Hearts of Grey Page 24

  “Many of our brave countrymen died defending what they believed in. So as these guys finish the removal of those remaining wooden planks that cover the greatest discovery since the landing of the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, I ask you all to remember those brave men that died in that nasty and unforgiving war.

  “So, gentlemen, if you would please—now this might take a little time because first they have to remove the remaining boards and then carefully lift each and every box out of that hole that knows no time. So please bear with them.

  “And we now give you THE GOLD OF THE SOUTH!”

  There was a tremendous roar from the crowd that had remained totally speechless since this had all started. Everyone watched as the men slowly removed about ten of the remaining boards covering the gold. The dirt and the grass that once covered the boards had been removed earlier so nobody had to watch men shovel dirt. Yeah, as if that would have been something to watch.

  The men assigned to the task of removing the gold formed a chain, with each man handing the boxes with its precious contents to the next man in line. It was a slow process, but it was the best way to get the gold out in the open. When the men had about twenty of the boxes out, Mike and Grady approached the stack of boxes, and Michael carried one of the heavy boxes up onto the stage and sat it onto a heavy wooden table.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is what dreams are made of. This is the Gold of the South,” Grady told them as Michael hit the side of the wooden box with a hammer. As the wooden box fell apart, its contents poured out onto the table and some of it onto the stage. Solid gold coins glistened in the bright Georgia sun. The crowd went wild.

  But one of the coins rolled across the stage directly at a little girl standing behind the ropes. Her eyes went wide as she watched the coin rolling but falling short of her reach. Grady looked at Michael, Katie, and Melissa. They all nodded their heads. Grady walked over to the little girl and took her by the hand and led her up onto the stage. He brought the microphone down to her level.

  “Hi there, do you have a name?” Grady asked

  The little girl shook her head up and down but didn’t say anything.

  “Can you tell me your name?” Grady asked.

  “Cindy, my name is Cindy,” the little girl replied.

  “Hi, Cindy! Do you know who I am?” Grady asked.

  “Yes, sir, you’re the man with all the gold,” she answered.

  Everyone laughed.

  “How old are you, Cindy?” Grady asked her.

  “Five, but I’ll be six some day,” the little girl answered.

  “Cindy, do you know what that is?” he asked as he pointed to the pile of gold coins on the stage.

  “Yes, sir, that’s gold. Is it real?” she asked.

  “Yes, Cindy, it’s real. Would you like to touch it?” he asked.

  The little girl just shook her head.

  “Go ahead. It won’t hurt you,” Grady told her.

  Cindy reached down and picked up one of the precious coins. The reflection of the Georgia sun reflected up onto her face.

  “Well, what do you think, Cindy?” Grady asked.

  “It’s beautiful,” the little girl answered.

  Katie walked over and kneeled down next to the little girl.

  “Hi, Cindy! Do you know who I am?” Katie asked the little girl, that was busy looking at the coin in her hand.

  “Yes, you’re the real pretty lady that my big brother likes,” she answered.

  “Oh really? So you’re brother thinks I’m pretty, does he?” Katie asked the little girl.

  “Yes, I think he wants to marry you or something, but Pa told him you’re too old for him,” Cindy answered.

  “Too old? How old is your brother?” Katie asked.

  “Ten,” Cindy told her. The entire crowd was laughing.

  “Okay, I guess your pa was right. But, Cindy, you said that coin was pretty. Would you like to know what I think is pretty?” she asked.

  “Yes,” the little girl answered.

  “You and the way that your eyes lit up when my daddy told you to pick up that coin. What would you do with that much gold if I were to say give it to you?” Katie asked.

  “I’d give it to my pa,” she told Katie.

  “And why would you give it to your pa, Cindy?” Katie asked.

  “Because he needs it to feed us. Mom got called to heaven, and now it’s just Pa and us little ones,” the little girl told Katie, with her eyes never leaving the coin in her hand.

  “What would you say if I told you that my ma was in heaven too?” Katie told the little girl.

  The little girl just looked up at her with the biggest eyes that Katie had ever seen.

  “Really? Is she an angel like my ma is?” Cindy asked.

  “I think so. All mothers are angels, aren’t they?” Katie asked.

  “I think so,” Cindy answered.

  “How many brothers and sisters do you have, Cindy?” Katie asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

  “There’s four of us, not counting Pa,” the little girl told her.

  “Where is your pa, Cindy?” Grady asked.

  Cindy pointed to a tall man standing where Cindy once stood. At his side were three young children.

  “Sir, would you please walk over to the back of the stage so I might speak with you please?” Grady asked. The man started walking to where Grady had pointed.

  “Cindy, do you know whose gold this is?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, it’s yours. You found it,” the little girl told her.

  “Yes, we did find it, but it’s not mine. It belongs to the people of the South. And guess what, Cindy?” Katie asked the little girl.

  “What?” the sweet little girl replied.

  “I don’t think the people of the South will miss just one little piece of gold, do you?” Katie asked.

  “Miss? Do you mean—” the little girl’s voice stopped.

  “Yes, Cindy, that little piece of gold that you hold in your hand is yours. You may keep it, okay? But it’s yours. You don’t have to give to anyone not even your pa if you don’t want to. I think your pa is talking to my pa, and everything will be a little easier for you from now on. Okay?” Katie told the little girl.

  The eyes of that little girl filled with tears as she turned to give Katie the biggest hug she could give. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” the little girl cried as she hugged Katie, never losing sight of that beautiful gold coin that she held in her hand.

  The entire crowd went wild. It was the best feeling in the world for everyone.

  In all, there were 372 wooden boxes pulled from the vault. Three hundred and twenty of them were filled with the double-eagle gold coins while the other fifty-two of them contained some very rare solid silver coins, bearing the insignia of the Confederacy. These hadn’t been seen since the start of the war, making the silver coins worth just as much as the gold coins and maybe even more.

  Under the tightest security possible, everyone was allowed to walk by single file and touch and examine one of each of the valuable coins. The rest of the coins remained under some very tight security. The actual value of the treasure wouldn’t be known for sometime. There was counting to do of course, and the metals had to be tested for the actual mineral content. If in fact every coin was proved to be 100 percent pure, then the value would skyrocket.

  The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men

  Michael could sense the change. Something about Katie was different. That very moment that she had given that little girl that little gold coin, Michael knew. Whatever feeling he had for her before were all suddenly different. He saw her in a way that he had never seen her before. She was both glamorous and very appealing. She wore a very Civil War era dress that the ladies of the South had worn back then. The top of the dress was very tight against her body but not enough as to hide what hid underneath. It was open around the neck but just a little. It encased her, catching every curvature of her figure. At the waist, it hugged her, then ca
scading down and out, the gown flowed to the ground. There had never been a better example of a true southern belle, at least as far as Michael was concerned. It was done in very fine white silk, bordered in soft satin in a very elegant shade of pink. White and pink lace accented the dress, with a large pink satin ribbon or belt wrapping around her narrow waist while finishing off in a very large bow in the small of her back. The entire picture was topped off with a large brim hat that was slightly tilted toward the front and created the picture-perfect definition of the word glamorous.

  And while Michael had always been attracted to her in ways that he was finding harder to control, right now, he found himself losing that control. He wanted her in a way that he had never wanted her before. Just watching her parade herself across that stage kneeling down to speak to that little girl made him want her just that much more.

  And as he tried to maintain some form of dignity, he found himself grabbing her in his arms, lowering her to that wooden stage and taking her as his own right there in front of everyone. Well, in his mind, he could see that. Not that he could ever bring himself to do that, but he was thinking about it all the same. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Visions of her and him entangled in a lover’s knot was just too much for him or any man to bear.

  Katie had just started talking to some guys about the thrill of the hunt and how it felt when they had actually found the gold. Michael knew this because he stood there and listened to them talking as he gathered up his nerve.

  “Katie my dear, may I have a word with you please?” he asked.

  “Sure! One second, hon.” she answered.

  “No, I need to talk to you now. Something has come up,” he told her.

  “Okay, one second. I’ll be right with you,” she told him as she went back to her conversation with the two gentlemen.

  “Katie, I must insist that I talk with you right now,” he told her. “Gentlemen would you excuse us please?” he asked as he pulled her away.

  “Michael, that was very rude. Those guys were—” she started to say as Michael cut her words off.

  “It’s time, honey,” he told her.

  “What do you mean it’s time? What in the world are you talking about?” she asked.

  “Katie, shut up and listen,” he told her as her eyes got bigger than he had thought possible.

  “Don’t tell me to shut up,” she told him.

  “Listen to what I’m saying, sweetheart. It’s time,” he told her.

  “There you go with this it’s time crap again. Michael, are you okay?” she asked.

  “Jesus, Katie, do I have to spell it out for you? It’s time. You know, like the right time, our time,” he explained to her.

  “Michael, why don’t you just spit it out? What are you talking about?” she asked.

  Finally, he leaned over and whispered into her ear. The smile that grew on her face was unmistakable.

  “Really? Like right now, here?” she said.

  “Well, not right here, but, yes, I mean now,” he told her.

  She grabbed him by the hand and started running toward the house. “Well, come on, before you change your mind,” she told him.

  “Okay, but not in your daddy’s house. Pick another spot,” he said.

  “Okay fine, how’s the barn? We can do it in the hayloft,” she told him.

  “That would be fine,” he said.

  The two of them tried to quietly slip away off into the barn. And much to their surprise, nobody tried to stop them. Michael allowed Katie to go up the ladder that led up to the loft first. He followed close behind her. Now, it wasn’t done on purpose, but you have to remember that Katie was wearing this huge dress. Michael had a perfect view at Katie’s backside as he climbed the ladder behind her.

  Michael looked down for just a second or two, and as he did, Katie stopped climbing the ladder. As he turned his attention back to the climb, he turned to look up at Katie again. But since she had stopped climbing and he hadn’t, he soon found himself going right up Katie’s dress, his face pressing against her ass.

  “Michael, what in the world are you doing? Boy, when you said it was time, you wasn’t kidding, were ya?” she asked.

  “That wasn’t my fault. You stopped,” he told her.

  “Yeah right, but I’d like to see you climb a ladder in a dress like this. It ain’t as easy as it looks. Trust me, it ain’t,” she said.

  “Well, it looks pretty nice from down here, I’ll tell ya. Would you please hurry up before someone comes in?”

  “Well, I can’t. My foot is on my dress. I can’t move,” she told him.

  “Here, let me see if I can’t get it loose,” he said. “There you go. Now move your foot over a bit.”

  But as she did, she accidentally kicked him in the face, making him lose his grip and sending him falling backward onto a large pile of hay at the base of the ladder.

  “Got it!” she proclaimed as she pulled herself onto the loft. Looking back down the ladder, she saw Michael sprawled out and half buried in the pile of hay.

  “Michael, quit your goofing off and get up here. What in the world are you doing down there?” she asked.

  “Just taking a break. Is it safe to come up there now?” he asked.

  “Well, of course it is. That’s a stupid question. Git your butt up here!” she told him.

  “I never knew having sex could be so dangerous,” he said.

  “What did you say? Damn it, Michael! I’m a lady in waitin’, and you’re down there takin’ a break. You menfolk are hard to understand. I swear to God ya are,” she told him.

  “You think us menfolk are hard to understand. You should try figurin’ out what a lady is thinking. That will screw ya up fer sure,” he replied as he climbed the ladder and crawled up into the loft into Katie’s waiting arms. The two of them fell backward, sinking into what most people would simply call hay. But Katie and Mike would soon call utterly fantastic. Or so they thought.

  Everything was going great except for one little problem. No, it was actually a big problem, a really big problem.

  As soon as Katie fell onto her back, the wire cage contraction called a loop skirt that gave her dress its shape opened up, well, like a parachute. And no matter what they tried to do, the damn thing was still in the way. And when they tried flipping it upward, Michael couldn’t see Katie’s face. And that was totally unacceptable.

  “Honey, this just ain’t going to work,” he told her.

  “Well, it’s all part of the outfit. This is what the ladies wore back then,” she explained.

  “Well, it’s no wonder why there wasn’t that many babies back then. You had to be a contortionist to do anything with a woman while she wore one of these damn things. Can you take it off?” he asked.

  “Here in the hayloft of my daddy’s barn? I’d have to get totally undressed to get this thing off,” she told him.

  “Having you totally naked works for me ’cause as I see it, this ain’t going to happen here, not while you’re in that damn thing,” he said.

  “How about we go back to the party, then I’ll go change, and then we can try again?” she asked.

  “Takes all of the excitement out of it. Might end up with a wet fuse on a stick of dynamite,” he explained.

  “Sorry about that, but I’m pretty sure that I can relight your wet fuse if you know what I mean,” she boasted.

  “Well, we’ll see about that. But we do have another minor problem,” he told her.

  “And what might that be?” she asked.

  “Just how do you plan on climbing down a ladder with that thing on. You can’t see your feet. On the way up, it wasn’t a problem since you didn’t need to watch your feet. But on the way down, you sure will, especially the first couple of steps,” he explained to her.

  “I see what you’re talking about. I guess that you’ll just have to help me,” she told him.

  “And how do I do that, may I ask?” he said.

  “Well, you’ll just h
ave to guide my feet onto the struts of the ladder,” she explained.

  “And in order to do that, I’ll have to have myself halfway up under your dress,” he told her.

  “Well, I didn’t hear you complain about it last time,” she proclaimed.

  “Who said that I was complaining about it this time?” he asked.

  “Ha ha, very funny! Let’s do this,” she told him.

  So Mike started down the ladder first. Katie laid down on her stomach and slowly proceeded to inch her way backward off of the loft.

  “Michael, ya best not let me fall!” she yelled.

  “Well, if ya do fall, I’ll break your fall,” he told her.

  “Great, you can break my fall, and I’ll break my foolish neck,” she told him.

  “Okay, just relax. I got your right foot. Now, just relax, and I’ll guide it over to the ladder,” he told her.

  Katie felt his hand guiding her foot. She felt it as it passed something that she thought was the ladder. So she put her weight onto that foot and started to bring the other foot over.

  “Katie, that ain’t the ladder. That’s my shoulder,” he told her just about the time her other foot found his other shoulder.

  “Ooopppps! Sorry, hon, but I can ride down just like this if you can support me. Just a few steps, and I’ll be able to reach the ladder easier,” she told him.

  “Okay but lift up your foot. This is mighty painful,” he told her.

  “What in the world are you doing down there?” she asked.

  “I’m taking your shoes off. If you have to stand on my shoulders, the shoes have to come off,” he told her.

  “There ya go taking off my shoes again,” she said jokingly as Mike slipped off both of her shoes and threw them down to the ground.

  “Aw hell, don’t move. My hair is caught in your cage thingamajig,” Mike told her.

  Outside of the barn, Rick and Melissa were headed to do what Katie and Mike had hoped to do. But as they slid the door open, Melissa looked at Rick.