Search Me(42)

My stomach rumbled at the mention of food. “That would be great, but we can’t let you treat. I mean, you’re already being nice enough to let us crash here for the night.”

“Lane’s right,” Maddox replied.

West nodded. “All right then. Lunch it is, just not on the house. Why don’t you two head over to that last booth in the corner?” He motioned to a secluded area away from most of the noise and smoke. “I’ll send Tina over to take your order.”

“Thanks, man.” Maddox grabbed his bag and then motioned for me to go on ahead of him. I think it was less about ladies first and more that he wanted to keep an eye on my butt in case one of the patrons got fresh. I slid into the booth and pushed the History of the Cherokee book over to the side of the table. Maddox grabbed two menus out from behind the napkin canister and passed one to me.

They didn’t have a whole lot to choose from, but it didn’t take me and my hunger too long to decide. Tina appeared to take our order decked out in a skin-tight shirt and Daisy Duke shorts. “What can I get you two?”

“I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger, an order of fries, a side of baked beans, and a Diet Coke.” I glanced up from the menu to see Maddox staring at me, open-mouthed. “What?”

“Call me crazy, but I thought ballerinas existed on celery and tofu.”

“Yeah, well, this ballerina is extremely stressed out and wants a heaping helping of grease.”

He grinned and shook his head. “Give me the same. Except I’ll take a Budweiser.”

“Comin’ right up,” Tina said.

As soon as she left the table, Maddox got down to business. He took out a notepad and a couple of pens from his bag. He unfolded the paper with Paul’s map decoding and slid it to the middle of the table where we both could read it. After we were organized and ready to go, we just kept staring at the words long after Tina returned with our drinks.

Maddox took a giant gulp of his beer and then rubbed his hands together. “Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. The yellow gift has to be gold, right?”

“Yeah, I think so, too. And if the yellow gift is gold, then the place where it was first found has to be Dahlonega—the former gold mining capitol of Georgia.”

Maddox scribbled down Dahlonega = yellow gift on the legal pad. He glanced back up at me and grinned. “Hey, we actually figured something out!”

I laughed. “I think it’s a little early to be celebrating.”

He tapped his finger against his temple. “Gotta think positive now.”

“And on the positive note, I think I’ll make a quick bathroom stop.”

“Go right ahead.” Maddox craned his neck over to the bar. “Hey West, where’s your little girl’s room?”

“That way,” West replied, pointing over his shoulder.

“I could’ve found it myself,” I muttered, rising up out of the booth.

I hustled in and out of the bathroom that had not only graffiti-filled stalls, but the walls were covered as well. I arrived back to the booth just as Tina was setting down our plates. Momentarily the map was forgotten as the heavenly aroma of grease invaded my senses. I took a giant bite of my burger. It was so good and I was so hungry that I practically inhaled it in three bites.

With a little fortification, I pressed on. “Okay, Paul said that colors and numbers were symbolic, so we should probably start there.” I popped a fry into my mouth and flipped to the back index, found the page I wanted, and started reading aloud. “Color symbolism played an important part in the shamanistic system of the Cherokees. Each one of the cardinal directions had a corresponding color and meaning. Shamans used the colors to invoke the spirits.”

Maddox’s eyes widened. “So ‘power of the white’ and ‘ward off the Black Man’ are giving us actual physical directions somewhere?”

I nodded as my finger ran along the lines. “North is blue, south is white, west is black, and east is red.”

Once again, Maddox scribbled on the notepad. “Okay, so we’re looking at going first south and then west.”

“Sounds like it.” My brows furrowed in frustration as I read over the lines again. “But where in the hell do we start from?”

We sat lost in thought for a few moments before Maddox leaned forward. “Okay, the whole ‘leave the place where there are tracks’ has got to mean something. When you leave, you’re going in a direction, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Okay, so check and see if you can find anything in the book about a place with the word ‘track’ in it, and I’ll check on my phone.”

While Maddox used a modern Google search, I flipped through the book. Minutes ticked by, and I started getting a little antsy. I had just honed in on a list of places when Maddox said, “I think I found something.” He held out his phone, so I could read the screen. “See that weird word Datsu’nalasgunyi? It means ‘where there are tracks’.”

“Hang on. Lemme check the index.” After skimming the D’s, I sucked in a breath. “Datsunal’asgunyi or ‘where there are tracks’ refers to Track Rock Gap five miles outside of Blairsville in Union County.” I jerked my head up from the book and grinned. “Houston, I think we have a real live place to start.”