Chapter 13 - What Ramon wants

The hunters regroup after Johnny and Logan's lifebelt-aided swim.
Finally on the same side of the fence, they try to open the metal cylinder together.

The cap is screwed in pretty hard, but they manage to force it open after a few attempts.
Inside it, kept in place by a metal clip fixed to the cylinder, is a perfectly dry paper note written in a familiar hand.

"Where water meets the sky?", Al asks. "Like... a cloud? How would we even get up there? We don't have a helicopter."

Where water meets the sky...could it mean the horizon? If you look out over the ocean, it kind of looks like they do meet. Logan asks the others as they stand there, looking at the message, drying off.

Is there any place or business called 'the horizon'? Johnny asked. Or maybe there was when Ramon came to town... Sounds like something someone would name a building after. It made more sense than hiding something in a cloud. After all, it'd take a gentle wind to send it out to sea or drifting away to another state.

Johnny and Al look expectantly at Logan. Ripper does too.

What they do know for sure is that Ramon was the one hiding the second clue in the Lighthouse wall: it bears the same handwriting as the note in his book.

The realization that the old sailor created a chain of linked clues for someone to follow is thrilling, and fires the imagination of the Hunters.

A real treasure hunt? Right there, in Gulf Haven? And they are the only ones on the trail?

Maybe the clue is in one of his books?", Al suggests. "Johnny, do you remember if any of them were about the horizon? Or clouds."

Could be... He had a LOT of books. he stopped and mentally went through the order he packed and unpacked them trying to remember. I don't think so. Not in the title at least but I've never read any of the books... he shrugged. It'd take less time if we all went through them though.

"Let's go to your house then," Al sniffs. "I'm super dripping soaked and my hand and those flipping cuts hurt. And I'm really hungry. Maybe we can relax for a moment and go through the books..."
She wipes her nose with her wet sleeve and then pets Ripper.

Relax, she thinks. That's a new one for her.

Sure. We might have some stuff to re-bandage your hand... Johnny mused, looking at the soggy mess strapped around Alana's hand. We can dry off and think about our next steps. And that reminds me...we might not be the only ones on the trail of Ramon's clues if the library break-ins are someone else looking for clues.

Sounds like a plan, lead the way Johnny. Logan says as they finalize their plans.

By the time you get to Johnny's home it is two in the afternoon, and you are all very tired from the long walk. You stopped along the way for snacks, but had a little hard time convincing the street vendor that your soggy dollar bills were valid currency...

There is nobody home, Johnny's Aunts presumably out and about for the day's celebrations. Luckily, Johnny has not lost his house keys in the fully-clothed swim.

Johnny shows his new friends the box of books, and the specific volume in which the first note was ingeniously hidden, Rites of Passage by William Golding.

Other titles in the box are:

Log From the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
The Shadow-Line by Joseph Conrad
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Typhoon by Joseph Conrad
The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas by Thor Heyerdahl
The Sea Wolf by Jack London

Plus some non-fiction books about famous ships.

Al heads into Johnny's bedroom. She's mostly dried by now but her bandage has fallen off and she's still feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Without asking, she wraps herself in his blanket once she gets into the room. Then she looks over the books. "A typhoon is like a hurricane, right? That's a bit like combining water and air..." She picks up the Joseph Conrad book and leafs through it, looking for any notes inside.

Logan smiles as he sees the stack of books. Looking through he pulls out Captain Blood & Treasure Island. Looking around at the other books, Logan tries to think about the clue. These are some hood books. I've read these two, but not the others. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the clue, but what about that one? Logan points to the one titled Log From the Sea of Cortez. That one could be a ship's logbook.

I'll get some towels and look for something to cover your hand. he tells the others before disappearing downstairs for a few minutes.

The second floor room looks like a converted storage room with a big window looking out over the front lawn. Johnny's clothes are still in suitcases and duffel bags piked in front of the closet closet door. Drawings are pinned to the walls around the desk and bed area, a couple of notebooks are open with incomplete sketches on the pages.

He returns with a handful of worn towels, gauze and tape. I think this'll do for your hand, Alana, but I'd definitely give it a good wash with soap & water first.
I forgot how much the sea stinks... . It was surprising the first time he'd actually encountered the ocean. All the cleaning products he'd seen always described the fresh scent of the sea but in reality it kinda smelled bad.

Johnny shrugged at Logan's recommendation of the books, I haven't really gone through the other books. I only found the first clue yesterday night. We might want to check the covers of the other books since that's where we found the first clue.... He picked up the Log from the Sea of Cortez and examined the inner and outer cover before flipping through the book.

The hunters examine the two books, but both Typhoon and Log from the Sea of Cortez reveal to be very ordinary volumes.

Unlike the book of the first clue, there are no markings on the pages that they can see. Also the covers and bindings have no sign of cleverly concealed pockets.

Al flips through Typhoon page by page, yawning from boredom halfway through."Hey, Johnny, do you have something to eat? Jack the Ripper and I are s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g!"