The Inheritance

For the next half hour they discussed business, signed papers and took care of the estate. Doug had privileges until the estate was probated which would take about a year. Until then, he couldn't sell the land or buildings but they could all use them as before. The attorney even helped him apply for a Liquor License so they could reopen the bar.

After they left the office, Doug and the girls went to a nice restaurant for supper then the girls returned home and Doug went to his apartment in town. After work the next day he drove straight to the bar so he and the girls could discuss the situation he found himself in.

After an enthusiastic greeting Doug was seated at the table and fed a nice meal while the women fawned over him. When the meal was done he sat while they cleaned up then they all went into the sitting room where Corrine picked up another letter and handed it to him. It, too, was from Mary. This time hand written.

"Doug:

Thank you so much for agreeing to take on the girls. It is a position I was 'grooming' you for before I caught this damn disease. We all agreed we wanted you to look after us. We knew and know you love us although, perhaps, not as much as we love you. Each of these girls want more than your care and direction. They want it all and I hope you find it in your heart to give it to them.

Now, for the main purpose of this letter. By now, I'm sure you've been in the main part of my home (well your home now)—a part no one except Phil, myself and the girls has ever seen. The bar, boat and grounds are part of the camouflage Phil and I agreed on to mask our money. Everyone thinks we were dirt poor and made our entire living on the old bar. Not so. There is money, tons of it, hidden in a safe place for you to find.

Had you not agreed to care for the girls, each of them would have been mailed a letter from the attorney (which he has not seen the contents of) telling them how to find a portion of the funds. Since you did agree to care for them, I had them give you this letter so you can access all the funds as you need them. I strongly recommend you continue doling out the money as Phil and I have, pretending to live on the profits from the bar (profits which are real and sufficient for the kind of life we pretended to have).

Now, for the information you will need to discover the money, some of which we found years ago when we were camping along the river before we opened the bar, and some of which, let us say, we came into later in life. I suspect the money we found when we were your age was from river pirates or your many times removed ancestors Jessie or Frank James.

Phil came home with the other money after one of his hunting trips in Texas. He and his friends ran into a group of men smuggling it across the boarder from the U.S. to Mexico and they were attacked when the smugglers saw them. Luckily, Phil and his friend prevailed, although they both received gunshot wounds. In any event, after everything was over, they 'inherited' two large duffel bags of $100.00 bills. They each brought one home and we've lived off it now for years, slowly moving it into legitimate investments which you are inheriting as well.

In the unlikely event this letter falls into someone else's hands, I will be cryptic in the instructions necessary for you to find the funds. They're as safe as they can be and not be in a bank.

Go to our favorite fishing spot and think about the area you always wanted to play in as a child. Remember the danger we warned you about? Be careful. Oh, yes, take the boat keys with you too.

Good luck Doug. Take care.

All my Love,

Mary"

After he read the letter Doug looked at the assembled women and said, "Do any of you know what's in this letter?"

They all said, "No" shoot their heads or gave him some other negative response.

"What about money? Do you know how Mary managed to support all of you from what little the bar made?"

Again he received a series of negative replies.

'Damn, he thought. How am I going to find anything with those poor directions? We fished in several spots. Hummm. There WAS one or two we used more than the others and one we usually camped at when we went. Wonder if that's the one? I did really like it as did Phil and Mary. It had a nice swimming spot with a rope and a fire pit.... I remember them not allowing me to go back away from the river in one area because they said it was too dangerous for a child. I think I'll check it out in a day or two.'

Doug spent the weekend with the ladies learning more about them and doing some odd jobs around the place. He made a list of things he wanted to do before they reopened the bar and began working down it. To his surprise, the women pitched in and helped him. Every day two of them did housework and cooking and the other three worked with him. They all acted sad when he left early Monday morning to return to his weekly job. Before he left he hugged and kissed the women and told them to keep working on the list of jobs.

To his surprise, when Doug returned to the bar on the next Friday evening he found supper and five very anxious women awaiting him. The next morning, the surprise just got larger. Many of the jobs on his 'To Do' list had been completed during the week. He hugged and praised the women and they wiggled like happy puppies.

Monday evening after he got home from work, Doug received a phone call from his mother. After the greetings, she asked, "Where have you been the last two weekends Doug? You didn't call or anything but Doris said she thought she saw your truck out at the old bar. Did you find out anything about it when you went to the meeting with the attorney?

Doug felt his stomach knot up. He knew this conversation was coming and had been dreading it, hoping to put it off longer. He said, "Yeah, Mom, I did. I'm going to inherit everything Mary had. Land, bar, accounts, the works. I've been staying out there the last two weekends catching up on some of the odds and ends. I'm sorry I didn't let you know."

"That's wonderful honey. When are you going to tear it down?"

"Uh, Mom, I'm not. I'm going to let the girls live there and we're going to reopen it as soon as I get my liquor license."

"WHAT," his mother screamed. "How could you? I thought we agreed it would be torn down as soon as we could so people could forget about the blight on our family name."

"No, Mother. You said you wanted to tear it down. I never said one way or another. Part of the requirements for me to inherit the place is I have to provide a place for the girls to live unless or until they each decide on their own to leave. I intend to do that. They like to run the bar and it provides a good income for them so we're keeping it open."

"Well, we'll see about that. Just wait until I talk to your father," his mother said before she slammed her house phone down.

The repair activity went on for the next three weeks while they waited on the liquor license. Finally it came through and they reopened the bar on the fifth weekend after Doug's meeting with the attorney. The girls were over the moon happy to be able to do something and see people again. Doug even enjoyed sitting inside talking to some of the locals. They usually opened about 7 in the morning serving coffee and simple breakfasts. Liquor sales didn't begin picking up until noon or shortly after although the package store to the side of the bar did well during the mornings.

Monday morning after the reopening, Doug left early once again for the drive back to town and his delivery job. Unfortunately, it snowed during the night and he was late arriving. When he pulled into the parking lot and parked he knew he was in for trouble. He was almost an hour late. He hadn't much more than gotten inside when his supervisor came charging out of his office and began yelling at Doug.

"Doug said, "Charlie, I called from the road and told Chrystal I was running late because of the snow. I'm sorry but it couldn't be helped. Now, is my truck loaded or do I have to load before I leave?"

"Why did it take you so long to drive across town? Did you tie one on last night and sleep in? Well, no matter, when you didn't come in I had Darren take your route. You're off without pay today. See if you can be here on time tomorrow."

Doug stood for a moment then let his anger flow. "Fuck that. I don't need your shit asshole. I quit. Darren can take my route from now on."

Charlie just stood in shock when Doug stepped around him and walked toward the personnel office to fill out the paperwork and give them an address to send his final paperwork to. Afterward, he returned home, packed his belongings and began cleaning the apartment so he could end his occupancy. Thankfully, he was on a month to month rental so could just pack up and leave when his month was up.

Wednesday he turned the apartment back to the rental agents and drove away, heading to the bar and his new life. He felt as if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. He sure hoped Mary's 'tons' of money was really there though. He knew he could live and support the women from the bar's profits but didn't really want to do so.

He walked into the bar about 4:30 in the afternoon and was greeted by screeches and five excited women. Corrie said, "Doug, what're you doing here today? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything's fine honey. Charlie pissed me off for the last time and I quit Monday. I spent the last two days cleaning and packing. Now, I'm here for good."

Willie grabbed him and kissed him hard before she said, "That's great. We've missed you so much. Come on. See what we've done already this week."

Thursday dawned bright and calm. It was a perfect winter day, sunny and bright, no wind. Doug decided after he ate lunch to go see if he could find the cash stash. He grabbed the keys for the boat and told the women he was going to check it out and see what kind of repair, if any, it needed.

It was approximately 1/4 mile on the trail from the bar to the dock for his boat. Doug enjoyed the walk greatly. Like the bar, the exterior of the boat, dock and storage building on the river were ratty and decrepit on the outside. When he turned the key the boats engine started right up and purred like a diesel kitten. After letting it warm up he eased away from the dock and headed out into the river.

Doug took an enjoyable 30 minute trip upriver toward the small town before he returned to his dock and tied up once again. He tied the boat securely, locked up and went ashore. He then wandered upstream to the small cove where they used to fish and relax. An old rope still hung from the tree leaning over the deep swimming hole and Doug nostalgically remembered better days splashing and swimming with his Aunt and Uncle. After getting his emotions under control once again, he began a surreptitious search for clues to the stash. He keyed in on the area he hadn't been allowed to explore those many years ago and eventually found a small opening in the hillside hidden by brush.

Doug wasn't sure he could've found the opening if the brush was leafed out. How the heck he was going to see anything was beyond him since he didn't have a flashlight. He was walking past the boat on his way back to the bar when he remembered the emergency lantern on it. After verifying it still worked he returned to the small cave and literally slithered into it on his stomach.

His body was almost completely inside the hillside and he was becoming slightly worried before the opening enlarged slightly and took a sharp turn. Just after the turn which was tight to crawl around, it opened into a larger room. There was even some old charred sticks from previous fires in the room. Two or three fissures opened off the room. There were rocks and dirt strewn everywhere except near the remains of the fire.

Not knowing what he was searching for or where it might be Doug decided to explore every possible hiding spot from left to right in the small room. He hit the jackpot, so to speak, in the first fissure. After he removed the rocks piled in front of it so he cold enter he found an old appearing steel safe. From the looks of it he was surprised they even managed to get it into the room. It had two padlocks on it.

Doug almost gave up when he remembered Mary's letter specifically told him to take the boat keys with him when he went searching. He'd used all the keys already for locks on the boat but decided to see if they worked here anyway. There was a key for each lock on the key chain. Apparently they used a set, breaking it up with one lock from it on the boat and another on the safe ,so anyone finding the keys would think they were just for the boat.

When he opened the safe he found box after box of old gold coins and bars, silver coins and even some old jewelry. There was also a letter addressed to him. It, too, was somewhat cryptic, saying only "Remember the first buck you shot? Look where it was for the key to easy street."

Doug was excited with his find in the cave but from the looks of it they hadn't been emptying the safe to live on. It was almost as full as it could be stuffed with the old coins and bars. And how the hell did she think he'd remember the exact place he shot a deer when he was 14? Crap. Well, enough for today. He was getting cold and hungry. He carefully locked and covered the old safe again before crawling out of the cave. During his walk home, he thought about the damn clue but try as he might he couldn't remember where he shot the buck.

That evening sitting in the bar and pulling an occasional beer he continued to think about the clue, hoping to remember exactly where he shot the deer. Oh, he knew the general area but exactly? No way.

Doug kept staring at the mounted head hanging on the bar wall over a picture of him and his first kill. He remembered when Phil and Mary had it in the living area behind the bar they used for guests and wondered when and why they moved it out here. All at once he had a crazy thought. They clue said, "look where it was", not where he shot it. Could it mean look where the head hung in the family room?

Doug got up and wandered into the family room/break room and over to the chimney where the head hung for years. He could even see a lighter spot in the shape of the plaque. Didn't the mortar even look different also? He reached up and rubbed it only to have it crumble away exposing a safe deposit box key. Taped to the back of it was only a banks name two towns away.

Doug took the key and put it in his pocket. The next time they needed supplies he went to that town instead of a closer one to buy them. His first stop before purchasing the supplies was at the bank to check out the safe deposit box. He was scared they would question him about accessing it. He wasn't sure what to do about the signature requirement but finally decided to sign his name as if he had every right to do so when they presented the sign in card.

The bank employee compared his signature to the one on the banks file and didn't make a comment. Doug looked over her shoulder and would swear she actually had his signature on the signature card. It took some thought before he remembered, years ago, signing signature cards for a checking account of his that Uncle Phil set up for him. The sneaky bastard must have slipped this one in on him then. It was the only way he could think of they would have his signature on file.

In any event, his box was huge. It looked as if it was 12X12X18 inches. When he opened it he found it stuffed with banded $100 bills and some personal papers for Phil and Mary. Again, there was a note in the pile addressed to him. It said, "Remember when we did that stonework on the walls and you wondered why we didn't lay them next to the old wall?" Nothing else. Doug slipped a couple bands of bills in his pockets and returned the box.

On the way home he kept thinking about the new clue before he remembered the summer he was 16 and the work he did for Phil and Mary. That was the first summer he made what was, to a teenager, a lot of money. Phil hired him to help clean up around the bar and help build a new supporting wall in the bar's half basement. The old concrete was rotting away and chipping off and he wanted to reinforce the old walls. One wall under the stairs was pulled out several inches, supposedly to help support the outer edge of the stairs and it bothered Doug. They left the space empty. He remembered trying to get Phil to support the outer edge of the stairs with a wooden wall so they could put a door in and use the space underneath but he refused, claiming he wanted the additional strength of the stone wall.

When he got home and all the new supplies were unloaded, Doug went into the basement and looked at the work they did so many years ago. Now, the entire space under the stairs was rocked in solid which didn't make sense. He did finally notice a couple of rocks that seemed to have ground in dirt and oil on them near the bottom riser and, for some reason, he pried on them and they came out almost easily. When he looked into the hole Doug saw a handle and pulled it toward him. With a 'thunk' he heard a catch release and the stairs jumped slightly. He got up and walked to the foot of the stairs, leaned down and lifted. The entire staircase rose and supports were visible.

Doug released the supports and they dropped to hold the stairs up. Nestled underneath the raised stairs he saw another safe. It had a combination lock and taped above the dial was a note that said only, "same as yours".

What the hell! Same as whose? Surely it didn't mean the same combination he'd used for years on his gun safe? Oh, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. When he tried the old combination, the safe opened slick as can be and he found it stuffed with all kinds of money. Banded $100's like in the bank, banded smaller bills and even rolls of various denomination coins and some old bearer bonds. Crap, some of the bond coupons hadn't been clipped for a couple of years. Well, more things to do.

By early summer Doug and the girls had settled into a super routine. They busted their cute little asses making him happy and his bed was never lonesome. He did spend a little money sprucing up the old bar somewhat inside and out but, when asked, he said it was from his savings. After their home and the bar were spruced up, he traded the old boat in for a beautiful new 30 foot trimaran with a very nice cabin. There were controls inside for poor weather and on the upper deck of the cabin for nice weather. Many pleasant hours were spent on the river with cruises as far upstream as St. Joseph, MO and as far south as New Orleans, LA.

Doug and the girls only worked enough to keep up appearances, hiring much of the work done so they could enjoy life. The bar, and later the restaurant, paid for the help and upkeep with a small amount left over. When asked about their boat Doug and the Girls all complained about the payments (a little while lie as they'd paid cash for it). They said, "Can you believe the bank wanted $X a month for payments? The bar could barely cover that!" (Sometimes the statement varied a little, of course, but that was always the gist of their comment.) This was a valid number because when they bought the boat the dealer quoted that amount for financing before he found out they were going to pay cash.

Doug's mother never got over his betrayal (to hear her side of the story) and was barely civil to him from the time he inherited until she died. Doug fathered children with each of the girls and loved them all to death. The little bar prospered and became the go to place for many farmers for a cold one and, later in life, for a good meal.