The adventure

Other than his uncle, Gary was the only person Julian trusted. Although his uncle had told him not tell anyone about the treasure, he did not hesitate to tell Gary about it that evening.

“So, are you’re going to look for it,” Gary asked. They were seated in the entertainment room watching a sci-fi movie they’d seen before.

Julian laughed. “Are you mad? Of course not. That’s ridiculous. I’m going to find a job and work as hard as possible so I can get my own place. I don’t have time to go digging around the city in the hopes of finding some ancient treasure. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

“You admitted that you’ve always found your family mysterious,” Gary said. “Maybe there’s no treasure but there has to be a reason why those spots were marked. What if they mean something to the family? What if this holds some of the answers you have sought your whole life? You said your parents’ bodies were never found. What if this has something to say about that?”

Julian sighed. “I think you’re taking this a little too serious. I was hoping you’d see how crazy that Mason is but you’re now on his side. If there’s really something good, why didn’t he go for it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe that was meant for you.”

Julian grabbed a can of coke and drank everything in it. When he was done, he put it back on the table. “I don’t believe you actually think this is worth trying.”

“I’ll help you look for it. Besides, what’s the harm in trying? We have a lot of free time now and we need to do something other than watch movies, party and play games. Let’s take it as an adventure. First, we need to find out where those spots are currently located, then figure out how to dig there without being noticed. I don’t think it will be easy but we have to do it. It’s better to know what’s going on. If you don’t do it, you’ll always wonder what you could have found if you did. I say we do it.”

Gary turned off the television and Julian spread the map on the table. The two boys started studying the map. Thirty minutes later, they left the house and started driving around the city in Gary’s car, with a notebook and pen. They followed the map and were able to discover where all the spots were. At first, it was hard but as they began to understand the map, it become easier to find the spots. 

During the next few days, they dug through the spots of the map that were outside the city, in less urban locations. Most of them were in farms and bare land so it was easy. By the end of the first week, they had remained with five locations to check. Julian wanted to give up but Gary convinced him to continue the search. He was optimistic, and was enjoying the adventure. 

“So, let’s see.” Gary said one morning. They were in his room making plans for the day. “We are remaining with five places to go to. The cemetery, the Northern giant’s soccer field, the plaza, the middle of Oakfield road and by the side of Willow Street. Wow.”

“How the hell are we supposed to dig in the middle of the plaza?” Julian asked.

“I have no idea,” his friend said. “Let’s just hope that whatever we are looking for isn’t there.”

“But that’s not even the worst place. We can sneak in somehow or convince the guard to do it but what about the road. How do you start digging the middle of the road? I say we give up on this thing. I don’t think there’s anything to find. Maybe someone already found it. For instance, if it was in the plaza, someone would have found it when they were digging the foundation.”

“So we can rule it out. The plaza and the road will be the last places we check, if we have to. Let’s start with the cemetery, and then we’ll do the side of Willow road. Those places are technically not owned by anyone so it will be easy.”

“There’s a guard at the cemetery.”

“You mean that old drunk Ronnie. We’ll just buy him some booze and he’ll be knocked within minutes.”

“Sounds like you’ve done that before.”

“I have.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Let’s focus on the issue at hand for now. We will go to the cemetery tonight.”

The boys continued to make their plans. Thirty minutes later, they left the room and went to have breakfast. Kierra was extra nice to them. Julian had noticed that Kierra was very nice to him when Gary was around but when he was away, she treated him like dirt. Julian had not voiced it to Gary. He preferred to just ignore her. The woman had a crush on Gary who never seemed to notice her. Gary was in love with his long distance girlfriend whose parents had moved to another state, taking her with them.

Gary and Julian made their way slowly between the rows of tombstones, while studying the coordinates on the map. 

“This place gives me the creeps,” Julian complained, clutching his flashlight tight.

“Don’t be a baby,” his friend said. “We are almost there. I wonder where Ronnie is.”

“We should have looked for him first. Don’t want that guy knowing that there’s a treasure in town. He’ll tell the whole world.”

“I think it’s over there,” Gary pointed ahead with his flashlight. Julian flashed at the map and saw the spot.

“Let’s check it out.”

Because the map wasn’t very specific, they had to dig through a fairly large area to find the spot. Thankfully, there were no graves on that part of the cemetery. They put their flashlights on the ground and started digging. A minute later, they heard someone yelling.

“What are you doing there?”

Julian looked up to see a shadow running towards them, a torch in hand. He and Gary grabbed their shovels and started running in the opposite direction.

“Why can’t we try to talk to him?” Julian asked.

“That run is probably making him sober,” Gary said. “I’m not going to jail. We shall return another time.”

The boys managed to get out of the cemetery without being caught. They took their tools back to the car. They sat in it for a long time in silence, each lost in thought. Julian was thinking it was time for them to give up and do something more productive with their time.

“Let’s go to Willow Street,” Gary suggested.

Julian didn’t feel like arguing. “Okay.”

Gary started the car. Five minutes later, they were at the location. They studied the map carefully before zeroing on a location. After deciding on where to dig, they went and parked the car in another street before returning to did.

Gary stood to watch the road as Julian got to work. He kept digging haphazardly for a while, his heart thumping fast. He was about to give up when he felt something. Julian dug again, softly this time. He felt the shovel hit a metal. His heart nearly stopped.

“I think I found something,” he said.

Gary was by his side within seconds. He grabbed the shovel from Julian and dug around the metallic box. When it was clear enough, Julian pulled it out. Gary continued to dig but it seemed there was nothing else. He proceeded to put cover up the hole he had dug until the area was levelled. 

“Let’s go before someone finds us here,” Gary said.

Julian nodded and they started walking away with their tools. When they were safe in the car, Gary started driving.

“We’ll open it from home,” Julian said. The metal felt quite light so he was sure it wasn’t full of gold coins. It was disappointing so he wasn’t expecting much from the box. Unless it contained a clue to where the real treasure was.

His heart was beating fast, as he wondered what his ancestors had left him.