James, his sister Sally, and Mark, their BFF (Best Friend Forever) were bored.
They had played all day but now that it was dark and difficult to see,
they had nothing to do.
They couldn’t play soccer because they couldn’t see the ball.
They didn’t want to go inside and play a game because
it was a beautiful springtime night and they liked being outside,
especially after having to play inside all winter long.
They just didn’t know what to do and it was a little too
early for them to go home.
“I guess I’ll just go home,” Mark said in a sad voice.
“Aww come on,” replied James.
“We still have time for another game of – of something.”
Then Sally said, “I have an idea! Let’s play Hide-and Seek
“I was just going to say that,” James said. “Yah,
I’ll bet,” replied his sister. “You always say you
were thinking of
whatever I think of,” she snapped. “Do not!”
James said in a loud voice. “Do too,” yelled Sally.
Mark just looked down at the ground and shook h
is head from side to side. “They are at it again,”
he mumbled to himself. Then he yelled, “Okay,
let’s play Hide-and-Seek I’ll be the seeker!”
He turned, faced a big tree, closed his eyes, and st
arted counting out loud. “100 – 99 – 98 – 97 …..”
Sally and Mark stopped arguing, looked at each
other, and ran off in different directions to find a
hiding place.
In the distance they could still hear Mark
counting “4 – 3 – 2 – 1. Ready or not,
here
I come!” Then he turned and began looking
for places where they could be hiding.
Finding Sally was easy.
She always ran off and then circl
ed back so she would be close to
“base,”
the safe place to get to before being tagged.
Mark looked for the biggest tree
and ran towards it.
But she wasn’t there.
“I’ll bet she’s behind that big bush,”
he said to himself.
So he ran to it and was ready to tag her, but she wasn’t there
either.
As he turned around, he saw James running
towards “base” and darted after him. Just
before
he touched James’ shoulder, James tagged the
“base” and yelled out “SAFE!” “Did you get Sally
yet?”
James asked. “No,” said Mark.
“I haven’t been able to find her and it’s getting
late and we need to be heading home.”
So both boys yelled
out “Come on out Sally, it
’s late.” But there was no reply.
Not even a little snicker from
somewhere in the darkness.
They yelled
again.
“Come on out Sa
lly, it’s late.”
Still there was no reply from Sally.
They began to worry and started searching for
her. As they walked around the area they called out “S
ally, come on, we give up; you’re safe.”
But no matter where they
looked, or how much they
called out, Sally didn’t
answer.
It was as if she disappeared.
Sally was wondering what had happened.
All she could
remember was
crawling under the big trunk of a fallen
tree to hide.
Now, as she looked up, she saw
several stars through a small hole above her head.
She had fallen into a hole
when she crawled under the tree
trunk. “Help!” she yelled and
heard her voice
echo throughout what must have been
a cave. “HELP! Help, help, help!”
Did you hear that, James?” Mark said
excitedly.
“Sally just yelled for help.”
“Keep yelling Sally,” Ja
mes screamed.
“That way we can find you.”
Sally heard her brother and
kept screaming. After a short while the b
oys were standing next to the big tree
trunk.
“Hey! Are you stuck under this tr
ee?” asked James. “Kind of,”
Sally yelled. “When I crawled
under
it to hide, I fell into
a cave. Please help
me, I’m scared.
It’s dark and I can’t
get out.”
Mark said,
“James you stay with Sally and
I will go get my dad.”
Then he dashed off into the darkness.
“Don’t be scared,” James said. “I am right
here with you.”
“No, you’re not,” Sally sobbed.
“You’re up there and I’m down here.”
As Sally turned in the darkness of th
e cave, she bumped into something,
screamed, and began to cry.
“What’s wrong?” James yelled.
“There’s something down here
with me,”
Sally replied in a shaky voice.
Just then, Mark and his da
d came running through the
woods.
Mark’s father knelt down and asked Sally
if she was okay. He could hear her crying an
d sobbing. “Sally, are you hurt?”
he asked. “No,” she
said. “But I’m
scared and there is
something down here
with me.”
“Stand back Sally.
I am lowering a rope and
will be down with you in a second.”
Mark’s dad tied the rope to the t
ree, found the hole under the
tree trunk, wiggled a bit, and
lowered
himself into the cave.
Sally could see him coming
down the rope and stopped
crying.
Not only was he there but the cave
became brighter from the beam of
his flashlight as it
danced across the cave’s floor and walls.
As he reached the floor of t
he cave, he shone the light
on Sally and gave
her a big hug. “Don’t be fri
ghtened,”
he said. “I’ll have you out of here in no time.”
Then he shone the light around
and saw that she had fallen into a small cave.
And very close to
her,
in the middle of the cave,
was something wrapped in layers
of old blankets.
“Mark, James, there’s something down here.
I am going to tie it to the rope and I w
ant you to pull it out.” “Okay,” they
replied.
The boys pulled out the object, untied it,
and let the loose end of
the rope fall back into
the cave. The cave wasn’t deep and
Marks’
dad boosted Sally over his head so she could crawl out. He then grabbed
the rope and with a little jump
, was able to grab the opening
and pull himself out.
“Let’s go back to my house for a cup of hot tea.
I’ll call your parents so they aren’t
worried,
and we’ll see what treasure Sally found.”
He said.
When they got to Mark’s house,
they sipped their tea and began unwrapping the treasure.
They carefully peeled off layers of old
blankets and cloth to reveal a wooden
box.
They slowly opened it and stared in amazement.
“Oh my,” Sally said in
disbelief. “I don’t believe
what I am seeing.”
The boys and Mark’s father just stared.
Inside the box were jewels of every color you could imagine.
There were diamonds,rubies, sapphires, and
emeralds
of all shapes and sizes.Intermixed they could
see several gold coins and strands of
pearls.“We’re rich,” the boys
screamed. “Not quite,” interrupted Mark’s father. “
Someone could have lost this and I don’t think you
should plan on spending any of it until we find out a
little more. Besides, Sally found it.” “I’ll share it,”
Sally said happily. “That’s nice Sally,” replied Marks
dad. But the right thing
to do is contact the authorities.”
The next day, the four of them
and Sally’s mother drove to the police station,
explained what had happened,
and gave the treasure to the police to h
old while they conducted their
investigation.
They left the police station sadly
and even the double dipped ice cream c
ones Mark’s father bought for them
didn’t make them smile.They drove back in silence.
Several weeks passed with
no word from the police.
Then, one evening, Mark’s
father
called James, Sally, and their
parents. “The police just
called and
I think you should come over right
now,” he said. “I’m afraid there
is some
bad news about the treasure.
The police are on their way and
will explain everything when you get here.”
Sally and James didn’t
say much during the ride to Mark’s house.
Sally thought that since it
was
“bad news” the treasure b
elonged to someone else,
even though they
probably lost it.
“Whatever happened to ‘finders-
keepers’?” she mumbled. “What did
you say Sally?” her mother asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
Sally replied. Then she
let out a long, sad
sigh that echoed
through the car.
When they arrived at Mark’s house,
the police were there with the treasure box.
As Sally entered,
the captain introduced himself and said,
“Sally, this is yours.
Your parents need to sign
some papers but the box and its
contents are yours.”
Sally, Mark, and James
shrieked with joy and
danced
around the room. Then Sally said, “What is the bad
news?”
The captain smiled and said.
“The treasure is worth more money than
you can imagine and wi
th your new found
wealth comes
great responsibility.” Sally didn’t quite un
derstand what the captain was talking
about and right now it really didn’t
matter.
Mark asked,
“Are you going to s
hare?” “Of course,”
Sally said.
“If you and James didn’t
help me I might still be
there.”
Several days later Sally asked everyone over
to her house.
“I have decided what to do with
the money from the treasure after it is sold,”
she said.
“I am giving 1/6 to our Mom and Dad, 1/6 to Mark’s Mom
and Dad,
1/6 to Mark, 1/6 to James, and 1/6 for me.” “There is an extra 1/6,”
Mark proudly stated. He loved
math
and was right on top of Sally’s
calculations.
“No there’s not,” Sally
said.
“Is too,” James said.
“Is not,”
Sally said in an angered voice. Ju
st as Mark was going to say,
“They are at it again,” Sally
said, “This is why there
isn’t anextra 1/6! I am giving it to
the local charity, so it can
be given to those less
fortunate and in need.”
Her mother and father said
it was a caring and responsible thing to do.
They were very proud of her and knew that she
understood what the captain meant when he ha
d turned the treasure over to her just days
before.
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