Characters: Caroline, Twix
The words Schinder were stamped at the right corner of the map, almost faded. It was a drawing of something, surrounded by waves– was it possible, a mere coincidence? The island? "There is no other island for miles around, you know." Twix broke Caroline out of her thoughts. "If you are thinking what I am thinking, it's probably the island on your family's property." "True," Caroline replied, looking down at the map again. "Do you reckon the treasure is really on that island?" Twix gave her an inquiring look. "It could be, you know. And look, there's something written on the back of the paper, I think." Turning the aged paper over, the following words, or rather; letters, were neatly printed:
A K S E O Y
Z I T N
R T U E L M F P A L K E
"What is that..." said Caroline, her voice trailing off to a whisper. "It's obviously some kind of riddle, it must be a riddle; we just ought to figure it out. I bet it follows a pattern." Twix replied. Momentarily, Caroline gasped. "Look, you are right, it does follow a pattern! See," she pointed to the first letter A. "Cross out every odd letter in this entire paragraph and you'll be left with only the even letters." Grabbing a blank piece of parchment, she scribbled down the following sentence:
K E Y
I N
T E M P L E
"Yes!" Caroline was delighted. "Now what we need to do is get on that island and see if there is the temple it claims." Twix replied, following along. "I bet there is something valuable inside the box– the Schindlers were an extremely wealthy family; everyone knows that." Caroline nodded, glancing at the wrist of her watch. It was getting awfully late, the waning rays of the sun soon giving away to twilight. "I am assuming you have to go?" Twix called out, eyes still fixed at the map. "Yes," she replied, heading out the front door. "And I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course!" Twix cheerfully replied.
