Over the next couple of days, Justin took Brian's advice and ignored the farm and the potential horrors that may be happening over there. Justin concentrated on the letters. Claire's time was taken up with her church jumble sale so Justin was on his own during the day. He enjoyed having the time alone to sit and read the letters and to get reacquainted with his own art.

He packed up the letters, his sketch pad and pencils, made a few sandwiches and he and Beau, who also enjoyed the quiet, would go to the stream to sit by the rock. It was a peaceful retreat along the bank of the stream. Justin would read some of the letters then put them aside to sketch. By Wednesday, Justin had filled his pad.

Wednesday afternoon found Justin again by the stream. He had almost finished reading all the letters and was disappointed that they garnered little information. Justin was coming to the conclusion that whatever paintings Claire had were the only ones in existence. Then he came upon a sentence written by Kinney to Martha.

"The rumors of war persist. I fear we must leave this place for a safer village. I am sending all my work to you for safe keeping. I understand you owe me nothing. I have only brought shame upon you and our children. For them I ask if you would keep the paintings safe. Sell what you will if the sum is tidy. I hope that in some way I can be of use to you."

Justin wasn't quite sure what war Kinney was referring to but he intended to find out. He also thought it was about time that the letters were made known to John and eventually to Brian. There was nothing in the letters that could harm either of them. On the contrary, if Justin could find the paintings, a small fortune might be the result. He would consult with Claire before he did anything. If what he surmised was true, for the next phase of his mystery, Justin would need help.

******************************************

Claire arrived home fairly early that evening. Justin helped her to prepare dinner and they discussed the contents of the letters.

"Claire, I think we should tell John and Bobby about the letters. There's no need to tell Brian yet. I can show them to him when he comes this weekend."

"I agree. The letters only confirm what we already know. Kinney and Patrick left the country and eventually settled in Mexico. I'm sorry to say that history was never my strong subject but John always loved history when he was in school. I bet he could help."

"So, we tell them at dinner?"

"Agreed."

As dinner was winding down, Claire began to reveal the latest mystery.

"Jackie, I'd like to discuss something with you and with Bobby, of course."

"Oh, oh. Whenever you call me Jackie, it's not good."

"That's not true."

"Mother, what is it? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine; Justin and I want to tell you something?"

"Please don't tell me that Justin has gone straight and you and he are leaving for Canada. I don't want to break Brian's heart when I tell him the news."

"What?" Claire and Justin both exclaimed then stared mouths open at John.

"I'm sorry, you looked so serious, I needed to liven things up a bit."

"John, if it had gotten any livelier, Justin would have had a stroke," said Bobby dryly.

"Can we focus here!" Justin said becoming very frustrated. "Look, Claire and I found more than just some old sketches in the attic. We found that Kinney had written to his wife and there may be more paintings hidden around here, somewhere." Justin paused to catch his breath and scan the faces of his audience. "I need some help with something that Kinney wrote to Martha. Martha was his wife."

"What did he write, Justin?" Justin had John's full attention.

"He mentioned that there was a war coming and they, he and Patrick, needed to leave their village. I don't know what war he was talking about."

"Where were they living? I thought they were in South America," Bobby questioned.

"It seems that when Kinney left he did join Patrick in South America but then they made their way to Mexico somewhere near Texas."

"The Alamo." John stated.

"What?" three voices rang out.

"Justin, you discovered that Kinney lived from 1802 to 1879. He probably was married by the time he was twenty and started his family. It was a hard life back then, most people were dead before age thirty. It was the affluent who lived longer. The events of The Alamo happened around 1835-1836. You said that Kinney and Patrick settled in Mexico near Texas. That could be the war he feared. What makes you think there are more paintings?"

"He wrote to Martha to ask her to keep the paintings safe. He and Patrick had to leave and he didn't want to leave the paintings. He sent them here."

"If that's true, do you think they could have survived all this time? Mom, you told me that the original house burnt down a long time ago."

"True, but if Martha was so careful with the trunk she may have been equally careful with the paintings."

The room became quiet as the four tried to digest all that they had learned. After a few minutes Bobby made a suggestion.

"Justin, I'm off tomorrow, I can help you search for the paintings but do you have any idea where they could be?"

"Yes!" Justin said in all confidence.

"Justin, don't get yourself all worked up over nothing. They may not be there."

"But Claire that's the only place that makes any sense."

"Would somebody mind telling us what the hell you two are talking about? What place?" John looked back and forth from his mother to Justin.

"The root cellar," Claire said.

"What root cellar?" Both John and Bobby asked.

"The root cellar under the cottage."

"There's a root cellar under the cottage! Mother, why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"

"I had the cellar sealed up when you were born. Let me explain. When I found I was pregnant I came here to live with Aidan and Patience."

"I know all that."

"After a while my parents softened up, especially after you were born. You were a beautiful baby. So happy, so sweet and loving. But you were also a precocious and curious child. You got into everything. I asked my father to seal up the root cellar. We never used it but it had two entrances, one from inside the house in the kitchen and another entrance from outside. My father sealed up both so that you couldn't get in."

"Well that explains a lot."

"What do you mean, John?" Bobby asked as he moved closer to John and took his hand.

"I've always been interested in how things were built, the materials, the structure. This house has an attic for storage. If the cottage was the original cook house for the mansion, it would only make sense that a root cellar would be a part of it. There was no such thing as refrigeration, so most grand homes had to have a root cellar to store food for the winter. At one time I was going to try to find the original plans for the mansion, I had no idea what I was going to do with them, just call it curiosity."

"Huh. Claire, could we go there tomorrow and look?"

"I don't see why not. I know where the entrance was in the kitchen. There's a false panel along one wall, it shouldn't be too hard to open, and the door is behind it. We'll need lanterns and may be a ladder. The old stairs may have rotted away."

"Justin, I don't have any clients to see tomorrow and my foreman can handle things; we'll all go. It may be dangerous. Let's get a good night's rest and we'll load up the truck with the things we'll need. I'll make a list now."

The next morning Claire was up with the birds to make a hearty breakfast for the boys. While she was cooking, Bobby and Justin helped John pack up the gear they would need in his truck. Anxious and bouncing on his toes, Justin wanted to go to the cottage. He forced himself to eat breakfast and listen to John's instructions.

"If we find the entrance, I'm going down first." Cutting off Justin before he could protest, John continued. "Justin, if the stairs still exist they may look solid but be rotted through. I'm not risking any of you."

"But John, I'm probably the lightest one of all of you. Wouldn't it make sense for me to try the stairs?"

"No. If the stairs are there I'm going to demolish them then drop the ladder down. We'll secure the ladder to the foundation then lower a lantern. I'll let you go down but not before I put you in a harness and we'll secure that too. We go nice and slow. Is that clear?"

"Yes, John." Claire, Bobby and Justin replied.

******************************************

At the cottage, Claire unlocked the kitchen door as the boys unloaded the truck and started to bring the tools and ladder into the house. The quaintness of the cottage pulled at Justin's artistic heart. He stared in wonder at the stone structure.

"This is beautiful Claire. I'd love to live in a cottage like this."

"Justin, I rent out the cottage sometimes. You're welcome to stay here any time."

"Really? I think Brian may like it too. I know he loves his loft but sometimes there's too much traffic."

"You mean outside, the street noise?"

"No. I mean all the people who come in and out." Bobby and John started to giggle, remembering the night they stayed at the loft and all the people who barged in and out.

"I don't think I understand." Claire was perplexed.

"I'll explain later, Mom. I promise. Let's open the cellar before Justin tries to do it with his bare hands."

Claire showed John the false panel which he easily removed. The door to the cellar offered little resistance to John's crowbar. As he suspected, the stairs seemed to be intact. Taking a heavy sledge hammer, John tapped the first step. It crumbled into dust.

"Just what I thought. Bobby, hand me that rope." They watched as John looped one end of the rope through the handle of the hammer. He lowered the hammer to each step, tapping as he went. Each step crumbled.

When the steps were gone, John lowered his ladder and temporarily fastened it to the frame of the door. He then lowered a lantern to the floor and tied off the rope.

"Well, Justin, this is your show. Let's get you harnessed up and we'll secure you to the center island. It's made of granite. I guarantee you won't fall."

"John, I don't think you should tell Brian that you got Justin in a harness. He may take it the wrong way." Bobby laughed as he got out the words. John cocked his head then laughed as he finally got it.

"Bobby, can you lower the other lantern as Justin goes down. Try to keep the lantern to the side but level with his feet."

"Will do."

Working together, Justin slowly descended into the cellar, John letting out the slack of the rope attached to the harness and Bobby lighting his way. At the bottom, Justin took the lantern and began to explore.

"Do you see anything?"

"Not really and it's very cold."

"That's the purpose of the root cellar. If they're constructed correctly they maintain a mean temperature of about 50 degrees. It helps to preserve food," John stated.

Looking up at the three faces, Justin nodded then added. "And that's a good temperature to store paintings."

Treading slowly and adjusting to the dim lantern light, Justin made his way to the far end.

"Hey, I think I see something."

"What?" Claire shouted down.

"Wait." Stacked against the far wall and protected by thick heavy oil cloth were what Justin hoped were the paintings.

Upstairs, in the kitchen, Claire, John and Bobby waited impatiently. They couldn't see Justin but they heard him scratching around and then a loud gasp.

"Justin, you okay?" John shouted. "Justin? Hey, Sunshine! What the hell are you doing?" John yelled in his best Brian voice.

"They're here! They're all here! Oh my god! There's so many of them." Justin walked back to the ladder.

"Well, let's get them up here and have a look." Claire said.

"No."

"No?" All three answered back. "Why?" they again said in unison.

"We can't move them, not until we have a special place to store them. I'm coming up and I'll explain."

John and Bobby helped Justin up the ladder. Claire put the kettle on.

"As much as I want to look at each painting I'd have to check with Lindsay or maybe with Sidney Bloom. He's the owner of the art gallery she works for. The coolness of the cellar has preserved the paintings. If they're suddenly removed they may crumble like those stairs. I'll call her and get her advice."

"Can we look at them down there?" Bobby enquired.

"I think so but I would only recommend we go down one at a time. The carbon dioxide that we exhale could also ruin them. They need to be examined, cleaned and possibly conserved. I'm really not sure."

"Then let's not take the chance. Call Lindsay when we get back to the house and we'll abide by what she and Mr. Bloom suggest."

The mystery hunters left the ladder and tools in the kitchen. John secured the door and replaced the panel, keeping the root cellar air tight. They went back to the main house to call Lindsay.

After consulting with Lindsay and Sidney, they all knew that Justin had made a very wise decision. Sidney told Justin that he would arrange for a special temperature controlled truck to go up on Friday and he himself would supervise the removal of the paintings. Lindsey would arrange for conservators to meet the paintings when they got back to Pittsburgh. It might take several weeks to sort everything out but this would prove a very valuable find.

After hanging up with Lindsay and Bloom, Claire announced her decision.

"I think if the paintings prove authentic and valuable I'll consult with Lindsay and perhaps your friend Ted. He was very helpful the last time. If any money is to be made, I'd like it to go to the farm. Steve has struggled with it for so many years. Donations are not always reliable. The proceeds of the paintings could maintain the farm for years."

"Mother, that's an excellent idea." John said, hugging his mother. "The money would go to a very worthy cause. Justin, I know you and Brian have been disappointed in the lack of progress made by your nephews, but this is cause for celebration. Call him. See if he and Gus can come up on Friday too. We'll celebrate in style."

Justin smiled and went to call Brian.