The Adventurer

using you to get them."
    Gideon absorbed the statement slowly, struggling with the convoluted feminine logic. "You really do have a talent for leaping to conclusions, don't you?"
    "Go ahead. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you haven't decided to trust me at last," she challenged happily.
    Gideon studied her for a long moment, enthralled by the warmth and delight in her vivid gaze.
    "You win. I trust you."
    He became aware, even as he said it, that it was the truth. He wondered if he'd known it all along on some instinctive level or if it was some grand realization that had just hit him. He decided not to worry about it. How and when he had come to trust her was no longer important.
    What he couldn't explain to her was that this business of going back into the mountains to dig up the Fleetwood Flowers proved nothing at all about his trust in her.
     
    G IDEON'S SHOVEL hit metal and clanged loudly in the morning stillness.
    "Oh, my God, that's it," Sarah exclaimed. "You've found them. You've found the earrings. Gideon, this is so exciting. I can hardly believe it."
    She leaned closer to examine the small pit they had dug precisely ten paces due north of the white rock. She had dragged Gideon out of bed very early so that they could get to Emelina Fleetwood's old cabin by mid-morning. Gideon had hardly complained at all.
    "Stand back and let me get a little more of the dirt out of the way. It might not be the earrings, Sarah. It could be nothing more than an old tin can that was covered by mud years ago. Or a hubcap. Or a hunter's trap. Anything."
    "It's the earrings. I know it is." Sarah used her own shovel to pry out more dirt. Slowly but surely an old metal box came into view. "Look at that, Gideon. It's a locked chest."
    Gideon studied the rusted metal lid of the box. "An old strongbox. And you can bet Emelina didn't bury the key along with it."
    "Maybe it's not locked."
    "If it's not, then I doubt there's anything valuable inside," Gideon said reasonably.
    Sarah knelt in the freshly turned earth to reach down into the pit and drag out the heavy box. She studied it intently. "Darn it, you're right. It is locked." She brightened. "But, as you said, I guess that means the earrings are still inside."
    "We'll get it open."
    "But how?" Sarah shook the box but it was impossible to tell if there was anything inside. She could hardly stand the suspense. "This is killing me. I can't wait to get it open. This is such an incredible experience. I've never done anything like this before in my life. Imagine. We've actually dug up buried treasure. We decoded the map and found the cache. Just like in a book."
    Gideon leaned on his shovel and watched her with a curiously enigmatic smile. "Don't tell me, let me guess. You're going to use the experience in a romance novel, right?"
    "Probably, but first I'm going to savor every minute of it for myself. I have to get a picture of this." She dug her small camera out of her bag. "Good thing I thought to bring this along, isn't it? Here, you stand next to the box."
    Gideon shook his head and put down the shovel. "No, you're the one who should be in the picture. This is your treasure hunt. I just came along to consult, remember?" He took the camera from her and went to stand a few paces away.
    Sarah hesitated for an instant, wanting him in the shot with her. But that was impossible. She scooped up the old strongbox and held it in front of her. Laughing with delight at her trophy, she stood posing for the shot. Gideon raised the camera to his eye, smiled again and pressed the shutter release.
    "Now all we have to do is figure out how to open this strongbox," Sarah said, examining the rusty container.
    "It will take a little time but we'll find a way," Gideon said, putting down the camera and picking up the shovel. "I've had some experience with that kind of thing."
    "Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Sarah glanced up from the locked box. "What are you doing?" she asked as she saw him lift a spadeful of dirt and toss it back into the hole he had just finished digging.
    "Filling in the hole."
    "Why?"
    He gave her an odd glance. "I don't see any point in advertising the fact that we've been here and dug up something valuable."
    Sarah smiled with sudden appreciation. "Good idea. Why leave tracks for someone who might want to steal our treasure from us? I told you that you were smarter than Jed Mclntyre."
    "As long as I'm a little smarter than Jake Savage, we'll be okay," Gideon muttered.
    "What did