The Loot

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

His body had been trapped underground in a wooden box for years. The wooden box was sealed air tight and was protected from the soil by a thick coat of varnish. Noises were emanating from within the box. But the noises could not be heard from the dirt surface above.

Several miles away, two robbers had broken out of prison. They had spent a year digging a tunnel from their cell to an area just beyond the barb wire fence. The area was beyond a small hill where the lights of the prison would not shine on them A friend, Mr. Stevens, had parked the car on a side road near the prison. They got into the car and drove off.

Two years before, these two robbers had robbed a jewelry store. Unfortunately in the robbery, during their brief struggle with the store owner and his helper, the helper had been killed and the robber's masks had been ripped off their faces. So they had taken the store owner with them to the burial site and had buried him with the jewelry in the wooden box. They had buried the store owner alive. Now, they wanted to collect the stolen jewels in the buried wooden box.

A quarter mile away from the burial site, two boys, Bill and Frank, were throwing a baseball back and forth in their small back yard.

Bill noted something in the remains of a bird nest on a ground just beyond the yard. At first he ignored it and continued playing. But later, he picked up the old yellowed sheet of paper.

"What did you find?" asked Frank while using his hands to shade his eyes from the rising sun.

Bill carefully opened the yellow piece of paper. "It looks like a map of some sort."

Frank approached Bill and looked at the map. "That road right there." He used his forefinger to point out the road. "Isn't that Farm Hill Rd?"

"Not sure." Said Bill. The writing was faded. "Can't read it."

"Remember where we use to play cowboys and Indians? I think it was at that corner." He pointed to the intersection shown on the map. "And that other road must be Park St."

The boys use to live on Park St across from the wooded area. Recently their family had moved to White St where they lived now.

"That's right!" Said Bill. For the first time that morning, the boys were getting excited. "I'll bet the X is a buried treasure!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Mr. Stevens mentioned something about it to dad. But dad knew Mr. Stevens to tell tall tales. Especially when he was drunk." said Bill, "And Mr. Stevens was so drunk that day, he collapsed on his own front lawn. Dad had to carry him onto his porch."

Mr. Stevens was their neighbor when they lived on Park St.

"What kind of treasure?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me!"

"Let's go find it!"

"Are you kidding?"

"No. We have the whole day and nothing else to do."

They went into the old garage and grabbed a shovel and a hoe. They ventured out into the woods to find the spot where the treasure was buried.

They reached the area marked on the map and started breaking up the ground with the hoe.

Meanwhile the robbers parked at a diner a quarter of a mile away. They ordered scrambled eggs and coffee. Then they went to a hardware store. They noted that the store had no customers.

The clerk was in the isle with his back to them. Without looking at them, the clerk said, "Be with you in a moment."

They grabbed a hammer and hit the clerk over the head. The clerk fell to the ground unconscious. They opened the cash register and took all the money. Then they grabbed a shovel and hoe.

Back at the spot marked on the map, Bill and Frank were digging. They heard a noise.

"What was that?" asked Frank.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and continued breaking up the ground. Frank used the shovel to remove the loose dirt. After digging a deep hole, they uncovered a small portion of the surface of a wooden box.

"We found it!" Said Frank.

They raced to uncover the rest of the box.

"Have to widen the hole." Said Frank.

Bill used the hoe to break open the box. Then they removed the loose pieces of wood.

They stared at the gold jewelry inside the box.

"Forget it!" Said Bill, "It's all girl's stuff!"

"Maybe not." said Frank as he began sifting through the jewelry. "Rings, chains, crosses... Ah! Here's a watch!" Frank pulled out a wind-up pocket watch.

"Let's go." Said Bill. "This thing gives me the creeps."

Frank looked surprised.

"Didn't you hear that?" Asked Bill.

'I heard something. Probably other kids in the area." Frank placed the watch in his coat pocket.

Bill climbed out of the hole.

Frank handed Bill the shovel and hoe. "Give me a few minutes."

"Okay."

Frank looked down at the jewelry. He was about to stick his hand in it when suddenly a bunch of it moved.

"Get out of there now!" Yelled Bill as he raised the shovel by the handle.

Frank stared at the jewelry as it began shifting position. He turned and started to climb out of the hole when he felt something grab his leg. He looked down and panicked. He clutched the ground with his hands. "Help me!"

Bill was staring at the half decayed hand gripping Franks leg.

Frank was kicking the hand with his other foot. "Don't just stand there. Help!" yelled Frank as he was slowly pulled into the hole.

Bill lifted the shovel over his head.

A second decayed hand reached out of the box.

"Noooo! Let go of me!"

The robbers parked their car at the corner. They took out their shovel and hoe and started heading for the treasure.

They heard Bill yell, "Let go of me!"

"What was that?" Asked one robber.

"Sounds like it came from there." The other robber pointed into the woods. They heard another yell. They took out their revolvers and raced into the woods. Then they stopped about 50 yards from the hole. They released the safety pins and slowly approached the site. They hide behind some bushes and peered at the hole.

"Someone got here before us." whispered one robber.

They stayed still for a few moments. There was no sound from the hole. No movement either.

The robbers slowly came out from behind the bushes and approached the hole.

The two boys were on their hands and knees in the hole. Their faces were pale as they looked up at the two robbers.

The robbers laughed as they pointed their revolvers at the boys.

"Who were you boys yelling at?"

Suddenly, the decayed man came up behind the robbers and grabbed them by their throats. He swung the robbers around as they fired two shots from their revolvers. "Get out of the hole." He told the boys. "Throw the watch back into the box."

The boys climbed out of the hole and threw the watch back in.

"Now get out of here!" said the decayed man.

The boys picked up their shovel and hoe. They walked a short distance and then looked back.

The two robbers were struggling to free themselves from the decayed man who had a grip on robbers' throat. They kicked his legs and managed to aim their revolvers at the decayed man. They fired two shots.

"You can't hurt me. I'm already dead!" The decayed man chuckled as the robbers repeatedly kicked his legs. "I guess you don't remember me. You buried me alive in that box a year ago. And now you've come back for the jewelry you stole from me. I tell you what. Let's enjoy the jewelry together." The decayed man jumped into the hole without letting go of the two struggling robbers. "Together forever!"

The huge piles of dirt around the hole caved into the hole as the robbers screamed. Within seconds, the screaming stopped. The dirt became hard packed like no one had touched it.

The boys stared in horror. Finally Frank spoke. "We'd better get the shovel and hoe back before Dad finds then missing!"

"We're going to have a hard time explaining this if he finds us."

"We can't let him find us! If we did up that box again, that dead man -- or whatever he is -- will kill us!"

The boys raced through the woods toward their home.

Back at the boy's home, their mother, Mary, turned off the stove burner. She looked at her husband, Jim.

Jim was putting on his jacket.

"The boys should have been home by now." Said Mary.

"I'm going to look for them."

Jim kissed her and went to the front door. "I have my cell phone. I'll call when I find them."

"Shouldn't we phone the police?"

"Not yet. I know the two areas they hang out."

Jim opened the door to find his two boys standing there. There clothes, face and hands were dirty.

"What have you boys been doing?"

"Treasure hunting!" said Frank

"What?"

"You know -- like in Treasure Island."

"Okay. Up to the shower! Both of you."

The boys went upstairs. Jim saw a crumpled piece of yellow paper on the stairs. He picked it up and opened it. " He smiled to himself, crumpled the map and threw it in the garbage. "Treasure hunting. Right!"