SideTrack? You Lucky Dog

Next deciding to go upstairs, Bill and Lucky went back through the kitchen and headed over to and up the stair well on the right middle of the hallway.  The first step creaked causing them both to stop and hesitate before their next step.  She gave him a little shove in the back after both glanced a spooky look to one another causing him to step forward again.  Again the step creaked eerily, and both giggled at their foolishness, and proceeded to climb the stairs.

“Hello?” Bill sung out, “Is anyone here?”  Still all quiet, just the clock back in the kitchen ticking steadily to assure they were alone.  Lucky couldn’t take the stillness anymore and burst out.  “Dad, lets get this over with so we can find the treasure, I can’t take waiting to find it.  Think of all the stuff we can buy!”

“Hold on young lady, when and if we find any buried treasure we are going to keep cool heads and act responsibly, got that?”  We’re going to avoid easy come easy go.

“Ahhh dad, your no fun.”

“Look Lucky, we need to just be thankful we’re out of that apartment, and that your great grandfather loved us this much.  But I don’t want you to give up hope, if there’s treasure here we’ll find it if it takes forever.  Now keep your eyes peeled for four corners facing each other!”

“Don’t forget,” Lucky said sternly, to remind him, “First there’s four rises above.”

“Yah,” he half mindedly admitted, “Whatever that means.”

The stairs went half way up and then turned back the other direction, so that they were facing the driveway again.  Bill reached the upstairs hallway first and quietly turned to the first room just to his right.  He opened the door and poked inside to see no one, and even the bed was made, this should have been Allen’s master bedroom had he retained it as that from before.

Bill stepped in and glanced a warm fuzzy gaze from the outside wall to the inside, then back.  He felt sorrow swell in his knees and a weakness come over him right then as if to fall.  He moved closer in and just a little back now from the front window, as he stood and reminisced about Allen and what he saw every morning after awakening.  Just then his knees became even weaker with sorrow and he pitched over backwards landing on his back and head.  It hurt real badly, and as it hurt he felt a warm long wet tongue licking his face with and for a lick of sense.  Oh my god Bill remembered it’s Rick-O-Shaw, errrrr…., no that would be Rick-O-Shay, Allen’s best friend on this planet and constant companion.

Rick-O-Shay was an indiscernible black lab.  He acquired his name that way because he was born with a odd defect, blind in the right eye causing him to have a total lack of depth perception, with only one eye left to see through.  Therefore he was constantly bouncing off the walls he just couldn’t see them coming, or judge their distance from him.

Rick-O-Shay also had this strange habit to greet you by swaggering up behind you and rolling into your calves causing your knees to bend and pitch ones self over into a backwards dive while he ducked aside to avoid being rolled on top of.

It was very peculiar at best.  The best I could figure out was Allen trained him to do that as a security dog so if any intruders held Allen at bay Rick-O-Shay would do his dog thing.  That would leave Allen with the upper hand.  Rick-O-Shay must have been asleep hiding behind Allen’s bed so as not to become noticed or disturbed.  Hiding out was another of his many unusual talents or abilities he seems to always appear from no where.  The dog would have nothing to do with becoming a beast of burden Bill thought.

There were two more for them to investigate, but Lucky had already beat Bill to them while he reminisced in Allen’s room, she came back down the hall towards him as he stepped out of the first bedroom, back aching from the fall, Rick-O-shay in tow sighing.

“Both of the other rooms are empty,” she spoke while sighing also just like the dog with an expression of frustration, “Except for furniture dad.  I haven’t seen anything that looks like corners, unless it’ four corners of a room either in the ceiling or the floor and the stairs are the rises.  Except it could be any room and there were twelve steps.”

“I know dear,” he said pondering her remark with regret, “I thought of the same thing just a minute ago, in fact all the rooms have four corners.  There are four steps at the front entrance, if I remember right, it could be anywhere in the house if we go by that.  Oh Allen, why couldn’t you have been a little more clear, of course then there wouldn’t be any treasure hunt, I’m sure you intended that, please if you can here me tell me where you hid it”

Both forgetting their earlier cautiousness stepped back into the first bedroom and gazed out the window and wondered if there was any treasure anyway.

“Dad? What if it’s all gone, I mean what if he spent it all before letting Mr. Smide know?”

“Don’t worry Lucky,” turning to hold her shoulder, comforting the thought, “I believe, I believe if grandfather says it’s here, it’s here, I believe he meant for us to find it, just not till we calm down and do what’s sensible.  Lets go down into the d