Free Searching For Treasure by L.C. Davenport Page A

was fried: fried oysters, fried frog legs in cream sauce, fried catfish filets, fried crawfish tails, deep-fried hush puppies, pan-fried hominy, fried dill pickles and French-fried sweet potato chips. The only relief from all this greasy goodness was a sweet and tangy tartar sauce and bowls of green tomato pickles and pickled okra. Tall glasses of ice-cold milk accompanied the meal. A golden-brown pecan pie awaited them for dessert.
    Henry was already deep into a story. "Here he was only a freshman and already leading his division in blocked passes. But that game he actually caught one." He slapped Mark on the back. Breaking open a hush puppy, the boy seemed embarrassed yet proud of his grandfather's praise. "Ha! For a second he seemed shocked, like he couldn't figure out what the ball was doing in his hands. Then he took off down the field running heel over elbow, with two other kids hanging on him like he was playing flag football and they were the flags. It took three more to bring him down. Boy, I did some whooping and hollering that night. I was happier than a jackass eating bumble bees."
    Caught by an uncontrollable burst of laughter, Noah, who had been chewing at the time, shot food halfway across the table. Red-faced and mortified, he quickly cleaned up the mess. Rose poked Henry with her elbow and announced to the table at large, "I do love the way this man talks." Henry surprised everyone by turning a bright pink.
    Without bothering with dessert, Brett and Austin finished their meal and left the table without as much as a word to anyone. By this time the others were used to the idea that these gentlemen weren't here to socialize. As soon as they were out of earshot, Josie looked across the table. "Dana, is Noah lying to me?"
    Not having heard what Noah had said, she wasn't sure how Josie expected her to answer the question. But seeing the glint in her brother's eyes, her own narrowed in suspicion. "Probably," she said, "Why, what did he say?"
    "All I was telling her was that this past spring they put up a bungee jumping tower at the Holiday in Dixie festival and you and Jack were one of the first ones to jump off."
    Grace squealed with delight. "Did you really? I've always wanted to do that."
    "Not only that," Noah continued dramatically, "but they went off the tower together. They had them trussed up like a package and they both jumped at the same time."
    A little bell of warning rang in Dana's head and she began to have some inkling of what her brother was up to. "Noah," she began warningly.
    Ignoring his sister, he looked around the table gratified to see that he had everyone's interest. "They are always doing crazy stuff like that. Boy, I could tell you stories."
    "Why don't you not ,” said Jack in the first words he'd spoken since dinner began. The tone was curt, but Dana could see a thawing in the look he quickly cast her way.
    But with an appreciative audience, Noah continued undeterred. "For example, last year they watched this documentary about the guy who made the first cross-country road trip. Next thing I know, Jack and Dana have loaded themselves down with maps and are flying off to San Francisco, planning to rent a car and recreate the route he took."
    Rose looked at Dana with admiration. "You go, girl."
    "Now they're saving up to someday walk the Camino de Santiago." Noah turned to Josie to explain, "That's a famous road in Spain. People come from all over the world just to walk it."
    Henry nodded his head, clearly impressed. "I knew you two were my kind of people."
    "And you wouldn't believe some of the stuff they put each other through. Jack works for our local paper and part of his job is restaurant and movie critic. If you only knew how many lousy meals and rotten movies he has dragged Dana to throughout the years. But she never complains, does she, Jack?"
    "Actually she complains about it all the time," Jack said.
    This comment gave Noah pause for only a second. "Well, maybe, but you know she