Weedy had been having fun splashing around in the water, but then Wyatt mentioned a chest and that piqued his interest. Of course, every boy dreamed of finding pirate treasure, although he had no idea what pirates sailing the 'Bounty Main' would be doing in the mountains of Montana.
So that brought up the question, "Who left it here, do you think?" He was all in with breaking into the chest by whatever means they needed! "How long do you think it's been here?" Maybe, like 500 years?!
And then, the real question. "What could be better than opening a treasure chest?" Thank goodness there was no girl to tell them not to open it! "Come on, let's go look! Maybe there's gold or jewels or something and we're rich!"
Storyteller / Shared NPC
"As Wyatt well expected his friend was excited about the idea, nothing like a little adventure besides just swimming. And just maybe, there was something in that chest too? Otherwise why did the original people throw it in the lake?
"Who left it here, do you think? How long do you think it's been here?" Weedy had questions of course.
"I don't know, maybe something inside will help us figure that stuff out," Wyatt shrugged bare shoulders.
"What could be better than opening a treasure chest? Come on, let's go look! Maybe there's gold or jewels or something and we're rich!" Weedy sure was excited.
"If it's really a treasure chest, could be lots of other things in there. Boring things, books, clothing," Wyatt didn't want to get Weedy's or for that fact his own hopes up too much.
"Oh and if there is gold or something in there, we are gonna have to share it with Clara and her ...friend. I still don't get why they weren't more curious about what was inside?" Wyatt started sloshing out of the water now to get back on land.
Once next to his pile of clothing, even though Wyatt wasn't exactly shy, he decided to put on his trousers at least. The rest could wait. Indians ran around half naked all the time, he reasoned and the sun felt good on his bare skin.
"Alright, so Clara said they left in the brush next to the shore," he looked about and the most likely - that is the thickest patch of brush - was to their left not more than a dozen yards.
"Let's try there!" he pointed assertively.
Sure enough it did not prove hard at all to find the old chest. It looked quite the worse for wear but it was still intact. That was both good and bad. How were they going to get in it?
Weedy had pulled on his britches as well...no need to get a sunburn where the Sun usually didn't shine! then followed after his friend. In a way, he was glad that the chest wasn't just laying in the open, it made it more exciting and intriguing to have to go looking for it. And as they rutted through the brush to get to it, he was glad that he had his britches on!
"Wow, lookit that!" Weedy was grinning widely as they examined the chest, finding no clues on the outside as to where it may have come from, who it may have belonged to or how long it had been submerged. "So...maybe we can break the lock with a rock?"
Looking around, he found a decent-sized rock, but waited for Wyatt to say it was all right to start hammering at the lock. "Too bad we don't have a gun and can just shoot it off!"
Storyteller / Shared NPC
The pair of boys ooh and ahhed at the old box for a bit then got down to business. How to get it open?
Weedy had a few ideas.
"So...maybe we can break the lock with a rock?"
"Maybe, I never done anything like this," Wyatt was non-commital on that plan of action.
Looking around, he found a decent-sized rock, but waited for Wyatt to say it was all right to start hammering at the lock. "Too bad we don't have a gun and can just shoot it off!"
"Does that really work? Seems to me we'd just put a hole in the trunk?" Wyatt was dubious. There was a gun back inside the farmhouse but his father forbade him to use it unless dire circumstances. This probably did not fit.
"Oh go ahead and give it a few whacks, careful of your fingers though," Wyatt now stepped back, just in case the rock went flying out of the other boy's hand or something.
Wrinkling up his nose, Weedy nodded, then gripped the rock as best he could while heeding Wyatt's warning, then whacked the lock mechanism, getting little result besides chipping away a bit of surface metal.
Two, three, four...ten more whacks, and just a few dents...
Sitting back on his heels, Weedy glanced at Wyatt and shrugged. "Maybe we should take it back to the barn...is there something there we could maybe use?" He wasn't sure what, but maybe when they saw something, they'd figure it out.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Wyatt watched as Weedy went pounding away on that lock with his hand held rock but no luck. He doubted this method was going to work and soon enough the other boy halted his efforts.
Sitting back on his heels, Weedy glanced at Wyatt and shrugged. "Maybe we should take it back to the barn...is there something there we could maybe use?"
"Umm, we can look around.But yeah this isn't working," Wyatt declared.
But first that meant the boys were going to have to lift the chest and haul it back to the farm and thus the barn. That was easily a three hundred yards or so his sister had once estimated. Hopefully it would not be that heavy. There was already one problem he now realized.
"Oh darn, this thing doesn't have any handles on it."
If they were going to carry it, it would have to be by getting their arms under it. Well, unless Weedy had another idea?
"So how do we get this thing back then?" he posed the question.
Weedy frowned, studying the situation. It probably was best just to leave it and give up, since chances were good that there wasn't anything all that interesting in it, but he wasn't willing to take that chance. As poor as the chances were, there could be gold and jewels in there, and he was a kid, he had to find out!
"What if we get a rope to tie around it, then we can have Arabesque pull it back?" That was it! Let the horse do the work, and she wasn't going to ask for a share!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Well, it just so turned out that his friend did have a good idea about the chest. Weedy had ridden a horse to the farm.
"What if we get a rope to tie around it, then we can have Arabesque pull it back?" the other boy suggested.
"Hey! That is a fine idea! Capital as Clara would say!" Wyatt smiled as he slapped the other boy on his bare back with a friendly whack.
As they hurried back to the farm, Wyatt also assured Weedy that there was rope in the barn, this idea really could work! They would solve this mystery yet!
"C'mon!" Eagerly, Weedy ran back to the farm with Wyatt, and in short time they had the tolerant mare saddled. No need to bother with the bridle, since they would lead her, and the halter would do for that.
Soon, they were back at the trunk, tying the rope around it. Pity that Boy Scouts hadn't been invented yet! Sure, Weedy could tie knots for horse kind of things, but this was a challenge to get it tight enough to stay bound as it was dragged over rocks and brush...
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Alright, he had found some good strong rope, Weedy had the horse positioned. All that remained now was tying said rope around the chest. Wyatt thought he had this.
"I'm gonna wrap it like a present, you know put it around the sides and on the top and bottom."
That took a bit but eventually he had it the way he liked it, now it was just a matter of the horse giving it a pull and all should work out just fine. Wyatt stood up again and wiped his hands onto his trousers then signaled Weedy who held the horse.
"Alrighty, get her goin' then!" he called out. This better work!