ROBERT MORRISS: CANNIBAL SLAYER

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Mar 26, 2012
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That Saturday the professor drove them all, Lindy, Poe, and Jack to the other side of Sharp Top in the Peaks of Otter.
Stretching their legs after the long drive, the professor pointed upward to there destination, announcing, "The cliffs at Buzzards Roost".
There was sign of an old trail leading up, and with the professor in the lead, they started their accent.
The higher they walked they noticed what appeared to be signs of past destruction, as if there was once an great explosion at the top of Buzzards Roost.
Looking to her right, Lindy noticed a biscuit shaped boulder that appeared to have carvings on its face, calling the others to stop.
"Look", she excitedly spoke," There are "X"'s, parallelograms, and letters on this rock"!
Brushing some dirt and debris aside with his hand the professor exclaimed," These letters, "FE" and "POT", could that mean 'iron pot"?
Pouring water over the boulder from a plastic army surplus canteen, the initials "T.B." became visible.
"Is that who I think it is" /, shouted the teacher Poe as young Jack jumped up and down, screaming "we're gonna be rich" over and over in a manic mantra.
"Yes, indeed", confirmed the professor, "The Beale vault must be very near. Shall we continue up the path".
 

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Mar 26, 2012
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Lagrange Bower was running late, delayed by road construction and detours, arriving to observe the professors parked minivan.
Pulling along side, he parked his yellow Rav4, stepped out to observe the landscape, trying to determine which direction the professor's party took.
Bower noticed the old path was recently traveled, and started walking up the incline, wondering how far ahead the others were.
 

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Young Jack was gamboling around the debris that covered the top of Buzzards Roost, while the professor studied what covered the ground. Shattered and splintered glass mixed with wood and pieces of copper coil that appeared scattered by a great explosion provided clues of what they were all seeing.
"This is obvious an old moonshines site where something went wrong", he announced in his best lecture voice while holding a spidercracked face glass gauge in his hand for emphasis, "definitely not the Beale treasure vault".
The teacher Poe attempted to get the attention of his less than apt pupil who was busy kicking up the glass splinters and copper shards, totally indifferent to his teachers admonitions.
Lindy had a deep feeling of forbidding, things did not feel right, and for reasons unknown to her, back stepped away from the others towards the path that led them all there.
 

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Mar 26, 2012
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Having reaching the biscuit boulder, Lagrange Bower closely scrutinized its surface after noticing the "FE", "POT", and the "T.B." initials carved on its surface.
Reaching into the haversack that he always carried in the field, Bower reached in and pulled out a bristle brush and a large magnifying glass that had a built in light.
Feverishly brushing the boulder's surface, he uncovered more parallelograms and other geometric shapes, but not for what he was looking. Bower wanted to find a spider carved into the rock- a spider that would prove that his Beale cipher solution from Chaucer's "Miller's Tale" was the key.
Going to the boulder's opposite side, Bower nearly tripped over a discarded board.
Could this something left behind after Beale constructed his treasure vault?
Picking it up and turning in over, his excitement grew as there was writing on the surface. Placing the board atop the boulder, he brushed away the time accumulated dirt and grime, reveal the message written:
"Better get a Burma Shave".
 

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A rustle in the brush caught everyone's attention.
"MEAT"!
Chaos erupted at once.
The professor was tackled to the ground, teeth ripping out his throat.
Young Jack let loose a scream like a girl as Poe ran with his foot getting tangled in debris and falling flat on his face.
Lindy ran down the path in the blind panic of survival flight oblivious the sounds of struggle behind at the top of Buzzard's Roost.
 

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Hearing the commotion coming from above on the trail, Bower looked up as Lindy collided with him sending both rolling down the trails incline in decent.
"What", Bower uttered as a breathless and visibly shaking Lindy regained her footing and immediately took off down the trail.
"Run", she yelled, "just run"!
Bower known more for his bravado then his bravery, joined Lindy's retreat in full out gait as the sounds of the carnage from above filled the air.
 

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With the Peaks of Otter long gone in the yellow Rav's rear view and the post adrenaline rush setting in, Lindy told Bower about the manuscript in James Beverly Ward's hand she read in the Lynchburg Historical Museum basement.
"I just didn't believe it was true", she repeated over and over, trembling.
Bower death gripped the steering wheel as Lindy revealed the cannibal assault by Beale's perilous adventurers in Bedford county, determined to never return to the Peaks of Otter nor to ever tell anyone about his flight of fear.
 

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After the telephone call from the professor, Delbert Drywell went to his deepfreeze and removed the topographic diorama butter sculpture of 1820 Bedford county he made many years ago. Its accuracy for the Beale time period was, as he was fond of saying, on the bubble.
From deed records, family records, and most importantly, boots on the ground, it detail had Buford's Tavern, the Otey property 4 mi from Buford's, the cave Beale first considered for hiding the treasure, and where at one time he was sure was the location of Beale's treasure vault.
Maybe, Drywell thought, he should have at least shown this butter topographic map to the professor, but recently the thought that the BEALE PAPERS was just a dime novel created by James Beverly Ward had occupied his mind, so he now immersed himself into the secret codes in Dumas as revealed by the Nigerian telemarketer codebreaker.
Taking one last long look at his rendition of 1820 Bedford county in butter, he carried it back to the deepfreeze, being careful not to smear the warming detail, placing it back into hard frozen security.
 

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As we explored the base of the Buzzard Roost cliffs, we encountered a biscuit shaped boulder. On its face, though weathered by the elements, were carved X's, parallelograms, and letters. On closer inspection, the letters were, "FE" and "POT", then I noticed "T.B." was also carved into the boulder.
Was this the "KEY" to Beale's treasure, carved into the rock by the hand of Thomas Beale?
Nearby, George had discovered an overgrown path that switched back and forth up the side of Buzzard Roost.
We hastened our ascent up the path, feeling that Beale's treasure vault would be at the path's end.

Back at her job in the basement archives, Lindy pulled out the Hart manuscript that she previous neglected to read before that ill fated search on Buzzard's Roost.
The professor, the teacher Poe and Jack his students had all be reported missing, and search parties had scoured the area from their abandoned vehicle to the top of Buzzard's Roost, but that was found was the professors Timex watch and Poe's wallet still containing a ten and four ones and a McDonald's coupon.
Neither Bowman nor Lindy said anything to anyone about their involvement in that trip to Buzzard's Roost, and no one asked.
Reading Hart's words, Clayton mentioned their search at Buzzard's Roost, which included a description of the biscuit bolder with the carved letters, Lindy realized she should have read this before reporting back to the professor.
She continued to read, wanting to know if the Hart brothers encountered cannibals.
 

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What we found at the top was a rigged canopy of canvas, pieced together and supported by a lattice of ropes securely tied to trees, covering a copper turnip style boiler with an attached copper coil condenser.
This was not Beale's treasure vault, an abandoned moonshine operation.
George picked up a filled half gallon mason jar with XXX written in grease pencil on its face and quipped, "This is the good quality, run through the distiller three times".
As we looked around this camp, which was very organized I must add, we became aware that there were staked crates of mason jars, full of product.
Why would someone desert this site and leave such an abundance behind?
Further searching revealed scatted revolvers and rifles, and a cardboard box that contained red dynamite sticks covered in sweat.
"This site was not deserted", remarked George," I found the moonshiners", pointing down at scattered human remains.
It was then I noticed that the silence taken for granted was disturbed by rustlings in the underbrush covering the ground.
Looking up, I saw that George and I were surrounded by the most filthy motley crew I ever encountered, and a brisk wind assaulted our nostrils with their abominable stench.
Raising his Thompson, George observed," Trouble ahead, trouble behind".
"And you know that notion has just crossed my mind", I replied.
After reading the Hart's encounter that began with the "Meat, meat, meat" chant to their escape from the cannibals of the Beale curse, all Lindy could comment on her not reading this before the professor's organized search making all aware of the danger and perhaps even saving their lives, " My bad".
 

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Applying the cipher code breaking system discovered by a Nigerian telemarketer,.Delbert Drywell discovered hidden secret messages in almost everything, from the US Constitution to the works of Ayn Rand, and even on the receipt from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
Drywell called Bowman, revealing what he deciphered on the Piggly Wiggly receipt concerning the location of the Beale treasure in the Peaks of Otter Buzzard Roost, but Bowman flatly stated he was no longer interested in the Beale , and most adamantly saying he would never return to the Peaks of Otter, ever, before hanging up.
Shaking his head, Drywell mumbled to himself about sharing his hard research on code breaking with anyone.
Anyway, he had developed many leads to several different treasures thanks to that Nigerian's code breaking system, but maybe, he might just take a ride to the Peaks of Otter, nothing to lose, and a possible huge gain.
 

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Lagrange Bower took a break from his never ending decoding the hidden messages in the Canterbury Tales and watched a cable documentary of children television programs.
Snarky Parker didn't ring a bell, but Captain Midnight brought a smile to face, remembering how a decoder ring from that show, thanks to Ovaltine, was the beginning of his cryptography quests.
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie was profiled nest, a character on that program a character who only spoke in long and short "toy, toy, toy" talk, when it hit him.
MORSE CODE!
Quickly putting pencil to paper, he transcribed the dots and dashes, and afterward , the corresponding letters.
The words "TEMPLAR TREASURE" leaped forth from his penciled transcription.
 

Rebel - KGC

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It helps if you know Bedford County, Va., Blue Ridge Parkway, & Peaks of Otter. You then have a "VISUAL" on it all.
 

Hillbilly Prince

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It helps if you know Bedford County, Va., Blue Ridge Parkway, & Peaks of Otter. You then have a "VISUAL" on it all.
Did not realize this thread is so big. Accidently clicked on it.
Do you belie e in Beale legend?
 

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It helps if you know Bedford County, Va., Blue Ridge Parkway, & Peaks of Otter. You then have a "VISUAL" on it all.

...and knowing all the players, various theories, and such concerning the Beale treasure tale began by Ward in 1885.
 

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