by Chase Wilder
Barry tenses beside you. “They really don’t want us getting that mask,” he mutters. “Let’s move!”
Barry’s ready to run deeper into the mine, but you remember the pulley system you saw outside. You could ride that down the hill to safety.
To shelter in the mine, turn to this page.
To fly down the hill with the pulley system, turn to this page.
You consider ducking under the desk. Wait. If Silva decides to sit down, he’ll have to rest his boots on your head … and there’s no room under the bed … So it’ll have to be the wardrobe.
The door clicks shut behind you. You swear you can hear your heart beating. You wouldn’t be surprised if Silva could, too.
The footsteps enter the room, pause, and then fade away. Phew!
You wait a minute and then give the wardrobe door a shove.
It doesn’t budge.
You shove harder.
It still doesn’t move, but the floor does.
You’ve triggered some sort of trapdoor, which sends you plummeting into the dark water below the boat. The water is warm, but it’s too murky to see anything. You try to feel your way to port side or starboard, but you can’t tell which way you’re going. Something brushes your leg. Something that feels a lot like an alligator.
There’s probably a lesson here about snooping around in someone else’s things. Bad news is, you won’t have time to learn it. Chomp!
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
You wade into the swampy water with Guy’s bucket. Why is he carrying a collapsible bucket around with him, anyway? What’s wrong with a water bottle?
You haven’t made it far when the ground turns to mush beneath your boots. Slime squeezes in around your heels and soaks your socks. It feels disgusting, and the water gets deep quickly.
Something moves in the swamp ahead of you. In the moonlight, you glimpse an eye glaring at you. To your left, something long and bumpy slides beneath the water. Best not to hang around.
The water looks clear enough here. You fill the bucket to the brim and start heading back to shore. It’s heavier than you thought it would be.
Behind you, you hear the alligators swishing around. You get the feeling they’re following you.
You try to run, but the mud pulls at your legs. The faster you try to move, the deeper you sink. The water ripples around you. The gators are closing in.
You realize you could probably run faster if you ditched the bucket. On the other hand, you’ve carried it this far—what’s a little farther?
To keep the bucket, turn to this page.
To ditch the bucket, turn to this page.
You slide on after Guy. Soon you’re moving too quickly to grab hold of anything. The rush of water becomes even more furious. You crash through doors and bounce down open chutes. Finally, the floor gives way and you tumble into wet darkness.
“Guess we hit bottom,” Guy says, spitting water.
You take his word for it. There’s nothing to see. You’re paddling furiously to keep afloat. Overhead, more swamp water pours in through the hole you just fell through. This doesn’t look good.
“Don’t panic,” says Guy. “This kind of thing happens all the time.”
“Seriously?”
“Sure. We just need to do exactly what I did back in Kathmandu and—” Guy’s about to tell you exactly what he did back in Kathmandu when the whole ship collapses on top of you. Now you’ll never know. As if dying wasn’t bad enough!
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
The cabin door swings open, but it isn’t Silva.
“What on earth are you doing?” Scarlett whispers, looking back toward the stairs.
You want to ask her the same thing. “I got lost.”
Scarlett arches an eyebrow. “Is that right?”
“OK, I was having a quick look around,” you admit. “And it’s good I did! He’s got a trunk of treasure from the Marie Laveau!”
You swear Scarlett looks hungry. “Treasure? What treasure?”
You tell her about the gems and she seems mildly disappointed. “You’re sure the mask wasn’t in there?”
“I’m sure. Do you think this means there’s more treasure left on board?”
Scarlett nods. “Old Pedro wouldn’t still be weighing anchor here if he thought he’d found all of it.” She pats your shoulder. “Well done.”
“I thought you’d be mad I was snooping.”
Scarlett purses her lips. You get the feeling she’s sizing you up. “In my experience, being a treasure hunter sometimes requires a bit of sneakiness.”
In her experience? Sounds like there is definitely more to Scarlett than meets the eye.
“Maybe we should call Barry Bones,” you suggest. “Those gems are mine, after all. He stole them from my wreck!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Scarlett snaps, then composes herself. “I mean, it’s the middle of the night. If we confront Pedro about this now, he’ll be furious. I don’t want to spend the night camped in a gator-resistant tent with Guy. Let’s sleep on it and talk again in the morning.”
“But—”
“Shh!” Scarlett puts a finger to her lips and nods toward the stairs. You can hear the floorboards creaking above you. Is Pedro listening? “In the morning,” Scarlett whispers.
You go to bed grumpy. Even the soft cotton sheets can’t cheer you up. Maybe Scarlett isn’t so great after all. There’s something not quite right about her.
You wake up before you even realize you’ve fallen asleep. Someone is moving around in the darkness. “Scarlett?” you whisper. “Is that you?”
There’s no reply. Whoever is moving stops, just for a second. Then you feel the boat rock gently again in time with their movements.
Maybe it’s Silva. Do you want to confront him now about stealing your treasure? Or should you stay in bed, like Scarlett suggested?
To go see if it’s Silva, turn to this page.
To stay in bed, go to this page.
The path zigzags up the mountain. In places, the undergrowth spills over in piles of knotted green. Trees have fallen and been left to rot. It doesn’t look like anybody has been here in years.
You’re just setting off up the slope when a piercing scream sounds from the top of the mountain. The sun is hot on the back of your neck, yet you still shiver.
But nothing’s going to stop you from getting your hands on that mask. Not now. You feel it drawing you up the path, like it has a rope tied around your waist.
The hike is long and difficult. The farther you make it, the worse the path gets. Stones come loose beneath your feet, sending you tumbling backward. You have to pull apart prickly bushes and clamber over ant-infested logs. At one point, you jump clear of a bright yellow snake that drops down from an overhanging branch.
Looking to your left, you can hear the rumble of a waterfall. Hoping for some fresh water, you leave the path and push through a thicket of trees.
You find yourself at the bottom of a steep rock face with a waterfall gushing down it. At the top of the mountain is the temple!
The rock face is ragged. It might be easier to climb here than continuing to tear through the overgrown path.
On the other hand, that’s hundreds of feet of rock you’ll be scaling, without any equipment.
To climb the rock face, go to this page.
To return to the path, go to this page.
“Here, I’ll give you a leg up!” Guy drops the trunk, gets on one knee, and makes a sling with his hands. Taking a deep breath, you run toward him and plant your right foot in his palm-sling. He flings you up into the air. You manage to grab hold of the edge of the lifeboat and pull yourself into it.
“Don’t forget this!”
You peer down just in time to see Guy throw the treasure chest at you. It crashes beside you, causing the boat to swing wildly in its moorings. Doubloons spill and rattle around the wooden deck.
Guy leaps at the boat and
hauls himself up. “Here!” he says, thrusting his knife at you. “You’ll have to cut the ropes. And quick!”
You grab the knife and look up. The lifeboat is fastened to the overhead girder by a strong-looking rope.
Guy has dragged himself into the boat. “Hurry up. And don’t forget to hold on tight.”
Below, you can see the ship’s deck collapsing under the weight of the rain. Any second now, the Marie Laveau will fold in on itself. You hack at the rope with the knife—
The lifeboat tears free. You throw yourself forward, next to Guy. Too late, you realize the boat isn’t going to drop into the water. Instead, the lifeboat hits the deck with a massive thwack! It careens across what’s left of the boards, bounces off the chimney stack, and then crashes through the rail to shoot out over the swamp.
For a moment, silence. Then you hit the water with such force it knocks you unconscious.
You wake up the next morning, lying on a muddy riverbank. The sun is glaring from a clear blue sky. That’s the first thing you notice. The second thing is that you’re surrounded by gators.
“Haiiiiii!”
Guy rushes into the water, waving his arms around and shouting. It freaks out the gators about as much as it does you. While he’s doing that, you scurry up the bank and clamber up the first tree you find.
Ten seconds later, Guy joins you. “Well,” he says. “We’re alive, which is good news.”
Farther down the bank, you can see what’s left of the Marie Laveau—little more than a pile of rusted iron, submerged at the muddy edge of a swamp. You feel a little sad about this, and try not think about what treasures have been lost to a muddy grave. Wait a minute—treasure!
You look down at the lifeboat, resting on its side at the water’s edge.
“Where’s all the gold?” you ask.
Guy looks sheepish. “Sorry, that’s the bad news. It all went overboard when we hit the water.”
“All of it?”
“Well, not quite.” He pulls something from his pocket and throws it at you. Opening your hand, you find a single gold doubloon.
“Call it a souvenir,” Guy says.
So much for being rich. But at least you’ll have something to show the kids at school. Not that you expect anyone to believe your story.
Still, as Guy starts charting a course back to civilization, you wonder whether the mask really did sink to the bottom of the swamp. Maybe Barry Bones was right instead. Maybe it’s hidden somewhere else.
But you guess you’ll never know …
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
Barry helps you into one of the carts, releases the brake, and you start rolling. You quickly pick up speed, but the tunnel is way too dark to see any distance ahead of you. Standing up to peer over Barry’s shoulder, you just manage to duck a low wooden beam.
“Follow my lead,” Barry says, leaning to the left.
You wonder what he’s doing, and then you see the switch in the tracks. The shaft again forks in two, but the right shaft is blocked by a rock fall. You lean hard left, just in time. The cart swings around the corner. That was way too close!
“Lean right, lean right!” Barry shouts.
This time you don’t even look. It’s only as you whizz safely into another shaft that you see the boards hammered across the tracks turning left.
Still, this is one heck of a roller coaster. When you get to the bottom, you might go back to the top. If you get to the bottom alive, that is.
“OK, buddy. Time to grab hold of that brake.”
As you move to take hold of the lever at the back of the cart, a crossbow bolt grazes the back of your hand. The demon monkey men are behind you, riding in another cart! You can just make out one of them reloading his crossbow.
“Hey! Are you listening back there? We need to slow down, pronto! There’s a steep bend ahead and I don’t want us coming off the rails.”
Another bolt whizzes past, zinging off the walls. You don’t want to give that sniper a better shot.
To brake and try to stay on the tracks, go to this page.
To try to outrun the thieves, go to this page.
You and Guy press into the swamp. The undergrowth is thick, with sharp branches and prickly leaves. Huge vines drape from the swollen branches of the mangroves. While you’re busy watching your feet, one of the vines—actually, a snake!—wraps itself under your chin like a noose and lifts you off the ground. Guy snatches the knife he keeps strapped to his leg and slashes you free.
“Eyes and ears. Danger is everywhere.” He looks way too happy about that.
“I guess that’s why Scarlett prefers the houseboat lifestyle,” you say, thinking of her, most likely smug and indoors.
“Don’t you worry about Scarlett,” Guy says, and you think he looks a little angry. “She’s very good at looking after number one.”
You wonder what this means. Should you be wary of Scarlett? Is she here to help herself, and not you after all?
After a while, Guy perks up again. As you walk, he points out a long list of hazards. Snakes, gator holes, spider nests, quicksand, swamp gas, ant mounds, poisonous berries, bloodsucking bats. By the time he’s finished, you’re expecting to die at any moment.
You come to a clearing. Guy stops. “Let’s use that brain of yours. We’re lost deep in the swamp—”
Your eyes widen. “We’re lost?”
“This is an exercise, kid. I’m going to teach you to survive out here. So how do we go about finding fresh water?”
You think quickly. You’re in the wilderness, surrounded by deadly creatures. But even they need to drink, right? “We follow an animal,” you say.
Guy’s face lights up and he slaps you on the back. Then he helps you up from the bush you’ve fallen into. “A plus. So let’s find a thirsty beast.”
You and Guy look around for animals to follow. Something rustles in a nearby tree. In the moonlight, you catch sight of a pale, cheeky face peering down at you.
“A monkey!” you say. “We can follow a monkey.”
Guy doesn’t look convinced. “Any amateur can follow a monkey,” he says. “This is way more exciting!” He’s pointing at a fat, dark-furred bee that is buzzing in circles around his head.
To insist on chasing the monkey, run to this page.
To buzz after the bee, go to this page.
The noise is coming from Silva’s cabin. You peer through the crack in his door and see him inside, crouching on the floor. He’s stuffing an old-style backpack with the treasure from the box. The treasure your great-aunt wanted you to find.
“That’s mine!” you blurt out, swinging open the door.
Silva stands up in shock. You worry he’s going to pull his sword from his scabbard and run you through with it. You’ll probably die of some weird, old-fashioned disease. Or maybe just from a sword wound in the gizzard.
Thankfully, his sword stays where it is. So does your gizzard.
Silva holds up both of his hands. “This isn’t what it looks like, my young friend. Go back to bed. I will explain everything when you wake.”
“So you’re not running off with all the gems in the middle of the night? Because that’s what it looks like.”
“No, no. Why would I abandon such a fine vessel as this?” He shakes his head vigorously. “There are thieves about, amigo. I am merely taking precautions. Go back to bed, for your own good.”
Maybe it’s just his tone, but that sounds a lot like a threat.
You’re not sure you’re convinced, but maybe you should listen to a man with a sword. Turn to this page.
On the other hand, Scarlett might know what to do. To shout and wake her, go to this page.
You don’t touch the brake. With you and Barry leaning right out of the cart, you just manage to cling to the rails.
Sparks fly as you careen around the curve and plunge into another tunnel. You’re picking up even more speed. The cart is rattling and the wind is whipping at your hair.
/> “I think we lost them!” you shout, looking behind you and seeing nothing.
“Good work!” Barry shouts back.
The track rises up and your stomach lurches. Then, at the top of the slope, the track disappears! A section has fallen into an open chasm.
The cart shoots into the air, then crashes down on the far side of the gap. You spill out, scraped and grazed from the tunnel floor.
When you sit up, you’re astonished to find the only thing you’ve broken is your flashlight.
Barry isn’t so lucky. “Think my ankle’s busted,” he says, wincing. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A thundering rattle clatters down the tunnel behind you. Those demon monkey men are still in pursuit! Luckily, they’ve been more cautious. Their cart isn’t moving anywhere near as quickly as yours was. It rattles off the end of the rails and plummets down into the chasm. You hear their screams and then a crash. Then, silence.
“That won’t be the last of them,” Barry says. “There’ll be more coming for us. We’re sitting ducks.”
You look down the tunnel. You can see a faint green glow. You remember what Barry said about the mask having special properties. Maybe the mask really is here.
Barry pulls a shortwave radio from his pocket. His hands are shaking too much to operate it. The radio drops to the ground and you pick it up.
“Someone out there’s got to hear us,” Barry says.
Do you stay with Barry to help him radio for backup? Or should you press on down the tunnel, in the hope of finding that mask?
To stay with Barry, turn to this page.
To go on alone, turn to this page.
You charge at the attackers. The man closest to you spins around in a panic and falls overboard. That’s a pretty good start!
You’re just about to congratulate yourself when another man swipes you with the back of his hand, knocking you along the deck.