Reed brought Dolly into the parlor, where Daisy, Anna, and Jesse were waiting. “Honey, what’s this all about?” she said.
“You should prob’ly sit down,” Reed said, joining Dolly on her velvet settee. “We didn’t wanna tell you in front o’ Si because we know he’s not s’posed to have any excitement. But, well . . . we found it, Miss Dolly. We found the money Catherine and Andre left behind.”
Dolly blinked at Reed, as if she couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. “You found what, honey?”
“The money, Miss Dolly—Andre’s stash. We found it. A lot of it.”
Anna got up from her chair and knelt on the floor by Dolly. “Isn’t it just too wonderful? Now you and Si won’t ever have to worry again!”
Dolly blotted her forehead with her hand, but Reed couldn’t tell if she was about to shout hallelujah or faint dead away.
“I just can’t believe this.”
“It’s true, Dolly,” Anna said. “We found their passage to the river. And you don’t ever have to give a thought to property taxes again. Reed and Daisy took care of that this morning.”
Dolly grabbed a cardboard fan from the table by her settee and started flapping it as fast as she could in front of her face. “I’m just—I mean, I can’t—could y’all back up a little bit and take me through this real slow?”
“Jesse started readin’ the journals,” Reed explained. “And he thought we oughta use ’em to try one last time to find the money. So that’s what we did. Funny thing is, if the skatin’ rink hadn’t burned to the ground, that good-for-nothin’ Clanahan couldn’t have fallen through the trapdoor and opened the way to the money, because the passage leadin’ to the river was under the rink floor. It was buried under hay in one o’ the original horse stalls. Losin’ your business saved your house, Miss Dolly.”
“We found an underground canal running beneath your property, Dolly,” Jesse added. “And it connects to the Coosa River. The remains of a dock are still down there.”
“And y’all think Andre left behind enough money to pay my property taxes this year?”
Daisy joined Anna on the floor at Dolly’s feet. “Andre left behind enough money for you to buy Alabama if you want to. You can prob’ly swing Georgia too.”
“It was all gold coins, Miss Dolly, and they’ve increased in value over the years,” Reed said.
“How much money are we talkin’ about, honey?”
“Well . . . give or take a little . . . ’bout four million dollars.”
Dolly turned as white as cake flour, and little beads of perspiration appeared all over her face.
“I’ll get her some water,” Anna said. She hurried to the kitchen and returned with water for Dolly.
“Four million dollars?” Dolly said between sips of water. “That’s more money than anybody could ever spend.”
“Give it your best shot, Dolly.” Daisy took the cardboard fan from Dolly, who couldn’t seem to gather her wits enough to flap it, and waved it in front of her.
“You sweet children, I just can’t imagine how you did this.”
“Daisy and me paid a little visit to the tax assessor’s office today,” Reed said. “You oughta be free and clear through about 1994, so take good care o’ yourself. You’re gonna need to live a real long time to get your money’s worth.”
The curtains fluttered away from the windows, but there was no sign of a breeze.
Dolly laughed out loud. “I’m right there with you, Little Mama.”