Lawrence Looks for Treasure

Part 2 - Chapter 9

9

We ran to Chris's bedroom, closing the door as tight as a wrestler's grip. The room was charged.

"What just happened?" Matty asked. 

'Mayor McCarthy is a prick, that's what,' Chris said.

'But . . .' He continued, a smirk spreading across his face. 'I guess we know what the treasure is.'

'Yeah, ten million bucks' worth of gold.' Matty said. 'Jeesus.'

'Imagine when people find out. This city's gonna blow.' Chris responded.

'Your dad's gonna get a nice commission, too,' Matty said. 'Think he saw us?'

'I don't,' Chris said. 'We should stay here until they leave, though. Just in case.'

'Agreed,' Matty said.

'Guys,' I said.

'My god we were close to getting caught,' Chris mused.

'I was so freaked out,' Matty said. 'I'm still a little high.'

'Guys,' I repeated.

'Yeah, I'm definitely still high,' Chris said.

'Guys!' I shouted. 

They both looked at me.

'Don't you get it?' I said.

'Get what?' Matty asked.

'The missing treasure, the second nugget—I've already found it.'

***

I explained to Chris and Matty that the box I found before getting kicked out of Camp, the one with the Indian head on it, and the shiny object inside, the one on Snake Island, right beside Terryville, right smack in the middle of the Iroquois River, that was the treasure. Gold. Pure gold. The biggest nugget the world's ever seen. I explained that Snake Island was our destination. Where we should bike to. Not Terryville. Snake Island.

As I explained it to them, I felt a rush to strike out, like the characters of my favourite books and movies, on open roads and untrailed woods, through foreign towns and nasty storms, to cook over make-do fires and sleep under ancient stars, to put foot after foot and see where I land. Kinnard would disappear. University wouldn't matter. I'd be off life's big highway, and on a new road, my own road. All I had to do was find that treasure. Once I did, I wouldn't look back.

'Ya really think you found it?' Chris said, laughing.

'C'mon, this is dumb.' Matty said.

'Entertain the thought. I mean, if I'm right, we'll be rich. Ten million split three ways? That's, like, enough to retire.'

'Mhm,' Chris said.

'Besides, we'd be heroes. They'd probably give us keys to the city.' There was something determined in me. I can't explain what, but I wasn't going to let go.

'And if I'm wrong, so what? Biking to Snake Island would be the best way to end our summer. A trip through the past, before we cross into our future.'

'That does sound fun,' Matty said reluctantly.

Laughing harder now than before, Chris said, 'fuck it, I'm in if Matty is.'

We both turned to Matty.

'Okay,' he said, laughing too. 'I surrender.'

Chris and I cheered.

'But I can't leave till tomorrow,' Matty interjected. 'I've got to finish my work.'

'That's fine, I can't either,' Chris said. 'I told Pastor Simes I'd go to mass tomorrow morning.'

I couldn't believe them. Didn't they understand that it was a race to Snake Island? That Professor Tessio was probably on her way. That if we were serious about finding the treasure, we should've left that minute?

Matty's excuse was the same as always. Work. Chris's, I understood better. A promise to Pastor Simes is a promise to be kept.

Pastor Simes was the principle of our school and the old director of Camp Okanagan. Though I don't know a lick about Catholics, Pastor Simes was as close to a saint as I ever knew. I disliked most of my teachers. But he was different. He was patient, and thoughtful, and engaging, and just about the only one who cared what a student had to say. Maybe I'm biased. But just ask Joey Saxe. Pastor Simes helped him a lot, too.

I didn't tell you about Joey because, well, he's not very relevant. I mean, I can't write about everyone and everything in my whole entire life. Anyway, Joey was this kid who went to our elementary school. Really nice guy. Really good at basketball. But he had a lot of trouble at home. I don't want to go into it. It's a long story, and his to tell. I just want to show you how Pastor Simes helped. That's all. 

For example, Joey never brought a lunch. He just wouldn't bring one. None of us really cared. We didn't know better. We probably just thought he was picky or something. But then one day our teacher noticed, and she sent Joey to the principal's office. Joey got really upset about it, and after that, she sent him to the principal's office every lunch. He wasn't in trouble or anything, though at the time I thought he was. It turned out that our principle, Pastor Simes, was sharing his own lunch with Joey. That's the kind of guy Pastor Simes is.

'So we'll go after mass.' I said.

'Works for me,' Matty said.

'Why don't we meet at the Church?' Chris said. "I'll bring my stuff there."

'Yeah okay.'

'Unreal.'

'I guess it's settled,' Chris said. 'We leave after mass tomorrow morning.'

'Yupp,'

'Uh huh,'

'So um you guys wanna play some videogames?'

No one did. We were too caught up. We tried to shoot around in Chris's driveway instead. But that wasn't much fun either. So we just sat in the shade, talking about Bella Tessio, and how we would get to Snake Island, and where we would spend the money, and why we were just like Indiana Jones or Harry Potter. Around 6:00 pm, me and Matty drifted home. The plan now was to fix it with my parents so they wouldn't get suspicious.

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