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The lights on the panel switched from red to green. “Good,” Rodland said. “Sometimes you have to wait for the oil and water to warm up in the prime mover. But this is equipped with a Smartstart system to keep them ready.”
“So how long will it take?”
Rodland took a deep breath and pushed the power lever up. The engine roared to life. “Here we go!”
The five-car train lurched forward and moved sluggishly across the rail yard.
***
Jane peered out the window as she felt that first lurch.
Caleb and Rodland had done it!
She could see some panicked movement from the shadows, then the flashes of gun muzzles as shots rang out! She ducked down and then hit the floor as the train picked up speed. Bullets rained against both sides of the car, but the assault seemed to dwindle as they left the rail yard. But the train was picking up more and more speed as it zoomed down the track.
They’d bought some time, but no telling how much. Bohdan’s forces would be in hot pursuit.
Don’t think about it, Jane told herself. Her job right now was to stay out of the range of those bullets and hope that Caleb and Rodland could do the same. Then find a way to keep them all alive.
Distraction. Keep moving. Keep thinking about something else.Help me, MacClaren.
She turned back toward her camera, which had been automatically snapping pictures of the mural at various focus points until she’d felt the train move. She suddenly froze. Something was different from when she’d been crouching on the floor as the train had started barreling down the track. The first several dozen photos had revealed nothing, but the electronic viewfinder screen now showed something else entirely.
It showed the paintingbeneaththe painting.
Jane felt her breath leave her as she watched. With each focus point, the image grew richer and more detailed. Finally, when it started to fade, Jane grabbed the camera and stepped back through the photos until she found the clearest one.
The hidden image was similar to the one she was accustomed to seeing with the shepherd boy with the brown dog, playing children, and the lady with the blue parasol. But there was one major difference: This mural included a train and a station with a sign readingBENTLEY IND. Only details relating to the train and station had been erased in the final mural.
BENTLEY IND? Jane pulled out her phone for a quick search.
She found what she was looking for in seconds.
She gasped.
The phone rang in her hands. It was Caleb. She punched theTALKbutton.
“Are you okay?” He was worried. “We took some gunfire back there.”
“Tell me about it. But I’m fine. Are you both all right?”
“For the time being. But we threw Bohdan’s men back at the railway station into an uproar. Lots of activity going on. They’re bound to be after us any minute. We’re trying to figure out the next move. There might be more bullets flying so don’t be moving around the car. Keep down!”
“I will. Because there’s no reason for me not to any longer.” She drew a deep breath. Then her words came as fast as she could get them out. “Listen, Caleb. This has to be quick. I found what I was looking for in the mural. I know why no one could ever find the treasure.”
“What?”
“You heard me. MacClaren decided to hide it. It’s because the instructions’ starting point was the end of the first branch line past the McNaughton Branch. Anyone who would go looking for the treasure wouldn’t find the landmarks referenced in the instructions. No big rock, no forked stream. No waterfall or ancient cemetery.”
“That’s right. It’s why the treasure map was bogus.”
“But what if there used to be another branch line? A temporary one built to serve a single construction project? Companies used to pay for them all the time. They’re called spur lines. There was once a factory that belonged to Bentley Industries in the area, but it went out of business before World War One. This mural showed a rail line for Bentley, but as far as I can tell, one never existed, at least not officially.”
“What are you saying?”
“I ran across this kind of thing in my research. Occasionally local railroad administrators would accept huge amounts of money from companies to build temporary spur lines for their projects, then just pocket the cash and not inform their home office hundreds or even thousands of miles away. When the project was completed, the administrators would strike the spur line and erase all evidence it even existed. That’s why no records exist of this one. And I think it’s why MacClaren painted over this part of the mural. He made a deal with the administrators before he and his Fiona left for their new life. He probably got a fat fee, and still had the option of going back and searching for the treasure himself if he chose to do it.”
“It makes sense.”
