As Dane turned to leave with Bones, Gunny said, “There’s one more thing you should probably know. You’re not the only stranger in town interested in the Marshalls.”
Dane swung back. “Someone else came by here?”
“Not here and they didn’t talk to us. But word gets around. A half dozen of them flew in last night on a private plane. This morning at the crack of early they headed out in two cars and wound up at two separate places formerly associated with the Marshalls.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Son, there is no communication network in the world to compare to a bunch of old men with nothing to do. We could take the NSA to the cleaners any day of the week. Gettysburg looks big on the map because of the park, but this area and Hamiltonban are still small town in nature. Since the war, folks have been even more wary of outsiders than a normal small town.”
Bones held his hand behind his back and said, “Okay if your communication is that quick, how many fingers am I holding up.”
Without blinking, Gunny said, “Just one, but no offense taken”
Bones let out a bellowing laugh. “Gunny, you are one funny dude. Hey Maddock, maybe I should hang out with him instead of you?”
“He’s a marine, remember? They’d never let you show your face back at SEAL training.”
“Good point. So, Gunny, were either of these properties near the area Mort was talking about, the start of the river or whatever?”
Gunny looked at Mort who shook his head. “No. But I wouldn’t even bet someone else’s paycheck they don’t wind up there eventually.”
Dane said. “We appreciate the heads-up. I have a bad feeling we know who these guys are. You probably want to steer clear of them unless you’re armed.”
Gunny nodded. “You boys take care of yourselves.”
With that dismissal, Dane and Bones walked back out to the Mustang. Dane said, “Gunny was talking about how they are even more wary of outsiders since the war. What war do you think he meant? Vietnam? World War II?”
Bones put a hand on his shoulder. “Maddock, think about where we are. There was only one war that impacted this area in a major way. He was telling us they’ve been wary since the Civil War.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Well this is it.”
Dane and Bones had hiked through a short trail and then veered off the path to follow the final trickle of water to where it ended, ignoring the signs to stay on the trail. The snow meant that they didn’t see much, but they could tell the basic path of the creek. Fortunately the storm, which had hit Philadelphia had spared this area, and the snow was not deep. This was one of the origin points of the Chesapeake River.
“Right, but we need to keep going northwest. It’s probably in some other land in the state forest like Mort said, not right here.”
Bones shook his head. “This is not much to go on, but you’re right. We’ll keep looking until we find it or it gets dark.”
Time passed, but Dane really had no sense how long they were out there. He had learned not to bother looking at his watch when faced with this kind of situation; it just made things worse. They walked thirty feet apart with Bones slightly in front, scanning for any sign of an old house burned down over a century ago.
They had crossed a couple of roads, passed around the periphery of a few houses and probably covered five miles when Bones stopped and pointed a finger.
“What is it?”
“Does something look odd to you about those trees?”
Dane looked at where Bones was pointing. He’d seen so many trees in the past hours that they all blurred into one. These trees were all maples, which were quite common in the woods. But they were of uniform height and more importantly all in a row, at least twenty of them stretching for a hundred yards or so.
“Great catch Bones. Those didn’t just grow like that naturally, they had to be planted.”
“Like a driveway?”
They found one end of the row of trees and searched the area, but found nothing. Then they trudged to the other end and started doing the same thing.
Dane spotted something, which generated an inkling of concern. “Bones, did you walk over here yet?”
“Nope.”
“Well neither did I, but there are footprints.”
Bones joined him. “Looks like maybe the Sons beat us here. Should we follow them?”
“Could be them, could be someone else, but I can’t think of a better option.”
He removed the AR-15 from the sling in which he carried it. “We need to make sure we see them before they see us.”
“I like the way you think, Maddock.”
They followed the footprints, Bones leading Maddock by about fifteen feet. A couple minutes later, Bones veered off towards a nearby tree and Dane figured that nature had called. He looked down at his weapon and flexed his fingers against the grip.
When he looked back up, Bones had disappeared.
“Bones?” Dane didn’t yell, not wanting to attract the attention of the creators of the footprints. Hearing no answer, he made his way towards the tree. About three feet away, he saw the snow disappearing into a hole.
“Are you down there, Bones?”
After a few seconds, he heard the reply. “That’s affirmative, Maddock.”
Bones sounded irritated but not hurt, and Dane couldn’t help chuckling. “So you fell down a hole?”
“Maddock, I think I found it.”
“Found what?”
“I fell into some sort of structure with a dirt floor. Ceiling is about six feet high. It looks old, too. You should come down here.”
“Think you could get out if you had to?”
Dane saw Bones’ head appear about a foot below the level of the ground. “Sure. The roof actually feels solid except for the spot where I fell. I think a tree root weakened it.”
“Ok, stand back, then.”
Dane took out his flashlight, sat down, and slid into the hole. He landed easily, allowing his knees to bend and absorb what little shock there was. He could just about stand up without bumping his head, but in the beam of his light he could see that Bones had to stoop.
He had landed in a room about ten feet by ten feet square. Bones was moving down the one exit from the room, a hallway three feet wide. The walls were dark with age, constructed of stone with some sort of cement or mortar in the joints. The ceiling consisted of sturdy slabs of American Chestnut, still in surprisingly good condition considering over a century of wear. The floor was dirt, damp but still hard-packed.
“Bones, where are you going?”
“Dude, we’re searching for some old lost remnants of a burned down building and we fell into an underground structure. Seems like we should at least see if we can find any clues down here.”
Dane couldn’t argue with that. He followed Bones down the hallway, his flashlight reflecting off the wall. They came to an opening on the right, which led to another room similar to the first. Dane’s light revealed only bare walls and dirt floor, so they continued down the hall.
After passing several similar rooms, they reached an ancient oak door. A rusted lock nominally prevented passage, but one blow from the stock of Bones’ AR-15 sent it clattering to the ground.
“See, even locks are no match for Mama Bonebrake’s boy.”
“Just open the door, Hercules.”
The room beyond the door contained several pieces of furniture, including a bed and a couch. Layers of grime blanketed everything, but unlike the other rooms, it had the feel of a dwelling as opposed to a cellar. Bones put a hand on a small table next to the bed, wiping off the dirt.
“Hey, this looks like it’s been charred. Must be the old Marshall place we’re looking for.”
Dane chuckled. “And we literally stumbled into it.”