“I think he knows,” I whispered quietly, “But I can tell him you said so, if you like.”
“That would be nice, thank you,” he met my eyes again; they were sharper this time. “I don’t know you, but I feel that Tyler cares for you a great deal.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but honestly this is family business, and I can’t trust just anyone with the information. So, if they really need the box, they will have to follow my clues. He could always find things when he was a kid. He always called it going on an adventure. I think he can do it again.”
My brow furrowed. “Ok, give me the clues you want to pass on.”
His eyes twinkled; wisdom washed over his face “I’ve already given them all to you. If it is truly him who needs that box, well. He’ll know what to do.” He began walking away and then disappeared.
My face fell slack and I let go of Tyler’s hands.
“What? Did he tell you where the box is?”
My head nodded and shook at the same time. I grabbed for my phone and tried to find the ap I was looking for.
I clicked the record button, trying to capture every little detail and piece he had said. I prattled on, halting Tyler’s interruptions with my outstretched hand. Finally, I stopped the recording and looked up at Tyler.
“What? Why did you do that?”
“It’s a puzzle. An adventure? He said if you are truly the one who needs the box, you will know where it is.”
“But I don’t! how am I supposed to know where to look?” Tyler got up and started pacing.
“He said everything he said to me were clues. He said he gave you everything you needed to find it.”
Tyler stopped and stared at me. “Seriously, why couldn’t he just tell me, look in the drawer left of thing below the other thing!”
“He said he didn’t trust me. He didn’t know me, and he wanted to protect it.”
Tyler grew angry, “Awesome, so while we are out playing hide the pickle, my asshole of an uncle is going to destroy everything.”
“He also said how proud he was of you. He said it was just yesterday you were a little boy.”
“So, he took enough time to tell you he was proud of me, but not to just tell us where the hell the box was?”
“Tyler. He was very sweet. He really is proud of you, and he commented how fast time had gone. How he remembered you playing with cans and rocks.”
Tyler stopped and looked at me. “He said that?”
“Yeah.” I thought back through my memories. Thank gosh I had a recording too. “He said he remembered you collecting rocks and playing with empty bottles and tin cans.”
“I heard you say that a minute ago in the recorder. It doesn’t make any sense. He didn’t let us play with tin cans. They were too sharp. They would give us tetanus. He always said we’d have to go out to the barn and use one of those big cow syringes. That kept me from any kind of rusted metal. Those needles were huge.”
“The barn!”
“Yeah, you said that too. The barn didn’t have stairs. It has a ladder, but no stairs. We weren’t allowed to go up there.” Tyler looked at me, “The loft of the barn? Could it be there?”
“No, because he said something about being afraid of fire. He said it used to be under the stairs in the barn, but he moved it because of his fear of fire. Then he said he put it under the good linens in the house.”
“Yeah, it’s not there, mom’s gone through everything in the house like ten times.”
“Then it has to be outside the house. Where did you keep your rocks that you found?”
“In my drawer in the attic bedroom. No way, we’ve been through there too.”
I stood, pacing with him, simply to keep the adrenaline from making me bounce in place on the sofa. “Ok, what about the bottles? Where did they go when you were done playing with them?”
“There was a wooden box that stayed in the barn. It isn’t big enough to hide anything. Besides, it isn’t closed, those old bottles get so dirty and filled with spider webs and dirt. Nah, it can’t be them.”
“Then it has to be the barn. It must be someplace in the barn. Someplace you would be able to figure out with the clues he gave you.”
“I have no idea.” He threw his hands above his head. “This is so frustrating. We are so close.”
I touched his shoulder, “We’ll figure it out. He’s sure you have all the pieces; we just have to put them together.”
“Yeah, except usually we know what the picture is we are trying to build. Here we just have random clues with no real picture.”
“I still go back to what isn’t true. The tin cans.”
Tyler leaned against the wall. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you said you didn’t play with tin cans, he said you did. I feel that’s really the key.”
“Ok, how so?”
I sat back down on the sofa. “So, tell me again, what did he say about tin cans?”
“He said you had to get a tetanus shot. He used to tell us the needles they used for vaccinating the cattle is the needle they would use. As a kid, that was so scary looking. It was like this long.”
I rolled my eyes, “I have had a tetanus shot. It isn’t THAT scary.”
“Yeah, now, but as a kid, that is one big scary fear,” Tyler smiled that playful smile I loved. He was so hot.
“Well, it’s good you’re going into medicine,” I grinned back.
His face clicked into recognition. “Medicine.
