Chapter 4
Story
“Sophie, come on. We don’t have long . . .”
Annabel stands by the door of the changing room, waving at me to hurry up while I hop about, trying to pull on my outdoor shoes. They’re the ones we only wear for break time. I don’t know why.
Once I’m done, I run toward her and the treasure map she’s waving in my face.
“Where are you going?” asks Mary, pointing at the map in Annabel’s hand. “What’s that?”
“A secret treasure map for school,” Annabel replies.
Mary’s mouth opens into a perfect circle. “Where did you get that from?”
“Sophie and I drew it.”
“So it’s not a real treasure map?”
“Sure it is,” I say, pulling the door open. “We’re going on an adventure with it. Do you want to come?”
Mary looks nervously toward Mrs. Stevens, our art teacher. She’s such a goody-goody and always needs permission for everything. But my granny always says it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, which I think means you have more adventures if you don’t ask.
And we’re not doing anything naughty, anyway.
Last week, Mrs. Stevens set the task of creating something based on an object she gave us, and today, we had to finish it. Annabel and I were given a pirate’s hook, just like in Peter Pan. I saw that Hendricks was given a shell, and I think he and Miles painted a beach.
We always have to go in pairs, and Annabel and I were together.
We have art with the other Year 3 class, so Hendricks pairs with Miles, or sometimes he pairs with Jack or Thomas. But never me. Never me in any of our shared classes because the boys all stick together. And the girls stick together.
I don’t mind, though, because I get to sit next to him for the rest of the day since our desks are together in our classroom.
When we get back, he’ll tell me what he did on break, which is usually playing with a ball or talking about horses with Miles.
It’s so boring, but when Hendricks is done, I tell him all about the adventures the girls had during break, and I like it when he listens to my stories because he always smiles.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think about what my story for Hendricks will be for the day.
I already know that today’s will be good.
“Come on, Mary.” I hold the door open, waiting for her to make a decision. “Let’s make a treasure hunt.”
“Okay, I’m coming,” she finally replies.
“Follow me,” I whisper, and lead the three of us outside over to the far side of the playground, near the bushes.
If you time it right, you can sneak behind the mound on the edge while the teacher isn’t looking, and then no one can see you.
I come here a lot. When you lie back, you can see the sky stretching out for miles and the airplanes crisscrossing over. I always wonder where they’re going, and what the people in them are doing.
On the other side of the mound are the rugby pitches, but no one is out there right now, so it’s like we’re hiding. And beyond the rugby pitches are the fields, which lead onto Honeysuckle Lane, and way beyond that is my dad’s dairy farm.
The three of us slump against the soft grass, and I turn to make sure no one has spotted us. But all I see is Mrs. Stevens drinking her coffee. Before I look at Annabel and Mary again, I quickly try to find Hendricks. He’s running around with Miles, Jack, and Thomas.
“I don’t think we’re allowed to be here. We’re going to get into trouble.”
Twisting around, I lie next to Annabel. “No, we’re not. No one can see us.”
Mary doesn’t look like she believes me, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she watches Annabel smoothing out the map. “Why do you have this?”
“Because Mrs. Stevens gave us a pirate hook. And pirates have maps because they hide treasure. So we made a treasure map for the school. We can leave the map lying around, and someone might pick it up and think there’s treasure hidden in school.”
“But why would there be treasure? Wouldn’t someone have found it already?”
Annabel tuts as I say, “You have to use your imagination.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a drawstring bag that I found in my dad’s office and tip out the contents. There’s a big silver coin I took from under my brother’s bed, some jewels from the craft table I had at my last birthday party, and a pink lip balm.
“We’re going to hide this.” I grin.
Mary’s eyes widen. I can’t tell if she’s excited or scared.
Annabel looks away, and I know she’s getting annoyed. I like Mary, but we don’t play together much because she’s not very good at pretending. She doesn’t have an “active imagination” as my granny calls it.
Not like me. I love making up stories.
“How will people find it?”
“With the map. We’ll leave clues.”
“Where are we hiding it, then?”
“Here.” Annabel points at the map where she drew a big X. It’s beneath the giant conker tree. “We’ll put it in the little hole at the bottom of the trunk.”
Mary sits up and peers over the mound. I know she’s looking at the tree on the other side of the playground.
“I guess it’ll be safe there. But what happens once we’ve left it?”
“Then we leave clues around the school and see if anyone finds them.”
“But how will we know?”
Stuffing my hand back into my pocket, I pull out a tube of glitter, also left over from my birthday. “Let’s empty this into the pouch as a trap. Anyone who opens it will be covered in glitter.”
Mary giggles, which means she’s finally on our side. “So we start with the tree and work backward.”
I nod. “Yes.”
We all twist around again and lie flat on our bellies.
Mary points at the conker tree. “So we have to run over to there?”
“Yes.”
Annabel peers over the edge of the mound. “Mrs. Stevens is talking to Billy Cross, so she’s not looking this way.”
“Okay, let’s go. But we have to be careful not to get caught. Don’t talk to anyone.”
One at a time, we walk over the mound and head for the conker tree. Years one, two, and three are on the playground, so it’s easy for us to get there without anyone seeing, but we don’t stop until the branches hide us.
I’m concentrating so hard that I don’t even look for Hendricks.
Annabel runs to the trunk and bends down, wiping away all the leaves in the way. “Here’s the hole.”
Handing over the pouch, I let her push it inside.
“Now what?” asks Mary.
“Now we have to lay clues.”
“Where are we leaving the first one?”
I’m thinking about it when the bell rings, which signals the end of break time, and has us all groaning in annoyance. Although it also gives me time to think about the clues we need to make.
The three of us stand.
“Let’s go back before we get in trouble,” says Mary, the goody-goody once more.
Annabel passes me the map, and I fold it carefully and slide it into my pocket.
I kind of want to keep playing with our treasure map, but I also don’t mind going back to our classrooms because it means I’ll see Hendricks again.