It took me a long time to calm down after Seb left. I didn’t know whether I was pissed that he’d cracked the cipher first or excited about the discovery. Maybe both.
But I double-checked his work, and it was exactly right:Drop anchor at Pinemoon Cave.
For all we knew, this Morse code message was written by Wyrd Jack a hundred years ago in reference to something else—stolen cargo, a rendezvous. Without Nana here to tell me why it was hidden in her painting, I couldn’t say. However, I couldn’t help but think that Nana reallyhadbeen keeping secrets about the treasure, that she’d known more than she let on. After all, she was the one who first told us how to find Pinemoon Cave and encouraged the Wags to use it as their official hideout.
What even is this, Nana?I thought, staring at an old photo of her on the wall. If only she could’ve answered.
The next morning, I was showered and dressed before eight. I found some recently expired coffee in the cupboard and was able to brew it in the Mr. Coffee that had been sitting in the same spot on the same kitchen counter since long before I was born. But justwhen I was about to take my coffee out to the back porch, I heard a vehicle enter the driveway. Two car doors opened and shut, and I started to get up when I heard muffled voices.
“Just saying, before we go in there, you need to promise me that you won’t say anything. Not even a joke.”
That’s Jazmine, no doubt about it.
“AndI’mjust saying that you should just fess up before she hears it around town.”
Seb?What were they talking about? A terrible paranoia swept through me.
Their shoes crunched on the sandy gravel in front of the cottage, so I scrambled up from the porch swing and rushed inside to hear them knocking. I took a moment to compose myself, then I opened the door to find Seb leaning against the doorframe in a pair of shorts, blue hoodie, and dark sunglasses pushed up into his blond waves.
“Mornin’, valedictorian,” he said, giving me a little flash of dimple as his black dog squirmed past his legs into the house. “Dammit, Punkin. Don’t give me grief today...”
The dog made a beeline for the kitchen, then stood there and looked back at us, disappointed.
“Do you mind... ?” Seb asked, sliding past me. “She needs water. I think she doesn’t understand why her water bowl is gone.”
“My nana’s vintage mixing bowl? I picked that up when I was cleaning that first night. Thought it was just part of the wreckage.”
Far too comfortable in my house, Seb went straight for the kitchen cabinet that held the vintage bowl, filled it up with water, and offered it to his panting dog. “There we are.”
A noise drew my attention outside, and when I leaned throughthe open doorway, I spotted Jazmine, setting down my paddleboard next to the side of the garage.
“Hey, Paige,” she called out. “Bringing back your property. Stashing behind the bushes in case your robbers come back.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Why did you even need it to begin with?” The board was nice, but nowhere near as good as any of hers.
“I took Benny and his new girlfriend out by Eagle Pointe. She didn’t have a board.”
“Benny has a girlfriend?”
“He does.” Walking back to the open doorway, Seb squeezed one eye shut while making a face. “Lulu. She’s... quite something.”
“She’s not coming with us today, right?” Jazmine asked Seb after tossing my paddle next to the board. “Pleasetell me she’s not.”
Seb shrugged. “Not a Wag, so she wasn’t invited. Doubt she’d be interested, anyway. Lulu isn’t exactly a lover of the great outdoors.” He put his fingers inside his mouth and whistled at his dog, who trotted through my house, dripping water from her shaggy maw, but obediently went outside. Seb turned to me. “Ready to find some treasure?”
Was I? I squinted at him, searching his face for a clue to what he and Jazmine had been talking about when they arrived. When he cocked his head at me, puzzled, I dropped my eyes. Either I confronted them about what I’d heard, or I kept the card close to my chest while I observed them.
“Ready,” I said, deciding on the latter. No need to start any drama right now.
“All right.” Seb clapped his hands together. “We’ll go in the Speed Buggy, since you don’t have transportation. I’ll take a look at your car when we get back. Sound good?”
I nodded.
“Okay, Wags,” he said. “Let’s load up.”
It was strange but nice to hear him call us Wags. Jazmine gave me a little side hug with her good arm before we piled into Seb’s Bronco—me on the passenger’s side of the long front bench seat, while Jaz and Punkin got in the back. Seb started the noisy engine, dropped his shades over his eyes, and backed out of my driveway.
A calming male voice was talking through the car’s speakers about a train ride through Switzerland. “What is this?” I asked.
