Annika tilts her head and studies me while she slowly chews a bite of her donut.
I curl my toes in my shoes and try not to squirm.
Or blurt out more of the story.
She swallows. “That’s not on display, is it? When did he see it?”
“Not important. What’s important is that I think he thinks the treasure is real, and I swear, he was looking at that map like it’s an actual treasure map.”
She glances up and down the alley. “Does this have anything to do with why you’re getting married? Tillie Jean wouldn’t give me any details.”
I hate lying to my friends.
Hateit.
Especially when my friends feel more like family than my grandma and my brother some days.
I’ll tell them everything once Nigel’s gone. I swear I will.
So instead of answering, I rush ahead with my own question.
“I have fifteen minutes before I have to get back to work, and I have to ask you something, and I need you to be so for real with me right now. Is the treasure real? I’ve heard Grady and TJ and Cooper all say it’s not, but is that just the Rock family story? Like so the tourists aren’t disappointed when they don’t find it and so people don’t bring actual backhoes and dirt-digging things out here to tear up Blackbeard Avenue in search of it? Does it exist and they found it and it’s hidden like Pop’s been hiding Thorny Rock’s diary?Is it real, Annika? Is it?”
She takes another bite of her donut, then puts a hand in front of her mouth while she chews and talks. “You’re really worked up about this.”
“Davis is upgrading the museum’s security system and acting like it has secrets about where to find the treasure.”
“Oh, I saw the work trucks.”
“This is weird, right?”
“Is anything about your fiancé not weird?”
That’s a very valid point.
And it’s also not answering my question.
“If the treasure’s real and any of the Rocks know about it, now would be a very good time for any of you to tell me or for one of them to talk to him.”
“If it’s real, Grady doesn’t know anything about it.” She frowns and glances down the alley past me again, then shakes her head and makes eye contact with me once more. Sue’s finished with his carrots and is eyeballing the last bit of donut in her hand. “We’ve talked about it a lot with the museum opening. He thinks there could have beensomething, but who knows if it was gold or silver or jewels or even something more obscure, like historical documents or the 1800s version of his enemy’s favorite sneakers. Maybe he stole the wrong pirate’s scabbard.”
“So there’s no secret knowledge in the family?”
She purses her lips together, clearly trying not to smile, as she shakes her head.
“And no rumors about where it would’ve been hidden if there was something?”
“We both fully believe thatifthe treasure existed, it’s either been found, or it’s forever lost.”
“Or you’ve been sitting on a map of where to find it in Sarcasm for years and didn’t know it.”
She pops the last bite of donut into her mouth and shrugs at me.
Sue bleats mournfully and flops to the ground.
“Does your mama know anything else about Thorny Rock and Walter Bombeck?”
Annika’s mother was the source of all of my knowledge of Sarcasm’s side of the old pirate tale. She also told me Sarcasm’s version of the original reason for the feud between the two towns.
