Creede Museum
All eyes turned toward Molly but she didn’t notice. She pulled her Oreo cookie apart and slowly licked the frosting off one side, her eyes closed. She loved Oreo cookies.
“Molly, I thought you couldn’t see it in the dark,” Max said. “And why didn’t you say anything sooner?”
Molly opened her eyes and looked at the cookie to see if she had gotten all of the frosting. “I wasn’t sure sooner. It was dark, but something seemed weird about the back fender. I could tell it was a light-colored vehicle, and I saw a big white blob over the fender.” Molly looked around the room. The air in the trailer had become tense. “When I saw the pickup by the road, it looked familiar. And then, when you described the pickup you saw tonight, I got this picture in my mind of the one in the night, and they matched.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh boy,” said Brandon. “It’s an interesting theory and you may be right, but I wouldn’t bet my bicycle on it.”
Molly shrugged her shoulders again. “You don’t have to believe me, but I know what I saw.” She tossed the last of her cookie into her mouth and washed it down with hot chocolate.
“We should watch for the pickup tomorrow,” said Carly. “Maybe if we can see the driver, it will help us.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Max. He yawned. “I’m going to bed. I can’t believe I’m still tired after that nap.”
“I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time,” said Slim. “We’ll want to be at the museum when it opens in the morning. Then we can go from there.”
Max was the first one into the van the next morning. It was nine when Slim pulled out of the campground.
“Are we going to the museum first?” asked Molly.
“It doesn’t open until ten,” said Brandon.
“How do you know that?” asked Max.
Brandon held up a brightly colored flyer. “I saw it in one of the pamphlets we got at the gas station yesterday. It’s open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Maybe we can look around town a little first.”
“We could park at the grocery store,” Dorie said. “It’s on this edge of town.”
“There it is.” Chad pointed to the big brown building on the left. “The Main Street Market.” He read the sign as they pulled into the parking lot and stopped. “It doesn’t look like a grocery store. It looks like a barn.”
Dorie laughed. “You’re right. It’s pretty small too, but it’s got all the important stuff.”
The group piled out of the van and started down the street toward the downtown area.
“Hey, look.” Carly pointed across the street. “There’s a Visitor Center. Maybe they would be able to help us. There’s even someone there.” On the porch of the brown wood hut sat a young woman, about twenty years old, her light brown hair pulled back in a braid. She sat on a bench made of two fat logs with a board across the top. Triangular flags in all different colors hung from the roof, and an American flag perched on the front corner of the building flapped in the breeze.
“Let’s go.” Max led the way as the group hurried across the street toward the young woman.
As they got closer, she got up from the bench. “Hello, folks,” she said, enthusiasm bubbling from her like water from a fountain. “What can I do for you this morning?”
“We’re waiting for the museum to open,” said Max. “We’re here to do some research.”
“We have a mystery to solve,” said Chad. “Can you help us?”
The young lady laughed. “Well, I’m not sure. What’s the mystery? Is it an old one?”
“Very old,” said Chad. He waved his arms. “It’s over a hundred years old.”
“Then the museum is the place for you,” she said. “Earl and Ike are the ones who know the most about the history of Creede. Except for Miss Rose,” she added. “But she never leaves her home anymore. She’s over ninety.” She pointed toward the door into the shack. “If you need any information about Creede’s history, the Bachelor driving tour, or places to eat in town, I have all sorts of information inside.”
“Have you lived here all of your life?” asked Dorie.
“Yep. My dad is the sheriff. He’s the one with the beard. There’s two of them, but if you see the one with the beard, that’s my dad. You tell him I said hi. I’m Cassidy.” As she talked, they crowded into the tiny room and she pulled pamphlets out of the racks. “They’re all free except for this one.” She handed a booklet to Slim. “It’s for the Bachelor Historic Tour and costs a dollar. The driving tour takes you by all of the old mine sites as well as the old ghost towns and the cemetery. It’s a pretty drive and there’s a lot of information in the pamphlet itself.”
“Wow,” said Max. “This is great! Thanks.”
“Look, Slim.” Chad stood on the bottom rail of the porch and leaned out. “There’s a place to eat over there. It has hot dogs.” As he talked his voice rose higher and higher. “I’m starving. Can’t we get a hot dog?”
Max looked out the window. Across the street stood a building, more of a shack really, painted a bright yellow with red trim. Out front were picnic tables and a big sign that announced, “Hotdog Heaven.” The man inside leaned out the window and waved at Chad. “You send them on over, Cassidy.”
Cassidy laughed. “It’s the cheapest place to feed a bunch of kids here in town.”
“Thanks,” Slim said. “Chad, it’s only 9:20. You just had breakfast an hour ago. Maybe for lunch; we’ll see.” As he talked he pulled a dollar out of his billfold and handed it to Cassidy. “We’ll take one of those tour guides. It sounds like helpful information.”
“Yep, you can’t go wrong there. But seriously, go to the museum and talk to the guys. They know everything.” She grinned at the kids. “If you think of anything else I can help you with let me know. And be sure to come let me know how your mystery ends up.”
They ambled down the main street past little gift stores. “It reminds me of Keystone,” said Max. “A tourist town. That building looks old.” Max and Carly stopped in front of a two-story, narrow building. Its turquoise color shouted, “Look at me!” Signs on the front of the building advertised a restaurant in the hotel.
Dorie, who had designated herself as the “keeper of the walking tour guide booklet,” stopped behind them and announced, “The book says this is the Creede Town Hotel, which was originally Zang’s Hotel. Maybe Zach and Matthew stayed here.”
“Should we go inside and see?” asked Chad.
“It’s almost ten,” said Max. “Let’s head back to the museum.”
“Yes,” said Carly. “I can’t wait to find out if they can help us with the map. We can come back here later if we need to.”
Carly led the way across the little park behind the information booth and into the museum. Once they were all in, they filled up the little bit of empty space in the crowded room. Backed up to the left wall and extending out into the middle stood a huge semi-circular desk covered with pamphlets. On the other three walls were cases with historical items, pictures, and artifacts. Behind the desk stood a man who looked to be about 75 years old. His name tag said, “Creede Museum, Earl Briggs.”
“Welcome to the Creede Museum.” Mr. Briggs’s voice was quiet and clear. Carly pulled her attention away from the stuffed lynx positioned on a shelf above his head and smiled at the man. Slim sidled up beside Carly, pulled the map out of his pocket, and handed it to the man.
“While the kids soak in the sights, I would like you to look at this map. We found part of it in an old clock and the rest belonged to my great-grandfather. We have reason to believe it’s from the Creede area and we were hoping you could help us.”
The older man reached out and took the map from Slim. He looked at it for a long time. The children gathered around Slim and waited. Finally, he looked up. “This isn’t the original is it?”
“No,” said Max. “A friend is trying to help us find out what the missing words say.”
He nodded. “It looks like two maps drawn on the same page.” He pointed to the right side of the paper. “This side has what looks like a poem but it isn’t clear, is it? Lots of words missing.” He examined it some more and shook his head. “This C down here on the right, are you thinking that’s for Creede?” He pointed to a faint letter on the right. Before they could answer, the door opened behind them and a bell tinkled. Earl looked up and smiled. “Well here’s someone who might be able to help. Ike, come take a look at this. These folks have a map they think comes from here. What time period are you thinking?” he asked, looking back at the group of visitors.
“We think it’s from 1891,” Carly said. “It belonged to our relative Zachary Johnson and his friend Matthew Stover.”
Ike, who looked to be a good ten years older than Earl, shook his head as he came around the desk. “I never heard of them, but let me take a look.” Earl pointed out the C.
“What’s all those words in the middle?” Ike asked.
“I’ve written down all of the ones we can see,” said Max. He pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to the two men. The kids leaned against the counter while the two men looked at the words.