"You found the spot where the treasure is buried?" Cole ran toward Maggie.
Henry and the others rushed after him.
Even Roger wandered over, looking curious.
Maggie was still digging in the sand. Cole, Henry, Nathan, and Luke joined in.
Soon they uncovered a large wooden trunk.
"It looks like a real pirate chest!" Nathan said.
He looked at Roger. "Doesn't it?"
"Sure does." Roger winked. "Have fun with your treasure, kids.
But watch out for Roger Redbeard!" He wandered off, whistling.
"What are we waiting for, you guys?" Cole said eagerly.
"Let's find out what our booty is!"
Maggie opened the trunk. "Pirate hats!" she said.
Luke grabbed one and then handed another one to Henry.
"This one has your name on it, Henry."
Cole pulled out more hats. "We each have one."
Nathan grinned and put on his hat. "Do I look like a pirate?"
Anna snorted. "You look like a kid with a dumb hat on to me," she said.
Laughing, she tried her hat on too.
Henry put on his hat and glanced at William. William hadn't touched his hat.
And instead of laughing at how silly everyone looked, William had an angry scowl on his face.
Henry moved closer to Cole.
"Did you notice how strange William is acting today?" he whispered.
"No." Cole glanced toward William. "What do you mean?"
"He doesn't seem very excited about this treasure hunt," Henry whispered.
"Do you think it's because he helped his parents hide the booty?
Maybe he's trying not to give us any hints."
"Maybe." Cole shrugged. "Or maybe he's bored because he does cool stuff like this all the time.
His family is really rich, remember?" Cole went on.
"They might have fancy treasure hunts every weekend."
Meanwhile Luke had spotted a folded-up piece of paper inside the treasure chest.
"I think this is our next clue," he said.
Maggie unfolded the piece of paper.
It was a drawing of a blue object along the beach.
"What do you think this is supposed to be?" she murmured.
"A swimming pool?" said Cole.
"It looks like a little pond," said Henry.
"Or a tide pool!" said Anna. "I bet that's what it is."
Luke glanced around the beach. "Where's the closest one?" he asked.
"Hmm . . . ," Anna said, thinking.
"There are at least four tide pools near here.
We should split up and check all of them."
"Nathan and I will search together," Luke said.
"I'll go with Henry," Maggie said.
"Okay," Anna said. "I can search alone, since I know this beach better than anyone else."
"I guess that leaves you and me," Cole told William with a grin.
Anna told each pair where to go. Then the kids set out in different directions.
It took Henry and Maggie about half an hour to find their tide pool and look for the treasure.
But they didn't find anything.
"Let's go see if the others found the treasure," Maggie said.
They returned to the beach in front of the house. Cole was already there.
"Did you find the booty?" Maggie asked him.
"Nope," Cole said. "Did you?"
Henry shook his head. "Where's William?" he asked.
"William left right after we all split up," Cole replied.
"He said he had to use the bathroom. But he never came back."
Cole frowned, looking annoyed. "I had to find our tide pool all by myself."
Before Henry could respond, he saw Anna walking toward them.
"No luck, huh?" she asked. "Me neither."
Just then they all heard a shout. It was Nathan.
He was racing down the beach toward them, waving his arms.
"We found it!" he cried.
He skidded to a stop and then bent over to catch his breath.
He started coughing.
"Take it easy," Cole said. "Did you say you found the booty?"
Nathan nodded. When he finally stopped coughing, he said, "Luke and I had some trouble finding our tide pool.
But when we got there, we spotted something in the water right away.
Come on, I'll show you."
Henry, Maggie, Anna, and Cole followed him down the beach.
When they reached Nathan's tide pool, Maggie gasped.
"It's tear-shaped—like the picture on the map!"
Luke was fishing a plastic container out of the water.
William was there, watching him.
"Is that the treasure?" Maggie wondered, eying the box. "It's pretty small."
"Open it," Nathan urged.
Luke opened the container. Then he frowned. "This can't be the treasure."
"Why not?" Henry asked. "What's wrong?"
Luke held the container out so they could all see inside.
"There's nothing in here except a few soggy sticks of gum!"