Nature's Treasure

An old map leads a woman and her dog through the winter forests and trails in her attempt to solve its mystery.

Where do we go from here?

 

It was a question that had been hanging from her lips like old Uncle Hammond’s cigar, comfortable in its resting place, yet dangerous when you gave it more thought.  He always appeared in the evenings, and she always laughed at his jokes and stories of old.  She missed him and hadn’t smiled much since his passing.  She glanced down at her terrier companion, who was looking at her beseechingly.

 

“I know, I know”, she said to him.  The view before her did not inspire confidence in her directions, although it did make her crave for an easel and paints.  A forest of spruce trees looming ahead were dusted with white snow, innocent of all impurities, the ground thick and untouched with drifts as high as 4 feet �" not a footstep to be seen anywhere around.  A vast lake, frozen in parts, lay on the other side, a deep icy cold blue.

 

She glanced at the old map once more, her finger tracing her past adventures, through glens and over mountains, the nights in a dark forest, and the mornings along the beach.  Her finger rested on her goal a simple ‘X’ on the map.  The cause of all of this.  The reason for this crazy quest of which she knew she had been ill-prepared and ill-advised.  Somehow she had made it this far.  Two months prior she had been stuck in a routine in which she simultaneously loathed yet stuck to it without question.  Until she found the map in an old natural history book her Uncle had left for her in his will, and ever since, the ‘X’ had been her focus.  No more routines, no more ordinary days.  She felt stronger and more alive than ever before.  Here she was with the fresh wind making her cheeks glow, and her lungs gasp with the crispness. 

 

“This way”, she said confidently.

 

She trudged through the thick snow, the comforting crunch caressing her cold ears.  Winding her way through the trees, the silence around her was calming.  The city was alive with the intensity of human electricity that never switched off, but in this desolate place, the only power was from nature, and it was more exhilarating than anything any metropolis could provide.

 

Her four-legged companion followed close, loving the ever-changing scents and smells in recent weeks.  He got to explore places he could only have dreamed off.  Both he and his master were drunk on living each day like it was the last, all because of this map.

 

At the edge of the stark white forest, there was an old wooden dilapidated jetty.  More like a few planks of wood boarded together out of haste than architectural ability.  A small wooden boat with a set of small oars inside was moored to a post just next to it.  Checking her map, she could see that the ‘X’ ended in the middle of the almost frozen lake.

 

Looking somewhat dismayed, she stood and looked up to the darkening sky.  Her camp was an hour back, so she was pushed for time, and if the ‘X’ was buried deep in the lake, then she had no chance of reaching it.  Not in this weather.  She would have to come back in spring.

 

She clambered into the boat, tightened her thick woollen gloves, and brought out a thick fur blanket from her backpack.  Draping it generously over her knees, she encouraged her small furry friend to lay on it still, providing her with extra heat. 

 

She slowly set off, using the oars and the rudimentary rudder to guide the boat towards the un-frozen part of the lake to the location of the mysterious ‘X’.  She noticed a set of initials etched into the thinly worn oars ‘BH', but she couldn’t think what they stood for. 

 

The gentle swishing of each oar against the gelid water was all that disturbed the evening ambience.  The only light was from far off shacks and cottages miles away, hidden from view during the day, only seen at night.  This place could have been the most secret place in the world.

 

Finally guiding the boat to where the ‘X’ should be, she dropped the tiny metal anchor overboard and surveyed her surroundings.  The darkened forest was shimmering with frosty white bark, the sky above darkened and free of all but starlight.  She puzzled over the map, worried that the treasure was deep below the water.  She noted that in the corner on the reverse was those two letters again ‘BH’ so she was definitely in the right place.

 

She lay back, pulling a thermos of hot tea from her bag, and as her dog snoozed gently, taken there by the gentle swaying of the craft, she gazed upward towards the stars.

 

Suddenly, a shimmering of blue and green cascading waterfalls of light blazed across the sky.  Her mouth almost dropped in astonishment at the scene.  It was as though these lights were putting on a dancing show just for her, shimmering and gliding with hypnotising ease. 

 

She started to smile, and laugh, and then stopped she realised what ‘BH’ was.  William or Bill Hammond was her Uncle, and this was his boat.  His map. 

 

Here was ‘X’.  The colourful delight above her head in the sky was the treasure.

 

Her eyes glistened with happiness as she watched the scene she had never felt more at peace.

 

He hadn’t just left her a book. 

 

He had left behind a way to make her laugh and to live.

Author's Note

Part of the #BePositiveWriteNow :The First Sentence Project. The first sentence of each story has been given by an Instagrammer. Enjoy the reading.