A Tell-Tale Treasure

by Megan Marple

  My parents paid her no mind, but Nana wasn’t her biggest fan, and told me in secret that every Sunday when she went to church, she used to pray real hard for Ms. Dubois to strike it rich with one of her art pieces, so she could finally move away. Apparently, Ms. Dubois went to school with Nana and drove her crazy even way back then. Unfortunately for Nana, Ms. Dubois did end up striking it big, and when her paintings started really selling like hotcakes, she didn’t move away from the island. She ended up buying the small office studio right next door to the Tell-Tale, only for Nana to be stuck seeing Ms. Dubois practically every day.

  And as far as Ms. Dubois’ psychic abilities went, I wasn’t sure whether I believed her or not. For some reason, she was always trying to read my palms and mystically mumbling about my unusual aura or something or other. As nice as she was usually, Ms. Dubois was kind of a downer when I actually let her do a reading on me, so I tried to avoid her when I could. It was not going to be one of those days.

  Watching for cars, I dashed across the street. I knew instantly that there was no way around it and froze in place as Ms. Dubois swiped her poof of bright orange hair out of her face, and pulled me into a tight hug, the overwhelming scent of cheap flowery perfume and paint filling up my nose.

  “Hi, Ms. Dubois,” I choked out, trying to keep steady as she nearly knocked me over.

  She held me at arm’s length and all I could see was my hugely rounded face in her bright purple sunglasses. “I thought you might have gone out of town. I didn’t see your parents at my latest showing last night,” she said, not at all subtle. I could just imagine if Mama and Daddy were in town and missed the showing. Man, she’d never let them live that down…

  I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to smile patiently at her even though I was dying to get a move on with the map. “Oh, but my parents did go out of town. I’m staying with my Nana and Granddaddy. In fact, I should probably—”

  Ms. Dubois’ assortment of bangles and clunky bracelets all jangled around her skinny wrists as she swatted a mosquito flying around us. “Darned things. I must taste like banana pudding the way they’ve been swarming around me . . . so you say your parents are out of town? Do you happen to know if Lois received the invitations to the exhibit showing? I could’ve sworn I gave her one when I popped into the tavern last week . . .”

  I couldn’t help but snicker behind my hand as I pretended to yawn, remembering the look on Nana’s face when she brought me my lunch that day. “That woman is so oblivious, she can’t find her rear-end even with her hands shoved in her back pockets!”

  “I, um, well I mean . . . I’m not sure. She’s been very busy with the tavern, so maybe she just didn’t have time.” I wasn’t about to get in the middle of their weird old rivalry.

  The suspicion in her eyes even behind the sunglasses was off the charts, so I edged away, thinking about how to get out of that one when I realized maybe she could help me. I’d seen a couple of hand-painted maps hanging in her art gallery. “Have you ever seen something like this before?” I asked, showing her the map and changing the subject. Part of me hated the idea of sharing it, even though I wasn’t getting very far on my own.

  Ms. Dubois carefully wiped the lenses of her sunglasses and pursed her lips together as she looked over the map. After a few ‘hmm’s and ‘uh-huh’s, she handed it back to me, her eyes wide. “I do believe you have a map there, Edie.”

  I fought so hard not to roll my eyes, telling myself to keep it polite. Ms. Dubois was a grown-up, after all. If I so much as cut my eyes in the slightest in front of a grown-up, I’d be helping scrub dishes at the Tavern for two weeks, easy. And I hated doing the dishes. “Yes, ma’am, but do you know what it might be a map of? You see, I think this part over here has been ripped away, so I can’t tell what it’s supposed to be. There’s an ‘x’ right here, so I think there might even be buried treasure! But I’ve never heard of Aperf Cove, have you?” I replied, pointing to the faded words.

  She shook her head. “Not to my knowledge, darlin’,” her low voice sounded like the purr of a cat. “And I doubt there’s any treasure that hasn’t already been found,” she leaned in, her voice a whisper. “If you ask me, the real treasure is within a young heart like yours, Edie. So sweet, so full of hope,” she went on, cupping my chin with her spindly fingers and their many rings. There was a twist of her mouth as it sagged. “Oh, but it does seem to be troubling you, my dear. Your aura is turning an unpleasant shade of purple. Hmm . . . maybe if you just let me see your palm . . .”

  I snatched my hand away quickly before she had the chance to grab it, fighting against the urge to just run off. I knew she was going to do that! And what unpleasant shade of purple is she talking about? Every shade of purple is awesome, I thought to myself before making up a lame excuse to leave.

  Ms. Dubois stared blissfully unaware after me as I turned to cross the next street over.

  With the sun beating down on me and the heat making it totally possible to fry an egg on my head, I grit my teeth together, frustrated.

  “This is impossible,’ I muttered out loud. “How am I going to find the treasure if I don’t even know where to look for it?”

  Up ahead, I just happened to look up and see Andrea, Leslie, and a couple of other girls from school giggling over something as they came out of the island’s hoity-toity jewelry boutique.

  “I can’t believe you actually got one!” one of the other girls squealed, her eyes wide. Everyone was staring at something on Andrea’s wrist as she smugly stuck it out right under their dumb noses.

  “Believe it. All it took was a few perfectly-timed tears and Father called the shop to have it done for me right then and there. Look, it even has a palm tree on it. For The Island Club!” Andrea twisted and turned her hand and even from dozens of feet away, I could just make out the shine of a gold bracelet that looked as though it spelled out her name, with a little diamond in the middle of a dangling gold palm tree charm. It was gorgeous, and so crazy expensive that I didn’t dare take another step to find out its price.

  Waiting until the girls took off in the other direction, I stepped back onto the sidewalk, determined.

  Ms. Dubois had been no help, and without a bike to ride around, I was going to have to walk around the entire island looking for more clues about the map and its treasure.

  A sudden image filled my brain of me standing in a group of people at school, showing off my new bracelet and matching earrings, with Andrea pouting at one of the lunch tables all by herself. I closed my eyes and imagined finding the treasure and bringing back all the beautiful jewels and gold coins to my house and watching everyone in my family freak out. “We’re rich! We’re rich! Thank you, Edie!” they’d say, before Daddy would hoist me up on his back and we’d run around like crazy people. No more having to work on the shrimp boat for him, no more working at the Tavern for Mama, and we could help pay for Nana & Granddaddy’s boxes of medicines they always had to take. Heck, we could even buy one of those fancy huge beach houses and I could have my own library inside, just like Beauty and the Beast! Maybe we could finally even put in that dance floor at the Tell-Tale!

  My smile faded as I opened my eyes. I was going to get to the bottom of this map and I was going to find the treasure.

  Even if it was the last thing I’d do.

  3

  “My gracious, girl. You look like you’ve been walking all over God’s creation out there,” Nana said, taking a good look and shaking her head at me when I pushed open the door to the tavern. She busied herself by wiping down one of the tables, gathering everything into the big gray bin before hauling it up on her shoulder. “Lunch rush is just about to start, so if you need something to drink sug, go ahead and let me know now.”

  My mouth watered just thinking about it. “Yes ma’am.” I followed after her into the kitchen as she placed the bin by the big sink, the plates and silverware clinking together loudly. “Sweet tea, if that’s okay.”

  Nana just pressed her l
ips together firmly, arching one eyebrow at me. “Hmm, I think not, Edie. How about some more ice water instead? I could pour that sweat off your forehead into a pan and cook up some steak fries on it, I swear. Yes, I think water will be best.” Well, there was just no arguing with her, so I nodded and thanked her as she handed me the cold water, my eyes slowly closing as I gulped it down.

  I wiped my hand across my mouth and smiled at her, deciding to let her in on the secret. “You’ll never guess what I found, Nana.”

  Turning on the faucet, Nana glanced at me over her shoulder as she poured the dish soap into the sink. “And what’s that, sug?”

  The map felt like it was burning a hole in my back pocket, but for some reason I didn’t want to pull it out just yet. “I found something pretty cool on the beach. I think it might be a map. A treasure map.”

  She nodded along as she turned back toward the dishes. “Oh yeah? That’s great, baby. You mind grabbing me a new sponge from the closet?”

  “Yeah,” I said, heading to the supply closet in the back of the kitchen. “But can you imagine, Nana? What might be in that treasure chest? I’ve been looking all over the place trying to figure out how to read the map. It’s kind of hard to read. Oh! And do you think you could talk Mama and Daddy into buying me a new bike? I haven’t been able to fit my old bike since I was in the fourth grade!” Handing her the new sponge, I stood there patiently waiting as she scrubbed at one of the dirty plates. “Do you know how to read a map?”

  “New bike? Do I know how to read map? My, you certainly are a busy little thing today, aren’t you? Now, I don’t know about this bike business, that’ll be up to your Mama and Daddy as you well know. If you ask me, maybe you can do some chores around the house and earn your allowance to buy a bike. That’s how your Daddy did it, anyway. And as far as reading maps goes . . . what’s to know? You’ve got your north, south, east, west. Oh, darn it,” she muttered as she dropped the plate back into the sink with a great clang. “I’m going to end up breaking more plates than serving food on ‘em!”

  I frowned as I took a couple steps back from her, knowing that she was probably just too busy to listen. Once Nana had her sights set on something, that was it. “You’re right. I guess I can figure it out on my own.”

  “Okay, sug, sounds good to me.”

  I walked out of the kitchen with less of that hopeful feeling inside of me than I had went in with, and took a seat down at the bar, placing my glass down and laying my head on my arms, looking across the counter at Granddaddy.

  He slid a short glass of something dark over to one of the men at the end of the counter, before passing by in front of me to put a tall skinny bottle back up on the highest shelf. Catching my gaze in the reflection of the mirror behind the shelves, Granddaddy slowly turned to look at me, slipping the man’s cash into his front apron pocket. “Something wrong? You look like you could use a pick-me-up.”

  Reaching underneath the counter, Granddaddy popped back up a minute later with a glass of freshly brewed sweet tea just for me. I smiled up at him. “Thanks!”

  “Now you make sure your Nana doesn’t see you drinkin’ that. She’d have my hide, for sure!” he joked, his bushy eyebrows wiggling as he winked at me.

  I took a long sip, the sweet sugary taste still on my lips as I looked back at him. “Your secret’s safe with me,” I replied. Before I had a chance to think better of it, I added, “What would you do if you were looking for something but didn’t know where to start looking?”

  Scratching at his whiskery chin, Granddaddy narrowed his eyes. “How to find something when you don’t know where to start looking . . . hmm. That’s a good question. I guess the first thing I’d say is it depends on what you’re looking for.”

  I leaned forward, dropping my voice so no one else could hear me. Just in case, you know? “What if someone were looking for let’s say . . . a treasure?”

  Cracking a wide grin at me, he leaned back and folded his arms across his chest, nodding his head. “Oh, well in that case, I’d start with the metal detector. I’ve found plenty of pretty interesting things buried under the sand here and there over the years. Of course, your Nana thinks I’m plum crazy taking that thing outside and walking around with it everywhere. This coming from the person who sings to her rosebushes, mind you.”

  We both laughed, and as Granddaddy walked away, I sat back thinking about the metal detector. I was already completely exhausted after walking all over half of the island so far, I didn’t even want to think about trying to walk all the way back to my grandparents’ house just to pick up a metal detector and hike it all the way back over to the tavern.

  Finishing the last sips of tea, I pushed the glass away and hopped off the barstool, the sugar rushing to my head and giving me a new spike of energy. Or maybe it was just the images flashing behind my eyes as a familiar shiver ran through me and I shut them. The top of a dark-roofed building rushed up fast underneath me as I glided over it in my mind...

  I slipped out the front door without anyone noticing just as a whole bunch of people who were coming from every different direction began walking up the sidewalk to the front of the tavern for their lunch hours. Overhead, I could already see Poe’s body a dark little blot against the bright blue sky.

  Even though I knew I didn’t need to, I waved my hands overhead and smiled up at him as he flew down and landed promptly on my shoulder, preening at his feathers like the vain little thing he was. I immediately caught a bunch of weird looks from some of the people coming in for lunch, but as usual I ignored then and strolled up the street with Poe.

  “You are so not even going to believe this, but I found a map. Like a pirate’s treasure map, I think! It’s even got an ‘x’ on it,” I said as I pulled it back out of my pocket yet again, holding it up for Poe to inspect it.

  He poked his beak at it a couple times, twitched his head toward me and let out a low croak. A whole bunch of images I didn’t quite understand went off inside my brain, meaning that he was somewhat confused. What is this treasure map? his croaky bird voice asked me.

  “Okay, so a long time ago there were these crazy people called pirates who would steal other people’s boats and ships, and take everything they had on them. Whenever they stole lots of really valuable stuff, supposedly they had to hide it and they would bury it in a place only they knew. And then they’d make a map like this one,” I said pointing to it again, “so that they could remember where they hid it. I think I found a long-lost treasure, Poe! Except . . .”

  Poe nipped at my hair for me to continue.

  “Except I don’t really know where to start looking. But oh my gosh, if I found it . . . We’d be filthy rich!” I shrieked, and Poe, startled, flew off my shoulder and circled around me, squawking as if I had offended him.

  I giggled, “Sorry about that. I just can’t believe it. What should be the first thing I buy with my billions of dollars? I mean I’m sure that’s how much is in there. I think these things earn more value over time. Or maybe that’s just one of those dumb algebra expressions . . . Anyway, maybe you can help me find it!”

  Poe still circling above me, flew even further ahead, diving down until he landed on a grassy patch of dirt, burying his dark curved beak in it. When he emerged, a fat squirmy worm hung out of his beak.

  “Gross, Poe-boy. Hey, maybe when we’re rich we can afford to give you something way yummier than disgusting worms? I bet you’d love that,” I said, walking over to bend down and stroke his feathers.

  A young couple passed by us on the sidewalk, the woman whispering to the man as they raised their eyebrows at me and Poe. I pretended not to see them and sat down cross-legged next to him. I may have only been twelve, but I knew that it wouldn’t be the first or last time someone stared at me like that.

  Switching my train of thought, all I could think about was how awesome our lives would be with that money, and the more I thought about it the more I just knew I had to find that treasure.

  Poe’s win
gs stretched out overhead, and he flew to the nearest No Littering signpost, his beak turned toward the Tavern. I frowned up at him. “Are you already leaving me?”

  I could see Poe’s vividly flickering thoughts in my own head. Squiggly worms sprouting out of the sandy dirt, and the smell of fish coming from the old seafood restaurant down the road. Still hungry, he said.

  Snorting, I tilted my chin and looked back out over the ocean. “Fine. Leave me to go hunt some gross bugs and dead fish. I’ll just find the treasure without you.”

  “Hey!” Someone called from behind me, close enough to make me think that they were actually talking to me.

  I turned to see the tall, scrawny boy with a bowl cut and a pair of huge headphones around his neck, standing there, fidgeting with the discman that was hanging out of his baggy hoodie. “Yeah?”

  He took a moment to think of what to say next before walking closer. “What are you doing with that bird?”

  I looked him up and down, wondering just who on earth he thought he was. Who goes up to someone and randomly starts questioning their motives with birds? My eyes narrowed suspiciously until I got a good look at his feet. He was wearing a pair of ginormous black tennis shoes, the red swoop on the side almost bigger than my foot, even. It was like looking at an underdressed clown. “Poe? He’s my friend,” I replied slowly, trying to think of the right word. Poe was more than a pet for sure, he was much smarter than any old bird, plus I could actually understand what he was saying. Not that I told people about that part.

  The boy snickered at me. “Friend? You’re friends with a bird? Don’t you think that’s a little . . . odd?”

  I didn’t find it that funny, especially coming from some kid with giant feet. “Lots of people have pet birds, Bigfoot. What’s it to you, anyway?”

  That wiped the smile right off his face. “Ha ha, you’re hilarious. What are you, like nine?”

  I stood up as tall as I could, pushing a long strand of black hair out of my face. “Try twelve, Bigfoot. Come on, Poe,” I said, turning my back on the boy. Why do they always have to be so frustrating? It wasn’t just this guy, it seemed like all the boys in school were huge pests in my highly-formed opinion.