonas replied.
The night air grew colder, and chirping of crickets in the distance brought an uneasy feeling over the barn. It had been well over an hour and there was still no sign of Amos, or of anyone else for that matter. “Maybe this is useless,” Martha said. Just then, her attention was pulled toward the door.
A loud scraping noise penetrated the barn’s interior. Then, a loud squeak sounded. The barn door opened slowly and Martha watched as a thin line of light shone on the ground. It grew until it reached the shape of a large cone, illuminating the cheap decoy of the restored antique door that rested a few yards away.
The doorway was now wide open, and a dark figure stood in the entrance. Martha looked closely, but couldn’t quite tell who it was. The person was cloaked in black clothing, with a baseball bat in one hand and a crowbar in the other. Silence engulfed the barn once more as the person stepped toward the wrapped door. Without warning, he dropped the crowbar and swung the bat with immense force, bashing and shattering the antique door to pieces. Horrified by what she was seeing, Martha let out a loud gasp. Suddenly, the bat stopped mid-air, and the person turned toward her.
Oh no! She covered her mouth with her hands to stop the sound from escaping, but it was far too late. Martha tried to lower herself to the ground, hoping the shadows would conceal her further. She looked over at Miriam, but saw nothing but darkness. She must have been hiding as well. As the footsteps approached her, Martha’s heart pounded with fear. The labored breaths stung her ears as the vandal stood inches away, looming over her concealed body. Could he see her? Did he sense her presence? Fear trickled down her cheeks as she sat completely still.
Suddenly, a bright light clicked on and she heard James’ voice as it cut through the haunting silence. “Leave her alone.” Initially, Martha hesitated to make even the slightest sound, but once she felt safe enough, she slowly rose to see what was going on. She looked on to see James holding a high-density work light up to the man’s face.
“Drop the bat, Amos,” Jonas ordered. She watched on as the man struggled to shield his eyes from the blinding light that was still focused on him.
“Okay, okay. Here,” Amos said, dropping the bat next to his crowbar.
Jonas stepped into the light and grabbed the tools from the ground. “Miriam, Martha, you two can come out now.”
Martha emerged from the shadows together to see James standing by Amos.
“Miriam, could you run to the house and call the sheriff please?” Jonas said.
“I’m on my way,” she said, before hurrying off.
Martha looked at Amos, who was now sitting in a corner, clearly flustered by his current predicament. “So, I guess you weren’t exactly carrying school books around looking for vandals, were you?” she asked him. James stood silently, watching over her.
“No,” Amos snarled. “Is that why you guys were here waiting for me? Figures. Whatever! I still destroyed your precious little door, didn’t I!”
“Actually, you did no such thing,” Jonas said. “You see that wrapped door that you smashed to pieces?”
Amos turned to look at the door.
“It was just a worthless decoy to lure you in here. The actual, restored antique door is being safely kept in the kitchen of the B&B.”
Amos let out a loud sigh. “If only you people knew! It’s here somewhere, I know it is! I’m so close to finding it, but this stupid B&B is in the way.”
James crouched next to him and spoke softly. “Amos, there is no treasure here. It’s just a folktale, a legend to bring some novelty to the area. You’ve disappointed a lot of people,” he added solemnly.
“You’re wrong, James! You’ll see! One day when the treasure is actually discovered, I’ll expect an apology,” Amos said.
A few moments later Miriam rushed back into the barn. “Sheriff Dobbs is on his way,” she said gasping, struggling for breath.
Jonas smiled at her. “That’s great. Hopefully this is the end of this sort of behavior and there won’t be any other setbacks.”
She nodded. “I hope you’re right.”
The loud sirens from Sheriff Dobbs’ police car could soon be heard. The flashing red and blue lights lit up the barn, painting a surreal atmosphere. Jonas and Miriam met with the sheriff outside the barn as Martha and James stood inside with Amos.
Sheriff Dobbs walked into the barn with a satisfied smile on his face. “So this little guy is the one that’s been causing all the issues around here!”
Amos rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. “Can we just get on with this?” he hissed.
The sheriff’s demeanor grew colder. “Of course we can, sir. If you’d please stand up and put your hands behind your back, I’d be happy to get on with this.” Amos did as he was instructed, and Dobbs continued the arrest. “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.” He rattled off the Miranda Rights as he cuffed his suspect. “Now, you can exercise these rights, or you can waive them and explain yourself.”
“I’m not explaining anything,” Amos snapped.
The sheriff shrugged. “Right now you’re looking at several charges, and the list could keep going on if you don’t cooperate with the investigation. I just need to know what you were doing and why you were doing it. Did somebody put you up to this?”
Amos looked reluctant to answer, but finally spoke. “Okay. If I waive my right to remain silent and explain everything, will the punishment be more lenient?”
“I can’t promise what the prosecutor will agree to, but there’s a likelihood you’ll face lesser charges and punishments if you cooperate with us fully.”
Martha and Miriam looked at each other with curiosity. Was Amos going to tell them what this was all about, or was he going to keep his motives a secret? Martha wondered. She looked back at Amos, but she saw no emotion on his face at all.
Finally, he spoke in a hushed tone. “I waive my right to remain silent. I’ll speak to you, Sheriff.”
“Okay, now that’s a good start,” Sheriff Dobbs remarked. “Just tell me why you were going around causing all of this damage.”
Amos squared his shoulders. “I did it because I wanted the business to fail. I figured I could make it look like the rival B&B owners were causing problems again, but I guess I didn’t succeed at that.”
“Oh, you did a pretty good job of that,” Miriam muttered.
“Why would you want the B&B to fail if you weren’t working for the rivals?” Sheriff Dobbs asked.
“I did it for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure. It’s here somewhere! I know it is.”
The sheriff’s face contorted. “Excuse me? You’re one of those crazy treasure hunters?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes, I am. Got a problem with that? I come from these parts. I’ve been trying to convince my father to buy Eden for years, but now that he’s finally willing to, it’s off the market. I figured the only choice I had was to drive out the current owner, so that it would go back up for sale. The treasure is here somewhere! I just need time to look for it!”
Sheriff Dobbs laughed. “Listen, I’ve been the law in this town for over twenty years, and I’ve seen dozens of these would-be treasure hunters. They all head out here to Eden with dreams of gold and riches, but all they come back with are blisters and sunburn. If Doctor Eden truly did bury Captain Kidd’s treasure here, it’s long gone by now.”
Amos looked put out. “But you don’t know that!”
“Yes, I do. You’re being charged with trespassing, criminal mischief, and malicious destruction of property,” Dobbs said as he led him away.
“I thought you said you’d help me if I talked!” Amos complained.
“I will talk to the prosecutor and let her know you cooperated, but that doesn’t absolve you from your crimes.” The sheriff turned to Jonas and Miriam before leaving. “Looks like we finally caught the critter causing all your problems,” he said.
Miriam smiled and thanked the sheriff, who promptly loaded Amos into his cruiser and drove off into the night.
James walked over to Martha, who was still in shock from the night’s events. “Are you okay?” he asked politely.
She smiled. “Jah, I’m going to be fine, it is all just strange. I had a feeling he was behind it, but I didn’t want to believe he’d do such things.”
“None of us wanted to believe he’d do such things,” he replied.
“Denki,” she said.
“What for?” James’s face showed surprise.
“For not letting him find me. I was terrified when he heard me in the barn and starting searching in the darkness.”
“I’d never let him, or anyone else hurt you. I promise,” James said.
They exchanged smiles and walked over to where Jonas and Miriam locked in conversation. “At least you won’t have to deal with any more vandalism,” Jonas said.
“I hope so, but with the rival B&B owners and tales of this imaginary treasure buzzing around still, I don’t know if this is the last of it or not,” Miriam said.
“Yes, but if we can stop one of those people, then why can’t we stop the rest of them? You’re not alone anymore; James and I are more than willing to stick around for as long as we can and help get this place in top shape. If that includes setting a few more traps and catching a few more bad guys, so be it,” said Jonas.
“Yes,” added James. He looked over at Martha once more. “I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s safe.”
“My thoughts exactly,” added Jonas with a smile.