فانوس دریایی قدیمی

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Old lighthouse

Let’s go and see the old lighthouse at Twin Oaks Point,” said Carlos. “Lighthouses are always interesting.”

It was a windy day and they walked along the cliff for almost an hour to get there. There was an old stone lighthouse on the cliff above the sea near two big oak trees.

“This was probably an important lighthouse in Captain Salamanca’s days,” said Mike. “Those two big oak trees look very old, too.”

“That’s why people called it Twin Oaks Point,” said Kate, laughing.

Carlos suddenly turned around and looked at the two oak trees. “Wait a minute” he said. “The Spanish word for ‘oak’ is roble - and the words de los Robles are written next to Juan Martinez’s name. That means ‘of the oaks’. Perhaps robles isn’t part of his last name but a clue.”

“You’re right, Carlos,” said Mike, “Robles could be a clue.”

“Perhaps he is buried under the oak trees. There are only two oaks in this area,” said Kate, looking at the two big trees.

The three friends ran to the oak trees and looked around. There was a lot of tall grass under them.

Suddenly Mike said, “Look, under the grass there’s a small tombstone - and half of it is underground. Let’s try and pull it out!”

They slowly pulled it out and looked at the name on the tombstone.

“It’s difficult to read but I think it says: Juan Martinez, 1570-1605” said Mike.

“It’s the name of the sea captain the pirates killed,” said Carlos excitedly. “He was Isabella Estrada’s husband. Could Captain Salamanca’s treasure be here?”

“What do you mean” asked Kate. “This is where Juan Martinez is buried.”

“Yes” cried Carlos. “It’s the perfect hiding place.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Mike. “We have to dig.”

“Aren’t you afraid” asked Kate. “Isn’t it bad luck?”

“I just want to dig under the tombstone,” said Mike.

“But we don’t have a spade,” said Carlos.

The three friends were silent for a moment.

“You know,” said Kate, “Dad has two spades on the boat. He uses them for his work.”

“That means we have to tell Mom and Dad,” said Mike.

“I think so,” said Kate. “I’m sure they’ll help us. They always do. We can tell them at dinner.”

That evening at dinner Kate, Mike and Carlos told Mr and Mrs Sullivan the whole story. They stopped eating and were very surprised; but they were not angry. They decided to help the three friends.

“This is an exciting adventure,” said Mrs Sullivan, “and you guys are very good detectives. We’ll help you.”

“If you find the treasure we’ll have to call the California Archaeological Society,” said Mr Sullivan, “because the treasure belongs to the State of California. Tomorrow morning we’ll go to the old Spanish lighthouse and start digging. Who knows what we’ll find!”

By ten o’clock the next morning they were at the old Spanish lighthouse. Mr Sullivan gave Mike and Carlos two spades and they started digging. They dug for a short time and suddenly Carlos’s spade hit something hard. He stopped digging and looked at Mike.

“I found something” cried Carlos.

“Let me help you,” said Mr Sullivan. They pulled a small wooden treasure chest out of the ground; it was heavy.

“Wow” said Kate and Mrs Sullivan looking at it.

“This is hard to believe,” said Mr Sullivan.

“Can we open it” asked Mike.

“Yes, of course,” said Mr Sullivan. “Let’s see what’s inside.”

The lock was broken and Carlos and Mike slowly opened the treasure chest. It was full of gold and silver coins, jewelry, pearls and a king’s crown.

“Wow” they all cried. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Look at all of these gold and silver coins” cried Kate.

Everyone stared at the treasure in silence but no one touched it.

“A pirate probably hid this treasure here in the 1600s,” said Carlos. “Another pirate knew about it and planned to come here and dig up the treasure.”

“Yeah,” said Mike, “and someone killed him because he didn’t want to tell his secret.”

“But he wrote his secret on a piece of paper and put it in his hat,” said Kate, “and we found it after four hundred years!”

“Why did Captain Salamanca have the treasure map” asked Carlos.

“That’s a mystery,” said Mike, smiling.

“What an exciting story,” said Mrs Sullivan, “Captain Salamanca’s treasure map brought you good luck.”

“People don’t find treasures every day in California,” said Mr Sullivan. “Now I’m going to call the California Archeological Society in San Francisco. They’ll be very surprised and happy.”

“What’s going to happen to the treasure” asked Mike.

“Archaeologists will study the treasure first,” said Mr Sullivan, “and then they’ll probably take it to one of the Californian museums. Journalists may want to write about you in the newspaper.”

“Our names in the newspaper,” said Kate happily. “That’s exciting!”

“Of course,” said Mrs Sullivan, “your adventure will be in all the papers and maybe on TV.”

“We’re proud of you,” said Mr Sullivan, smiling, “and of you too, Lucky.”

Lucky barked happily and ran around the treasure chest. Everyone laughed and Mrs Sullivan said, “Well, you didn’t get bored on this vacation.”

“Bored” the three friends said. “Never!”