Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes

Once we got back to the van, Gramps asked to borrow my laptop.  “I want to use it to see if I can determine what might be in those sacks in the cave.”

“Sure.  Just a second and I’ll get it for you.”

After I handed it to him, he sat down and began doing a number of searches.  When he finished, he filled us in about what he’d discovered. 

“From what I can tell, there are two possibilities for how those bags ended up in the cave, and they both point to the same conclusion about what the bags might contain.  First of all, during my search I’ve discovered that a huge portion of the Confederate treasury was somehow lost, stolen, or hidden following the end of the Civil War.”

“Wow, that sounds promising, because it means there might be treasure in the cave after all!” Devin responded. 

“Yes, it’s a good possibility,” Gramps agreed, “and there are two different ways it could have ended up in the cave.  First of all, it has been suggested that the Confederates may have hidden the money at multiple locations so they could retrieve it later and then use it to buy land in Mexico and Central America.  The Confederate leaders wanted to reestablish the slave plantations on the land they acquired in those areas.”

“So, you think that’s how the bags ended up in the cave?” I followed. 

“It’s one possibility, although I doubt that’s what occurred.  If the Confederate leaders had hidden the money in the cave, I’d have expected they would have hidden a lot more there.  I would have also suspected that the money would’ve been stored in wooden crates and each crate would have contained four to six of those cloth sacks.”

“Ok, then how did those bags get there?”

“I figure the two men we found in the cave, along with whoever shot them, most likely stole one bag each from different crates hoping no one would miss them.”

“That makes sense,” Devin concurred. 

“But if these guys stole the bags together, why would one guy shoot the other two?” I asked.

“My guess is that once they brought the bags to the cave, one of the three shot the other two so he wouldn’t have to share whatever is in the bags with them.”

“Ok, then did he cause the collapse, or did it happen naturally and was just an occurrence that it sealed off the back of the cave?”

“My guess is that the killer used dynamite to cause the collapse so no one else would be able to discover the bags before it was safe for him to come back to collect them.  However, for some reason, he was unable to return.”

“What do you think happened to him?” Devin asked. 

“That’s difficult to know with any certainty, but I can offer a couple of possible reasons to explain why he wasn’t able to get back here.  First of all, if those three men had been suspected of stealing the money that they were supposed to be guarding, then he might have been hunted down and either shot or captured.  If he was captured and wouldn’t disclose what had happened to the money, then he may have been sent to prison, where he eventually died.” 

“So, you think he murdered the other guys that helped him steal the money and then he got killed or captured.”

“Yes, and that’s the reason he never returned to dig his way back to the money later.”

“That’s a reasonable possibility,” Pops agreed.  “I remember that after the war the Union Army was doing all it could to find what remained of the Confederate treasury, and even if they found this cave, they obviously didn’t find anything.  They were looking for what was left of the Confederate treasury so they could use whatever was left to pay for the cost of the war that the Confederates started when they bombarded Fort Sumter.”

“So, what do you think is in the bags?” I followed.

“It could be almost anything, because it is my understanding that many wealthy slave owners had stored some of their valuables in the Confederate Treasury to protect them from the ‘Yankees’.  If that’s what’s in those bags, they may contain objects made of gold or silver, jewelry, or anything else of value.  The bags may also contain various currency, since the Confederate States had their own paper money, and they also minted both Confederate and US coins.”  

“How could they make both types of coins?”

“It’s because the US operated mints in three southern states prior to the war, since there were untapped deposits of gold and silver ore available locally in each of those areas.”

“Would the Confederate coins and paper money be worth anything now?”

“Let me explain it this way: the Confederacy seized the mints in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dahlonega, Georgia; and New Orleans, Louisiana after they seceded, so they still had the dies for US coins.  This meant they would have had access to whatever coins were still in the possession of the mint and hadn’t been placed in circulation before the war began.  New Orleans also produced other coins that became currency for the Confederate States of America.”

“What denominations of Confederate coins did they make?” Devin asked.

“I believe they minted Confederate one-cent pieces and half dollars.”

“Damn, those bags could be full of those coins, but they wouldn’t be worth much money now, would they?”

“If you are talking about the face value of the coins, they probably wouldn’t add up to account for any great sum.  However, they are very rare, since not many Confederate coins were actually minted, which makes them valuable to collectors.” 

“But why didn’t they mint for Confederate coins?”

“That was due to the fact that most of the miners in the southern states were currently in the army and unavailable to work in the local mines.”

“Couldn’t they get the metal they needed somewhere else?”

“No.  The Union cut off the inflow of materials into the south, so all that was available to them was the untapped mineral deposits that were located within the borders of the Confederacy.  However, there wasn’t anyone available to extract those minerals from the land.” 

“So, do you think those bags contain things that are valuable?”

“It’s very possible.”

“Then, do you or Pops have wire cutters that you can use to snip the wires on the bags so we can see what’s inside?”

“Not with us, so we’ll have to buy a pair that are strong enough to snip those wires, which are quite thick.  I’m thinking that whatever is in those bags must have been considered valuable enough to hide, so they’ll probably still be valuable.  We’ll also need some zip ties so we can reseal those bags after we look inside, but we’re not going to travel back home carrying bags that have “CSA” printed on them.  Instead, we’ll purchase three sturdy gym bags and place the CSA bags inside them when we head back to Colorado.  I think there may also be a couple of other items that we’ll need as well, but I want to do a little more research online before I make that decision.”

“Ok, you can use the laptop for as long as you’d like, but what are we going to do while you’re doing that?”

“It’s my guess that we’ve already worked through lunchtime digging our way past the obstruction and investigating the back of the cave.  It might also be getting close to suppertime as well, so Dad can start fixing us all something to eat after we all clean up.”

“Ok, that sounds good, so we’ll help Pop as much as we can.”

Later, while we were eating, we began chatting again.

“Are we going back to the cave after we finish eating?”

“No, we’ll probably go shopping instead,” Gramps replied.  “I still have a little more research to do first, but I want to get whatever we need tonight, and then we’ll return to the cave in the morning.”

“Ok, Devin and I are fine with that.” I agreed after Devin nodded his approval. 

When Gramps went back to finish his research, Devin and I cleaned up the various items that were used to make the meal, along with the dishes we used when eating.  After we finished, I looked over Gramps shoulder to see what he was looking at.

“Uhhh, why are you looking at a child’s plastic wagon?”

“It will fit inside the tunnel and we can use it to transport the bags out of the tunnel, along with carrying the things we’re going to use to the back of the cave.”

“So, we’ll just have to push and pull the wagon instead?”

“Not exactly, because I’ve also thought of a way that we can pull the wagon in each direction.  I just have to pick up a few additional supplies when we go shopping.” 

“Like what?”  

“I’ll also have to get some nylon rope, and then I’ll attach a sufficient length of the rope to both the front and back of the wagon, so we’ll be able to pull the wagon in both directions through the tunnel.” 

“I guess that means one of us will have to stay at the front of the cave the entire time then,” Devin stated. 

“Yes, that’s very true,” Gramps replied. 

“I don’t mind remaining at the front of the cave,” Pops volunteered, “and that will allow the three of you go to the back of the cave so you can see if the items in each of those bags are worth keeping.” 

“I guess we’re all set then.  Does that mean we’re going shopping now?”

“Yes, but we should disconnect the trailer first, because that will make it easier to drive through traffic.”

“Aren’t you worried about it getting stolen?”

“No, because we don’t all have to go to the store, so whoever stays behind can keep an eye on it.”

“But we all want to go with you,” I insisted, “because it will be something different to do than just sitting around here on the ground.”

“Ok, then I guess we’ll be taking it with us.”

“But couldn’t someone break into the van or trailer while we’re in the store?” Devin countered.

“That’s another good point.”

“I’ll volunteer to stay in the van and make sure no one tries to steal the van or break into the trailer,” Pops offered.  “I’ll be able to keep an eye on both using the side mirrors and the monitor that’s linked up to the cameras located at the back of the van, because they’ll let me see what’s going on all around the trailer.”

“Ok, then it’s settled – we’ll all go.  Just hop in the van and take your seats, because I want to get to the store and finish up the shopping as quickly as possible.  We’ll need to do that in order to make certain that you’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep.”

The shopping trip didn’t take very long, seeing Gramps knew exactly what he wanted to buy.  The thing that took the longest was for Devin and I to decide which gym bags to purchase, since Gramps said we could keep the one we picked out after we returned home.  We not only wanted to choose one that looked awesome, but would also be strong enough not to break or fall apart while carrying the CSA bag that we put in it.  Gramps selected the third gym bag that we’d need.

“What if we don’t need all three gym bags?” I asked. 

“I’ll keep the receipt, so if we don’t need it, I can return it later.”

“Ok, that works.”  

Gramps also selected the wire cutters and zip ties he felt he needed, along with 100 feet (30.5 m) of nylon rope, and the plastic wagon.  When he picked out another item, I asked him a question. 

“Why are you picking out bath towels?”

“They’re to wrap around the CSA bags when we put them into the gym bags, so they won’t move around too much.”

After going through the checkout line, we took all of our purchases back to the van and Gramps asked Pops if there had been any problems while we were away.  “No problems, but there was a guy who kept walking back and forth behind the trailer and it looked as if he was scoping it out.”

“Did you get out of the van to see what he was up to?” Devin asked. 

“No, I simply tapped the brake a couple of times, and when he saw the brake lights on the trailer blinking on and off, he realized that I was in the van keeping an eye on him, so he took off.  How about you guys?  Were you able to find everything you planned on buying?” 

“Yes, we found every item that we came here to purchase,” Gramps told him, “so let’s get buckled in so I can take us back to get some sleep. I want us to be rested when we head back to the cave in the morning, after we have breakfast.”  

When we got back to our campsite, Gramps parked the van in the same place as before, and then we all went to our sleeping areas to turn in.  It had been a long, exciting, and tiring day. 

When we woke up the next morning, we dressed quickly and ate breakfast, and then got ready to head to the cave.  Gramps put the tools, rope, zip ties, and a knife from the van in the gym bag he’d selected to take to the cave with him.  He told Devin and me to carry our gym bags as well, while Pops carried the plastic wagon. 

When we arrived at the cave, the first thing we did was to attach the rope to the handle on the wagon, and then Gramps cut the rope into two equal pieces.  He then tied the other end of the rope to the rear of the wagon. 

“Ok, Devin, you will transition into a whippet again and then my dad will lift you up and place you in the tunnel.  Move down it a ways, and while you’re getting situated, Mac and I will transition into spider monkeys and climb up to join you.  As soon as we’re in the tunnel, my dad will lift the wagon up to us, and it will have the rope for the back half in the wagon, along with the gym bag that I selected, which will also contain the zip ties, a knife, and the wire cutter.”

“And then the two of us will pull the wagon to the other end?” I asked.

“We could do it that way, but I have another idea.  Once Devin and you are in the tunnel, I want you boys to make your way to the other end and then climb down.  Once the wagon is in the tunnel, I’ll pull the coil of rope out of the wagon and grab the loose end, and then I’ll start pulling the rope down the tunnel behind me.  When I get to the other end, I’ll climb down, and then you or I will pull on the rope until the wagon appears at the opening to the tunnel.  When that happens, I’ll make myself larger and lift the wagon down so I can grab the gym bag with the other items inside, and then we’ll check out what’s in those bags.”

“Yeah, I can hardly wait to see what’s inside them,” Devin stated. 

“I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a big disappointment,” I quipped.

“I think they must contain something of value, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of hiding them here,” Gramps responded.

“Or killing the other two guys, because Pops said they were obviously shot,” Devin pointed out. 

“Exactly,” Gramps concurred. 

After Gramps had the gym bag, we went over to the bags and he pulled out the wire cutters.  I think Devin and I both held our breath as we watched him cut the wire holding the first bag closed.  As soon as he removed it, he glanced inside to see what was there. 

“It looks as if this bag is filled with coins,” he said, and then he reached inside to pull out a few.  “I can’t be sure if it’s full of these items, but it appears to contain $20 gold pieces.”   He then held out his hand so Devin and I could see the coins. 

“Damn, how many of those do you think are in there?” Devin asked. 

“I can’t be sure, and I don’t even know if the entire bag contains the same things or if there are other coins underneath them.”

“Well, they’re gold, so we’ve definitely found treasure!” I followed. 

“Yes, that we have.”

He then cut and removed the wire from the second bag, and that one had some Confederate paper money on the top, but underneath he found some Confederate coins.  When he opened the third bag, he said there were old silver dollars inside, but he wasn’t sure if the entire bag was filled with the same types of coins.

“How much do you think all of this will all be worth?” Devin asked. 

“I can’t be sure until I check the dates and mint marks on each of the coins, as well as noting the condition each one is in, because they won’t all be worth the same amount when we sell them off.  However, you may want to take out a few coins to keep for yourself, either as souvenirs or to sell at a later date.  It’s a good thing that Dad and I have a second business, Hidden Treasure Coin Dealers, so we can help you with this, but we won’t be able to sell them all at once.”  

“Why not?” Devin demanded.

“Because these will all be very rare coins and it will raise some red flags if we try to sell too many at once, so we’ll have to do it over an extended period of time.”

“That will be ok,” I chimed in, “because we won’t need the money all at once.”

“True, but I’d really like to know how much it all will be worth in the end.” 

“You will eventually, but it will take some time,” Gramps added.  “As the shaman might’ve explained if he was here, ‘you need to learn patience, grasshopper’.”

“What do we do now?” I wanted to know. 

“I’ll reseal each bag using one of the zip ties that I bought last night and I’ll place it around the top of the bag, just like the wire had been used to keep the bag closed previously.  Then, we’ll send the bags over to my dad, one at a time, so which of you wants to carry this one over and place it in the wagon?”

“I’ll do that,” Devin said, and then he went to pick it up.  It was the bag with the $20 gold pieces in it.  “Fuck, this is really heavy!” he informed us before he began bulking up to lift it, and then he carried it over and placed it in the wagon. 

Once it was in place, Gramps grew to a little over eight feet (2.5 m) in height and lifted the wagon up and placed it in the tunnel, and then he called to Pops in a very deep voice.  “Ok, Dad, you can pull the wagon to your end and unload it!”

Gradually, the wagon disappeared, and then we waited until Pops yelled that we could pull the wagon back to us.  We then followed the same procedure two more times with the other bags, but Gramps put the last one inside the gym bag with the tools. 

“Do you think those belt buckles will be worth anything?” Devin asked. 

“Actually, they probably would be valuable to anyone that is collecting Civil War memorabilia.”

“Should we take them with us then?”

“That depends on how you feel about taking them off the dead bodies.  If you aren’t superstitious, then you boys can go over there and get them, and then we’ll take them with us.” 

“What do you think, Mac?  Do you want to go over there with me to get those belt buckles?”

“Yeah, ok, but let’s try to get them without disturbing the bodies too badly.”

“Great, then let’s do it.  Gramps, do you think the wire cutters will cut through the leather on the belts so we can just take the buckles?”

“You could probably use the wire cutters to do that, but I believe the belt buckles will be worth more if they are attached to the belts,” Gramps replied.  “With all of the Civil War reenactment groups that have been active over the years, there are a lot of replica items on the market, so having the belt with the buckle it might be easier to prove that the buckles are original.”

“Yes, maybe the leather on the belts can be carbon dated to prove the buckles are authentic.”   

“I was really hoping that we wouldn’t have to mess with the bodies,” I stated, “but ok, we’ll get the belt with the buckles too.”

We then headed over to the bodies and worked together to get the belts.  Since the gym bag was already full, we ended up putting those items in the bag with the flashlights and LED flares.

As soon as the gym bag was in the wagon, we hollered for Pops to “take it away”.  Shortly after we saw the rope stop moving, as it was pulled in the other direction, Pops let us know we could pull the wagon back.  This time we loaded the bag with the flashlights and flares, along with the belts and buckles, into the wagon, and then we shouted to Pops that he could pull the wagon back for the final time.   

Once that was taken care of, Devin transitioned into a whippet and Gramps transitioned into a taller body again, and then Gramps lifted Devin up and placed him in the tunnel.  That’s when I transitioned into a spider monkey and climbed up Gramps, and as soon as I was in the tunnel, Gramps transitioned into a mouse and climbed up the rock pile to join us.  We then made our way through the tunnel to be with Pops again. 

As soon as we were all together, we placed the first two bags into the other two gym bags, and the Devin asked a question.  “Do you think we should cover the tunnel up, in case someone else finds this cave?”

“No, I don’t think that will be necessary,” Gramps replied.  “No one would be able to get through that tunnel in the first place, but even if they did, there’s no longer anything at the other end except for those two mummified soldiers.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted someone else to know what we did.”  

“How would they know that?  No one in his right mind would think anything but a small animal could have gone through that tunnel.”

“Yeah, if anyone ever enters this cave, they’re definitely going to wonder what we used that tunnel for,” Pops pointed out

“Maybe they’ll think that a bunch of cave faeries dug the tunnel and built the wooden structures that we used,” Devin joked, and then he burst out laughing.

“Or they might think it was dug out by the spirits of the Confederate soldiers whose bodies are at the other end,” I offered somberly. 

“In reality, they’ll probably think we built it so we could send a robot to explore what was on the other side of the collapsed area,” Gramps pointed out.  “And since that type of robot might be expensive, they’ll think we built the wooden frame to reduce the chance of the robot causing a cave in and getting destroyed if that happened.”

“Good point,” I agreed.

“We’ll also take the wagon and rope back with us, because we may find a use for the rope when we get back home, and you might want to let your sons play with the wagon when they’re old enough.”  Devin and I both grinned after hearing his suggestion. 

“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea,” I concurred, “and then when they get older, we can explain how they played with the wagon that we once used to haul our treasure.” 

As we left the cave, Gramps, Devin, and I each carried a gym bag on the way back to the van, while Pops carried the wagon and rope.  After we cleaned up and changed, Gramps and Pops fixed something for us to eat for lunch. 

After we finished eating, Devin and I started to do the dishes, as we listened to what Pops was saying.  “Even though we arrived here a little later than we’d anticipated, since we helped the shaman and his son on the reservation, I’m now going to have to call to see if we can get our return flight moved up.  If Captain Jack is already booked, we might have to find something else to do for another nine days.”

“We won’t be able to do anything where we’ll have to leave the van for very long,” Devin pointed out, “because someone might try to steal it or they might break into it and take our treasure.”  

“If Captain Jack can’t move up our flight, then I’m sure we can survive another nine days living out of the van,” I offered.  “We might even be able to check out everything that’s in those bags during that time.”

“Yeah, we could do that,” Devin agreed.

After Pops called the number about rescheduling our flight, he discovered that Captain Jack could pick us up the day after tomorrow.  Now that he knew when we’d be leaving, Gramps phoned the place where he’d rented the van and trailer to see if they’d agree to meet us at the airport on that day to pick them up. 

Once they agreed, we took the van and trailer to one of those car washes where we could actually wash them ourselves and vacuum the interior before we left them there.  We also took a 360-degree video of the exterior of the van and trailer, along with a video of the interior to prove they were undamaged and in good shape when we returned them.  We also planned on asking a few of the employees at the airport to inspect both vehicles for us, so they could verify that both were undamaged before the owner picked them up, in case a dispute arose later. 

Now that all of those things had been taken care of, we started discussing what we still had to do before we left, and we also discussed what we should plan on doing once we returned home.  After talking it over, we agreed that it might be best to leave all three of the bags with Gramps so he could catalogue the coins and set a minimum price for them, for when the bids started coming in.  As soon as he did that, he could also decide which ones he thought we should sell first. 

Seeing we didn’t want to mess up the van after we washed it and cleaned the interior, we had to go out for our meals.  However, since we didn’t want to leave our treasure in the van, Devin and I would stay behind to guard the gym bags, as well as the van and trailer.  Gramps and Pops would go out to pick up our food, and then they’d bring it back and we’d eat while sitting on the grass. 

At night we’d sleep outside on the grass as well, as long as the weather was nice, but if it wasn’t we’d transition into wolves and sleep under the van and the trailer.  On the day we were to leave, we drove the van over to the airport to meet up with the owner of both of those items.  He had one of his employees drive him to the airport to meet us, and after he checked each of them over, he drove the van back to his business with the trailer so he could rent them out again. 

When the private jet eventually landed, we greeted Captain Jack, First Officer Tony, and Stewardess Jan as they exited the plane. 

“It’s nice to see all of you again,” Captain Jack said as he was shaking our hands.  “However, I am curious about why you’re leaving a week earlier than planned.  Did you finish up whatever you were doing here and did it go well, or are you going home early because it went poorly?”

“No, everything went very well and we finished up earlier than expected,” Pops informed him.

“That’s great!  Unfortunately, it will be about a half-hour before we’ll be able to take off, so the airport employees have time to do a quick clean-up of the interior of the jet, as well as fill the fuel tank.  It will also give Tony, Jan, and me a chance to freshen up and grab a drink and a snack.”

“That’s not a problem and there’s no rush,” Gramps assured him, “and we’ll be ready to leave whenever you are.” 

During that time, we gave our luggage to the ground crew so they could load them into the cargo hold.  However, Gramps, Devin, and I held on to the gym bags so we could take them onto the plane with us, rather than leave them unguarded in the cargo hold.  We only had a little while longer to wait until we would be in the air and heading back to Colorado, and Devin and I were beginning to get excited about returning to campus for our senior year.

 

The End of Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes. 

Coming Soon:  Secrets 3: The Road to the Future.