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Chapter three

The Treasure Map

Mike’s science class had a great time at Muir Woods National Park. Miss Williamson, the science teacher, showed them some of the world’s oldest and tallest trees. She was everyone’s favorite teacher at Galileo High because her classes were always interesting and fun.

She started the Galileo Science Club and Mike and Carlos were both members. There were club meetings every Wednesday afternoon after school.

When Mike and Carlos came back from Muir Woods they went to Carlos’s house to talk about their summer trip.

“I’m really excited about this trip,” said Carlos. “With the old pirate map we can look for the treasure.”

“And if we’re lucky we’ll find it,” said Mike.

“It won’t be easy,” said Carlos. “Pirates were clever people and their maps had secret messages that are difficult to understand. Do you have the map with you?”

“No, I hid it on the bookshelf in my room,” said Mike. “Only Kate knows where it is.”

“Do your parents know about it” asked Carlos.

“No, not yet,” said Mike. “My Mom always says, ‘Be careful, it’s dangerous!”

They laughed and Carlos said, “My parents are the same - everything that’s fun is dangerous.”

“But we’ll be careful,” said Mike.

“Next time let’s meet at your house and we can look at the map,” said Carlos.

“Good idea,” said Mike. “It’s all written in Spanish.”

“No problem for me,” said Carlos, laughing.

Friday was the last day of school and everyone talked about their exciting vacation plans. That evening Mr Sullivan told his family more about the trip, and Mike and Kate listened carefully.

“We’ll sail next Wednesday from Marina Harbor and go north to Bodega Bay where we’ll moor The Pelican. We’ll probably stay five or six days. I have to work at Point Reyes National Seashore and the Farallon Islands, and Mom is going to help me. Now will you three be OK? Do you have something to do or will you get bored?”

“Oh, we won’t get bored, Dad,” said Kate, thinking about the treasure map.

“Don’t worry, Dad,” said Mike, “Kate, Carlos and I can stay on the beach, play in the sea or go for walks in the hills.”

“Alright,” said Mrs Sullivan, “you can stay on the beach but you mustn’t swim in the sea. Remember, this is the Pacific Ocean and there are a lot of sharks, and they swim close to the beach. They’re very dangerous.”

Mike laughed and said, “We’ll be careful, Mom, and we won’t go swimming.”

“You’re free to do what you want during the day,” said Mr Sullivan, “but we’ll meet for dinner on The Pelican every evening at about six. If you have any problems, just call or text Mom or me on our cell phones.”

Kate and Mike went upstairs and phoned Carlos.

“Hi Carlos,” said Mike. “Can you come to my house right now? We can look at the map and start making plans.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” said Carlos happily.

Mike took the old treasure map from the bookshelf and put it on his desk. When Carlos arrived the three of them sat around the desk and looked at it carefully.

“Gee, this is exciting,” said Carlos, touching it. “An old pirate map. Look, that’s where Bodega Bay is, but it doesn’t say that, it just says Baia. That’s interesting because today in Spanish ‘bay’ is ‘bahia’, but maybe the spelling was different in the 1600s. Looking at this map we can see a town already existed there at that time.”

“It was probably a pirate’s town,” said Mike. “There’s a big harbor, the perfect place for pirates to hide. This is also very interesting because my book on the history of California says that Bodega Bay wasn’t discovered until 1775. Looking at this map people lived in the area long before.”

“Look on the corner of the map,” said Kate. “There’s a date, 1608.”

“That’s the year of the shipwreck of The Sonora,” said Carlos. “Captain Salamanca probably hid his treasure that year, before the shipwreck in November.”

“What else does it say on his map” asked Mike. “Hmm, north of the town there’s the word cementerio.”

“In Spanish that means ‘cemetery’,” said Carlos. “It was probably the town cemetery.”

“Near the cemetery there’s a place called Hacienda Estrada,” said Mike. “And there’s a small river near it called Rio Estrada.”

“Hacienda means a big farm or ranch, and Estrada was probably the name of the family who owned it,” said Carlos.

“Look, there’s a drawing of a lighthouse on the coast” said Mike.

“There’s a big black ‘X’ east of the town with the word Agua,” said Kate.

“Agua in Spanish means ‘water’,” said Carlos. “That was probably where the pirates got their drinking water - a water well.”

“There are some red lines that go south from the town to what is now Doran Beach,” said Mike.

“But where’s the treasure” asked Kate.

“Good question,” said Mike. “The places on the map are probably important clues.”

“We have almost a week to explore them,” said Carlos.

“Why don’t we start with the water well” said Kate, excitedly. “That’s a good place to hide a treasure.”

“OK,” said Mike and Carlos.

“That’ll be the first place we look,” said Mike.