suspicion stuck him in his heart. It seemed that everyone wanted the Treasure. Though only the Count had given Jim any hint that the desires were for far more than simple wealth. “You were coming for the map?”
“Map? What map?” Steele exclaimed. His dark face sparked with such surprise that Jim and his friends flinched at the growl in the pirate captain’s voice. Though Dread Steele had been Jim’s rescuer twice over, he was still the most dangerous of all pirates to sail the Seven Seas.
“It was a magic map, sir. I never even knew I had it until tonight. When we arrived at Morgan Manor, the house was already burnt. Phineus was there, and the one thing he had been able to save from the fire was a vial of moonwater. We had only to shine light through the vial to see that something more than words were written on my father’s letter. When the Count poured the moonwater on the page, a map burned on the letter, as though it was writ with fire, blue fire. Itlit up the entire room. The Count said it was a map to the Treasure of the Ocean.”
For a long moment, Dread Steele said nothing. His eyes drifted from Jim’s face into nowhere, as though a thousand thoughts flew through his mind all at once. Finally Steele’s mouth twisted into a bitter frown and he swore aloud.
“Confound Lindsay and his infernal cleverness! Did the man trust no one but himself? The loss of this map is a brutal blow indeed!”
“Captain,” Cornelius cawed. “While I am no great master of the magical arts myself, it seems highly doubtful to me that Lindsay Morgan would have known exactly to where the Treasure of the Ocean would have disappeared from the Vault. Magic that powerful is unpredictable at best, unknowable at worst. For that matter, Lindsay could not have known for certain the Treasure’s fate at all after he left it in the Vault.”
“Argh,” MacGuffy harrumphed from his chair. “Then what good be the map, Cornelius? Why draw it at’all?”
Cornelius placed one feathered wing beneath his beak, as though thinking quite hard on the matter. “The map must lead to some other magical object, some talisman of a sort. Lindsay may have wanted to ensure Jim could find the Treasure at any time, if ever it was lost or wherever it might be hidden.”
“You mean like a seeker?” Jim suddenly asked. “When the King of Thieves wanted to find the Pirate Vault, he used a silver dragonfly that could find any hidden or secret place, as long as the person looking knew the place to be there—”
“But not the where of the there!” Lacey finished for Jim. A spark of excitement lit in her voice, for Lacey was a very clever girl indeed and enjoyed solving riddles and mysteries a great deal. Steele paced back and forth before his desk. He cast his dark eyes to the floor and rubbed his hand furiously along his unshaven jaw. When he spoke it was as much to himself as to the others gathered about him.
“Indeed, this may be so. But if Cornelius is right, and if the Cromiers find whatever magical item is buried at the end of the map’spath, they shall be one step closer to possessing the Treasure of the Ocean. If Cromier finds that…if he and Bartholomew hold it in their grasp…”
Steele never finished the thought. MacGuffy whistled long and low and shook his white-haired head in distress. Jim remembered the mad look in the Count’s eyes as he had spoken of the vast power to be his once he obtained the treasure. Jim’s stomach clenched in his gut and frosty tendrils climbed through his veins.
“We must not allow Cromier and Bartholomew to take this prize. But we are at great risk of losing the race before it has even begun,” Steele continued, shaking his head. “Count Cromier has the map, and with it, the only clue as to this mystery’s hidden location.”
Despair took hold of all in the cabin. Even Dread Steele ceased his pacing and stared hard at the wall in silence. But Lacey, whose eyes had been sparkling with adventure
“Map? What map?” Steele exclaimed. His dark face sparked with such surprise that Jim and his friends flinched at the growl in the pirate captain’s voice. Though Dread Steele had been Jim’s rescuer twice over, he was still the most dangerous of all pirates to sail the Seven Seas.
“It was a magic map, sir. I never even knew I had it until tonight. When we arrived at Morgan Manor, the house was already burnt. Phineus was there, and the one thing he had been able to save from the fire was a vial of moonwater. We had only to shine light through the vial to see that something more than words were written on my father’s letter. When the Count poured the moonwater on the page, a map burned on the letter, as though it was writ with fire, blue fire. Itlit up the entire room. The Count said it was a map to the Treasure of the Ocean.”
For a long moment, Dread Steele said nothing. His eyes drifted from Jim’s face into nowhere, as though a thousand thoughts flew through his mind all at once. Finally Steele’s mouth twisted into a bitter frown and he swore aloud.
“Confound Lindsay and his infernal cleverness! Did the man trust no one but himself? The loss of this map is a brutal blow indeed!”
“Captain,” Cornelius cawed. “While I am no great master of the magical arts myself, it seems highly doubtful to me that Lindsay Morgan would have known exactly to where the Treasure of the Ocean would have disappeared from the Vault. Magic that powerful is unpredictable at best, unknowable at worst. For that matter, Lindsay could not have known for certain the Treasure’s fate at all after he left it in the Vault.”
“Argh,” MacGuffy harrumphed from his chair. “Then what good be the map, Cornelius? Why draw it at’all?”
Cornelius placed one feathered wing beneath his beak, as though thinking quite hard on the matter. “The map must lead to some other magical object, some talisman of a sort. Lindsay may have wanted to ensure Jim could find the Treasure at any time, if ever it was lost or wherever it might be hidden.”
“You mean like a seeker?” Jim suddenly asked. “When the King of Thieves wanted to find the Pirate Vault, he used a silver dragonfly that could find any hidden or secret place, as long as the person looking knew the place to be there—”
“But not the where of the there!” Lacey finished for Jim. A spark of excitement lit in her voice, for Lacey was a very clever girl indeed and enjoyed solving riddles and mysteries a great deal. Steele paced back and forth before his desk. He cast his dark eyes to the floor and rubbed his hand furiously along his unshaven jaw. When he spoke it was as much to himself as to the others gathered about him.
“Indeed, this may be so. But if Cornelius is right, and if the Cromiers find whatever magical item is buried at the end of the map’spath, they shall be one step closer to possessing the Treasure of the Ocean. If Cromier finds that…if he and Bartholomew hold it in their grasp…”
Steele never finished the thought. MacGuffy whistled long and low and shook his white-haired head in distress. Jim remembered the mad look in the Count’s eyes as he had spoken of the vast power to be his once he obtained the treasure. Jim’s stomach clenched in his gut and frosty tendrils climbed through his veins.
“We must not allow Cromier and Bartholomew to take this prize. But we are at great risk of losing the race before it has even begun,” Steele continued, shaking his head. “Count Cromier has the map, and with it, the only clue as to this mystery’s hidden location.”
Despair took hold of all in the cabin. Even Dread Steele ceased his pacing and stared hard at the wall in silence. But Lacey, whose eyes had been sparkling with adventure
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