The headline read, “Local man unearths trove of antique maps.”
“You remember,” said LaPoste, “our old school friend, Jupiter Goodnight?”
“Why, of course, the undertaker’s boy. Very well dressed, as I recall. Loved beignets.”
“Well, according to the Pepperville Prophet, Jupiter’s great-uncle Uranus passed away last month.”
“Oh, how sad.”
“He was a hundred and eleven.”
“Still.”
“As the casket was being interred in the Goodnight family crypt, it seems that Jupiter came across this crumbling stash of maps. One of his ancestors was apparently an avid cartophile. Map collector,” he added at Hydrangea’s blank expression.
“Well, valuable as they may be,” said Hydrangea, “I doubt some old maps would equal the value of Locust Hole.”
“Oh,” chuckled LaPoste, “it’s not the maps themselves that are the real find. Listen to this!”
Straightening the newspaper, the mailman held it upright and read:
Pepperville’s own librarian, Octavia Motts, suspects that many of Mr. Goodnight’s maps are over two hundred years old and depict Hurricane County’s coastline prior to the diversion of the Continental River.
“But,” says Mrs. Motts, “the most intriguing document of all is one that dates from the golden age of privateering and appears to locate a pirate’s ill-gotten spoils.”
Mrs. Motts goes so far as to suggest that the indicated treasure might even be that of fabled folk hero Jacques LeSalt.
To be continued…
Rick Fields
K. G. Campbell was born in Kenya, but raised and educated in Scotland. He graduated with a master’s degree in art history from the University of Edinburgh. After trying on several careers, Keith eventually returned to his early passion of writing and illustrating stories. He is the author-illustrator of several picture books, including Lester's Dreadful Sweaters, and the illustrator of Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. Keith lives in Malibu, California. Learn more about him at kgcampbell.com and follow him at @artbykgcampbell.
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The Zombie Stone Page 16