Treasure in the Desert part six
Bela was a sharp cookie for the young age of ninety and after a wonderful dinner of split pea soup with fresh roll and salad she, sat with the other residents were waiting for a lovely dessert of Apple dumplings with fresh whipped cream. She sat at a table with three other people she liked very much. Doctor Will Carlton and his wife Marlene.
Marlene was in the first stages of Alzheimer’s and since they both were in their late eighties Doctor Carlton had the same outlook on life and the future as Bela had about having someone else do all the cooking of meals and cleaning of the rooms plus a place safe for Marlene to live before she completely lost all memory. He had the monies to do this and he could still be with his beloved wife all day long.
The other person at their assigned table was Jack Daniels a geologist. Jack got a lot of people kidding him about having Jack Daniels whiskey in his room. Jack was also age ninety and had been buried in a land slide years ago resulting in his needing to use a walker and / or cane at times. He still enjoyed his rock samples and would tell you in detail about each specimen in his room scattered along the window sill and on a few shelves. If you had a rock and did not know what it was he would tell you immediately what it was after a short examination he knew where it had come from including the country.
Marlene asked if the lady named Dora were her Granddaughter.
“No, Marlene, she is a nice young lady I met in the park and she has a real sweet dog named Mo~Jo. I am helping her with some research on a letter she found in the desert.” said Bela.
Wills ears caught wind of the conversation between his wife and Bela. Bela was so good with Marlene’s questions never being impatient that they were repeated. He was so glad he came here instead of having a live in caretaker.
“Say, did Dora tell you exactly where she found this letter out there in the desert and if it were in a box or can or some sort of protection?” asked Will.
Bela told him Dora had found it in an old medical bag. The name plate on the bag was Dr Jess Craine. Bela said the letter indicated he was writing to his wife Bella that he was leaving her with all their assets and he was going to parts unknown. It seemed that she had two children by another man but told him, Dr Jess Craine that they were his but that was quite untrue because he had found out later in life that he had become sterile as a child from a bad case of mumps. He indicated that since she had deceived him all those years and the children were now grown he did not wish to be a part of her life anymore and he was setting her free.
“Well if it is agreeable with you and Dora I will help you with your research. I have lots of spare time when I am not with Marlene and I may have some contacts so lets meet this new friend of yours and see if she even wants me involved because I love a mystery and that’s all I want is to help her solve something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. It is just a challenge I would love to be involved in.” said Will with enthusiasm.
Bela wrote to Dora and explained what Will had offered.
Dora agreed to come over tomorrow with Mo~Jo to meet the Carlton s.
That evening Dora pulled the wrapped boxes out of the satchel and stacked them into two kitchen cupboards to look at later. At the bottom of the satchel was a bag containing a few rocks and two books Mornings in Mexico [D. H. Lawrence and Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry.
The next morning after breakfast and Mo~Jo’s breakfast and a good thirty minute outing she collected the rocks and books along with the letter and headed off to see Bela and her friends. Marlene and Mo~Jo hit it off right away/ Will was interested in the letter and the books. And Jack said “Dear Dora, these “ROCKS” are gold and diamonds!” Everyone gasped.
Dr Will Carlton said
”I do love a mystery.”
©Julia A Knaake