Amanda Jones Student Sleuth: The Saber Case




The crisp New England air was signaling that the lull from the cold weather
would eventually be coming to an end. Although they had gotten no snow yet the
small town next to St. Hilda's School for Young Women knew it would be coming
anytime. That didn't bother one student of the school who planned the enjoy
the Fall weather as long as it would last. Eighteen year old Amanda Jones was
biking to her favorite book store. The young woman's short brown hair ruffled
in the breeze as she pedaled onwards. Since it was the weekend Amanda didn't
have to wear the typical uniform for girls at St. Hilda's.

Instead she had on a tight grey turtleneck sweater since it was a bit cool for
her usual shirttail tied off look. However that didn't stop her from wearing
some shorts with grey tights. As usual Amanda was wearing her favorite dark
navy colored trainers. Amanda passed by some of the locals as she came in
gaining smiles from them. The sight of the somewhat famous Amanda was a
familiar one to the townsfolk. Just a month earlier Amanda had cracked open
the criminal operation of Mr. Feldmeyer. The papers had called her the Student
Sleuth, which Amanda thought was a bit much she had been happy to do her part.
While her limited fame was unsought the change in ownership of Mr. Feldmeyer's
book shop was.

Coming to a stop in front of the bookstore Amanda locked up her bike and
proceeded to walk inside. As the door closed behind her, Amanda saw the
store's new owner placing some books away, Mrs. Larkin. The former teacher at
St. Hilda's had taken over the shop and had been a well-respected teacher by
the students. This included Amanda who had enjoyed spending time in Mrs.
Larkin's class during her last year teaching. Amanda smiled warmly her
heart-shaped face looking lovely with a slight blush she had picked up from
the cold air outside.

"Hello Mrs. Larkin." Amanda said with a smile.

"Amanda, what are you looking for today." The teacher was in her mid-50s but
looked younger than that. She had on a white blouse, long grey skirt,
pantyhose, and flats. She always took time to talk to Amanda, something which
the young woman appreciated while the older teacher enjoyed it. Larkin had
taken a shine to Amanda when the girl had first started at St. Hilda.

"Oh nothing particular, just browsing ... " Amanda looked at the stacks of
books her mind racing. She loved books. Each one was a gateway to another
world, time, or place. Curling up in her favorite reading chair in the dorm, a
cup of warm tea or hot chocolate in hand, diving into the written word; Amanda
couldn't think of a better winter activity.

Mrs. Larkin nodded. She had something that would interest Amanda, "Well I got
some new stuff, well new as in it just showed up."

Amanda's curiosity was peaked, "Oh?"

Larkin lead her to the back. There was a box with a pile of books some of them
very old inside it. The bookstore owner explained, "James Halden brought these
in. His grandmother just died and they were cleaning out her house. He said he
found these in the attic."

Amanda saw Mrs. Larkin pull out some very old books, "Those look like they're
from the 19th Century."

"I see you've been keeping up with your interest in history." Mrs. Larkin
replied with a knowing look.

"It is one of my favorite subjects. We just started learning about the Civil
War particularly the local history of the war." Amanda explained. Like most of
New England, local volunteers had formed up regiments to go fight in the Civil
War. Amanda knew that the Halden family had a somewhat famous ancestor from
the war, "Didn't the Halden's great-great grandfather fight in the war?"

"More than that Amanda, legend has it that he is the one who made off with
General Armistead's saber from the Battle of Gettysburg." Mrs. Larkin
confirmed saying the last part with a hint of mystery.

Amanda's eyes widened, "Wait a minute, the saber he put his hat on to try and
rally the men during Pickett's Charge? I thought all his stuff was returned to
his family."

"That's the official story. But local legend is that Captain Halden nabbed the
sword and brought it back with him." Larkin indicated for Amanda to join her
in a pair of comfortable chairs by the shop's windows. Amanda followed her and
climbed into a chair tucking her legs under her as she sat. Mrs. Larkin
continued, "He brought it back as war booty but somebody from the War
Department came looking for it. According to the tale Mr. Halden hid the saber
away. He always intended to go back for it but got a case of pneumonia. He
supposedly wrote down where he hid the saber in his death bed but no one has
ever found any evidence of a note or map."

Amanda grinned from ear to ear, a real life treasure story for the town. She
was finding such tales of treasure whether ancient or more modern to be some
of her favorite parts of history. Mrs. Larknin and she talked some more as the
two went through the box of books donated by the Haldens. Amanda eventually
found a blue covered journal but it was very old. She showed it to Mrs.
Larkin, "Looks like a journal of Captain Halden's son."

She carefully flipped through the pages, "Wow there are a lot of stories here
about his dad during the war."

Mrs. Larkin saw that Amanda was clearly excited by the historical document,
"Tell you what Amanda. I'm supposed to go through this stuff for the town's
historical society, see if there is anything of historical value. If it
doesn't interfere with your school work, why don't you go through the journal
and categorize that for me."

"Really?" Amanda replied her face electric with excitement at the job offer,
"I'll get right on it Mrs. Larkin, thank you for letting get the first look at
them."

"Don't mention it Amanda, now help me get the rest of these out and you can
get to reading that."

Amanda smiled, "Deal."

.................

It was dark and colder outside St. Hilda's later that night. Amanda was curled
up in a comfortable chair near the fireplace that was a unique feature of her
dorm one of the older buildings on campus. Their house mother had started the
fire and Amanda always liked reading by it. She had put on a longer and warmer
sweater which went down pass her bum along with some black leggings. To
complete her winter look, Amanda had some warm thick socks on. With a mug of
hot tea next to her Amanda had all she needed to do some historical research.
Amanda was flipping through Halden Jr.'s journal taking some notes on a small
pad while sipping her tea. It was exciting reading all these accounts from the
Civil War. Halden Jr. had recounted his father's experiences will a real nack
for storytelling. So far Amanda thought that the journal had plenty of value
to the local history society.

As she read Amanda knew that the subject of history was really grabbing her.
Amanda hadn't quite figure out where to go to school yet but she was confident
that it would be somewhere with either a great history program or
archeological one. She was flipping a page in the journal thinking about that
when something tumbled out of it onto the floor. Curious Amanda reached down
and picked up what looked like a folded sheet of paper. The first thing she
noticed was how old the paper was. Much like the journal the paper was thicker
and had changed color with age. She got down onto her knees in front of the
fireplace. Carefully she worked her fingers undoing the folds spreading out
the paper on the floor. Her eyes widened upon seeing that it was a map.
Although hand drawn she recognized several local land marks, the river running
north to south cutting through the center of the woods, town square, and the
old castle where she had her infamous adventure.

Checking the back Amanda discovered that there was a written note with the
map.

Son,

I have tried my best to remember the route but things may have changed in the
years since I hid General Armistead's sword. Use the clues here to find it and
hopefully make your children's lives better.

Charles Halden

Amanda's eyes widened after she finished reading it, Halden did hide the
sword! I wonder.... Amanda went back to the journal looking for where the map
had fallen out of. Quickly she scanned the writing to see if Halden Jr. had
ever searched for and found the sword. After a few minutes she learned that
Halden Jr. had tried to find the sword but couldn't figure out all the clues.
The map had just images and no written clues on it. Apparently he never tried
to find the sword again because Amanda couldn't find any other mentions of it
in the journal. A thought went into Amanda's head, if they never found
it...maybe it's still out there! Amanda's face lit up. She could find the
saber, it would be a real life treasure hunt. Inspired she picked up
everything and headed for her dorm room.

Once inside her room Amanda stayed up late making a copy of the map. She
didn't want to risk breaking the historical map. With that done she changed
into her PJs before crawling into bed. She stayed up a little longer reading
the journal. Amanda wanted to make sure she knew as much about Halden's war
adventures as possible. She figured any clues she found would be related to
the man's travels. Logically it made sense relating to the nature of the
treasure. Plus he had wanted his son to find it, what better way to do so then
using the tales that the man had shared with his boy. As she tried to sleep
Amanda was kept awake by the thought she may be able to help find something of
historical value.

Not to mention the adventure of it all, Amanda thought before eventually
falling asleep, dreaming of treasure and the Civil War.

......................

Amanda unfortunately had to delay her quest to find the missing saber till
school was over. Normally a very attentive student all of her teachers noticed
that Amanda was seemingly distracted during the day. The pretty honor student
was lost wondering about how to start her treasure hunt. The map had been a
bit vague about where to do that. Halden Jr.'s notes about his own search
showed he went to at least two of his father's sites on the map but didn't
know what they meant. Her first thought was to start with one of the same
clues but there was a problem there. A lot had changed in the area since the
19th Century what if one of the clues had been destroyed by modern
development. It made Amanda glum a bit since there was a chance the saber
could actually be lost forever.

About halfway through her gym class the girl came up with the solution to the
problem. She could just visit with Mrs. Larkin and look at some more detailed
maps from the late 1800s. Comparing those to modern ones she could see what
matched up. Although she wasn't sure, Amanda thought there might be a fair
chance that none of the old clues had been destroyed. Most of the landmarks
Halden had noted on the map were ones still around today. It seemed to take
forever to finish classes for the day as Amanda could no longer contain her
excitement. When school ended the fellow ladies of St. Hilda watched as Amanda
Jones hopped onto her bike and raced away for town.

She hadn't even taken the time to change out of her school uniform. Despite
how cold it had been last night it had warmed up again during the day. Amanda
was pretty comfortable in her white blouse, dark blue sweater vest,
brown-plaid skirt, brown pantyhose, and navy colored trainers. Amanda was
pumped for this afternoon so she made it downtown a bit faster than usual.
After hopping off her bike and locking it up, she entered the bookstore.

"Hi Amanda." but the voice wasn't Mrs. Larkin but on her hired hands. Jack was
a local college student who worked to pay for school. Tall think with messy
brown hair he was a nice guy and shared Amanda's love of books.

"Hey Jack, I was hoping to talk to Mrs. Larkin is she here?" Amanda asked.

He shook his head no, "Sorry she had to go visit her sister, Clara came down
with a bad case of the flu. Needs somebody to help out with her kids. I think
Mrs. Larkin said she'd be back in a few days."

Amanda felt bad for Mrs. Larkin's sister but got frustrated. She didn't want
to wait a couple more days to start her hunt, "Well I need some help for a
project. I'm hoping to take a look at some old maps of the town, from around
the 1880s."

Jack thought about the problem for a minute, "Nothing like that here but you
know what, Conway's antique store might have something that could help."

Amanda hadn't been into Conway Antiques during her time at St. Hilda's. Part
of the reason was that it had always seemed a bit creepy to her. She thanked
Jack for the suggestion and headed outside. The shop was right across the
street from the bookstore. As she stood in front of its doors Amanda looked
into the windows to see quite a few gothic looking pieces on display. They
were from the pre-revolutionary days with one of the items being a malevolent
looking gargoyle. Amanda needed some help and if she didn't plan on waiting
till Mrs. Larkin got back she needed to go inside. So she swallowed her
nervousness and pulled open the heavy door.

Stepping inside she saw like most antique stores the floor was covered with a
mix of items. Colonial desks, old iron work decorative pieces, some antebellum
furniture, along with some more recent items from the 1950s. Amanda's skin
itched a bit as she looked around the dark shop. More gothic pieces seemingly
placed on purpose in the shadows, their stone eyes, demonic faces all seeming
to focus on her. It further disturbed her causing Amanda to slowly walk
forwards. Even the walls she saw had creepy works of art hung on them. Someone
had taken the trouble to show a scene from the Salem Witch Trials. A young
woman was being thrown into the water to see if she was a witch. Amanda was so
distracted and disturbed by the image she jumped a bit when a hand touched her
shoulder.

"Can I help you?" a harsh voice asked.

Amanda turned around looking embarrassed at her reaction to see a forty-year
old woman looking at her with a hint of annoyance. She had short blonde hair
cut a bit like Amanda's with a sharp looking face. Her dark green eyes held
both intelligence and something else Amanda didn't quite like. The young lady
couldn't put her finger on it, but the woman stared at her a bit like the
creepy statues in the shop. Except for the eyes she seemed normal enough,
dressed in a dark blue blouse, knee length matching skirt, and some dark
pantyhose with heels.

"I'm Karen Conway, can I help you miss?" she clarified still looking annoyed.

Amanda composed herself, "Yes, Miss Conway I'm hoping if I could see any old
maps we have of the town. I would like to compare them to the modern ones."

Karen sighed. Amanda guessed that the woman was annoyed she didn't want to
actually buy anything. From the looks of it, it didn't seem like much had been
bought lately from the store. For a moment Amanda wondered if Karen would tell
her to get lost but the blonde finally said, "Alright follow me."

The two went to back of the store passing through a door into what looked like
the storage area. Leaning against one of the shelving units Amanda saw an
older map of the area which was framed.. Karen managed to move it around
without any trouble lying down on one of her wooden tables that was also in
the back, "This is a map of the town along with the surrounding area from
1883."

Amanda smiled, that was just a few years after her map had been made, prefect.
She reached into her backpack pulling out a modern map of the county.
Unfolding it she glanced at the two, "Excellent!"

Karen raised an eyebrow now interested, "Care to explain what this is all
about?"

Amanda thought about that for a minute. As gruff as Ms. Conway was she had to
have an interest in history. Why else would she be running an antique shop.
Besides she was going to tell Mrs. Larkin about all this and why should she be
hesitant with Karen. She started with, "Well it all started when I found this
... "

Amanda continued to tell the story as she unfolded her map explaining how she
came to find it and the news about the possible hidden saber. Karen listened
intensely and started to grow as excited as Amanda had been earlier, "Amazing,
it could just be out there ready to find. Mind if I read this for a few
minutes along with the journal pages."

"Of course." Amanda let Karen look over the map along with the journal pages.
As she read though the woman's face seemed to lose some of the enthusiasm from
earlier. Eventually her face sank as she looked at Amanda.

"I'm sorry Amanda but after reading this I don't think the saber is out there
anymore."

Amanda's face too now sunk in disappointment, "Really? But why, it looks like
most of the area Halden originally mentioned is still undeveloped."

Karen shook her head, "It is but in 1930s a lot of logging went out in the
woods. If it was hidden out there like the materials suggest well then it
might have been destroyed or picked up by some logging company before either
of us were born."

"Isn't it still worth a look?" Amanda asked.

"I'm sorry but you would be wasting your time. It will be a great story for
the historical society though." Karen threw in to cheer the student up, "I bet
you'll even get to tell it."

Amanda smiled at the thought it would be nice to tell the whole story but she
wished it had ended with her being able to present the sword as well. She
thanked Karen for her time who asked to hold onto the map for the night. She
wanted to see about getting it framed for the town's museum. Amanda didn't see
the trouble with that so she let Karen hold onto it. After all it was the
least she could do after using up her time. She headed out just as another
woman came in, wearing surgical scrubs under her jacket but Amanda didn't pay
much attention as she walked out, she was bummed.

Leaving the antique store behind Amanda went back over to the bookstore. She
spent some time browsing there before deciding it was time to drown her
sorrows in chocolate. Her quest took Amanda to the local coffee shop.
Starbucks had never made it into town so all the St. Hilda students along with
the older college kids hung out there. It had a nice atmosphere and wasn't too
expensive. Amanda got herself a hot chocolate and managed to snag one of the
comfy soft chairs near the fake fireplace.

Amanda sat for a bit daydreaming as she looked into the orange glow that
simulated flames inside the fireplace. With a glum expression all Amanda could
do was ponder about her now lost treasure hunt. It was a bit silly of me,
thinking that after nearly hundred and fifty years the saber was still out
there, the girl decided. Her eyes drifted from people watching to the wall. It
was covered with pictures dating back all the way to when photography had been
invented. Part of the coffee shop's charm came from the fact its wall of
photos tracked the history of the town. As she looked at them for comfort she
spotted one taken with woods as a backdrop, it was black and white with a
grinning soldier ... .

"Wait a minute." Amanda thought aloud. Getting up she walked over seeing that
it was a World War II era serviceman. He had a cast over one leg but that
didn't stop him from posing in the picture. He was proudly holding a paper
that said VE-DAY: WAR IN EURPOE OVER! The date, May 8, 1945 was clearly
printed.

Karen said the woods had been heavily cut starting in the 30s. No way would
the trees have been that well grown by 1945, Amanda pondered. She spotted one
of the free computers for use by customers in the coffee shop. It was as close
as the place got to being a Web Café. Going over the PC she opened up the
browser and searched for any information on logging in the 1930s. It took a
little bit with the coffee shop's poor net connection but after a few minutes
she confirmed it, there had been no major logging in the 30s near the town.

"She lied to me ... .why?" Amanda whispered to herself. She didn't know but
Amanda was going to figure it out.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... .

Luckily she still had the journal and the copy she had made of the original
map. Holding the notebook paper copy done in her blue pen Amanda was walking
up to where she had decided to start. She was on the outskirts of the woods it
was here on the map Halden had drawn a particular looking tree that legend
said had been planted by a British Loyalist family before being run out of
town during the Revolutionary War. It had avoided being chopped down over the
years and was now covered with carvings from various love birds over time.

The tree reminded her of the creepy gothic statues in the antique shop. It had
disturbing twisting branches like tentacles of some monster. The leaves looked
sinister in their blood red color having not quite fallen off yet. Amanda
couldn't quite understand the desire for couples to hang out near it. Looking
at it she noticed that the way the tree was drawn and how it looked in real
life was different. At first she thought it just could just be due to the time
difference and how much the tree might have grown since the 1800s. Looking
back at her map Amanda began to realize that the tree was pointing somewhere.
On the map it went to the northwest while in real-life the tree pointed
southwest. Wondering why that was it occurred her, Mr. Henderson said that
Civil War maps were usually altered. Terrian features removed or changed, so
the enemy couldn't use them. With a smile Amanda realized that Halden had
mis-drawn the tree on purpose.

Looking in the direction the tree pointed Amanda saw it led to the perimeter
of the old Jacobson farm, another landmark on the map. Amanda began her trek
through the woods to the edge of the farm. Her walk brought her to an old
stone wall. It marked the edge of the farm property originally but now it
separated the woods which had reclaimed the old farm. Amanda followed along
the wall wondering if there was once again something specific to find.
Checking the map Amanda saw that one of the rocks had been colored in with
black ink while the others were drawn more conventionally. She kept an eye out
for any special rocks in the wall. After a few minutes she found one, a black
rock.

Kneeling down she removed the back rock surprised to find a small wood box
hidden behind it. Amanda's face lit up as she took it out. The date on the box
was from 1881. With care she opened it up finding a message inside. It was
another note from Halden,

Son, the key to finding this treasure lies in knowing the right symbol, the
symbol of our nation.

"The symbol of our nation", Amanda said aloud as she pondered the clue. She
looked back to the map to see if anything there would tie in with the clue.
Nothing particularly came to mind but then she thought about the clue some
more, symbol of our nation. There were a lot of American symbols but one stuck
out in her mind, "Of course!"

Twenty minutes and one bike ride later Amanda was at the sight of a local
monument. Built not to long after the war it was a memorial to the soldiers
who had fallen in the Civil War from the county. A top the stone monument was
a bald eagle, "Symbol of the nation ... now what's next."

Amanda looked at the map but also noted the sun starting to get closer to the
horizon. It was getting late but she didn't want to put off this hunt. Looking
over the map she noticed something. From where she had started at the old
tree, Amanda had moved to the stone wall, and then here to the memorial. Her
little trek had formed a triangle which she drew on her copied map.

"I'm seeing something ... but what is it?" Amanda asked herself. She spotted
another landmark, the old castle where her recent adventure had been. Working
on her hunch she drew a line from the tree to it. With that done she drew
another triangle. Pulling out her modern map of the town she wanted to see
where those points connected. They connected at the parking lot of the local
grocery store however a few hundred years ago it had been the Halden home.

"If I'm right then ... ." Amanda used the other landmarks on the map to form
more triangles which then turned into a, " ... it's a star."

A star had featured prominently in the regimental standards of Halden's
volunteer unit. Now where was the saber located then? Amanda knew it wasn't at
the memorial site and the Halden home was gone. So it wasn't at either of
those points. Using that as base Amanda took a guess deciding that the sword
wouldn't be at the other points on the map wither. She scanned the map and
nearly hit herself on the back of the head for not noticing it earlier. Right
in the center of the star was the river running through the woods. Halden's
family had owned a few river mills over the years all of them in the woods.

Despite how dark it was getting Amanda pushed on to the river. She felt a
growing chill in the air as she walked Amanda was wondering if it wasn't
smarter to head back to St. Hilda's. When she returned there would already be
enough trouble for not being back before curfew. The temperature was also
dropping giving Amanda another reason to reconsider going on with her search.
It was getting too cold to be searching in just her school uniform. She didn't
turn back though even after finding nothing at the first site of a former
Halden mill. Amanda was pushed to keep looking both by her desire to find the
saber and one other thought. I still don't know why Karen lied to me, Amanda
pondered as she walked down the riverbank, she doesn't want me searching for
the sword, well then that's exactly what I'm going to do. Amanda rubbed her
arms for warmth as she was considering her next move. That's when she caught
the sight of a bright beam of a flash light out of the corner of her eye.

Amanda quickly ducked behind a thick tree. Peering around the side she saw
that there were in fact two beams of light probing through the woods. Curious
Amanda followed carefully wondering who else might be out in the woods. It
didn't take long for her to recognize the voice of one of the people and
figured out why.

"For the last time Erin, it's just over here." It was Karan Conway from the
antique store. Amanda's curiosity was really peaked now. Her thoughts were
interrupted as Karen's partner answered back.

"You better be right about this." It was another woman but Amanda had no idea
who she was.

"I told you already Halden owned most of the watermills along the river. The
crazy bastard probably hid the saber in one of them." Karen replied.

Following carefully from behind Amanda now knew Karen and her associate were
after the sword too. Determined to not let them get it, Amanda followed
stealthily from behind them. She watched as the two headed to a spot along the
banks which featured another of the old watermills. Two had been well
preserved by the historical society while most of the others had fallen into
disrepair over the two centuries since their use during colonial times. Amanda
leaned around another tree and saw the two women heading into a large mill
that was partly collapsed but still had sections one could get into. Karen and
her partner went inside with their lights guided them.

Amanda came up to the wall listening for the movement of the two inside. She
had to get the saber first if it was here, but how. The mill didn't show any
signs of obvious hiding spots at least on the outside. As she listened in
there was a fresh bit of arguing from the two ladies with the other woman,
Erin, complaining that this was all a damn fools' thing to be doing. She
started heading out of the building. Amanda took cover as the woman came out.
Amanda could see now she was a dark haired lady roughly Karen's age. Her hair
had been tied in a ponytail but it had become to dark outside so Amanda
couldn't make out her face. Erin was wearing jeans and a leather coat.

Karen appeared not long afterwards similarly dressed. They continued to argue
as Amanda used the distraction to make her way inside. Entering the dark mill
she saw that the inside was a mix of fallen timbers and a partly collapsed
roof. The only shafts of light came from the holes in the roof. At least
there's places to hide if they come back in, she thought. Amanda knew she
didn't have much time to look so she got started fast. She tried to find any
possible places for the saber inside the mill but at first there wasn't
anything. Getting worried about when her rival treasure hunters would arrive
Amanda looked around some more. Then she noticed one of the broken roof
timbers seemed to have something in-between one of its crack. Moving in closer
she saw that it looked like the reason the timber had cracked was that it was
hollow. Amanda was wondering how she would get the timber open when she heard
some creaking from the floorboards. Biting her lip, Amanda looked behind her
to see if Karen and her partner had come back inside. Pushing herself into a
corner with some of the roof caved in for cover, Amanda knelt to make herself
less visible. She waited for any sign that the two were coming back in. After
a few moments Amanda relaxed, I guess they left, probably just a squirrel or
something moving around. She came out of the corner heading back towards the
broken timber.

>>From the shadows though a set of arms reached out and she was grabbed from
behind. She cried out as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her chest
pinning Amanda's arms to their sides. Amanda grunted and yelled, "Let me go!"

"Karen come take a look, seems you were right!" the attacker shouted. It took
only a moment for Amanda to recognize the voice, it was Erin. She grunted
squeezing Amanda tight as the sleuth struggled, "Knock it off, you aren't
going anywhere."

Amanda ignored the command as she continued to try and put up a fight. Karen
too appeared now a backpack slung over a shoulder. She smirked as she said,
"Glad this place is so dark, gave us a nice spot to hide while we waited you
out Student Sleuth."

"Let me go!" Amanda demanded again.

"I don't think so, you see I was hoping you would have been a good girl and
headed back to school. However I knew you were a noisy one thanks to your
exploits in the paper." Karen placed the backpack on the floor. She knelt next
to it, zipping open the backpack as she started looking for something. Amanda
ceased her struggled worried about what Karen was looking for.

"You think you can handle that stuff?" Erin asked.

Karen nodded her head, "I think so", apparently finding what she was looking
for Karen looked back to Amanda, "However on the off chance you decided to
play treasure hunter, we came prepared."

Amanda worryingly looked on as Karen produced a white object from the
backpack. She soon recognized it as a gauze pad one would find at a hospital.
The next item was a brown bottle with a medical label. Karen stood back up
walking over to where Amanda was being held by her still unnamed partner. Her
blue eyes looked at the label to discover just what Karen held. In big black
letters the bottle was identified as, CHLOROFORM. She looked back to Karen who
enjoyed the nervousness Amanda now expressed on her face.

"Thanks to Erin here, we were ready if you got in the way." Karen explained as
she uncapped the chloroform.

Amanda struggled again as her fear grew. Karen held the pad in her one hand as
she tipped the bottle of chloroform over it. The pad was soon damp with the
sleep inducing chemical. Erin who was getting tired of holding the struggling
Amanda complained, "Hurry up."

Karen looked annoyed, "Just make sure you hold her still."

"No ... don't ... ." Amanda pleaded with her captors but neither listened.
Karen showed no mercy as she pressed the pad against the sleuth's face. It
covered Amanda's nose as mouth and in a panic she screamed into the pad but
her crises were muffled by the gauze. Her eyes widened as she smelled the
soporific. This caused her to struggle more but Erin was stronger than Amanda.
The woman's arms didn't give Amanda any wiggle room to escape. Karen kept the
chloroform pad tight on Amanda's face and didn't seem likely to lose her grip
on it.

Amanda's eyes blinked rapidly at first as her vision blurred. She was still
crying out but the pad distorted at her cries. Much worse was the fact she
began to feel the effects of the chloroform. Her body began to feel weak, as
the drug sapped her strength. Erin was the first to notice that as Amanda's
struggles slowed then stopped. Her cries also quieted as the screams of
earlier faded to sighs as the drug filled her lungs. Amanda's chest slowly
rose up and down as she slipped further into an unconscious state. Her eyes
were nearly closed as she sighed softly, her body going completely limp in
Erin's grasp. With a final mumble Amanda's eyes closed slowly as she passed
out. The last thing she saw, Karen face smugly looking on in victory.

Karen held the cloth in place for a moment more before she removed the pad
slowly from Amanda's lips. Tossing the thing away Karen moved to retrieve the
box which contained their prize. Erin meanwhile laid the slumbering sleuth
onto the dirty floor. Amanda's head rested on its side, her lips slightly
parted as she slept. One of her arms was draped across her vest while the
other was bent and resting on the floor next to her. Due to the way Erin had
laid her down, Amanda's lovely long legs were curled up one a top the other.
Erin crossed her arms looking back at Karen.

The blonde had kicked the partly broken timber open. She pulled out the box
placing it on the floor so she could examine it.

"So is that it?" Erin asked.

Karen cracked it open; sure enough there was a Civil War era, Confederate
officer's saber, "Yes it is. Do you know how much this thing is worth?" her
eyes ablaze with greed as Karen thought about the worth of the historical
relic. She then looked at Amanda with disgust, "Our treasure hunter there
would have just given it to a museum."

Erin looked at it not quite seeing the wealth it promised. To her it was just
an old sword, "You sure that thing is worth as much as you say?"

"Plenty, more than what you make at the hospital." Karen added in, reminding
Erin why she was helping her.

Erin nodded; her old friend knew her stuff, "Alright but now what." She dipped
her head in the direction of Amanda, "She's seen us and knows what we were
after."

Karen looked annoyed thinking about what to do with Amanda Jones, "We can't
just leave her here people will be looking for her. Those boarding school
pukes probably already are. We've got to make sure they find her but that she
won't talk when they do." Karen thought about it for a moment. As she did her
exhaled breath formed a small cloud of white vapor in front of her. That's
when it hit her.

Standing up she walked over with the sword to Erin, "It is awful cold
tonight."

Erin wondered what Karen was thinking when it hit her. She looked apprehensive
for a moment but then decided that a chance to make a lot of money was worth
more than some noisy student's life. Nodding her understanding Karen went back
and put the sword back in its box. She nodded to the sleeping Amanda, "Pick
her up we have got things to do."

The nurse took Amanda into her arms, lifting her off the floor putting her arm
under Amanda's back and then another into the crook of the sleeping sleuth's
legs. She carried Amanda off as Karen knew just how to dispose of their noisy
sleuth, and even better nobody will suspect foul play at all.

... ... ... ... ... ... ..

Amanda wasn't very comfortable.

She came too slowly feeling woozy from the chloroform. With a sigh Amanda bean
to stir, starting with opening her eyes, blinking slowly as consciousness
returned to her. Amanda felt like she was resting in a bathtub or something.
Her cheek was up against something cool but not metal. She also felt something
tight or constricting around her arms and legs. As her eyes transitioned to
clear vision Amanda saw she was indeed in a tub. Adjusting herself she heard
the clink of metal. Looking to the source she saw that she had been bound in
chains. Her arms were together over her chest chained together at the wrists.
The steel links coiled down her arms to her chest. Another length of chain was
wrapped around her chest going down to her legs. The tub was large enough for
Amanda to fit in completely so she could see they also had a length of chain
running down her legs keeping them together. It ended at her ankles where
right above her stocking feet, her trainers were gone, a coil of chain secured
them together.

Amanda struggled but was still weak from the chloroform. Plus there was the
fact she was bound with the secure unbreakable chains. She thought it was over
kill it wasn't like she was superhuman or some sort of escape artist. The
sleuth tried to move so she could see where she was and why she was in a large
tub of all things. Looking up at the ceiling she thought it looked familiar.
It took some effort with her heavy bonds but Amanda managed to look over the
rim of the tub and at the room she was in. It was Karen's store room in her
antique shop.

"Hope you like it, it's a 1920s original." Karen's voice told her confirming
where Amanda was.

Amanda looked to see the blonde woman and Erin walking into view. Erin held a
large bucket of something which made Amanda worry. Karen meanwhile had what
looked like a, water hose?

"What are you doing Karen?" Amanda demanded.

Karen replied with a malevolent grin, "Getting rid of annoying wanna be
treasure hunters."

She held what Amanda saw now was indeed a water hose in her hands. It had one
of those spray things on the end with a handle which Karen now squeezed. The
water shot out, ice cold water. Amanda gasped as the liquid landed on her
taking her breath away. She kicked and tried to move as the cold water began
to soak through her blouse, sweater, and pantyhose. Amanda looked up with
worried eyes, "What are ... you doing?"

"Don't you know Amanda?" Karen asked with a hint of sinister mocking in her
voice, "You didn't believe me when I said there was no saber hidden in the
woods. So you went looking on your own. Unfortunately you got lost in the
woods and stumbled into the river. It's quite cold this time of year and you
couldn't quite swim out in time."

Amanda shivered as the chill of the water started to get to her. Looking up
with pained eyes she pleaded, "Karen ... .don't do this ... .please ... "

The blonde shook her head, "That sword is my ticket to finally get out of this
stupid shop. I've been losing money for years now. I can't have you blabbing
it across town."

Erin came over as the water started to fill the tub. Amanda looked on helpless
as Erin dumped a bucket full of ice chunks down onto her. She shivered as the
ice landed which then got in with the growing pool of water around her.
Already she could feel her body temperature lowering from the freezing wet
environment. The cold was rapidly taking away her strength, and much more
worryingly, her life. Erin put her hand in the water, feeling how cold it was.
With a sinister smile she looked at the captive sleuth then back to Karen,
"It's cold enough; she won't last long in there."

Amanda tried to sit up but she was racked with shivers as the icy water now
covered her partly. It sloshed a bit at her waist covering her lower back,
behind, and legs. With a sigh she sunk into herself trying to stay warm.
Amanda's back leaned against the tub as she tried to keep her arms close to
her chest. Karen cut off the water at that point, letting it fall to the side,
"Let's leave our sleuthicle to settle Erin. We can spend that time searching
for somebody interested in our saber."

Erin reached over and patted Amanda on her head, "Sweet dreams snowflake."

"No ... .you can't ... ..do this ... ... " Amanda struggled to say her teeth
almost chattering.

Karen reached in and took a piece of ice. She put it on Amanda's legs, the ice
melting over the brown nylon. Amanda sighed as the freezing drips went down
her legs. Karen smirked, "I can do whatever I want. Soon I'll be rich and you
will be a cautionary tale for girls at the school. So long sweetheart."

With that the two treasure thieves walked away leaving Amanda helpless in the
death trap.

Amanda tried to move. The only chance she would have would be to get out of
the tub and the deep freeze it would inflict on her. She didn't realize just
how much the cold had robbed her of energy. Amanda shivered constantly now her
clothes completely soaked, white clouds of breath leaving her lips, and her
vision blurring. So cold...I feel so weak. She tried to lift her chained arms
onto the edge of the tub but they slipped down before getting there. Amanda's
eyes closed as she took short rapid breaths, what's...the point...I'm
so...tired...just want to rest...my...eyes. With that Amanda's eyes shot open.

"No...can't sleep...if I do won't...wake up." she muttered.

Once again Amanda reached for the edge of the tub. It seemed to take all her
strength but Amanda managed to get her arms on the edge. Pulling she attempted
to lift her upper body to the edge as well but it was too much. Slipping down
Amanda's arms stayed in place but her body dropped. Much to Amanda's surprised
the tub rocked. That gave her an idea, Amanda pushed against the side of the
tub. It moved.It's not secure to the ground..., Amanda knew it was her only
hope. She summoned what little energy she had left. With what strength she had
the student sleuth rocked the tub back and forth. She had to tip it or face an
icy oblivion. Amanda wasn't sure how long she was at it. It seemed with each
impact her efforts weakened. The tub was moving but was it moving enough.
Amanda felt so weak, she had to get out. With a final sigh she threw herself
against the side of the tub.

It tumbled over.

Amanda grunted as she hit the floor of the store room. Water spilled around
her as did the remaining pieces of ice. Although free of the water Amanda was
still chilled to the bone. She was still in danger from hypothermia as much as
Erin & Karen. It took some work but Amanda managed to get to her wet stocking
feet. Unsteadily she managed to walk, impeded by her chains along with her
half frozen state. She couldn't get far plus Amanda wondered where to go. The
obvious exit probably was where Erin and Karen had gone. No others were in
evidence and Amanda didn't have the energy to search for one. Still shivering
some she looked for something, anything that could help. Then she spotted it,
a phone on the wall. With some effort she made it to the phone.

She was going to call the police but Amanda heard people moving outside the
storage room. In a panic she dialed the first number that came to mind. The
phone rang once and she heard on the receiver, "Hello?"

"Stop her!" before Amanda could talk she saw Karen and Erin standing at the
door. She tried to speak into the phone but Erin was on her pulling her away
from the wall. Karen slammed the phone back on its hook, "How the hell did
this happen?"

"What does it matter, what do we do now!" Erin shouted. Amanda couldn't offer
any resistance as she was too drained by her escape. Wet and cold she rested
in the grip of the strong nurse.

Karen ran a hand through her short blonde hair, "We go dump her in the river
now. She's half gone anyway, we'll put out with some more chloroform so she
doesn't offer any trouble."

Amanda didn't protest she was too weak. Karen went to get the soporific
liquid, returning with the bottle and a fresh pad to soak it in. Once the pad
was prepped Karen handed it to Erin. With Amanda so out of it from the ice
cold soak, the nurse could handle sedating her all by herself. She took the
chloroform pad, applying gently to Amanda's face. Not resiting this time made
Amanda's second forced sleep much easier. With deep breathes Amanda sucked in
the fumes. It only took a few moments this time for her eyes to close and she
let out what Amanda thought might be her final soft sigh into the pad.

......................

"Amanda?"

Her eyes opened slowly. Unlike her last wake up, Amanda wasn't somewhere
uncomfortable or tied up. In fact she felt soft warm fabric wrapped tight
around her. There were people moving about too and they weren't her
kidnappers. As Amanda's vision focused she saw a familiar face looking down at
her, "Jack?"

"Hey welcome back to the land of the living, you had us worried for a bit."
Jack smiled back happy to see Amanda back and awake.

Amanda saw that she was inside the bookstore. She was resting on a long soft
sofa the store had it was a reassuring spot, she had often relaxed there
reading. Like the mummies she read about, Amanda was bundled tightly in
blankets and towels. A paramedic came over to check on the now awake heroine.
He checked her vitals happy that her temperature was coming back up. They were
going to take her into the hospital just to be sure she was alright. Meanwhile
Amanda sat with Jack looking at him with confused eyes, "What happened?"

"Well you called the bookstore." Jack explained, "Now I couldn't hear anything
but the caller ID told me that it was from next-door. So I wondered what was
up since Karen never stays open that late. I was heading over when I saw Karen
come out in a panic. She got in her car and drove it around to the back of the
shop. I was worried something was wrong so I went around back and guess what I
saw."

Amanda thanked her lucky stars, "I'm glad you got worried."

"So am I." Jack said. Amanda managed to sit up and wrap her blanket covered
arms around Jack. He patted her on the back reassuringly. Once they finished
he reached for something on the floor, "Oh thought you would want to see
this."

Amanda smiled as the box with the saber appeared. Jack opened it up to show it
off to her, "Congratulations Amanda you are a real live treasure hunter."

Amanda Jones smiled. She had discovered an over hundred year old mystery, been
kidnapped & chloroformed, put in a death trap, and discovered a historical
artifact. She settled back down on the touch and much to Jack's surprise, she
smiled.

Yep, I'm a treasure hunter.

The End