“In the old days,” Ted continued, “before there were digital copies of virtually anything you wanted, people relied on maps, data, journals, that kind of thing to store their information, as you obviously know. If those got lost or fell into the wrong hands, you were out of luck. With all the valuables they attained in their adventures, our ancestors devised a way to keep their most valued possessions secure, with these boxes.”
Cameron nodded. “They’re basically old-fashioned safes. Completely weatherproof, rain and seawater can’t penetrate them. They’re also made of the two strongest woods on earth, so they could handle the rough life on the sea.”
“Yeah, I remember that information on the paper you gave me,” I said. “My boyfriend was completely in love with the snakewood. He said it’s very rare these days.”
Ted and Cameron shared a look, then nodded. “Becoming so, yes. I’m sorry, did you say boyfriend?”
I blinked. “Yes, why?”
“Oh, nothing. I just didn’t know. That’s all.”
“Yes, well, my sexuality shouldn’t matter,” I said with a frown.
He gave me a warm smile. “I meant that you were seeing someone, Beckett, not their gender. I’ve seen you around for a while now and I didn’t know you were dating someone. That’s all.”
“Oh.” My eyes fell, ashamed I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion so quickly. “Well, I am.”
They both laughed good naturedly, then Ted produced a small brass key from his pocket. Cameron pulled a similar one out too, except his was pewter. My breath caught, because I already knew what they were for.
“There were three boxes in the fleet, each requiring two keys to open.” Ted lifted his key. “Six keys, six ships. Each captain kept one key. As the fleet disbanded, the maps and belongings were divided among the families. This,” he motioned to the box, “was given to our great, great, great grandfather Edward Summers and his brother Earl. I might be missing some greats in there, but you get the idea. It’s been passed down generation after generation, as well as the land depicted on the map.”
Blood was pounding in my ears as I stared between the two of them. “I’m sorry, did you say map? Like a real treasure map?” This was too unreal!
“Yes. Well, not treasure, but to our land, yes. It’s severely outdated, of course, and all the legal ownership documents have since been redone so there are no discrepancies, but the original map is still inside this box. It’s worth very little and some of the stones on the box aren’t worth much either, but to our family, it’s value is immeasurable. It’s our life history, you see. So, we are very grateful you were able to retrieve it.”
“Can I see it?” I asked, without thinking. Suddenly, my leg, which had been bouncing under the table, wasn’t enough. My hands began shaking with anticipation. “I mean, I’d understand if you said no, but this is so interesting.”
They smiled and shared another look. “Of course.”
He slid the small key into the lock then turned it for Travis to do the same. There was a high squeak, the sound of unpolished wood scraping against wood, and then the lid popped, revealing an opening I hadn’t noticed before.
I ran a hand through my hair staring at the thing like it just spat gold. “That is… holy shit, that’s amazing! Like nothing I’ve ever seen before!”I wish Riley were here to see this.
“It really is. We’ve gone through great measures to keep it as clean as it is. It was in a safe until Grandpa died, which was how Nadia got her hands on it.”
Inside the box were two thick, folded pieces of parchment. The first was much smaller, barely more than the size of an index card. It displayed their family’s crest, a few names and a list of numbers which I assumed were the coordinates of their land. The other piece of parchment needed to be unfolded several times and I noticed several worn and frayed holes along the creases. On it was a map of South America’s northern border and several islands. On two of the islands as well as one area of South America’s shoulder, were three bright red Xs. I couldn’t help but feel a little giddy looking at them, like they were pointing me in the direction of my lost treasure.
“Oh my god!” I barked out a laugh. “And here I thought the Xs were just for the movies!” Both men laughed along with me. “Where is this?” I pointed, careful not to touch the ancient documents.
“The closest area you would recognize is Caracas, but it’s actually several miles from there. It’s where our largest resort is located.” Ted explained.
“Resort?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s where most of our family’s wealth continues to come from.”
“This one,” Travis said, pointing to one of the islands, “is my favorite. It’s on a very small island near Trinidad and Tobago. We still own the island and have several establishments there now. But this one,” he pointed to the last one, “is our most loved. It’s on Isla Margarita. We own three of the private resorts and restaurants there.”
“I’m… wow!” I said. “I honestly had no idea.”
Ted gave me a warm smile, proud to share his family’s legacy with me. Then he produced a small bundle of papers and slid it across the table to me. “Beckett, our family would like to extend our thanks in a more… personal way. We’d like to welcome you to stay at one of our resorts.”
My eyes became saucers. “What?”
“There’s seven options listed here. Please, take a look and decide which one suits you. You’re welcome to bring a guest, too. Everything will be paid for, including air fare.”
I was stunned. A getaway with Riley sounded perfect right about now.
“You’ll still be paid for your services, of course, as we discussed, but really, you can’t know how much it means to have this returned to us, so we hope you’ll consider it.”
“Yeah, I, um, wow,” I blabbered. “I’d love to take my boyfriend, if that’s okay.”
They both smiled. “Of course. Take your time to discuss it with him. Just let us know.”
