The Land Surveyor: Chapter One
(This is the first chapter of a novel that will be published soon)
I am not greedy. I give away almost everything that I get. Of course, I have to keep a little to sustain myself, but I don’t need much. I get more than you can imagine from seeing people of all kinds energized by my thoughts and deeds. As they become inspired, I grow stronger.
Stanton adjusted the 9mm Ruger he had holstered to his belt. Bears could pose a problem, but it is the two-legged predators he is most worried about. When surveying in Iroquois County, Ohio, especially the southern part, a pistol is necessary. The addition of a bulletproof vest isn’t the worst idea. Yahoos with shotguns are plentiful in the place locals call Hillybilly Land.
“Alright, you can go ahead and follow the fence, rough pace off about 800 feet, and then start looking around for a pin or pipe.” Stanton hit a few buttons on his GPS unit as he watched Archie head west along the railroad right of way. All he could do was shake his head as he watched his summer help, a recent high school graduate on his way to college, begin his walk.
“Hey Archie, you think you might need your bag?”
“Oh yeah, right. I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“I guess not.” Stanton watched as the young man picked up the bag filled with equipment and turned to start his journey.
“Dude, you might want the shovel and the Schonstedt.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“You know what you are doing, right? Just head west along the fence line about 800 feet and then start looking for a monument.”
“About 800 feet, right?”
“Right. You should see a fence heading north. If we get lucky, we will find a pin or a pipe there.”
“No problem.”
Archie grabbed the equipment and started his walk. He had calibrated his steps so that 35 of them equaled about 100 feet. His silent count began.
Stanton turned his attention to his GPS unit, which was ticking away on the iron pin they had found at the southeast corner of the Oliver property. If he could get a good shot on the pin, the day would go a lot faster. They might even get the job done today, a rare occurrence when surveying a swamp in Iroquois County.
He once again checked the Ruger. He instantly recalled the taste of the barrel. Last night had been burdensome; he was so close, but he simply struggled to pull the trigger. Locked and loaded, he wondered how bad it would hurt if he ate his gun right then and there. As he considered the possibility, he decided it would be too big a burden on the people who would have to get him out. They would not be happy with him or his corpse. Tomorrow is another day, and it would be a lot more polite to off himself in his own home. He had even purchased a tarp to make it easier on those responsible for cleanup.
Stanton took a deep breath as he drew his attention back to the GPS instrument. He slowly rotated it until it started ticking again. Ticking meant progress, and progress meant payday. The machine made its happy sound, and the point was recorded. He was ready to move on to the next property corner.
Archie paced off the distance as best he could. He had to be close; at least he thought he was. He looked around, but there was no fence running north. He pulled out the Schonsdedt and began waving it back and forth. A high-pitched scream would let him know that something metal was buried under the tip of the device. He slowly swung it around and back again, sweeping the area most likely to be the corner—still nothing.
“Hey Archie, you know that thing works better if you turn it on.”
“Huh? What are you doing here so quick? I thought you would be a while. And this is turned on. I just have the volume down low. I’m not an old guy like you; I can hear it fine.”
“I got lucky; we got a quick fix back there. I shot in two more points just to make sure, and everything checked out, so we are good to go.”
Stanton looked around for remnants of an old fence. He leaned his GPS unit against a tree, tied a large orange ribbon around a branch, and headed north. No sign of an old fence anywhere. No wire in trees, no old posts laying on the ground, no indication at all.
“Hey Arch, head across the tracks and see if you see a fence running north and south over there. These property lines go straight through here. If you can find that fence, we can find this one.”
“All right.”
“Grab the GPS and shoot in the railroad tracks. Remember to code the points correctly. Right under the number is that little box, type in RR, that will be fine.”
“Gotcha.”
Arch took off across the tracks, forgetting the GPS unit. As he reached the woods on the southern right of way, he quickly turned back.
“Oh, man. Arch, what is your deal? If you want to shoot in some points, you need to have the GPS, right?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t thinking.”
Archie grabbed the unit and headed back toward the tracks. As he disappeared, Stanton noticed something sticking up through the ground. At first, he thought it was red surveyor’s flag marking a pin. As he got closer, the color turned to more of a crimson, a very faded crimson.
What is this?
He kicked the ground with his foot and started to remove the debris around the object. He bent down to run his hand across it. It appeared to be some sort of plastic. He tried to lift it, but the majority of the object was still buried. He went to get the small shovel that Archie carried in a specialized surveyor’s bag. For some reason, Archie had taken it with him. Yeah, makes sense. He forgets the bag except for the one time when I need it.
He dialed Archie’s phone number. His company had long ago given up on radios. They were expensive, always breaking, and constantly going dead in the field due to limited battery capacity. Cell phones were a much better choice.
“Hey Arch, get back here now. I need your help with something.”
“All right, no fence over here. I did shoot in the tracks.”
“All right, come on back now; I need your shovel.”
“Give me a minute.”
Stanton waved Archie over to the object sticking a few inches out of the ground.
“Take the shovel and see if you get some leverage on this thing. I want to see what it is.”
Archie probed the ground until he hit soft dirt. He followed along the edge of the object until he formed a rectangle.
“What is this thing? OK, see if you can get underneath it and get a little tug.”
Archie was able to move the object a little. Stanton got on his knees and started swiping at the dirt and leaves covering the object.
“Man, this looks like a suitcase.”
“Yeah, I see it now. OK, get underneath with the shovel, and I will see if I can get a grip.”
They both strained to get the suitcase free. When it was unburied, they found that the zipper still worked.
“All right, let’s see what we’ve got here.”
As Stanton lifted the top open, Archie gasped at the sight. Stack after stack of $100 bills. The case was full of them.
Stanton saw the money, and his eyes got big.
“I can’t believe it. How much money is in here? I can’t believe it.”
As Stanton was checking out the bills, Archie’s attention was elsewhere. It was centered on what appeared to be the edge of another buried suitcase.
“Uh, Stanton…”
“Yeah?”
“I think we have another suitcase.”
As Archie probed with his shovel, Stanton used his hands to dig around what undoubtedly was a second case.
It didn’t take them long to extract it. It also was full of 100 dollar bills.
Stanton moved back to the first case and started examining the bills.
“Archie, check out the serial numbers in that case. See if they are sequential.”
“Sequential?”
“Yes. That means the serial numbers are in order.”
“Right, right.”
Archie flipped through several bills.
“No, they are not. Is that supposed to be good news?”
“Yeah, these are not in any kind of order either. That is good news.”
Stanton’s eye moved back and forth across the dry, flat area in which the suitcases were found.
“Here, give me your shovel.” He took it and started probing.
The first time he stuck the shovel in the ground, he hit another suitcase, and then another, and another.
As Archie reached down to uncover the suitcases, Stanton stopped him.
“Wait a minute, we can’t carry all this out today. It is what? About a mile back to the truck, and we can’t drive down the railroad; there isn’t a path between the tracks and the ditch.”
“Right. Maybe we should leave those buried.”
“Maybe we should rebury the ones we already found. Those things are heavy. I don’t think it is a good idea that we try to carry them back.”
“Right.”
“Rebury them. I’ll get a four-wheeler and take it down the railroad right of way. We can get the money that way.”
“All right.”
The two men buried the cases, making sure that no corners were exposed.
“Arch, let’s try to set this pin and go about our day in the most normal way possible. After we get back to the truck, we can talk about a plan to get these cases out of here.”
“Sounds good.”
“All right then. Let’s see if we can find that fence.”
