The last of the Gambler Series boxes placed at Green Lakes State Park,
Fayetteville, NY, Onondaga Co.
The Ace of Clubs
The Ace of Hearts and the launching of the
Blackjack Acorn Hitch hiker
Only the clues are listed below, the full info can be found at the
LbNA site and on my website www.catbeadmischief.com

Enjoy:

THE ACE OF CLUBS micro-box **

There are others in this series and on this trail for a total of 6
boxes placed by us.
Placed 8/31/03 by: catbead, The Fly Doc and their trusty friend The
Mollusk

BIG SLICK AND THE ACE OF CLUBS micro-box

Pick up the trail from THE ACE OF SPADES


Big Slick walked on after collecting the Ace of Spades and became
aware that a front must have come through because the humidity had
blown away and it felt so much better, not as sticky as before. He
walked until he could see campers & tents and could hear voices from
the campground. Someone broke out a violin and an Irish tune rolled
sweetly through the evening air, and somewhere a grill was smelling
good. He crossed a little ravine with an ancient oak that reminded
him of the giant sequoias he had seen in California, only not as big.
Keeping the campground to his right, it began to curve farther away
as he walked. A chain link fence was a little ways off on the left
and far below was the emerald green lake.

As he approached the end of the fence the landscape before him stopped
him in his tracks.
'What the . . . !' He could not believe what he saw. A central
valley ran through earth that no
longer resembled what he had just passed through. The terrain now had
a lumpy bumpy
tossed up personality, and how all this fit into such a small area was
beyond his comprehension. 'Do doooo do doooo, do doooo do doooo, you
are now entering the Twilight Zone ran through his head as he stared
trying to figure which path to take. 'Dalliance had been coy with
this one' he thought.

"Many paths travel here and cross them all, you will. For what
you
want will lead you straight and thru." Dalliance had said.

'Sheesh, she sounds like Yoda ' he thought to himself. He wondered if
it was possible for her to ever say something straight out, without
jumbling it up and making it sound like a big mystery.

Trying not to slip down the hill, Big Slick followed this trail as it
led over an old log carved with names of past visitors. Past the
steep valley leading down to the left, he found himself staring at a
tree coming up on the left. 'That's one of the ugliest maples
I've
ever seen', he thought as he stepped closer, 'thing's got big
nasty
bumps,' his eyes traveled higher. 'WHoaH! Is that . . . a. .
.HAND!?' The thing rose up pointing to the heavens, a giant pale
left hand rising from where the maple divided in two. Slick stared in
absolute amazement 'ain't Mother Nature strange' he thought
'giving
us the fickle finger of fate.' Pulling himself away from this
oddity, he traveled on down the path. The lake was below on his left.

Soon, off to his right he saw two long logs that looked like they were
sledding down hill end to end. Shaking his head, his eyes landed on
another oddity, again on the right. He could see
that this tree was strangely misshapen, for the first few feet the
trunk was a little too fat and the opposite side of it was eaten away
by insects. 'Strange ' he thought 'what was it she said "From
this
one take 21........little paces to the laces"??? ' "Now
that makes a
lot of sense!" He said out loud. "So I've got this
buggy maple and
I'm suppose to take 21 little paces...OK..., must mean
Dalliance's
girly steps again..." Big slick was now talking out loud to
himself,
who else could hear him? So he made himself busy counting off his
girly steps, staying alert, but he almost tripped on a root that grew
into the path, luckily he saw it first.

He stopped and rested with his back to the large maple tree growing by
the path, and by doing
so his back was to the lake far below. Staring across the path and
into the tall woods he
noticed some downed trees and a big snarl of monster vines. This took
him back to his childhood where he would dream with the TV on, and in
the shadows and darkened room he would become Tarzan, swinging from
the trees and saving the helpless, aided by the only friends he could
trust with his life.

"Two laces cross this root, read 262, then count 21."
She said.

'Well old girl, I know you and your compass reading ability and I know
that it may or may not
be 262 ' he thought to himself. Doing his best girly step
imitation, off he went and when he
got there he looked around and saw... not much! 'How irritating' he
thought to himself as he
walked around nudging things with the toe of his boot and scuffing up
the forest floor. Then
he saw something that might have promise, right where he stopped
counting at the base of a
thin maple. Well hidden from critters under a pile of rocks and in a
little hole he found what
he wanted. He also found the hastily written instructions for the Ace
of Hearts.


* * *


*A note from catbead: Poor Mr. Clubs! He's had his container
replaced
2 times in less than 2
weeks for a total of 3 new boxes! His new hidey-hole should be safe
and I hope that sharp
toothed critter will relax now that it doesn't have to share
it's
home. It is for this reason all my micro-boxes now have the following
note:

**These boxes are impervious to water as long as the tops are screwed
on tight and haven't been chewed up by a critter or have a crack
running all the way through. If you see that something has happened,
please contact me at: catbead@catbeadmischief.com or,
libby@twcny.rr.com

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THE ACE OF HEARTS micro-box

Pick up the trail from THE ACE OF CLUBS


Big Slick unfolded the paper he found crammed in with the Ace of
Clubs. On it, in Dalliance`s overly rounded handwriting were the
hastily written directions to the last Ace:

continue = path splits = R
long log /crossed one = sit = look east
fungus-among-us / woodpecker holes = between
path = rise = tree = X = spot

He sat on a log in the woods staring at the paper trying to make sense
of what was written on it, then stood up and slowly walked back to the
trail. He went on into the unfamiliar trail and followed the clues as
best he could. By the time he sat down Slick was beginning to believe
that Dalliance really was losing it with the weird clues and the
"fungus-among-us" business. 'Really, fungus-among-us?' He
thought. His
eyes settled on something and he snorted with laughter "I
don't
believe it!" he burst out loud. 'OK', he thought, 'that`s
good ' as he
wiped his eyes.

Slick rose to his feet and took the little path to the east. He found
it ended at another that hugged the rim of the steep hill looking down
on the very green Round Lake. In doing so he passed a tree set off to
the right. It had a little split running up the trunk, and to one side
was two large logs lying on the ground criss-crossed. The top one, in
a way, reminded him of an expressway overpass because it was so flat.
This interested him. Thinking it might make a good spot he walked
around to see it from another angle, a lower one. Looking closer he
thought he detected a couple of stones in the shadows underneath this
little "bridge". Getting closer Slick picked up a stick and
nudged one
of the stones away, and with it came some leaves. Reaching in with his
hand now because he could no longer contain his excitement, Slick
pushed aside another stone and pulled out the Ace of Hearts. Sitting
back on his haunches he gave out a yelp of delight. Just as he was
standing to leave, something caught his eye. It was barely visible
hidden by more leaves and had been in place behind the Ace of Hearts.
Pulling it out he found a small container with a note attached. In
Dalliance's handwriting it read:

Dear Slick,
Catbead, The Fly Doc and their trusty friend The Mollusk have left
something special here for you to give to their friend ROC`nRON.
It
had a little party with another hitch hiker before they left, and may
show the marks from that, but otherwise it is in prime tip-top shape.
It is the final piece of the Gambler Series, called the "Blackjack
Acorn" Hitch Hiker, and needs to get out into the world. They
said Ron
would know where to take it from here to get it on its way.

You are my very best big brother,




Dalliance

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THE BLACKJACK ACORN HH has been launched.