“That’s its nest,” I explained. “Did you know that a bald eagle’s nest can weigh up to a ton and measure up to eight feet across?”
“Ooo, ‘Fun Facts with Truly’!” Cha Cha sounded like Mackenzie, who loved to tease me about what she called my obsession with birds. She quickly added, “But that’s a really cool fun fact.”
After lunch, it was time to explore. Scooter pulled out his cell phone and scrolled to the picture of the topographical map we’d found at the library.
“How about we start with the trail that circles the island,” suggested Calhoun, squinting at it.
“What are we looking for?” asked Jasmine.
I shrugged. “I have a feeling we’ll know it when we see it.”
Our loop around the small island revealed exactly nothing, though.
“Guess we’re going to have to bushwhack in toward the center,” said Calhoun.
The island’s tangled interior was not an inviting prospect. But Calhoun was right—there really wasn’t an alternative.
“Let’s head for that big tree with the eagle’s nest in it,” I suggested. “We want to look for something that might have been around when Nathaniel Daniel was here. A tree like that one, a big rock—some landmark that would have been easy for him to find again.”
“Good thinking,” said Cha Cha, but after another half hour we still had nothing, unless you counted the scratches on our arms and legs from pushing through the undergrowth.
“Too bad we don’t have a treasure map.” Jasmine leaned back against a tree trunk and pulled out her water bottle. The rest of us pulled ours out too. It was hot, even in the shade.
We were quiet for a while, listening to the lapping of the water on the shore nearby. It was disappointing to have come so far and not find anything that looked remotely like a pirate’s hideout.
“If you were going to stash a treasure someplace,” I mused aloud, “where would you put it?”
“Inside a hollow tree?” Cha Cha suggested.
I shook my head. “Lightning could strike, the tree could fall down in a storm—not safe enough.”
“It’s not like there’s a bank vault out here,” said Scooter.
“Not a vault, but someplace secure,” I told him. “Dandy Dan had a lot of pirate gold to stash away, and he’d have wanted to keep it safe.”
Calhoun dumped the rest of the contents of his water bottle over his head. “Let’s take one more look, then call it a day. I want to go for a swim.”
We spread out this time, and for a while there was nothing but the sound of branches snapping underfoot and people slapping at mosquitoes. Then Scooter gave a yelp that brought the rest of us thrashing toward him through the underbrush.
“It’s probably nothing,” he said, pointing to what looked like a dark crevice beside a boulder. “It’s so overgrown I almost missed it.”
The six of us tugged on the vines and branches that covered the crevice, and a few minutes later were rewarded with what was clearly a genuine opening. My skin prickled in excitement. “This could be it, guys!”
“What if it’s a bear’s den?” asked Lucas.
My excitement fizzled. Jasmine took a step back in alarm. It did kind of look like it could be a bear’s den.
Calhoun shook his head. “No scat.”
“No what?” Scooter’s forehead puckered.
“Scat,” I told him. “Animal droppings—poop. Calhoun is right. I don’t think anything or anyone lives here.”
We turned on the flashlight apps on our cell phones and shined them inside. The opening led to a narrow passageway—too narrow for most of us—and blackness beyond.
I looked over at my friends. “Lucas, you and Cha Cha are the only ones small enough to fit.”
Cha Cha scowled. “No way am I going in there!”
Lucas turned even paler than his usual shade of pale. “My mother would kill me.”
“So don’t tell her, duh!” scoffed Scooter.
“Shut up, Scooter,” said his sister.
“Maybe we should come back tomorrow with better flashlights,” said Cha Cha,
As we turned to go, Calhoun shrugged off his backpack again. “No time like the present,” he said, and we paused to watch as he pulled out a length of rope, a bike helmet, a headlamp, and some duct tape. Noticing us staring at him, he straightened. “What? You can’t go spelunking without the proper equipment.”
Scooter’s forehead pleated again. “Spe-what?”
“Spelunking—you know, cave exploring. I figured a cave might be one possibility that Dandy Dan would consider, and I thought I might as well come prepared in case we found one.”
I stared at him, wondering if he would ever cease to amaze me.
“You can do this,” Calhoun said, turning to Lucas and cinching the rope around his waist.
Swim team had been good for Lucas. He was still skinny, but he’d added muscle over the past months. He still looked anxious, though.
“You can’t breathe a word about this to your mother!” I told him.
“Are you crazy?” He shook his head vigorously. “Not a chance.”
Calhoun settled the bike helmet on Lucas’s head and strapped it firmly in place. Then he reached over and flipped on the headlamp he’d attached with duct tape. “Okay, buddy, in you go. Just take it slow and steady, inch by inch. There’s no rush.”
Squaring his narrow shoulders, Lucas nodded, then crouched down and squeezed into the opening. “Yuck,” he said. “It’s kind of damp in here.” There was silence for a bit. We could hear him scrabbling around. “The tunnel gets bigger!” His voice echoed. He sounded nervous, but a little excited, too. And then there was silence again.
“Lucas?” Calhoun called.
There was no response.
“Lucas!” This time, Calhoun’s question was answered by a squeak and more scrabbling as Lucas came backing swiftly out of the opening. He was covered with dirt and leaves and pine needles.
“Is it a bear?” asked Jasmine, her eyes wide.
Lucas shook his head. “Worse. There’s a big hole in the ground, and I almost fell in!”
CHAPTER 30
It took some convincing,
