Renegade Island

Ivy closed her eyes and let herself sink into the cool, salty water as the sun warmed her face. She lived for these moments after a long day of working on the island.

Most days, she would be quick with her swimming sessions... just long enough to cool down, rinse off the dirt of the day, and emerge feeling refreshed.

But not today. Today was special. Today was her seventeenth birthday so she allowed herself to drink in the luxurious feel of the water on her skin just a bit longer. She loved how the world went quiet as her ears were submerged. It was her own little paradise.

She jolted up at the sound of her dogs, Ollie and Kenzie, barking excitedly. Rolling her eyes and releasing a frustrated huff, she brought herself upright until her toes hit the sand and started walking toward to shore to see what the fuss was about.

It was probably nothing. They had a habit of dragging random sticks from the thick forests of the island and barking as if they'd found buried treasure. But today, Ivy couldn't see a stick. Whatever they had unearthed was much smaller.

She wrung out her long strawberry blonde locks and narrowed her deep blue gaze in on the dogs. As she started toward them, they barreled down the beach toward her, barking and jumping as they went. She laughed at them as she grabbed her clothes from a tree branch and shrugged them on before allowing the giant dogs to lead her to their freshly-dug hole.

Ivy stooped to examine their find and bent to grab what looked like a piece of trash. As her fingers caught the corner, she realized it was actually a small black notebook. She pulled it from its sandy grave and brushed it off as she leafed through the pages. It looked like a log of some sort belonging to a man named Eugene Bartholomew. On the last page was a crude drawing that looked like a map.

Curious, she pocketed it and headed toward camp. Her mother would want to see it. It was probably something leftover from the old world. From her mother's stories of the old world, Ivy thought it sounded magical.

Families lived in large houses with electricity that allowed them to cook without a fire, turn a knob and have water to bathe in at whatever temperature that they desired, and never had to hunt for their food.

Her parents and a group of their friends and family had fled their country for their lives on a friend's boat when Ivy was just two years old. If they had stayed, they would have been separated from Ivy, sent to re-education camps (where many people were executed if they failed to comply), and Ivy would have been raised by the government. So they ran away with as many belongings as they could gather.

Their little island was somewhere between Florida and Jamaica and, in the last fifteen years, they hadn't had any unwelcome visitors. Still, they were always ready to flee at a moment's notice. They had emergency food and survival items already packed on the boat just in case they had to run again.

Ivy broke through the thick underbrush of the forest into the lush, green clearing that housed their camp. She spotted her mother, Hazel, talking with some of the other adults in front of the cottage. She jogged toward her eagerly, excited to share her find.

"It looks like a map on this last page... could it be our island?" Ivy asked breathlessly.

"Maybe! This could be the waterfall," Hazel pointed to the area with crooked lines.

Ivy's eyes sparkled as she pointed to the large X on the map. "Do you think there's a buried treasure here? Can we go to the waterfall and look around?"

Hazel gave her a small smile and snapped the book shut. "If it will make you happy, we can go look around after we eat. But only because it's your birthday." She ran her fingers through Ivy's tangled ponytail and looked at her with sadness in her eyes.

"What's wrong, mom?" Ivy asked.

Her mother dropped her gaze, sighed, and shook her head. "There was a time when I imagined something completely different for your seventeenth birthday."

Then she raised her eyes to meet Ivy's and forced a smile. "But that's in the past and we're going to make the best of what we have."

Ivy nodded, but didn't say anything. She didn't like when her mom covered up her sadness by trying to be optimistic. She wasn't a kid anymore.

Ivy and Hazel grabbed plates and began to fill them with food and set them out on the tables for a dinner of fish, salad, and rolls.

Ivy scanned the gathering group, but didn't see her dad. She was just about to look away when she saw him break through the clearing carrying a box.

Ivy's eyes lit up. The only time they got boxes like that was when someone went and met Harvey, their secret contact in Florida. Harvey flew under the radar with the new government and was their only connection to the old world.

But a trip wasn't scheduled for another month and they required a lot of planning. Those that went took a huge risk of getting caught.

Ryan approached their table with a sly smile. He sat the box gingerly on the table and then lifted out another box from inside.

"Happy birthday, Ivy!" he exclaimed excitedly, presenting her with a white cake with purple letters that spelled out "Happy 17th Birthday Ivy."

Ivy gasped. "But how...?" her voice trailed off. She tried to remember the last time she'd had cake. It had been years.

Ryan grinned, obviously proud of himself for this accomplishment. "It wasn't easy, but we needed some other supplies anyway, so we added it to our order for Harvey last time we were there and moved our trip up. I got back early this morning."

By now, there was a growing group of children gathered around the table with wide eyes. Ivy laughed and cut them each a slice. She dished out pieces to everyone and saved the last one for herself.

It was delicious. Decadent. Heavenly. She didn't even remember that something could taste this good.

She finished her piece and then jumped up and wrapped her arms around her parents' necks. "Okay. Let's go find this treasure."

She grabbed the black notebook and showed it to her father. He looked intently at the map. "It's rough, but I think you're right. The X is right around the falls."

"That's what I thought, too!" Ivy exclaimed. "And it's only a 5-minute walk. Can we go now?"

Ryan and Hazel exchanged a look, but nodded.

Ivy took off at a trot toward the cottage at the center of the encampment. She emerged holding 2 shovels, a bag of gear, and a pick ax.

Ryan led the way and they quickly cut through the underbrush and emerged at the edge of the falls.

Hazel scanned the notebook again. "I think this is written in a code of sorts. Here, he just ends this entry with a bunch of numbers. Could it be as easy as the numbers corresponding to the alphabet?"

She turned the notebook around to show Ryan and Ivy. The numbers were: 2 5 8 9 14 4 20 8 5 23 1 20 5 18 6 1 12 12

Hazel concentrated and started counting off the letters and calling them out to Ryan and Ivy.

"B-E-H-I-N-D-T-H-E-W-A-T-E-R-F-A-L-L."

"Behind the waterfall?" Ivy questioned. "There must be an opening behind the water."

They scanned the rocks below, looking for a way down. Ivy was already securing the rope to a tree as Ryan and Hazel found a good place to start descending the edge of the cliff.

Ryan went first. As he got about halfway down, he called out, "There's a ledge down here. I'm going to get onto it then you can send Ivy down. Hazel, stay with the rope!"

Ivy descended the rope and reached for her dad's hand. He helped her onto the ledge and together they inched toward the rushing water.

Ryan yelled above the sound of the water, "I'm going to go in and see if the opening gets wider. You stay here until I come back."

Ivy nodded as her pulse quickened. She had been here hundreds of times over the years. She and the other children had explored every square inch of the island, but had never considered that there would be anything behind the waterfall.

Moments later, her father emerged from the water and gave her a thumbs up. "Grab my hand, hold your breath, and we will be inside in a few seconds."

Ivy reached for Ryan's hand and inched along the ledge, following him into the water. The rush of the water was disorienting and she was glad for her dad's hand to guide her.

They stepped out of the current and into a cavern. It was dark. Ryan spun Ivy around and dug through the gear bag on her back until his fingers wrapped around the flashlight. He quickly snapped it on and assessed their surroundings.

It was just a small hollowed-out room with the waterfall acting as a door. In the middle was a wooden trunk. Ryan gestured for Ivy to follow him and he walked toward it, half expecting booby traps, but nothing happened as they inched toward the chest. Ryan let out a breath of relief as they kneeled down in front of it. It wasn't even locked.

They lifted the lid and Ryan took in a sharp, short breath. It was packed full of one-hundred-dollar bills.

Ryan began to laugh.

Ivy looked at him in disbelief. "WHY are you laughing? What is this stuff?" she demanded.

Ryan gulped in a few breaths of air and got his hysterics under control. He replied, "This is money, baby girl. There was a time when this would have been life-changing for us. Now it's worthless."

Ivy leaned it to inspect the money. It was just paper.

"We need to send the trunk up the rope to your mom. She's going to get a kick out of this." Ivy's dad bent down to lift the trunk, but he wasn't prepared for the weight.

"What..." his voice trailed off as he popped the lid back open and began pulling the cash out of the box. Lying under the bills in perfect rows were shiny, gold bars.

"Now this... this we can work with!" Ryan said with a big smile.

A piece of paper, probably ripped from the notebook they'd found, was lying on top.

Dear Scarlett,

If you're reading this, it means I'm gone. I hope this money provides some comfort for you and helps you get through the tough times ahead. The way the world is going, I only hope this stays hidden and safe until you need it.

I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love,

Dad

Ivy's brow furrowed. "We can't take this, dad. What if this girl is looking for it? Or even looking for her dad?"

Ryan nodded, "You're right honey. Help me pack this back up."

As they put the bills back into the trunk, Ryan counted $20,000 and shook his head in disbelief, smiling.

They stood up, brushing the dirt from their knees. Ivy grabbed a stack of bills. "Can I keep one? You said they're useless now anyway, right?"

Ryan nodded and patted her back.

Life was funny sometimes.