by Betsy Byars
Chapter Seven
The Hunt for the Frozen Treasure
Goat and I sat in the middle of the garage. We were surrounded by boxes, empty cans, milk cartons, newspapers, paper towels, coffee grounds, and grease.
We had dug through the entire garbage and we had not found the treasure.
We were sitting there in misery when Mrs. McGee came into the garage.
“What have you done?” she cried.
Neither Goat nor I could answer.
“I swept the garage this morning and now look at it. What have you done?”
“We were looking for the treasure,” Goat said.
“You are to clean every bit of this up. Do you hear me?”
Goat said, “Yes.”
“Every bit of it. And you are to help him.” She pointed to me. She liked to point as much as my mom.
“I will.”
She went back into the house. Goat and I got the broom and the dustpan and the mop, and we cleaned the garage. Then we went into the living room and Goat said to his mother, “Do you want to check the garage?”
“No,” she said. “I trust you.”
Shoulder to shoulder, we started out of the room.
“By the way,” his mom asked, “what were you boys looking for?”
“The treasure,” Goat and I said together.
“What treasure?” she asked.
“Well, I made a treasure for Goat,” I said, “and I gave it to the ogre—excuse me. I gave it to Rachel to put in—”
“The ogre stole my treasure and buried it,” Goat added in a rush.
“What kind of treasure was this?” Mrs. McGee asked, looking at me.
“It was in a plastic bag,” I explained. “I wanted to hide it myself, but the ogre—excuse me, Rachel—wouldn’t let me.”
Mrs. McGee said, “Rachel, would you come in here, please.”
Rachel appeared in the door. “Yes?” she asked nicely.
“What did you do with Jackson’s treasure?” Mrs. McGee asked.
“You mean that plastic bag of junk?” she asked. “I put the plastic bag of junk exactly where he asked me to. I put it in the freezer.”
“Goat said you buried it,” said Mrs. McGee.
“I did. I buried it in the freezer,” she said, “under the frozen vegetables. Can I go back to my room now?”
“Yes.”
Then Mrs. McGee said, “I have had enough of this treasure.”
Goat said, “Me too.”
“You boys get the treasure out of my freezer and be done with it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Goat said.
Goat and I turned and walked back to the kitchen. Goat opened the refrigerator door. He reached under the boxes of vegetables and pulled out the treasure.
It was as pitiful as a frozen chicken.
Goat looked at it for a moment, then he opened it.
“Ah, Superman!” he said when he saw the comic book.
The paper crackled as he opened it.
I felt a little better. That’s what a pal can do for you.
“And the fake ice cube! You gave me the fake ice cube!”
My heart warmed along with my treasure.
“And M&M’s. I’ve never had a frozen M&M. Let’s eat them quick. Two for you, two for me.”
I put mine in my mouth. Frozen M&M’s last a long time, but finally we walked to the door.
Goat said, “Well, Jackie, it’s been a long, hard day of treasure hunting.”
I said, “It sure has.”
Goat said, “But tomorrow, let’s do something else.”
I said, “Suits me.”
I opened the door and ran through the darkness for home.
About the Author and Illustrator
BETSY BYARS was born and grew up in North Carolina. She was graduated from Queens College, in Charlotte, and now lives with her husband in South Carolina. They are the parents of three daughters and a son.
Byars is the author of many books for children, including SUMMER OF THE SWANS, which was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1971; GOOD-BYE, CHICKEN LITTLE; and THE PINBALLS, which was an ALA Notable Children’s Book and was also the basis of a popular ABC-TV Afterschool Special.
She has also written three popular I Can Read Books about the Golly Sisters: THE GOLLY SISTERS GO WEST, HOORAY FOR THE GOLLY SISTERS!, and THE GOLLY SISTERS RIDE AGAIN, all illustrated by Sue Truesdell.
JENNIFER BARRETT was graduated from Moore College of Art and Design. Her other books for children include the I Can Read Book THE OUTSIDE DOG by Charlotte Pomerantz, which she illustrated under the name Jennifer Plecas.
She and her husband live in Missouri.
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Credits
Cover art © 1991 by Jennifer Barrett
Copyright
Portions published previously in Cricket magazine.
THE SEVEN TREASURE HUNTS. Text copyright © 1991 by Betsy Byars. Illustrations copyright © 1991 by Jennifer Barrett. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Byars, Betsy Cromer.
The seven treasure hunts / by Betsy Byars ; illustrated by Jennifer Barrett.
p. cm.
Summary: Two boys make up a series of treasure hunts for each other, with disastrous and hilarious results.
ISBN 0-06-020885-6. — ISBN 0-06-020886-4 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 0-06-440435-8 (pbk.)
EPub Edition © March 2016 ISBN 9780062265371
[1. Treasure hunt—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction.] I. Barrett, Jennifer, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.B9836Se 1991 90-32043
[Fic]—dc20 CIP
AC
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First Harper edition, 1992
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