You Just Never Know

I stood in the shower, water running down my back, my heart pounding. I could faint at any moment. Thoughts were running through my head, trying to process the events from today. It was just too much. One more surprise and my heart would give out.

It started with a trip to the family farm. Every year, my daughter Norah and I head to the farm for a few weeks to visit my Dad. It's the break we look forward to all year. Norah adores getting out to her Grandads place.

Late one afternoon we were playing hide and seek. She ran off to hide while I counted. I giggled a little. My Norah always hides in the same place. Heading off to find her I pretended to look around, eventually creeping towards her cubby where I knew she would be sitting, giggling, waiting for me.

"BOO!"

No squeal? She wasn't there. I kept looking around. Worry started to creep in. The farm was HUGE. Away from the house, it was just long grass, gullies, a few dams, and plenty of wild animals. Too many places to get lost...or worse. Panic was really setting in when I heard a scream from down at the old dairy. In an instant, with adrenaline flowing I was there, finding Norah screaming and pointing at a huge snake. I ran in to grab her just as the snake reared up to strike. Catching her up we ran and were nearly out the door when my foot crashed through the rotted floor. Searing pain shot through my ankle and I screamed, but when I looked around the snake had disappeared.

Norah was clinging to me, tears streaming down her face. She was petrified. With a few deep breaths, I inched my foot out from the floor just as help arrived in the form of my Dad. Norah jumped into his arms as we told him what had happened.

Dad ducked off to the shed and a few minutes later reappeared with a torch to make sure the snake wasn't still hiding underneath the floor. There was no sign of the snake but rather a little black notebook, conspicuously lying amongst the rotted timber. I reached in and lifted it out, thinking it was probably just a bit of rubbish. At that moment my phone pinged so I slipped the notebook into my jacket pocket and looked at my phone to see a text.

“Still on for tonight?”

Oh, I had forgotten all about my dinner plans with Nicole, my old school friend.

Thankfully my Dad agreed to babysit so I hobbled inside to get ready. After a quick shower, I threw on some fresh clothes and grabbed my jacket.

“Be good for Grandad”, I yelled to Norah as I ran out the door.

The restaurant was busy when I arrived. A room bursting with strangers. Heading straight for the bar I pushed through the crowd and ordered a drink.

Urgh, what was that smell? Like a mixture of sweat and cigarettes. I looked over my shoulder at the man behind me. I could tell he was a pipeliner. There were a lot of them in town. He was wearing high visibility clothing and appeared as though he hadn't showered in a week. Trying not to breathe I took my drink and headed off to a table.

Mmm, that hit the spot. Nicole walked in and I waved her over. I couldn't wait to tell her about my afternoon. She gave me a hug and sat down and I launched into an animated retelling of the afternoons' events. She listened wide-eyed as I told her about the snake, the hole in the floor, and the little black notebook.

Wait...the little black notebook! I'd forgotten all about the little black notebook!

Reaching into my jacket pocket I found it still there. Flicking through the first few pages we found some grocery lists, a few phone numbers, the usual stuff. Noticing a lovely ribbon bookmark, I flipped the pages over.

“Whoa! A map”. This was starting to get interesting.

“Wait a second...that’s a map of the farm! Our farm! There’s the house, the back shed, the old dairy, and the creek right up the back. It seems to have directions to something hidden there. Something important”.

“This is crazy”, I said to Nicole. “My family have been there for years. How could we not know of something hidden? Unless… could it have been put there recently?” I flicked over the page and my breath caught in my throat.

"Twenty thousand dollars...it says twenty thousand dollars!", I squealed.

I stopped. Suddenly feeling uneasy. I snapped the notebook shut and looked around, hoping no one was listening. I noticed a man looking at me. We locked eyes for a second and he looked away. It was the man from the bar. I wondered if he heard us. At that moment our food arrived. It smelled amazing! The chef here makes the BEST risotto. The waitress set it down in front of me and I was practically drooling. My tummy grumbled, starving. We tucked in and I discreetly slipped the little black notebook back into my jacket.

We finished our dinner and I was starting to feel more uncomfortable. The man I'd seen kept glancing over and I couldn't shake the feeling that he’d heard us. He seemed... well maybe I was imagining things now. Maybe it was just the cigarette smell from him that was bugging me.

I was dying to get home and have a better look through the notebook so I hugged Nicole goodbye.

“I’ll let you know what I find”, I said quietly. She seemed as intrigued by it all as I was.

I pulled up at the farm and the house was dark. Everyone must be asleep. Walking in I found a sink full of dishes, and toys everywhere. I figured I had better clean up. After scrubbing the kitchen I crept around the house putting away all of Norah's toys. She must have kept my Dad very busy all evening, I laughed to myself. I peeked in on her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She looked so peaceful.

Collapsing into bed, I remembered the little black notebook. I flicked it open to have another look at the map. It appears as though the money is buried somewhere down near the creek, right up the back end of the property. According to the map, there is an old cattle trough and underneath it, buried in the dirt, a large steel drum.

Imagine what we could do with twenty thousand dollars! Ready to race to the creek and start digging, I headed towards the door. Outside it was very dark. Without a torch, I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. I could hear the wind howling through the trees and started to chicken out. I have always been slightly afraid of the dark. Maybe I should wait until morning. There's no rush. After all, no one else even knows about this.

Tiptoeing back inside, I sat the notebook down on my bedside table and hopped into bed. I could hardly wait to go and check it out in the morning. As I was drifting off, an image of the man from the restaurant popped back into my head. Had he been listening? And if he had, would he do anything? Something about him had felt off. Oh stop being silly, I told myself, drifting off.

Suddenly I was awake! The smell of cigarettes lingering in my nostrils. That’s weird. No one smokes in this house. I quickly reached over to the little black notebook on my bedside table. It was gone!

I jumped out of bed! Where was it? Was that footsteps in the hallway? I yelled as I saw him! That guy from the restaurant. He sprinted down the hallway and I raced after him! He was headed to the open window. He cannot get away with that notebook! He dived out the window but his shirt caught on a sharp edge just long enough for me to catch a good grip on his foot. I grabbed hold of his leg! He was pulling and pulling, struggling to get out, and there I was just as determinedly pulling and pulling on his leg… Just like I've been pulling yours right now.