Nervously, Sunny lifted her hand to knock on Jason's door. She had already knocked several times. Did he suspect it was her? Was he purposefully not opening it? She heard a noise and turned around. Jason had just emerged from a stand of maple trees. He waved and called, "Hello Sunny!" He didn't appear to be irritated that she was there.
She walked across the yard to meet him. With an encompassing motion she said, "You've been busy. I like the addition to your porch. You've also been scraping the old paint off the house. What color are you going to paint it?"
"I've decided on an earth tone with white trim." They walked toward the house and he asked, "So, what brings you my way? Another offer to buy me out?"
His question hurt her feelings and she glanced sharply at him, only to see that he was smiling and joking with her. She laughed nervously because the moment had come to make her request known. "Ah, well, the reason I'm here is to ask you to go on another treasure hunt."
He stopped walking. "Did you find something else in the journals?"
"Kind of."
He chuckled, "Hmm. A 'kind-of' treasure; never searched for one of them before. Actually, I'd never searched for any treasure until you wrangled me into the last one."
Sunny grinned sheepishly. "Okay, it's not really a treasure in the strictest sense of the word. It's the Spirit Tree. Remember I told you it's where Tana made her healing elixirs."
Jason started walking again. "And you think you know where it is?"
"Not exactly. But I have an idea. It's near the creek in a place that's often awash with overflows that have exposed the roots of the tree. If you'll give me permission to follow the creek on your land, I'm sure I can locate it."
"Land markings can change drastically after more than a hundred years."
"Yes, I know. But I'd love to try and locate the tree."
Jason paused at the top of his porch steps and looked down at her. "Okay, you can search, but with one stipulation."
"What's that?"
"I come with you."
Thirty minutes later they were following the creek while Sunny related clues she'd read in the journals. "It seems that Tana would fill jars with water from a natural spring and place stones in the water. After that, she would bury the jars in the roots of the Spirit Tree overnight."
Jason asked, "And what was the reason for that?"
Sunny didn't immediately answer and glanced up to see him waiting for an explanation. Finally, she replied, "You're going to laugh and say it's crazy, but I'm only relating what I read."
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, which started Sunny's heart racing. She had come to adore Jason's smiles. "Okay. This is the gist of it. According to Tana the water was special because it had to pass through many layers of rock to reach the surface, and she believed healing power passed from the rocks into the water. After the jars were filled she carried them to the Spirit Tree and dropped her own gems and stones into them. Each one had specific healing properties. For example, rose quartz was good for a broken heart and turquoise was good for not only strengthening the body, but inducing spiritual visions."
Jason arched an eyebrow but remained silent.
Sunny continued. "And it was the Spirit Tree that finished the process because…"
"Because?" he prompted.
"Because the wise old tree would add wisdom to the water."
Although Jason didn't laugh, she again saw his skepticism. She said, "Remember, you didn't think we'd find treasure at the cabin."
He grinned widely. "Guilty as charged." They had stopped beside the creek and he reached to remove a twig that had fallen into her hair. "I have to confess I think I know where the spring is and the Spirit Tree."
Sunny gasped and waited for him to explain.
He said, "I've hiked every inch of this property many times. Also, I did a lot of exploration as a child while visiting my aunt who lived nearby, until she sold her home. I remember a spring that flowed pretty well. Now…" he shrugged, "there's only a trickle; probably because of all the development over the past twenty years. As for the tree…" he gently clasped her elbow and turned her in a half circle. "That may be it." He pointed.
Sunny gasped and placed a hand over her heart. It looked exactly like the descriptions she'd read in the journals. She exclaimed, "That's it! That's it! I just know it!" and started running toward the tree.
Surrounded by a wide swath of sand, it was easy to see how overflows of the creek had eroded the ground and exposed dozens of roots. Sunny stopped within touching distance of the ancient oak and swallowed against the gigantic lump in her throat. She was staring at the Spirit Tree, the tree that had meant so much to her deceased family. After long moments, she reached out and gently laid her palms, and then her cheek, against the trunk. Jason stepped beside her and she lifted her gaze to his. There was no need for explanation or justification of her reaction. The expression in his eyes said he understood. Slowly, he reached out and caressed her hair. "If I'd known how important this was to you, I would have brought you here sooner."
She tilted her head against his palm and whispered, "Thank you." Taking a step back, she returned her attention to the tree and studied it from top to bottom. On a whim, she sat on one of the exposed roots and closed her eyes, imagining Tana and her family stowing jars deep in the roots. She opened her eyes when she heard Jason crouch beside her. Moving her gaze to the tangle of vines, roots, debris, and dirt below her feet, she had a sudden crazy notion. She glanced back at Jason.
"Sunny, what are you thinking?" he teased.
She blurted, "What if a jar was somehow left behind?"
"It's not likely…" his voice trailed when Sunny arched her eyebrows and he finished with, "but let's find out." She laughed and began examining the exposed roots. Jason reached for a nearby stick, handed it to her, and then grabbed another for himself. Gently pushing their sticks into the dirt beneath the roots, they again found themselves searching for treasure. Prodding and finding nothing, Sunny sat back down and said with disappointment, "At least we gave it a try."
"Yeah." Jason gave a half-hearted jab with his stick and then frowned. He said, "It's probably a rock." Going down on his knees he used his hands to dig away debris, then he reached deep into the moist earth.
Sunny went down beside him, her heart pounding wildly. "Do you need my help?"
"I don't think so," he said with a look of concentration. "I wish I had a trowel."
"Do you want me to run back to the house and get one?"
With his hands hidden beneath a root, he grunted as he began pulling something free. "It's trapped in there pretty tight, but…" he grunted again, "…I got it." Slowly he brought the object into the light of day.
Sunny gasped and placed her dirty hands against her cheeks. "Is it a jar?" she whispered excitedly.
Jason began wiping mud from his find. A large chunk fell away and Sunny's exclamation was no longer a whisper. She shouted, "It is! It's a jar!"
Jumping to his feet, Jason rushed to the creek and gently lowered his find into the water to rinse it off. Sunny was right behind him. In only a matter of seconds the glass was free of decades of dirt and the contents visible—crystal clear water and two stones, turquoise and rose quartz—the very stones Sunny had just described.
Reverently, Jason handed the jar to Sunny. "I can't believe it."