Mystery Map (2 page)

Joe looked over at the sidewalk across the street. He remembered that a tall, blond kid had been walking a lively hound puppy on a leash over there earlier. Joe had noticed them because he loved dogs. He didn't know the kid, but he'd seen him around. He was pretty sure the puppy was new, though. They were both gone now anyway.

“It was probably a dog,” Joe said. “They like to
eat anything and everything. That's why Mom says we can't get one.”

Frank was carefully spreading out the muddy paper. “Sorry, Chet,” he said. “I don't think it's a treasure map after all. Looks like a used wrapper from a fast-food burger.”

“Yuck,” Joe said. “You're right. I think that's ketchup there under the dirt.”

Chet grabbed the burger wrapper and turned it over. “Look,” he said, pointing. “There's stuff written on the back. See? It
is
a map!”

Joe leaned forward for a closer look. Just then there was a shout from behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Adam heading their way.

“Oops,” he said, shoving the wrapper at Chet. “Better hide this before Adam sees it. You know how he is.”

Chet looked nervous. “You take it,” he whispered, shoving it back at Joe.

Joe shrugged and stuffed the wrapper in his pocket. Then he and Frank walked back toward Adam and the others. Chet stayed a little behind them.

“Hiding from me, Morton?” Adam taunted him with a smirk.

“Leave him alone,” Frank said.

Just then there was a buzzing sound. Phil reached into his pocket. “It's my phone,” he said.

Phil had the fanciest cell phone of anyone his age. He loved gadgets and anything high tech. When he grew up, he wanted to be an inventor.

He answered the phone. Then he held it out to Frank and Joe.

“It's for you two,” he said. “It's your mom.”

“Thanks.” Frank took the phone from him.

“Aw, how cute,” Adam goaded Joe, using a baby voice. “Your mommy is checking up on you! Is she afraid her two little babies will get lost trying to find your way home all by your baby selves?”

“No way,” Joe answered with a frown. “If someone with a brain as tiny as yours can find your way home, we can do it too.”

Adam just smirked. “If you say so, Baby Joe.”

Soon Frank hung up and handed the phone back to Phil. “We'd better head home,” he told Joe.

“Already?” Joe asked unhappily.

“Just come on,” Frank said. “Mom wants us to stop at the grocery store on the way.”

“We'll walk you to the store,” Chet said. “It's on our way home. Right, Iola?”

He still sounded nervous. That reminded Joe that Adam was still hanging around. As long as he was there, staying at the park wouldn't be much fun anyway.

The four of them said good-bye to the others and walked away. “I still don't see why we had to leave so early,” Joe complained. “The store's right across the street. It will only take a second to stop in there.”

“I know,” Frank said. “But Mom wants us home early. Aunt Gertrude's coming for dinner tomorrow, remember? So we're supposed to help make sure our room is nice and clean.”

“Aunt Gertrude?” Iola asked. “Is that your aunt who lives in New York City?”

Joe groaned. “Yeah. I forgot she was coming to visit this weekend.”

He loved his Aunt Gertrude, who was his father's sister. And it was fun to travel to New York City to visit her at her apartment. There was always lots to do in her busy neighborhood.

But it wasn't as much fun when she made the trip out to visit them in Bayport. She was always making the boys sit up straight and keep their elbows off the table when they ate. Frank did that anyway, so she was always praising him. But Joe sometimes forgot.

Soon they were at the door of the grocery store.

“What time is your aunt coming?” Chet asked. “Want to meet up at the park again in the morning?”

“Sure. She's not getting here until dinnertime,” Joe said.

Frank nodded. “See you tomorrow.”

At dinner Joe reached for the napkin on his lap to wipe his mouth. As he did, his hand brushed against something sticking out of his pocket. It was the crumpled yellow paper Chet had dug up.

“Guess what?” Joe told his parents, pulling it out. “Chet found this in the park. He thinks it's a map to hidden treasure.”

“That's nice.” Mrs. Hardy hardly looked up
from her food. “Don't drop any of that dirt on the floor, please. I just cleaned the rug.”

“A treasure map, eh?” Mr. Hardy said. “Well, I suppose you two are just the ones to track down any pirate's booty hidden in Bayport. You can add it to the list of mysteries you've already solved.”

“That's true,” Joe agreed. The brothers had solved a couple of mysteries around Bayport lately. It turned out that they had a knack for it. Everyone said they were following in their father's footsteps.

“I doubt it's really a treasure map, though,” Frank added.

“Hmm.” Mrs. Hardy checked her watch. “Would you all excuse me, please? I really need to put the towels in the dryer.”

She got up from the table. So did Mr. Hardy. “I'm finished too,” he said. “I, er, have some things to do.”

They both hurried out of the room in opposite directions. Frank frowned as he watched them go. Then he turned to Joe.

“What's with them?” he asked. “They're acting kind of weird.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Joe was still looking at the treasure map.

“I hope nothing's wrong,” Frank said.

Joe shrugged. “Don't worry so much. Adults act weird sometimes. It's just a fact of life.” He pushed the dirty yellow paper across the table. “Check this out. I think Chet's right—it really does look like someone drew a map on here.”

Frank took the map and looked at it. “It definitely could be a map,” he agreed. “Look—whoever made it drew a bunch of trees here. Think that's supposed to be the woods?”

Joe leaned across the table for a better look. “Probably. And what about this? Looks like a
baseball diamond—like the one at the park. So that means the woods are probably the ones right out there.”

Joe pointed toward the back of the Hardys' house. A strip of forest lay between their house and the park. There were lots of trails back there
for hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders. The brothers cut through there all the time to get to the main part of town from their neighborhood.

“And this blob here is probably the duck pond behind the post office.” Frank pointed to another mark on the paper. “So it really does look like a
map of Bayport. But why would someone draw a map of Bayport, unless . . .”

“Unless it really is a map to a hidden treasure!” Joe broke in, sounding excited. “Awesome! That twisty dotted line probably marks the trail to the spot where the treasure is buried.”

Frank peered at the line. “It's pretty hard to see with all the dirt and stuff,” he said. “Maybe we should show it to Dad. He might have some tips for figuring it out.”

Joe jumped to his feet. “Let's go find him!”

They hurried out of the dining room. In the kitchen their mother was talking on the phone.

“Yes, Gertrude,” she was saying when they entered. “Fenton will be there to pick you up at the station. I hope you—”

“Mom!” Joe whispered. “Where's Dad?”

His mother frowned and shook her head. Suddenly, Joe remembered that she hated it when he
tried to talk to her while she was on the phone.
Oops,
he thought.

Frank tugged on his arm. “Come on,” he murmured. “We can find Dad ourselves.”

The next place they looked was the living room. Their dad liked to read the newspaper there after dinner. But there was no sign of him. He wasn't in the den watching TV either, or in his bedroom.

Frank and Joe stopped in the upstairs hallway. “This is turning into a real mystery,” Frank joked. “I think we need to investigate.”

“Maybe Dad has a secret tree house of his own,” Joe said.

Frank grinned. Mr. Hardy had helped the boys build a tree house in the woods out back. Nobody knew it was there except the three of them. Lately it had become the headquarters for the brothers' investigations.

“If we're going to solve the case of the missing father, we'd better do it the right way,” Frank said. “The six
W
s, remember?”

“Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.” Joe ticked each word off on his fingers. “Okay, we know the Who.”

“We're looking for Dad, that's the Who,” Frank agreed. “The What is that he's missing, and the When is right now.”

“So all we need to find out is Why and How, and maybe then we'll figure out the Where,” Joe said. “I know! Let's check the garage and see if his car is there.”

“Great idea,” Frank said. “If it is, we'll know he didn't go far.”

Soon they were out in the garage. Their parents' cars were parked neatly side by side.

“That means he's probably still in the house somewhere.”
Joe glanced out the garage window. “Or maybe the yard.”

Frank pointed to several pairs of boots lined up just outside the door leading into the house. “His outside shoes are here,” he said. “That means he's probably not working in the garden or anything like that.”

Joe glanced up. “Did you hear that thump?” he asked. “I think I just solved the mystery.”

“Of course! The spare room!” Frank couldn't believe they'd forgotten to look there. For the past month or more, their father had been fixing up the area over the garage. That was the Where.

The brothers left the garage and hurried around the outside of the house. They started up the steps to the spare room, which started near the kitchen door.

When they reached the landing, they saw that
the spare room door was shut. Joe reached for the handle.

“It's locked,” he said.

Frank nodded. “Dad's been secretive about the spare room all along,” he recalled. “You decided he was going to surprise us by letting one of us move in there so we could each have our own room, remember?”

“I still think he's going to do that,” Joe said. “What else could it—”

Just then the door opened and their father looked out. When he saw them, he quickly stepped out onto the landing and shut the door behind him.

“Yes, boys?” he asked. “What is it?”

“We wanted to ask you about the treasure map,” Frank said.

Mr. Hardy checked his watch. “Let's take a look later, all right?” he said. “Right now I should go help your mother.”