The Treasure Hunt

Kylie and Karla walked up the creaky front steps to the giant house. They didn’t really know their Uncle Hector. They had only met him a couple of times over the years, but as his only living relatives, the house was theirs.

Kylie waited impatiently as her sister Karla was digging in her bag for the keys. To her this house was beautiful and had so much potential and they haven’t even seen the inside yet.

Karla on the other hand was still wondering how she let her sister come see it. If it was up to her, they would sell it and hope to make a couple of bucks.

But Kylie was drawn to the house. She saw that it needed work, probably on the inside as well, but she didn’t care. She would figure it out.

Karla finally found the keys and pulled them out of her bag. She found the key marked front door and put it in the old lock. She twisted and wiggled it but it wouldn’t unlock.

“What is the problem?’ Kylie asked.

“It doesn’t seem to want to turn. It’s stuck.” As she continued to try and get it to turn.

“Here let me try.” Karla rolled her eyes at her sister.

“It’s not like I don’t know how to unlock the door.” Karla stepped back anyways to make room for her sister.

Kylie wiggled it and heard something click. She turned the key and the door open. She turned and smiled at her sister. “I just had the magic touch.” She said. Karla huffed, pushed past her and walked into the house.

As the two girls walked into the foyer, they took in their surroundings. The house was beautiful but needed a lot of repair.

“Let’s look around.” Karla said. She took a step in towards the left and disappeared into what looked like the living room. Kylie was looking all around when she saw french doors off to the right. She walked over to them and looked in. It was an office.

Kylie opened the double french doors to an office. There was a big executive brown desk in the middle of the room with a big black leather chair behind it. To the right of the desk were 3 floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the back garden which they have not explored yet. The back wall was covered with bookcases filled to the very top with books. But the desk was empty except a single small black notebook right in the center.

Kylie walked around the desk. The chair’s wheels creaked as she pulled it out so she could sit down. She swiveled so that she was looking out the doors. Kylie picked up the book and flipped to the first page.

'If you are reading this, then I am no longer of this world.

In this notebook you will find the clues that lead to the treasure hidden in this house. It isn’t much, but if you desire to live here, it would give you a good starting point for the repairs.

I sadly let this house fall into disarray. I hope that if you have come into possession of this house, you can see what potential it holds. I hope that you are able to repair it and love it like I once did. When I lost my beloved, Anna, I became depressed and sadly did not keep with the necessary upkeep.'

“Karla!” Kylie yelled out. “Come here.” Karla crossed the hallway and entered the office.

“What’s up? Oh this is a nice room. I love to read.” She said as she noticed all the books behind the desk.

“I found this notebook and it says there is a treasure in the house.” Karla raised an eyebrow at Kylie.

“You can’t be serious Kylie.” Kylie picked up the book and held it out to Karla.

“Read it yourself.” Karla grabbed the book from Kylie’s hand. She skimmed over the first page. She looked up at her sister.

“This could just be a joke.” Karla shrugged.

“Or it could be real.”

“So we are supposed to run around a house we don’t know trying to find a treasure. I saw Casper, the treasure was a baseball.” Kylie laughed.

“Great movie, but this is not a movie, this is real life. Come on. Let’s just see if we can figure out the first clue. If we find nothing, then we will just move on and look through the rest of the house.” Karla knew that if she didn’t give in, her sister would drive her crazy.

“Fine, but if the first clue turns up nothing, then we are done.” Kylie jumped for joy.

“Deal. So read the first clue.” Karla turned the page.

“It says The first clue is behind you. Find the treasure and pull it out to spring it into action.”

Karla and Kylie turned around and looked behind them. “It has to be one of the books. Maybe it is one of those books that have the inside cut out?” Kylie said.

“That is a lot of books to look through.” Karla stated. “Ok, I’ll start on the right and you start on the left. Not sure if there is an easy way to do this.”

Kylie walked over to the left. She looked over the shelf that was eye level with her. Moby Dick, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter, Stephen King’s IT. She reached up to pull out the Harry Potter book. It wouldn’t move. She tugged with both hands and it still won’t budge. She then tried to take Moby Dick off the shelf and had the same result.

“Karla, I think they aren’t real books. I think it is all fake.” Karla reached up to the shelf she was in front of and tried to take a book off the shelf.

“I think you are right. This should make finding the right one go a little faster.” Karla quickly started trying to pull the books off the shelf. Now they wouldn't have to open each one.

Kylie wasn’t moving as quickly as Karla. She tried a couple on the book shelf closest to the wall, but felt there would be more luck closer to the center of the room. As she was reaching for books on the shelf below, she was looking at the books at her eye level hoping something would pop out at her. As she was slowly reading over the titles, her eyes opened wide.

“Karla, I think I found it. Come here.” Karla walked over to where Kylie was. “Look, the titles of these books, if you take the first letter, it spells treasure.” Karla looked at where Kylie was pointing.

The Stand

Rebecca

Eat, Pray, Love

Animal Farm

Stuart Little

Ulysses

Romeo and Juliet

Emma

“So what do we do?” Karla asked.

“Let’s try and pull it out.” Kylie reached up and pulled at the two books in the middle. As she did, they tipped forward and the bookcase sprang open on one side.

“It’s a hidden room!” Kylie exclaimed. “This is awesome!” Karla was pretty excited as well. Kylie pulled open the door and they entered into a real library. There was a table in the middle but then there were reading nooks carved into a lot of the wall. And one reading window seat in front of a top to bottom window that matched the ones in the office.

“Oh man, now what?” Karla asked. Kylie noticed that there was a book on the reading window seat. She walked over to it. Treasure Island. Kylie picked it up and showed it to Karla.

“Think this is a coincidence?” she asked Karla. Karla shrugged.

“Open it and find out.” Kylie opened the book. It looked like a regular book until she started to flip through the pages. The center of the book had been cut out. It wasn’t like one of those fake book safes, this had been an actual book that someone cut up. “What is it?” Karla asked as she saw Kylie’s eyes go wide.

“There is cash and a couple of pieces of paper.”

“How much money?” Kylie quickly counted it.

“$1,000!”

“What does the note say?”

Kylie put the book and the money down.

“The first one says Congratulations, you are on your way to discovering the treasure stored in this house. Between the clue in the black notebook and the other piece of paper you just found, you will move on to the next one. There are 20 of them. Good Luck!”

“And the second one?”

“It says I never get angry, but I do get hot. I’m the perfect place for a pan or a pot.”

“Well let’s get to it. We have a puzzle to solve.” Kylie’s eyes lit up with joy.

About 5 hours later, they had settled down at the dinner table, eating the pizza they had ordered, counting the money they have found around the house. They had a great time exploring the big house. Karla was happy now that she came with her sister.

“$20,000. That is a nice little construction starting fund wouldn’t you say so Karla?” Karla looked at her sister.

“I think it's a great starting fund. First thing we need to do is to find a contractor.” Kylie reached for her drink and lifted it up.

“To new beginnings.” She said and reached out to cheers her sister. Karla lifted up her drink and met her sisters.

“To new beginnings.” Karla said.