Deleted Scene from Escape from Monticello: The Virginia Mysteries Book 8
Copyright 2020 by Steven K. Smith
R U Ready?
The text beeped on Sam’s phone on the kitchen counter.
Mrs. Murphy’s white SUV pulled up to the driveway. “She’s here!” Derek hollered.
The boys met Caitlin halfway down the driveway, her face in a mischievous grin. “Come on, I have something to show you guys.”
When they walked up to her car, a furry yellow head leaped up at the backseat window, almost tumbling out on top of them. Sam jumped back, but then smiled at the adorable furry face hanging out the window.
“Say hello to Maddie!” said Caitlin, petting its ears.
“You got a dog?” asked Sam. It was a surprise. She hadn’t told him anything about getting a new pet.
“Awesome,” said Derek. “He’s cute. Is he coming to the river with us?”
“Hi, boys,” said Mrs. Murphy from the driver’s seat. “It’s a ‘she,’ but yes, she’s planning on joining us if it’s okay with you.”
“Works for me,” said Derek, running around to the front passenger seat. “I’ve got shotgun.”
Sam pet the dog’s head through the window. She wasn’t a puppy, but seemed full-grown, with short yellow fur—a lab, he thought, but he wasn’t much of an expert.
“Don’t you like dogs?” asked Caitlin.
“Sure. I’ve just never had one before.” It lunged forward and licked him on the nose.
Caitlin giggled. “She likes you!”
“Her name’s Maddie?”
“Madison, actually. You know, after the president. But I’m calling her Maddie.”
Sam laughed. It was just like Caitlin to name a dog after someone from history. As much as he loved adventures and discovering things from the past, she took things to a whole other level.
Mrs. Murphy drove them to the park along the James River, where Caitlin’s dad was waiting with his pickup truck. “Give me a hand, boys,” he called.
Sticking out the back of the tailgate was a green fiberglass canoe and an orange kayak. “Sweet,” said Sam, stepping closer.
“Got anything with a motor?” asked Derek as they lifted the boats and set them on the grass next to the parking lot. “Like a Jet Ski, maybe?”
“Sorry, you’ll have to supply the power today,” replied Mr. Murphy.
Maddie leaped into the canoe. She barked and looked out at Caitlin excitedly.
Mrs. Murphy laughed. “I think someone wants to join you.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “She’s coming in the boat, too?”
Caitlin turned to her parents. “Can she? It would be fun.”
Mr. Murphy shrugged. “I suppose, if you keep an eye on her. There should be room for her in the canoe there. Labs are natural swimmers, but keep a hold of her leash just in case.”
Caitlin bent down and rubbed the dog’s head playfully. “You’re gonna be a water dog, did you know that girl?”
Maddie immediately barked back her response.
They all helped carry the boats down to the launching dock at the water’s edge. The river was wide, but Sam could barely see a current.
“River’s on the lower side this time of year,” said Mr. Murphy. “It makes for a great place to paddle.”
Mrs. Murphy checked her watch. “If you three want to take them out for a bit, we’ll get the food ready and eat in a little while.”
“Sam and I can take Maddie in the canoe,” said Caitlin.
“Sounds great,” said Derek, eyeing the kayak. “Prepare to be smoked, Sam.”
Mr. Murphy handed them all life jackets. “Keep these on and stay within view of the park.” He lifted a plastic box with a bungee cord and attached it to a canoe support. “Put your phones in here, it’s waterproof in case you get splashed.”
“Or if Sam falls in,” said Derek.
“More like if you capsize me,” Sam shot back.
“How about you all stay in the boats for now,” said Mrs. Murphy. “We can swim later on.”
Maddie barked and jumped in a circle.
“Looks like she’s ready,” said Sam.
They climbed into the boats and eased out into the river. The canoe was a little tipsier than Sam expected, but Caitlin tightened Maddie’s leash and had her stay between them in the middle. Once he and Caitlin began paddling in the same direction, they made some forward progress.
“This reminds me of riding the tandem bicycle together at Jamestown,” said Caitlin.
“What’s this remind you of, Sam?” Derek smacked his paddle against the water, sending a large splash Sam’s way. “Eat my spray!” He laughed and raced across the river in the kayak.
Sam was about to get mad, but the water was warm, and it actually felt good on the hot day.
Caitlin shook her head. “Some things never change.”
Sam tugged on the top strap of his life jacket and nodded at the dog. “She doesn’t need one of these?”
“Maddie, sit,” Caitlin called from the front of the canoe. “No, we’ve brought her to the river a few times already. She loves to swim.”
They paddled ahead, following Derek toward the other shore. Maddie had no interest in sitting in the middle of the canoe. She kept walking back and forth, finally perching herself at the bow like she was the official canine navigator. Sam stared downstream, watching the water turn the corner and continue out of sight. He loved living so close to the water. It was cool to think this was the same river that explorers like John Smith once paddled along as he mapped out the new world for the other European settlers, or that the Indians lived on long before that.
“Where’s he going?” asked Caitlin, pointing up ahead. The stern of Derek’s kayak disappeared behind a clump of trees.
“Maybe he’ll get lost,” joked Sam. “Permanently.”
“Be nice.”
They paddled closer and noticed a small cut-out that jutted into the trees, revealing a narrow creek. Derek was several yards up ahead, attempting to navigate around a dead tree that had fallen across the water.
“Watch out for snakes!” Caitlin called.
Sam peered into the creek, dark and murky. He hated snakes. He hadn’t thought about them being in the water. The banks were layered in dark mud from where the water had surged higher in the spring.
Maddie placed her front paws on the edge of the canoe and started barking incessantly at the dense grass and trees above the muddy banks on the shore.
“I think she smells something,” called Derek.
“Maddie, be good,” said Caitlin, just as a giant flap of wings burst from the brush on the creek bank. Sam nearly toppled out of the canoe as a Great Blue Heron rose over their heads. Maddie leaped up, nearly snatching a feather in her teeth as the enormous bird passed right over the canoe. She barked excitedly as the heron vanished into the trees. Then she bounded into the water, her leash trailing behind.
“Dog overboard!” yelled Derek.
“Maddie!” cried Caitlin. “Come back here!”
The dog paddled the few feet to the shore, scrambled up the bank and disappeared into the bushes. Her bark got quieter as she bolted through the trees in hot pursuit of the bird.
Caitlin turned in a panic. “Don’t just sit there, Sam. Paddle! We have to go after her.”
Both boats scraped up along the bank, and they hopped onto the soggy ground. Derek helped them pull the bow of the canoe and the kayak higher onto the mud, and they all climbed up the bank, trying not to slip in the mud and fall back into the river.
When they reached the top, there was no more sound of barking.
“Maddie!” Caitlin called. They listened, but there was nothing.
“I guess we have to go after her,” said Derek, stepping toward the trees.
Sam glanced behind them. “Can we just leave the boats? What about your parents? They told us not to go out of sight.”
Caitlin slid back down the creek bank and retrieved the watertight box. She pulled out her phone and followed Derek into the woods. “I’ll text them what we’re doing. I’m sure she’ll come back. She’s never run off like this before.”
The patch of trees was dense, but narrow, and soon they stepped into a grassy field.
“Look! There she is!” said Derek, pointing across the field. Railroad tracks crossed from left to right, separating the field from a steep incline. Maddie was already on the other side of the tracks and running up the hill.
“Maddie come back!” Caitlin yelled again, but they were too far away. Even if the dog heard her, it was clear at this point that she was much more interested in chasing the scent. They jogged across the field and stepped carefully over the tracks.
Sam peered both directions down the rails, but saw nothing coming. “I wonder if this is the same train we can hear sometimes at night?”
“Probably,” said Derek, looking over his shoulder as they climbed the hill. “If you went straight across the river, our house is only a few miles from here.”
Maddie was nowhere to be seen, but they’d watched her run up the hill, so they continued through the trees until they reached the edge of a large yard. There were gardens and manicured hedges surrounding a large house with several outbuildings. Part of the main house was white wooden siding with black shutters, while another section was red brick that rose to a tall chimney.
“I don’t know if we’re supposed to be here,” Sam said. “It’s someone’s yard.”
“I’m going to get you a t-shirt with those words written it so you can stop saying them, Sam,” Derek wisecracked.
Sam turned his head. “Stop saying what?”
Derek chuckled. “Guys, we’re not supposed to be here.”
Sam shot him a dirty look, but Caitlin waved him off. “We can’t just leave. We have to find Maddie,” she said.
They walked around to the front of the house. A long dirt path led straight to the front porch with tall, stately trees framing each side. It looked old, but well maintained, like it was important. A man came around the corner from the front of the house. He held Maddie on her leash.
“Looking for someone?” the man asked, smiling.
“Maddie!” Caitlin exclaimed, rushing over. She bent down and hugged the dog as it licked her face. “Don’t you ever run off like that on me, girl!”
“I guess I don’t have to ask if she’s yours,” the man said, handing over the leash.
Caitlin stood up. “I’m so sorry about that. Thank you for finding her. I think she still needs some training.”
The man waved his hand. “No worries. A dog like that gets a smell of something, it’s hard to shake ‘em off the trail.” He reached down and scratched her ears. “Her name’s Maddie?”
“Well, Madison, actually,” said Caitlin.
“She named her after the president,” said Sam.
“Is that so?” The man crossed his arms. “Well, that might explain it.”
“Explain what?” asked Derek.
“Why, the reason she ran up here.”
Sam thought he must have missed something. “What are you talking about?”
The man grinned. “Why, you didn’t know you’re on Tuckahoe Plantation?”
“Tuck-a-who?” asked Derek.
Sam knew lots of places around Richmond were named Tuckahoe, but he didn’t know what that would have to do with Caitlin’s dog. Maybe this guy had been out in the sun too long.
Caitlin stared around the yard, her eyes wide. “This is Tuckahoe Plantation? The Randolph home?”
“That’s right, very good,” said the man. “Since the 1730s.”
Derek frowned. “Randolph? Like Willie Randolph? The guy who played second base for the Yankees?”
Caitlin shook her head. “Sorry, they’re from up north.”
The man laughed. “No, different family, I’m afraid, in quite a few ways, actually. But you might better recognize Tuckahoe as the boyhood home of someone else pretty important.”
“Who’s that?” asked Derek.
“Mr. Thomas Jefferson.”
“Thomas Jefferson!” exclaimed Sam. He glanced down at the dog. Maybe she was smarter than she looked. But he still didn’t know how that made them connected.
“James Madison was one of Jefferson’s closest friends,” explained Caitlin. “He was kind of his protégé, like how Jefferson was George Wythe’s protégé.”
“Right again,” said the man. “You seem to really know your history, young lady.”
“Sam’s kind of my protégé,” said Derek, “but we’re still working on things.”
Sam scowled. “You wish.”
Caitlin’s phone rang. “Hi, Mom. Yes, sorry, we’re fine. We found her. We’ll be back at the river soon.”
“We should probably get back to our boats,” said Sam.
The man nodded. “Of course. But before you leave, would you like to see the schoolhouse where Mr. Jefferson began his education?”
Sam glanced back down the hill to the river. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything. “Sure.”
The man led them to a white wooden outbuilding next to the house. The small square structure looked more like a shed than a school to Sam.
“This was his school?” asked Derek as they entered the tiny room.
“Many early schools were one-room schoolhouses like this one,” answered the man. “But it must have made a big impression on young Thomas. You may have heard one of his most famous quotations is that he ‘could not live without books.’”
“Wow,” said Caitlin, staring up at the ceiling. It sloped up to a peak above them. “Can you imagine Thomas Jefferson learning how to read right here?”
Derek sighed. “Not really. It’s summer. I don’t want to think about school.”
The man chuckled. “I don’t blame you, son. I’ll let ya’ll get back to the water.” He led them back outside. “But you better watch out, that dog might just swim all the way downriver to the capitol building. Jefferson designed that as well, you know. Just watch out for the Class 5 rapids, you don’t want to hit those.”
Derek’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Sam punched him in the shoulder. “Forget about it.”
“I think we’ll stick to the flat water,” said Caitlin.
“Thanks for the tour,” said Sam.
Caitlin tugged firmly the leash. “Come on, Miss Madison. You’re staying close to us this time.”