Buffalo Mesa Mummy

Epilogue

The twin’s parents and Peter’s father arrived Sunday afternoon and the next morning they all went over to the University for a tour of the campus. The staff and faculty went overboard making it a pleasant time and while Amy met with the head of the Journalism department the three friends spent time with Dr. Hadley. He wanted to hear first hand all about The Lost City and their adventures leading to the discovery.

Amy had a mountain bike at her aunt’s house, so when the Suburban arrived with three bikes on the roof, the four young people were able to spend a good part of the next three days exploring the city, the campus, and the surrounding desert. Amy took hundreds of pictures and every evening they posted the best ones on her Face Book page.

Amy had a flight back to South Carolina Friday morning and the rest of them were to head back home on Saturday. 

Thursday evening at dinner Miss Anna made an announcement, “I am going to fly out to visit my family in Charleston later on this summer and if it is alright with your parents,” She addressed Peter and the twins, “I would like ya’ll to go with me. It would be nice for my niece and her husband to meet ya’ll before Amy comes out here to stay. I would enjoy the company on my trip and I would plan it around whatever you youngsters have going on. I plan on staying about two weeks, but I can arrange to come back earlier if need be.”

There was a round table discussion and in a short time everyone’s schedules had been looked at. It was agreed that the first part of August seemed to be the best time for all of them. Miss Anna said she would have her travel agent make all the reservations.

When they arrived back in Grants Maria said she wanted to go by and see Mr. Kershaw. He had been released from jail and was back running his store. The first thing they noticed was four new rocking chairs sitting on the porch. Mr. Kershaw saw them drive up and met them as they climbed the steps.

The shopkeeper looked ten years younger with the burden of guilt lifted from his shoulders. Mr. Kershaw smiled and swept his arm toward the rockers.

“How do you like our new additions? The comic book rack is right inside the door. The kids can sit right here and read them.” He noted.

“That will kind of cut down on sale of comic books, won’t it?” Mr. Shantos asked.

“Well to tell you the truth I sell more sodas and hotdogs to the kids that sit here reading than to those who don’t, and it more than makes up the difference.” He said with a grin.

They all laughed at that and followed him inside so he could show them some of the other changes he had made. Mrs. McMillan was investing some money in the store and Mr. Kershaw was putting it to good use. There was a new counter at the snack bar and a brand new milkshake machine. Betty Agerton was more than anxious to show off her skills with the new machine so they finished their tour sipping the delicious drinks.

As it turned out all three of them could take their summer classes on line working at the pace they set for themselves. They did their class work at night as well as keeping the website for The Lost City up to date.

During the day Peter and Charlie worked on the Banana’s new drivetrain while Maria’s mother helped her make new seat covers for the interior. Miss Anna even came down to take a look at how things were coming along. 

Maria emailed Amy every day, sending her pictures of their work with the car. Charlie gave Amy an archaeology password for the website so she could watch the work going on. 

Using the built in web cams on their laptops they could see each other while chatting on the computer using Skype. They talked a lot about the three of them going out to South Carolina for their visit. Once they even watched Amy surf via one of the Folly Beach surf cams.

In what seemed like a very short time bags were packed and loaded in the limo by Fredrick for their trip back up to Miss Anna’s place. They would pick up their benefactor at her place and then head straight to the airport for their flight across the country.

Charlie nudged Peter and pointed out the window on his side of the big car. “I think your eagle is coming with us on this trip.”

Peter leaned over and sure enough keeping pace with the car, about a quarter mile away, was a large eagle.

“You are nuts.” Peter stated.

“Well, I may be nuts, but that bird is definitely headed east.” Charlie observed, and sat back in the luxurious seat, grinning.

Peter closed his eyes and sighed, wondering if things could get any weirder than they already were. 

“I am so excited!” Maria exclaimed, jumping out of the car to give the older woman a hug when they arrived at the house. Miss Anna’s bags were already loaded in the car so they were quickly on their way to catch their flight.

“Well, are you two boys as excited as Maria about this little trip?” She asked.

“I sure am.” Charlie said, smiling as he thought of seeing Amy again.

“Me too,” Peter agreed, “It will be nice to lie around on the beach and relax. The best part is we won’t have to worry about getting into any trouble.”

If only they knew the truth.

The End