صندوق گنج

CHAPTER FOUR

The Treasure Chest

The Pelican left Marina Harbor in San Francisco on a foggy Wednesday morning. Early in the afternoon the Sullivans and Carlos got to the town of Bodega Bay and moored the boat at the small pier.

They had lunch and then Mr Sullivan said, “Your Mom and I have to start working and we’re sailing to Point Reyes. We’ll be back at the pier at dinner time. Have fun.”

“Thanks,” said the three friends. “See you at dinner.”

They got off The Pelican and watched it sail away.

“Do you have the map” asked Carlos.

“Yeah, it’s in my bag,” said Mike, looking at his watch. “It’s half past two; we have about four hours before dinner time.”

“This is exciting,” said Kate, “we can start on our treasure hunt!”

Mike took the map out and said, “Let’s start with the water well.” The three friends looked at the map carefully.

“The water well is east of the town,” said Carlos. “The harbor is west of the town and the hills are east - we have to go to the hills. They looked east and saw some brown hills.

“Let’s explore them,” said Mike, “and see if the water well is still there. We can follow this path.”

They followed the path into the hills and spent the afternoon looking for the water well, but they found nothing. Lucky had a lot of fun running up and down the hills and everyone enjoyed watching him.

“I don’t think there’s a water well in these hills,” said Kate, who was hot and tired, “and I’m thirsty.”

“There’s nothing in these hills,” said Carlos, laughing.

“Hey, guys, it’s almost five o’clock,” said Mike. “It’s time to go back; dinner is at half past six. On the way back we can stop at the supermarket and buy some cold drinks.”

“Good idea,” said Kate. “We didn’t have much luck today.”

“We’ll explore the area south of Bodega Bay tomorrow,” said Mike.

“Yeah, there are red lines that go all the way to Doran Beach,” said Carlos. “Red lines probably mean something.”

“I hope so,” said Mike.

Dinner time was fun because Mrs Sullivan cooked a great meal and everyone had something to say about the day. After dinner they all played cards and went to bed early.

The next morning Mrs Sullivan made sandwiches for Kate, Mike and Carlos.

“Dad and I are going to go to Point Reyes again today,” said Mrs Sullivan. “Where are you going?”

“Oh, we’re going to take a long walk on the beach,” said Kate.

“Don’t forget to put on some sun protection then. See you at dinner,” said Mrs Sullivan. “Have fun.”

Kate, Mike and Carlos started walking south to Doran Beach and Lucky ran ahead of them. It was a beautiful, sunny day and there were a lot of people on the beach enjoying the sun. Behind the long beach there was a tall cliff.

Suddenly Carlos saw a small opening in the cliff.

“Hey, look over there,” he said, “there’s a small opening.”

“Let’s go inside and look around,” said Mike. Kate, Carlos and Lucky slowly followed him.

“It’s a cave,” said Carlos excitedly. “Did you bring a flashlight?”

“Yeah, here it is,” said Mike, turning it on. “Look, there are some stone steps that go down.”

“Perhaps they go to another cave,” said Carlos. “Let’s go.”

“Is this where the treasure is, do you think” asked Kate.

“It’s a good hiding place,” said Mike, walking slowly down the stone steps.

“Gee, it’s really dark and scary in here,” said Kate.

The three friends walked into another cave and there was some sea water on the ground.

“It’s not very dark in here,” said Mike, looking up.

“There’s a hole up there - a small opening,” said Carlos. “And I can see the sky.”

“How strange,” said Kate who was a bit nervous.

They looked around the cave but it was empty. Then suddenly Carlos saw something.

“Mike, come here with your flashlight,” cried Carlos. “There’s something in the corner over here.”

“Let’s see,” said Mike looking in the dark corner with his flashlight. “There’s– a big old box.”

“Box” cried Kate. “It’s the treasure chest!”

The three friends were surprised and looked at each other, and Lucky started barking.

“You’re right,” cried Mike and Carlos. They looked at the big wooden box; it was very old.

“It’s the treasure,” said Kate excitedly.

“But we don’t know what’s inside,” said Carlos.

“Well, let’s open it,” said Mike.

“There’s a big lock on it,” said Kate.

“Let’s break the old lock,” said Mike.

Mike took a big stone and hit the lock a few times, but it didn’t break.

“Here,” said Kate, “try with this stone, it’s much bigger.”

But the old lock didn’t break.

“Let me try,” said Carlos, hitting the lock again. Suddenly the old lock broke and they were ready to open Captain Salamanca’s treasure chest.