"Gum?" Cole said in surprise. "Are you sure that's all that's in there?"
"Yeah," said Maggie. "Is our next clue in there?"
"Um . . . let's see." Luke turned the container upside down and shook it.
Some tissue paper fluttered out. Then a folded piece of paper fell out.
Maggie picked up the folded paper. "It's another clue.
So this is definitely the right box," she said.
"Hey, William, why would your parents give us a few lousy sticks of gum?
That's not much of a treasure."
"Shh," Henry shushed her. Maggie was being rude.
"It is kind of weird," Cole said. "Do pirates even chew gum?"
Nathan shrugged. "I don't think so," he said.
"I doubt they can get it on the high seas."
Luke laughed. "Maybe they steal it from the ships they raid."
He tilted his pirate hat and then pretended to swing his sword.
"Ahoy, mateys! Give me your gum, or I'll make you walk the plank!"
Nathan pretended to fight back with an invisible sword.
"No way!" he cried. "I'll die before I hand over my gum!"
"Stop messing around, you guys," Maggie said.
"Seriously, why would William's parents give us gum?
It doesn't fit in with the pirate theme at all."
Henry didn't say anything, but he had to agree.
"Oh well." Cole grabbed one of the sticks of gum.
"At least we can chew gum while we follow the next clue."
Then he looked at the gum and wrinkled his nose.
"Yuck," he added. "Never mind. It's watermelon. I hate that flavor."
"Watermelon? Cool!" Luke grabbed another stick of gum.
"That's my favorite. I buy this gum at the general store every time I come here.
Anna's store is the only place I know that sells this brand."
"Your family owns a general store?" Maggie asked Anna.
"Great deduction, detective Maggie," Nathan said sarcastically.
Henry was surprised by Nathan's remark.
"Is Nathan still mad at Maggie for grabbing the map away from him earlier?" Henry thought.
That wasn't like Nathan at all.
He almost never got mad. And even if he did, he didn't stay mad for long.
"My family's store is one of the oldest businesses in Sea Cove," Anna told Maggie.
"My great-grandfather started the store a long time ago.
Everyone in town shops there."
Luke grinned and blew a bubble. "Yeah. They have the best gum in town!"
Cole tossed his gum back into the container.
"I still think a few sticks of gum is a weird prize," he said.
"Especially for a pirate treasure hunt.
Are you sure we found the right box, William?"
"How should I know?" William snapped with a frown.
"I didn't have anything to do with this stupid scavenger hunt."
Cole looked surprised. "Okay," he said.
Henry bit his lip. Everyone seemed a little grouchy right now.
"Why don't we go see if lunch is ready?" he suggested.
"Maybe we can ask William's parents about the gum."
"Good idea," Cole agreed. "All this treasure hunting has made me hungry."
They headed back to the house.
A lunch of sandwiches and juice was set out on the deck.
William's parents were there too, sipping tall glasses of iced tea.
As the kids sat down to eat, they told William's parents about how the treasure hunt was going so far.
When they got to the part about the gum, William's mother looked surprised.
"Gum?" she said. "I didn't put any gum in the box."
Maggie nodded. "The next clue was in the box too."
She took the piece of paper out of her shorts pocket and held it up.
William's parents traded a confused look.
"Are you sure there wasn't a white envelope in the box too?" William's father asked.
"We're sure," Henry said.
"There was nothing inside except the clue, some tissue paper, and a few sticks of gum."
"What was in the envelope?" Luke asked William's parents.
"Your booty," William's father answered.
"Seven movie tickets—one for each of you."
"Movie tickets?" Maggie said.
William's mother nodded. "Not just ordinary movie tickets, either," she said.
"They were for the local premiere of Revenge of the Pirate's Ghost."
The kids gasped.
That was the title of the new pirate movie that was coming out next month.
"Revenge of the Pirate's Ghost?" Nathan cried. "I'm dying to see that!"
"You know what this means, don't you?" Maggie said.
"What?" Luke asked.
"Someone stole our pirate booty." Maggie glanced at Henry and Cole.
"This is a job for The Lemonade Detectives!"