"Don't you dare do it, Hannah!" Alifair shouted after her sister as she chased her around the porch and back inside the house.

Miriam and Selene were sitting on the porch watching the storm gather momentum forcing obeisance from its subjects composed of grasses and trees. "What is she doing now?" Miriam asked as Hannah ran past them and Alifair stopped.

"She's going to slide down the banister," Alifair said. "She's such an animal."

"I'm going to do it, Alifair you better come stop me!" Hannah shouted from inside the house.

"There is no living with her!" Alifair said then charged inside. She nearly bumped into Heloise who was coming downstairs with the white Bible in her hands. Hannah was already perched at the top and when she saw Alifair on the landing she straddled the banister.

"Look out below!" she shouted and pushed off. The banister ended and Hannah came down on both feet briefly before her left one crashed through the floor. "Help me, I've been eaten!"

Alifair and Heloise rushed up to her and freed her leg from the hole. "I told you not to do it!" Alifair said.

Heloise leaned over the damaged floor and peered down into the hole. "There is no ground here," she said getting Alifair's attention.

Alifair covered her nose. "It smells like a swamp."

"What is the meaning of this?" Miriam asked as she came into the house with Selene.

"It was all Hannah's doing," Alifair said.

Miriam knelt down between her sisters and felt the wood. "Well it was bound to cave in sooner or later," she said. "The whole thing has rotted."

"See," Hannah said.

"That still is no reason to be reckless," Miriam told her. "I wonder how long the foundation has been washed away."

"If someone had fallen through they could have broken their neck," Selene said.

"I wonder," Miriam said gripping a piece of the broken floor. She yanked at it until the nails gave way widening the hole.

"Miriam," Heloise said in a worried voice. "I don't think you should be doing that."

"Worry not," Miriam said as she started on another plank. The damaged boards came up rather easily and soon they had a hole wide enough for a body to go down. Miriam lay flat and peeked her head in. "There's a tunnel!" she exclaimed pulling herself up. "There's a passage running toward the back of the house just under the stairs."

"Taitiann, Astrid, come quick!" Selene shouted.

"And bring the lantern!" Miriam added. When the other two sisters entered the foyer and saw the damage they immediately turned to Hannah. "There's a tunnel down here," Miriam said unable to contain her excitement.

Taitiann knelt down next to her and held the lantern down into the hole. "It sure is," she said as she looked around. "Also lots of bricks from the foundation." She sat up out of the hole and took in a breath of fresh air. She then stuck one leg into the hole only to be grabbed my Miriam.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see where the tunnel leads to," Taitiann said. "Come on, Miriam. You let me ride off into the early morning with Mr. St. Cloud I don't see how this is anymore dangerous."

Miriam released her arm and nodded her head. "We'll lower you down then pass you the lantern," she said taking it from Taitiann. She and Selene then lowered her into the hole and passed the lantern down afterwards.

"It just goes on and on," Taitiann said from below. "It smells awful down here." She turned back to the light streaming into the hole only to have a white boot in her face. "Miriam?"

Miriam wiggled down into the hole then dropped to her feet. Standing up straight she gathered her skirts and marched through the muck. "You're not the only one who gets to go on adventures this time," she said with a proud tilt of her chin.

Taitiann smiled and returned to the hole. "Selene, Astrid come on everyone, let's go find that treasure together."

One by one the sisters came down into the hole. The pathway was littered with bricks and the wet mud served as a quagmire, pulling at their boots and feet. The seven proceeded down the dark wet tunnel with Taitiann and Miriam at the head.

"You know, we are dealing with pirates," Alifair said. "What if they set traps?"

"That's only in books, Alifair," Selene said taking her hand.

"But do people every really find buried treasure?" Alifair asked. "Isn't that the stuff of books too?"

"People find treasure in Egypt all the time," Heloise said from ahead. "Besides, we're only just below our house." She looked up at the remaining brick foundation. "We must be below the kitchen I'd imagine."

Alifair clung tighter to Selene as they continued down the passage. The path began to slope down and they had to use the walls which were mixture of rotted timber and mud to guide them down.

"Easy," Miriam said over her shoulder. "Take your time."

"I don't like this," Alifair said trying to get her footing. "We don't know where this tunnel leads. What if we come out on Mr. Johnston's property and he shoots us? He ain't been right in his head since his wife died." She tried following in Heloise tracks but lost her balance. Selene grabbed her to keep her from falling but the moist ground proved too slick and the sisters slipped down the slope taking the other five with them like dominoes. They ended up in a heap at the bottom of the slope.

Taitiann spat out mud and righted the lantern before it went out. Getting to her feet she helped Miriam up and then Astrid. The seven then stood and looked back at the way they had come. "Looks like we'll have to find another way out," she said.

Miriam had stepped a few ways ahead of her and now she listened. "Do you hear that? It sounds like rain, no. It sounds like running water, just a trickle."

Hannah listened next to her. "It sounds like someone is peeing!"

Miriam swatted her. "Now you hush with that talk!" she said and gathered her skirts as she waded through the mud. "It appears to be coming from just on the other side of this wall of dirt."

Taitiann joined her and felt along the dirt wall. She clawed at the thick mud breaking it away and soon her sisters joined her. It didn't take long for the seven of them to clear part of the wall leaving darkened wood in the place of the mud. "This is definitely man made and very old," Taitiann said feeling along the vertical planks. She leaned her ear against it and heard the trickling water. "Well we could either stop here our see what lies beyond this here wall."

"Well we have to keep going forward," Selene said. "There is no other way out." She felt for Alifair's hand next to her. "It will be all right." She assured her then nodded to Taitiann.

Taitiann stepped back from the wall and gave it a solid kick. One of the old boards bent at the center so she kicked it again and again until it buckled then she and Miriam put their fingers in the gap and yanked another board free until it was wide enough for them to fit through.

"I'll go first," Taitiann said and holding the lantern up high she stepped inside.

Miriam hesitated for a moment then went after her followed by her younger sisters. They stood next to Taitiann and stared and wide eyed wonder. The room was about as wide as the floor plan of the house and beams of clouded sunlight streamed in from the ceiling illuminating the room just enough to see by. A brick wall circled the room like a belt all the way around even forming steps to get down to the floor which was covered in shallow water that you could see the bottom off. Unlike any other lake or river bed this one seemed to shimmer in the light.

As impressive as all this was nothing captured their attention so much as the ship that loomed on stones at the center. It sat just above the water line complete with mast, yards and tattered sails. Parts of it had rotted away but enough remained to tell it had seen majestic days.

"The grave of Lady Fair," Taitiann said and Miriam beamed at her. The sisters joined hands and raced down the steps and into the shallow water. They kicked up their heels and splashed in it laughing louder than thunder.

Hannah splashed water into the air and watched the droplets fall down like diamonds in the glimmering light. She stooped down to get another hand full and paused. Reaching below the surface she closed her hand around the sandy bottom. Drawing it out she turned over what she had in her hand. Her little mischievous heart beat a little faster. "Gold!" She cried out stopping her sisters in their play. She held up the shimmering coin. "Gold, Heloise, Miriam, everyone look I found it!" Her voice echoed in the chamber as her sisters hurried over to her.

Miriam took the coin and turned it over in her hands. "We'll I'll be, it is gold! Where did you get this?"

"The floor!" Hannah said. "The whole floor is covered with it. Look there and there and there." She spun around until she was dizzy."Gold!" She reached down and grabbed another handful as she sisters ran about searching the water for other treasure.

"It was all true!" Alifair said skipping around with Heloise. "Every word of it was true. And it's all ours, Heloise. We can hire someone to look for Papa's grave and a good doctor for Mama."

Heloise looked down at the majestic golden bed of water around them. "We can rebuild Old Town," she said.

"We can do whatever we want," Alifair said running over to the rocks and climbing up to the ship. She touched a remaining portion of it then looked back at Heloise who was smiling up at her. "It's all because you believed, Heloise. All because you believed, more than the rest of us." She climbed back down the rocks and threw her arms around her sister. "Nothing can keep us apart now."

/

The sisters played and danced in the golden water until the light beams grew dim and Miriam decided it best they head back before it got darker. Taking a rope ladder from among the rocks around the ship they made their way back up the steps, through the wooden wall and to the slope. Taitiann climbed up first to a steadier portion then sent the rope ladder down to her sisters. It took a few tries but soon they got it right and just in time before the ladder surrendered it its age.

When they reached the hole before the stairs they boosted Hannah out first who was able to help Alifair and both of them helped Heloise. When all the sisters were out of the hole they assessed their clothes. They were muddy but certainly joyous at their discovery.

"Tomorrow when it is lighter and not storming we'll take bags and a ladder with us," Miriam said. "I wish now I had asked Travis to bring our bags."

"He'll do it for you, Miriam," Taitiann said as she watched the wild storm with Selene.

"Now you stop it!" Miriam said. "I do not have any feelings for Travis Goode. He's silly and immature!"

Selene and Taitiann just giggled then all the sisters sat to watch the storm. The water rose in the yard drowning the grass and reaching up to the steps. Lightning flashed above the trees as it watched the woods trembling before its might ready to strike any transgressors.

"Grandpa would have loved this," Heloise said as she leaned against Selene in the doorway.

"Jethro loves storms too," Selene said. "He once told me that he felt equal to other men whenever it stormed. He could feel the rain just the same and hear the thunder which told him there was lightning. He could feel all the angry changes in the wind. But most of all the power of the storm seemed to equalize us all as nothing more than mere humans no matter our color or age or how much money we had or where it was we lived."

"That sounds so poetic," Heloise said then her stomach growled making Selene laugh.

"Now that sounds poetic." She said putting her hand over her own stomach. "I've been so excited I forgot to eat." She got up from the doorway and made her way into the kitchen where Miriam and Taitiann where talking in the lantern light. "It's getting late, Miriam what should we do about supper?"

Miriam looked out the kitchen door at the still raging storm. "Did you bring your bow Taitiann?"

"Very funny," Taitiann said. "Besides I'm not going beneath the trees in this storm. Look at the lightning and how far they tilt in the squall."

"Well we have to eat something," Selene said. "The only place nearby is all the way back in Angel Veil."

"Well give the storm a few more minutes then we'll go get something," Miriam said. "But if you went out there now you wouldn't be able to see you hand in front of your face."

Selene agreed and returned to Heloise with the news.

There wasn't much to do besides reading and watching the rain. It would lessen only to increase again a few minutes later. Heloise watched this ballet as she sat on the porch waiting for it to let up enough so they could walk to Angel Veil. She turned her Bible over in her hands and opened it to a random page only to close it again with a sigh. She had to smile though when she remembered the treasure trove that rested below the house.

She looked up to the street when she heard a horse whinny but she didn't see anything. The red dirt road was completely water logged and unfit for walking. Still if she was hungry enough she'd gladly take her chance in it. After all nothing compared to the journey below the house. She stretched out on her back amongst the dead leaves that rolled around the porch and listened to the old oak scrape the top of the house. The familiar lullaby was music to her ears as she remembered times gone by.

Her euphoria was suddenly interrupted by a loud baying and she rolled over on to her stomach and saw a horse outside the gate. The rider dismounted with haste making Heloise get to her feet. He came through the gate running and wielding a hatchet. He seemed to come at her in slow motion and for a split second she thought she was dreaming.

Spinning around on her heels she screamed for her sisters and ran inside the house. As the man came onto the porch she slammed the door for protection only to have it burst back open and knock her down. The man stormed into the house dripping wet with rain as he raised his hatchet above her.

Heloise rolled out of the way as the blade bit into the floor. She staggered to her fit as her sisters came out the kitchen and caught sight of him. Astrid recognized him instantly and turned to run out the kitchen door only to have Benedict Columbus block the way and aim a gun right at her. The sisters turned quickly and ran the only other way they could, up.

Benedict fired his gun as they ran out of the way and the bullet smashed through the foyer window.

"Idiot!" Kincaid shouted at him. "You trying to kill me?" He next turned to the fleeing girls. "Run all you like! There's no way out for you!" He approached the stairs and looked down into the hole. "And it looks like you've done all the hard work for me." He snapped his fingers. "Ben, get those men in here. It's time for this piper to be paid."

"What about the girls?"

"I'll take care of them," Kincaid said gripping his hatchet and running upstairs.

In the master bedroom Taitiann locked the door then looked around the room. Both windows had been boarded up and now Miriam and Selene tried to break the boards free of the wall.

"It's no use!" Selene said. "We're trapped."

"Oh girls," a voice said beyond the door making the seven of them huddle together. "It's about time we met. I have unfinished business with the seven of you. You see, I thought about killing you all when I followed you back to Enid but you were surrounded by the St. Cloud family then. Thanks to you, I got old Mr. Callaway off my trail and I also got the idea to fake my arrest. I figured, why not let them go on home? Why not let seven little souls escape into a ghost town where no one would hear their cries for help?" He slammed the hatchet into the door making Hannah scream. "And that's just what they did. Now I get to make seven little ghost and get the treasure. I'm in high cotton!" He hacked repeatedly at the door.

Alifair put her arms around her little sister. "It's okay, Hannah I'll protect you."

Heloise leaned against the wood that separated them from the window. She placed her free hand on the grain and gripped the Bible with the other. "God, we need a miracle. Please don't let it end like this."

On the other side of the door Kincaid grew frustrated. "What is this thing made of!"

"Pure mahogany!" Heloise shouted back. "You'll never break through it, you and that little boy axe. While you're up here trying to get to us your men are down below taking all the gold."

"Heloise," Selene shook her head to stop her but Heloise went on.

"Oh I've seen it for myself, gold from wall to wall enough for a whole world! It's too bad you're wasting all your time here. All those greedy men are going to take all the spoils. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned on you!"

There was a final hack at the door then footsteps hurrying away.

"What are you doing?" Selene asked.

"Buying time," Heloise said, "And making the best of our situation. They'll be occupied for some time."

Miriam dared not risk opening the door again so they returned to the windows, pulling at the boards that separated them from freedom.

"House," Hannah said aloud. "We've loved you all these years, help us, house." She fell to her knees and pounded the floor. "You've gotta help us. No one else we'll love you like we have."

As the sisters worked hard to escape, Kincaid Keller and all his men rejoiced over the spoils below. Kincaid marveled at the ship as his men tossed gold into the air and admired old swords and jewelry. Kincaid climbed onto the deck of the ship and fell to his knees in praise raising his hands to the mast and yards.

"Alas," he said to himself. "Alas Kincaid Keller you are not an underdog. Alas all the world will know your name and no one will dare call you a fool. Alas. It's all yours." He looked venomously over his shoulder at the men dancing in the lights of many lanterns. A wendigo never shared.

The wind tore through the house with a vengeance. It rammed the shutters and brought down branches in the yard. The storm had passed its judgment.