(On the trail) Grabbing a coffee and clues

[Chrisie]

Marty takes the lead while Todd plays around with the images on the tablet. Sipping from his drink in between paragraphs;

"Yeah...we found this article about this old time outlaw...Black Bart. Turns out he was some English guy who ended up fighting in the Civil War. After the War he tried to settle down as a farmer but got fleeced by some Wells Fargo in a land deal over his farmland. So he turned to robbing banks."

"But..get this...Old Black Bart, turns out he had a moral code and just flat out wouldn't rob or steal from anyone but the Wells and Fargo banks and stagecoaches! He laid all these elaborate traps and stuff...and then, get this for style...he left taunting poems behind at the scenes of his robberies, mocking Wells Fargo!"

He and Todd laugh at this added bit of outlaw panache.

"Anyway, Wells Fargo finally got around to hunting him down. They got some hot-shot private eye or something onto it and tracked Bart down to his hiding place in San Francisco."

"The guy ended up in jail. He did his time and then pretty much vanished into thin air."

"But..." and this is where Marty becomes more conspiratorial and Todd seems to huddle about him too. They suddenly can't help themselves.

Sure, Marty starts to tell a little too much, but he's so caught up in the adventure of it all, it seems too good to keep from Aileen now.

"Well, Dan, Todd an' me reckon when Bart went and vanished he was searching for some lost treasure. One of the guys he did time with turns out to have been some crazy eccentric who spent his life searching for the 'Lost Cities of Gold', the ones Coronado went looking, for when he was arrested for some fraud or other. Some say he was arrested for murder...anyway, it's not right clear what that guy was in for."

He pauses to take a drink of coffee, adding; "But...we reckon..." he nods to some of the images on Todd's iPad, "that old Black Bart was searching for the Cities of Gold when he went missing...and he went missing in this part of the world!" he seemed thrilled at been able to share this with Aileen...for that's whom he's really talking to.

"Wells Fargo put some of Black Bart's notes into part of an exhibition they'd sponsored at the Mansion recently, so we broke in to have a look. I don't rightly know if Wells Fargo have figured it out. Maybe they did years ago...that was part of why we wanted to see inside the bank. It was one of their local headquarters and we figured there might have some record of Black Bart's robberies...maybe it'd give us a clue. Thing is, the coin boxes we found were from the San Fransisco Mint...so that fitted..." he shrugs, as if suddenly thwarted.

They were in a dead-end of clues.

But his mind filled with dreams of ancient traps, flickering torches in the dark of long forgotten caverns...exploration...'National Treasure' and Indiana Jones...daring adventure and the scope of history.

"It's not like we're after the gold, just...well, it's just so cool to think this Black Bart might have done it! If anyone could've, I reckon he could. He was a smart guy. So...that's where we are. Just trying to figure out our next step." he smiles.

Thrilled to be sharing all this with Aileen...oh, and David too...

[Aileen McFarlane]

The rising excitement in the boys was paralleled with Aïleen's own. Of course, its motivation was very different, but they needn't know that. Instead, she let it swell to her face, and started smiling broadly, for she had now come to think their quest and hers were one and the same. She nearly forgot David as she replied to Marty with mirth in her voice.

"That's splendid ! It's nothing short of stupendous ! We must find a clue, we must !" she said, her enthusiasm taking the better of her. Never had she had the conviction she was getting closer to the knot of the issue before.

"Please let me... us..." she corrected quickly with a side glance toward David - how much was she really ready to share - "have a look at the notes from the mansion. And also, I don't think anyone's complained about our first visit to Folsom, no ? So we could go back and double-check, in my opinion." Once she had safely gone there first, of course, but she didn't voice it in front of them.

[Chrisie]

Todd scrolls back to the poems and nods. Marty smiles and was about to talk excitedly about plans to return.

"We sure should do that!" he urges, eyes bright with enthusiasm.

[Aileen McFarlane]

Glad that the boys shared her opinion, even though she had had little doubt about it, Aïleen then calmed down enough to give order to their ideas.

"David and Todd, please look a second time into the documents we already have, then. Meanwhile, Marty and I will plan for our next trip, then. We need to make sure noone had noticed us last time, too." she said, not quite taking in charge yet, but definitly close. She had to get to the heart of the matter! Her green tea laid by the side, forgotten.

[Aileen McFarlane]

While answering David's question should have been as easy as saying "As soon as possible", it wasn't so. It wasn't so because Aïleen wanted to go back there first, and give it a thorough search of her own, alone. And so she had to play it safe.

"While we may or may not be clueless, it can only be better to make sure, and gather as many pieces as possible." she then paused, mentally going over her shifts at the pool. She really needed to find a way to have more time of her own. "I guess we're all eager to go there, but... how about in a week's time ?" she hoped Todd and Marty would be amenable to the idea, and it was to them she asked their leave, with a face that clearly said she was sorry for the delay.

[Chrisie]

The Boys, their identity solidified by Aileen, nodded eagerly; "Sure!" they added in unison.

"We can do that!" added Marty. Todd was busy nodding and putting his iPad to some use, perhaps checking a calender or something.

...and with that, I think we can end the scene as Todd and Marty chat to Aileen and David about wider, less specific, matters. Thank you both!