Amelia Bedelia Digs In

by Herman Parish

  “Help!” she yelled. “HELP!” Had she tripped over the berry basket? No, it had rolled against the wall. She picked it up and looked inside.

  “A miracle,” she said. Five big fat berries were still there. She gobbled them down. “Uh-oh, I should have saved those,” she said. “What if they don’t find me for days?”

  Then a thought crossed her mind. One she was too afraid to say aloud. What if they don’t find me? Ever. Does anybody even miss me? It suddenly grew darker in the hole. She looked up. Something was blocking the last of the light.

  “WOOF!”

  “Finally!” Amelia Bedelia yelled. “Good girl!”

  Finally was as excited to see her as Amelia Bedelia was to see her dog. Finally whimpered and wiggled, scooting to the edge of the hole. It was clear that she wanted to leap into the hole with Amelia Bedelia.

  Holding up one hand, Amelia Bedelia signaled for Finally to stop. “Stay,” she said.

  Finally stayed.

  “Good girl. Now, get Mom!” Amelia Bedelia said. “Go get Dad!”

  But Finally didn’t leave. She kept scratching at the edge of the hole, making sand rain down. Amelia Bedelia vowed that if she ever got out, she would watch more old movies with Finally. Ones where the dog on the farm leads everyone to the girl who fell off her horse and broke her leg and is stuck fighting off a pack of coyotes until they rescue her. She vowed to take Finally back to puppy school too.

  “Amelia Bedelia! Where are you?” a familiar voice called.

  “Alice! Be careful!” yelled Amelia Bedelia, looking up at her friend’s concerned face. “I fell into a hole. If you hear a cracking sound, run!”

  “Stay here, Alice, I’m getting a line from my boat!”

  Amelia Bedelia was happy to hear Pearl’s voice too. She smiled when Pearl issued another order: “Jason, go back and get the grown-ups.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain Pearl!” yelled Jason.

  Soon Amelia Bedelia’s parents were peering down into the hole—and then Bob and Aunt Mary too.

  “Sweetie, are you okay?” called her mother.

  “Are you hurt?” said her father.

  “I’m fine!” called Amelia Bedelia. “This is too weird.”

  “We should all stand back,” said Bob, shining a flashlight around the berry patch. “It appears this isn’t solid ground. We might cause a cave-in.”

  Just then Pearl returned with her rope. She quickly tied a bowline knot at each end and looped one loop over Amelia Bedelia’s father.

  “You’re our anchor man,” she said. “Let’s lower the other end into the hole to Amelia Bedelia.”

  “I’m worried about anyone getting near that hole,” he said. “We don’t want it to collapse.”

  “Who weighs the least, Jason or Alice?” asked Aunt Mary.

  “How about Finally?” asked Pearl.

  “That’s why you’re the captain,” said Jason.

  Finally took the other end of the line in her mouth, walked over to the hole, and dropped the bowline knot in.

  Amelia Bedelia reached up, grabbed the loop, and put it over her head, then under her arms, so it was snug against her armpits.

  “When you’re ready, give us a tug!” yelled Pearl. “We’ll haul you up!”

  Amelia Bedelia took a last look around. She was reaching for the berry basket when she noticed something shiny sticking up out of the sand. “That’s what tripped me,” she said. It looked like a handle made of metal. She reached for it, tugging the rope by mistake. She’d just gotten hold of the handle when her family and friends began hoisting her up and out of the hole. Her feet were leaving the ground and swinging in the air, but she hung on to it.

  As they began pulling harder, Amelia Bedelia tightened her grip. She was almost upside down now, her feet dangling in midair. At last whatever the handle was attached to slid out of the sandpile, slowly at first and then with a plop. It was too dark in the hole now to see clearly what it was, but it was heavy. Amelia Bedelia kept hanging on until she cleared the edge of the hole. It was a chest, a little smaller than a mailbox. Grunting, she handed it to Bob.

  “Over to you, Metal Man,” she said.

  Once Amelia Bedelia was sitting safely on the grassy path outside the berry patch, everyone gathered around her to make sure she was all right. Then she got the sloppiest, wettest kiss ever—from Finally, who was nearly as good as her mom at kissing boo-boos.

  The evenings on Blackberry Island were chilly. Aunt Mary herded everyone inside and served her cobbler with whipped cream in the living room.

  Amelia Bedelia’s parents sat on either side of her, hugging their daughter like there was no tomorrow.

  “I’m fine, really,” said Amelia Bedelia. “I’m as fine as I was when you asked me a minute ago, Mom. I’m okay.”

  Amelia Bedelia’s father didn’t say a word. He gave her another hug on top of the twenty or so he’d already given her.

  “What did Amelia Bedelia find?” asked Jason. “Who built it?”

  “I’m no expert, but it might be a money pit,” said Bob.

  “Cool!” said Jason.

  “That’s what you called vacation homes,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Does our money pit have buried treasure in it, honey?” asked Mary.

  “It wasn’t buried in the ground,” said Bob. “This was more like a safe deposit box, where pirates could store their treasure.”

  “A buccaneer bank?” asked Jason.

  “That’s right,” said Bob. “Whoever owned the pit probably collected a fee for storing treasure, much like a banker. It was too risky for a pirate to sail around with all his loot. Other pirates would attack to get it. Or your ship could run aground or sink or catch fire.”

  “This sounds like that pit they found on Oak Island, in Canada,” said Alice. “I read about it.”

  “Pirates in Canada?” said her mother.

  “Cool!” said Jason.

  Bob took one last bite of his cobbler. Then, grabbing both handles of the chest, he lifted it up and toward him.

  “Okay, Amelia Bedelia,” he said. “Let’s look at what you found.”

  “I didn’t find it,” said Amelia Bedelia. “I fell onto it.”

  “You sure did,” said her father.

  “Then I stumbled over it,” she said.

  “Wish I were that lucky,” said Bob. “I’ve been searching all over for something like this my whole life.”

  “It was right in your own backyard,” said Jason. “Marked with an X.”

  Examining the chest, Bob let out a whistle so low that Finally, curled at Amelia Bedelia’s feet, looked up.

  “A true craftsman built this,” he said. “Using copper sheets so it won’t ever rust. Amazing!”

  “That’s why it lasted,” said Mary.

  “Looks like the lock rusted away, though,” said Pearl. “Salt air gobbles up iron.”

  “Like it was blackberry cobbler,” said Alice, finishing her last forkful.

  Bob carefully pried open what was left of the lock and lifted the top. The hinges let out tiny squeals.

  Everyone leaned in. What was in this buccaneers’ bank?

  But instead of immediately rummaging through the chest, Bob took photographs from every angle. “Pictures will help us remember how it was,” he said. “It’s a record of history.”

  Then he put down his camera and pulled out the biggest thing first, a heavy metal tube. He set it aside, revealing dozens of little rocks, the size and shape of thumbnails. Bob struck one with a camping knife, sending a shower of sparks onto the table.

  “Flints were like money then,” he said. “Valuable for starting fires and making guns fire. You’ve heard of flintlock pistols? The sparks from flint ignited the gunpowder in the gun, making it shoot.”

  “Even today, people say fire a gun, even though there’s no fire,” said Amelia Bedelia’s father.

  “Look, this one’s different,” said Amelia Bedelia. Reaching into the box, she pulled out a blackish d
isk. She dropped it into Bob’s hand.

  “This is a piece of eight,” said Bob.

  Amelia looked back in the box. “Where are the other seven pieces?” she asked.

  “That’s just what this particular coin is called,” said Bob. “It’s equal to eight reales in the currency of the Spanish Empire. Pirates were always robbing the Spanish Empire.”

  “When they needed change, they would cut that coin into eight pieces,” said Amelia Bedelia’s father.

  “From what I’ve read, four pieces of eight equal one of those,” said Aunt Mary, pointing at the gold doubloon, a gift from Bob, hanging around Jason’s neck.

  Bob put the piece of eight back in the chest and turned his attention to the brass tube, opening one end.

  Out slid another brass tube, with glass at both tips. When Bob pulled on the ends, the tube extended into three segments, each smaller than the last.

  “A spyglass!” shouted Jason.

  Looking through the eyepiece at the map above the fireplace, Bob smiled.

  “It works too!” he said. “I can see that X from here.”

  “Me too,” said Amelia Bedelia. But she was pointing at the end of the spyglass.

  Everyone leaned forward to inspect the spyglass. Sure enough, there was an X scratched on the rim, an X just like the one on the map.

  Bob sat back on the sofa and looked at Amelia Bedelia’s father. “You work in marketing, right?” he said.

  Amelia Bedelia’s father nodded.

  “If a rumor got out that a pirate treasure or something old and valuable had been found on this island, what would happen?” asked Bob.

  “You’d get lots of company,” said Amelia Bedelia’s father. “Reporters, photographers, television crews, boats, helicopters, drones with cameras . . .”

  “Stop!” said Aunt Mary.

  “Can we all join hands again?” asked Bob.

  They each took the hands of the person on either side of them, just as they’d done during grace at dinner.

  “I’d like us all to promise one thing,” said Bob. “Please don’t tell anyone about Amelia Bedelia’s discovery—until we’re ready to share the news.”

  Everyone nodded and made a promise to stay silent. The secret of Blackberry Island was safe. Then they all dropped hands.

  “Thank you,” said Bob.

  “Well, this has been another dull cookout,” said Aunt Mary.

  They all laughed.

  “I’ve had all the excitement I can stand,” said Bob. “I’d feel better if you all stayed over and went home in daylight.”

  “Sleepover!” said Jason. “Excellent!”

  “We have plenty of room for everyone,” said Aunt Mary.

  Before the girls headed for the living room to roll out their sleeping bags, Jason put up his map.

  “Last summer, I memorized this map,” he said. “This summer, I am living it. How amazing is that?”

  “It feels weird knowing a real secret,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Not gossip like you hear at school,” said Alice.

  “This secret could change things forever,” said Pearl.

  “Were you scared, Amelia Bedelia?” asked Alice.

  “A little bit,” said Amelia Bedelia. “But you found me before I had the chance to get really creeped out.”

  “I would have been scared,” said Alice.

  “Finally is a true hero,” said Pearl.

  Alice sat straight up. “What was that?” she said.

  “Was that some kind of animal?” asked Pearl.

  “It sure was. We call him Jason,” said Amelia Bedelia. “I forgot to tell you . . . my cousin snores. So loudly that we can hear him from the living room!”

  The next morning before everyone headed back to town, Aunt Mary made an amazing breakfast, featuring blackberry pancakes, of course. Amelia Bedelia had volunteered to gather the blackberries by herself. She did it to get over her fear of falling. She had learned a long time ago that if you fall off your bike, it’s good to get right back on and ride again. Her parents made her promise not to pick berries anywhere near the money pit, of course.

  As she plucked the first berry, a CRACK! sounded right behind her. Amelia Bedelia whirled around. BOOM! She ran right into Jason, knocking them both to the ground. Jason was laughing.

  “Got ya!” he said.

  “You’re mean,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “It was just bubble gum,” said Jason. “They sent me to make sure you don’t fall into any more holes.”

  “That money pit should be an obstacle at Pirate Putt-Putt,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Amelia Bedelia, you were actually a hole in one,” said Jason.

  “Yo-ho-ho. Very funny,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Where’s my free eye patch?”

  “How does it feel to be a golf ball?” said Jason.

  “I’d rather be a goofball, like you,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Like me?” said Jason.

  “Yes, I do,” she said. “Thanks for making sure I was okay.”

  After that Amelia Bedelia and Alice settled in to summer at the shore. They sailed with Pearl, surfed with Jason and Roger, dug big holes in the sand with Finally, read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies, and ate a ton of yummy summer beach food, especially ice cream and candy. The annual Beach Ball snuck up on everybody, just like it did every year.

  “The town is starting to look like a pirate convention,” said Amelia Bedelia’s father, coming in from shopping for his costume. “You can’t buy a lousy eye patch for twenty miles around.”

  Amelia Bedelia shrugged. “That’s good. Who wants a lousy one?” she said.

  Amelia Bedelia, Alice, and Jason weren’t sure what they wanted to wear to the Beach Ball.

  “I was able to dig up your costumes from last year,” said Mary. “Maybe you can recycle something.”

  “Aunt Mary, please don’t say dig up,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Sorry, I forgot,” said Mary.

  On the day of the Beach Ball, Amelia Bedelia, Alice, Pearl, and Jason arranged to meet near the Whereami on its float at the roundabout, where the parade would start. Pearl arrived carrying a small can of paint.

  “What do you want me to touch up?” asked Pearl.

  “Well, don’t touch wet paint,” said Amelia Bedelia. “You’ll get it all over yourself. Use a brush.”

  The friends all climbed on the parade float with the ship, and Pearl pulled brushes out of her pocket.

  “Perfect. Let’s change some letters on the name Whereami,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Can you paint over the W and make the H into a capital letter?”

  “That’s all? That’s easy,” said Pearl, getting to work.

  “Do you think we would have made good pirates?” asked Jason.

  “Pirates were bad guys,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “You can’t be a good bad guy,” said Alice.

  “Being the best bad guy means you’re the worst, right?” said Pearl.

  “Bob’s great . . . great . . . great-times-ten grandfather was probably a pirate,” said Jason.

  “That’s okay. My favorite cousin was a pirate,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “I am your only cousin,” said Jason, laughing.

  “Well, you’re definitely a good guy,” said Amelia Bedelia. “And so is Bob.”

  “Bob is a great guy,” said Jason. “He’s the best good guy there is.”

  “Yup,” said Amelia Bedelia. Then she touched the piece of eight she had discovered on Blackberry Island. It was now hanging around her neck on a silver chain, a gift from Bob and Aunt Mary. “I can’t wait to find out what he discovers about the history of that treasure.”

  The truck pulling the Hereami in the parade lurched ahead.

  “Avast, mateys, we’re under way!” said Jason.

  “Jason, if they don’t elect you mayor, come back and sack this town,” said Alice.

  “What kind of sack should he use? Paper or plastic?” said Amelia Bedelia. />
  “This is your dress rehearsal, Jason,” said Alice. “For your campaign.”

  “Or shorts rehearsal,” said Amelia Bedelia, pointing at Jason’s board shorts and giggling.

  “Look, there’s your dad,” said Jason.

  Amelia Bedelia’s father was crossing right in front of the truck pulling the Hereami. He was carrying four large milkshakes in a cardboard carrier. He must not have realized that the truck was moving. Slamming on his brakes, the truck driver let his air horn do the talking.

  Amelia Bedelia’s father leaped into the air, sending the drinks flying.

  “The driver of our ship just got your dad’s attention,” said Jason.

  “Okay, see you guys later,” said Pearl, climbing down from the ship while the truck driver helped Amelia Bedelia’s father up.

  “Aren’t you going to ride with us?” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “No, thanks. I’ve got my own boat,” said Pearl. “Besides, I stashed a bunch of water balloons at the next intersection.”