I could not wait any longer. My father had left the estate to prepare for business, and I would be free to do as I would.
I heard the sound of his carriage coming up the drive. I had timed him perfectly. He was leaving directly from the board meeting, and I would be waiting in the library to greet him. I wanted to see him as soon as possible, and now was my chance.
The sound of the carriage came to a stop outside the library. I was able to see the door open and one foot step out.
"Braun," my father called.
"Yes, sir?" I replied.
"I will be off for a couple days of business. Attend me in the library with any papers I am to look over."
He turned towards the door and stopped. "Braun, I must say, I am very impressed with your ability to become more useful, particularly as I was having such a difficult time finding people to fill in for me while I was out of the country."
"Thank you, sir. I will do my best."
"Good. I will be seeing you soon."
He stepped outside and the carriage closed the door.
I quickly went over to the desk where my father had been working and pulled out a book. As I was about to leave the room, my father suddenly walked in.
"Braun. I left something important on the desk where I was working. Could you retrieve it for me while I take my leave?"
"Of course, sir." I walked back over to the desk and looked through the papers. His invoice must be on top, because that is where I was sure to find it.
"Braun?" My father called.
"Yes?"
"It is not on the desk."
"Did you retrieve it while I was getting the book?"
"No," he said softly. "That was the last time I saw it... the last time I saw you. But I will not take any of this into account. You have done an admirable job, and I will make sure you are rewarded. I will be sure to get it for you when I return in two days."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome. Now, please retrieve me this item."
"Yes, sir."
I walked over to the desk and immediately knew it was not my father's office. There were two peculiar things about the room. The first was that there was a gun on the desk, and it was loaded. I turned it towards myself with my eyes asking if was a loaded weapon. The second thing was that there was a letter sitting in front of it. I picked it up and read:
Dear Braun,
It is your father who has sent you here. He has betrayed me. I have known a lot about his plans recently. He has been collecting items from all over the United States, but I am certain that he is calling them all here to me. He plans to take them, and leave me with nothing. This is why he kept calling in people to take over the labor, so he could look for his precious items. Fine. That is exactly what I will do. I will take what he wants, and I will have my revenge.
Now, Braun, do not go into the library. That is the trap he has laying out. Stay in the building and do not go downstairs. Let me play this how I want to play it. When everything is ready, you will know. Be ready, and beware.
I will see you soon,
Lord Castleberry
I looked at the letter again. This was all too much to comprehend. I went back to the desk and picked up the gun, touching it with slight caution.
"Lord Castleberry," I whispered. "No, it cannot be."
I looked at the gun a little more closely. It had the same name and the same initials that my father had. My father's name was on this gun. The initials were his as well.
The longer I looked at the gun, the more confused I became. I opened it and turned it around to see that it had multiple rounds inside. I turned it around again, still unable to believe how it was, or who it was.
"No," I finally breathed. "That can't be right. There were only fourteen bullets left, and those were all in the gun..."
I stared at the pump action on the end, still trying to fathom this. I picked up the gun and held it again. Now I could see all thirty-four seven-mm pellets of ammunition inside. There was no way that a gun could hold that amount. I put the gun back on the desk and started to turn away, but then realized that the letter had fallen onto the floor.
Gazing at the letter, I suddenly had a strange thought. Perhaps the whole place was just a dream, and this was the gun. Maybe I was asleep and the gun was real. The letter was real, but the gun was not.
I picked up the letter and opened it again, touching the trigger of the gun with my fingers. I thought that if it were not a dream, the gun and letter might somehow be linked together. I thoroughly inspected the trigger mechanism, but found nothing. I turned the gun back over and there was nothing that I could see that I could use to determine whether it was real.
My curiosity was now the driving force of the situation. I set the gun down on the desk and set the letter down as well. I began to open the letter like I was supposed to, following the directions it had been given to me.
"Dear Braun," I read aloud. "It is your father who has sent you here. He has betrayed me. I have known a lot about his plans recently. He has been collecting items from all over the United States, but I am certain that he is calling them all here to me. He plans to take them, and leave me with nothing. This is why he kept calling in people to take over the labor, so he could look for his precious items. Fine. That is exactly what I will do. I will take what he wants, and I will have my revenge. Now, Braun, do not go into the library. That is the trap he has laying out. Stay in the building and do not go downstairs. Let me play this how I want to play it. When everything is ready, you will know. Be ready, and beware. I will see you soon, Lord Castleberry."
I could not believe this was happening to me. My father had sent me into some kind of trap, and I could not respond. I was being held at gunpoint. I sat down, not knowing what to do.
I heard the door open beside me and heard the sound of footsteps approaching. I ducked down on the desk to avoid being seen, until I realized that it was not my father's handwriting I was seeing. It was the writing I had seen before, before I had arrived here, coming from...
"Braun," Lord Castleberry said. "I have someone to see you.