Chapter 1

"Is Diana ever going to get here?" Trixie Belden asked exasperatedly, as she looked down the road that led to the Wheeler lake and boathouse for about the fifteenth time.

"Be patient, Trix," said her older brother Brian, while placing hamburger patties on the grill.

"Yeah, Trixie," said Mart, reaching for another of the lemon frosted cupcakes on the picnic table. "Diana said she was coming and she'll be here." Even though he too was anxious to have Diana arrive, because he missed her.

"Mart!" exclaimed Trixie. "If you eat one more cupcake, there won't be enough left for everyone to have desert!"

Trixie was impatient because the Bob-Whites were about to have their weekly meeting and she had a project to present to them. Earlier that day, Trixie and her brothers had spent the whole day harvesting tomatoes and helping Moms with canning, making catsup and chili sauce and keeping Bobby out of everything. Toward the afternoon, Mrs. Belden had declared a day of rest, since tomorrow would be the time to harvest the peas and corn and next week they would be harvesting raspberries. So everyone could take a break, Mr. and Mrs. Belden and Bobby had gone out to dinner at Glenn Road Inn, while Trixie, Mart and Brian had been invited over to the Wheeler's for a swim and a barbecue. They were going to have their weekly meeting at the boathouse, because it was just too hot to have it at the clubhouse. Mart, Trixie and Brian had just gotten out of the water, and Honey, Dan and Jim were in the process of getting out.

"Why don't we just start the meeting without Diana?" Jim suggested, as he stepped out of the water, grabbing the towel and drying his face and shoulders, with Dan and Honey right behind him. "We can fill her in later."

"Okay," said Trixie. "But, I really wanted Diana to be here, because she may have some input on this. I have a new project for the BWG's." She took the rolled up newspaper out of her beach bag and spread it out on the picnic table. "This was in last night's paper."

Brian stopped what he was doing and came over to the table. All the Bob-Whites gathered round the table to look. On the page, were pictures of families living in older homes that looked like they should have been abandoned a long time ago.

"Sleepyside has recently formed a housing committee." Explained Trixie. "Their purpose is to help people like these, obtain better housing. These families live in homes that leak, the wiring is bad, there's no adequate heating system."

"Why don't they just move?" asked Dan, taking a handful of potato chips out of the big bowl in the middle of the table.

"Good question," replied Trixie. "And this article addresses that. Most of these people have young children at home and they probably inherited these homes from parents or grandparents. The families don't have money for repairs, but the home is rent and payment free. They simply feel that they cannot afford to make payments or rent on something better because of their modest incomes.

"I hate to think of those children having to live like that," replied Honey, tearfully as she looked at a house with a sagging front porch.

"We all do, Honey," said Jim Frayne, who stepped over to the grill to flip the burgers. "But, Trixie, what is it you expect us to do?"

"Well," said Trixie, her eyes lighting up, as she became excited about the project. "I thought we could have some sort of fundraiser first of all, and they aren't just needing money and materials, they are needing helpers too. All the Bob-Whites could help. They want volunteers to help tear down the homes that aren't salvageable and rebuild a new one in its place and to help remodel and fix the homes that are worth repairing. I thought you guys could help with the repairs and the buildings, after all, look how you fixed up the gatehouse! And, Diana, Honey and I could paint and things like that and we could have a fundraiser, something like a summer carnival to raise money!"

"Whoa" said Brian, holding up one hand. "Trixie, this summer is going to be very busy." He continued patiently, "You know what a busy time it is at Crabapple farm and Dad also expects Mart and I, plus Jim and Dan to help some of the elderly neighbors with their gardening and other projects, like Mr. Maypenny and Mrs. Vanderpoel. Right now, there's just not time for any projects or fundraiser's."

"Yeah" Jim agreed. "I'm sorry, we'd really like to do this, but I have to agree with Brian." He hated seeing the way Trixie's face fell. "But, maybe" he said hopefully, "after the month of June is over, before everyone starts planning their fall gardens, we might have some time to do something."

The discussion was temporarily forgotten as they noticed Diana bicycling toward them. "I have the best news," she said, jumping off her bike and removing a container out of her basket. "The cook made brownies for me to bring, I hope that's okay."

"Of course, it's okay, especially when someone brings along a succulent culinary delight, such as the brownies your domestic help prepares!" replied Mart, giving Diana a kiss and taking the container out of her hand.

"What is the news?" Trixie asked excitedly, trying to get over her disappointment at the other's response to the newspaper article.

"Well, Daddy is flying to Key West this weekend," said Diana.

"Yeah, we know," replied Honey. "Our Dad is letting him use his air plane."

"That's right," said Diana. "And the Bob-Whites have been invited to go too."

"Awesome," said Jim Frayne.

"Great!" said Trixie. She had been feeling a little disappointed, because after the other exciting summers the Bob-Whites had had, there were no plans for travel this year. Uncle Andrew was out of the country on business and everyone else seemed to have things to do.

"Uh, before we all get excited," said Brian, as he deposited the fragrant hamburgers on the picnic table. "The Beldens can't go."

"Why?" asked Diana, looking imploringly at Mart. "Because Dad has informed us that we couldn't leave Moms to do all the harvesting and canning herself, like we have done in previous Summer's."

"That's right," Mart said, hanging his head.

"Oh man!" said Trixie. "But, of course Dad is right, it wouldn't be right to leave Moms with all that work and Bobby too."

"But, it's only for a long weekend, we'll leave Thursday morning and return on Monday night," said Diana.

"Oh, in that case--" Mart said as the other's eyes began to have a look of hope in them again. "I guess the only other obstacle would be money," said Mart, as an afterthought.

"Oh," Diana said, "that's the best part. It's Daddy's treat and an early birthday present for me. Besides, the motel won't cost anything, we're getting the presidential suite and it's free, since the motel is going to belong to Daddy's corporation anyway. The plane trip is also free and Daddy will give me his credit cards for us to buy food and sightsee. He's already talked to Ms. Trask and she's willing to go along as chaperone because he's going to be in business meetings the whole time. When he's not, his associate Mr. Benbow has bought this really old boat and Daddy will be in the process of hiring a crew to sail the boat from Key West to the coast of New York."

Through this whole exchange, Dan was strangely quiet.

"What about you Dan? Are you in?" asked Jim.

"No, I'm afraid not," he said as he took a long swallow of his Coca-Cola. "Regan has a weekend planned for us to hang out together. We're going to a horse show in Saratoga. You know, we don't get to spend much time together."

The Bob-Whites all joined in telling him how much he would be missed, he rarely got to go on any trips with them.

"Let's hurry and eat, so we can go get permission to go," said Trixie finally. With that, all the Bob-Whites dug into their burgers, chips, cokes and cupcakes and brownies.

 

Chapter 2

"I hate rain," said Trixie, looking out the windows at the storm. "It's almost as dark as night outside and we're stuck in this hotel room."

"I know," said Diana, staring out the window. "We're aren't getting to do anything we had planned."

The Bob-Whites had just returned from breakfast when the rain had started.

"Did anyone besides me see that weight room upstairs?" Jim asked the others.

"Yeah," said Brian. "Let's go. Mart, are you coming with us?"

"Weight room?" replied Mart, in a tone of voice that said he clearly thought they were crazy. "Are you kidding? I'm going to the motel arcade. Who wants to lift weights when they can be playing video games?"

Diana and Honey and Ms. Trask looked fondly at the guys as they left, but Trixie glared at them. "This is just not fair!" she said, stomping her foot.

"Trixie," said Ms. Trask. "I brought some really good mystery novels with me. Would you like to read one?"

"No thanks, Ms. Trask. I don't mean to be in such a bad mood, but we only have three days here and then it's back to harvesting vegetables and fruits and Bobby-sitting, not that I mind that much and all, but...well, I just really wanted to be able to enjoy this trip."

"We could play cards," suggested Honey, hating to see Trixie so miserable.

"I have an idea!" Diana said. "Let's put on our raincoats and go look at Mr. Benbow's old boat. It used to belong to a movie star and we might find some old letters or something."

"Oh, that sounds neat," said Honey, getting up from her chair and stretching. "Come on, Trixie."

Trixie wasn't excited about exploring some old boat, but anything was better than hanging out in a motel room "Sure," said Trixie, slowly getting out of her chair.

The girls trudged through the rain and the wind to the marina. "The boat we're looking for is called the Treasure Chest," said Diana as they arrived at the marina and walked around the dock looking at the names on different boats. "Oh, there it is!" she said as the three stepped onto the deck.

The boat was huge, Trixie noticed, but not near as big as some of the other's. The three girls opened the hatch and went down the ladder into a big open room, with a small galley kitchen in the corner and table and benches, which were bolted to the floor.

"Look at all this beautiful mahogany," said Honey, looking around her. The newer sailing yachts aren't like this."

"I know." said Diana. "That's one reason Mr. Benbow bought it, he loves old boats, this one was built back in the fifties or something."

"Who was the actress that owned it?" asked Honey. "Oh, her name was Merona Hamilton."

"Merona Hamilton!" exclaimed Honey. "I have all her movies, they were so romantic."

"I've heard of her too," said Trixie. "My mom told me that she and Dad went to one of her movies on their very first date, Moms has some of her movies too."

"Yeah," said Diana dreamily, "I'm also a collector. And her leading man, Rodolfo Stenson..."

"Oh, he was gorgeous," agreed Honey as Trixie rolled her eyes. "I guess they'd be really old now?" asked Trixie.

"If they were still alive," said Diana sadly. "They both died, she died back in the sixties and I think he died sometime in the seventies.

The girls began to explore the old boat, they found a captain's quarters with a tiny bathroom installed and then they found the mate's quarters, which were tiny, compact rooms with built in bunk beds and chest of drawers. There were about seven of them with three tiny baths in between, each equipped with a small shower and a commode.

"How would you put makeup on or fix your hair in one of these?" asked Diana.

They stepped into to the Captain's quarters. It was a little larger than the other rooms. There were beautiful mahogany cabinets over the bed and Trixie stood on the edge of the bed to explore. She opened a cabinet and saw many books in it stacked in rows of three. She began to take them out and throw them on the bed.

"Oh Diana," said Honey, looking through the book titles. "Would it be okay if I take some of these books to Ms. Trask?"

"Sure," said Diana. "Before the boat sets sail, anything left by any of the former owners will be thrown out or given away."

Finally, Trixie had the books all out of the cabinet and she peered into the darkness of it as Honey and Diana sat on the bed searching through the books.

"I see some kind of tiny door in the back of this cabinet," said Trixie. "With a latch on it." She reached her arm way inside as Honey climbed up beside her to see. Trixie flipped the latch and stuck her hand inside the little hole.

"Trixie, do you always go around sticking your hands in dark places?" Honey asked shivering. She could just imagine the spiders that could be lurking in there. Trixie didn't feel anything except air, as she moved her hand all around. Then, down below the hole, she felt a latch on another little door. Carefully, she flipped the latch and pulled the tiny door open and reached inside. She could feel some sort of object, but she had trouble lifting it out, because her arms were rather short. Gingerly, she pulled it out. It was a tiny cedar box. A small key was inserted in the lock. After the three girls sat on the bed, Trixie quickly opened it and found some rolled up paper, tied with a faded apricot colored ribbon.

"Could this be love letters from Rodolfo to Merona?" asked Diana.

"Do you think we should read them?" asked Honey.

"If they were still alive," said Diana. "I would say no, but since they're not--"

Trixie sat on the bed and carefully untied the frayed ribbon and unrolled the papers. There were two papers. The first one was yellowed with age and on it was written in a man's handwriting "To Merona, Happy treasure hunting, with all my love Rodolfo."

"Oh, that's so romantic," said Diana dreamily.

The other page looked even older than that one. Trixie carefully unfolded it, as it was yellowed with age and crumbling around the edges. On it, there was a map of a treasure. "A treasure map!" exclaimed Trixie excitedly as Diana and Honey gathered close to her to take a look.

"You know, that's not surprising." Diana said. "That a treasure map would be hidden on this boat. I read a biography about Merona. Her hobby was sailing around the world, searching for buried treasure." "I know." said Honey. "I watched a documentary about her life not long ago and the host stated that when she died, she was getting ready to go on one last treasure hunt. It seems Merona was fascinated by stories of pirates and treasures and deserted islands."

"Oh, I saw that same documentary," said Diana. "Rumor has it that Merona was murdered because of the ancient treasure map she had in her possession, at the time. Of course, every big star that dies, someone claims at some point that he or she was murdered. She believed in some legend that told of a load of diamonds stolen from some foreign country. They're very rare diamonds and they were supposed to be buried on the island of Carmolina. They were stolen by pirates in the eighteen hundreds."

"Where is the island of Carmolina?" asked Trixie, studying the map. "I've never even heard of it."

"Oh, I have," said Honey. "It's actually a deserted island, somewhat of a tropical paradise. Daddy has a couple of friends that own yachts and they go there sometimes to get away from it all. I'm not sure which country really owns the island, if one does. It's not even on a map. It's off the Atlantic coast."

"Oh yeah," said Diana. "I've heard of that place too. One of my father's friends takes his family up there every summer, just to get away from everything. Sometimes criminals have even been known to hide out there."

Trixie studied the map a little more as an idea began to form in her mind. "Oh Diana!" she finally exclaimed. "You've got to make arrangements with your Father for the Bob-Whites to be on this boat when it sails back to New York!"

"Wouldn't that be awesome?" asked Honey. "But, I'm not sure any of our parents would agree. Especially not yours, Trixie, with all that work waiting at home."

"We have to try anyway," replied Trixie, feeling as if she would burst with longing and despair if they somehow didn't get to go.

"I'll ask," said Diana. "We'll even plan a side trip to the Island of Carmolina," she said smiling. "I've always wanted to see it."

Just then, Trixie heard the hatch door close and the sound of someone running across the deck of the boat. "Okay, guys, I know you're out there," she yelled, expecting Mart to come down the ladder.

"They've probably been listening to every word we said and are getting ready to tease us." Trixie told Honey and Diana.

The three girls hurried up the ladder, opened the hatch door and climbed out onto the deck of the boat, expecting to see Mart, Brian and Jim. Instead there was no one.

"That's strange," said Trixie. "I know someone was up here, I heard them."

The girls began to walk back to the motel and they met the guys coming toward them. They excitedly explained about today's adventure. Of course, the boys, always practical minded, reminded Trixie that if there ever really was a treasure, it was probably found years ago. But, they loved the idea of sailing to New York and visiting a deserted island. No one actually dared hope that they would be allowed to go, but Diana was going to talk to her Father and at least try to win him over to the idea, while the other's kept their fingers crossed.

 

Chapter 3

The Bob-Whites secretly discussed the map and plans all day. They were too excited to even go sightseeing and it had started to rain again anyway. It had been decided that in the evening, Diana would have dinner alone with her Father and Ms. Trask at the motel dining room.

While Diana prepared to have dinner with her father, the Bob-Whites walked down the beach. They were so on edge hoping they would be allowed to go, that none of them, not even Mart had an appetite.

"I just know Moms and Dad are going to say no," Brian kept saying.

"I don't even know if our parents will let us go," Jim would reply.

"You know," Brian finally said, "we haven't eaten since lunch time.   Part of the fun of going on a trip is trying out new restaurants. We need to go somewhere and at least try to eat."

"I agree," said Mart, who for once forgot to use big words.

They decided on a restaurant right up the road from the motel and Trixie ran back inside the motel to tell Diana where they would be, after talking to her father.

As the Bob-Whites were each finishing a delicious seafood dinner, Diana came running in and quickly spotted them from across the room. "It's all set, we can go!" she exclaimed. She and Trixie jumped up and down as several of the restaurant patrons turned to watch them.

"Wait a minute Diana," said Mart, putting his arm around her. "What about our parents?" he asked.

"Well, after I got Dad and Ms. Trask to agree, Dad called your parents to speak with them about it and at first your Father adamantly said no. But, then he had a change of heart, after my Dad told him that Bobby could stay with my brother's and sister's every day that you're gone and your father decided to hire someone to come out and help with the canning and harvesting. He really didn't want you to miss an opportunity like this."

"Moms and Dad are wonderful," said Trixie, a lump in her throat. I'm never going to complain about housework or Bobby again,  she thought.

"And Honey and Jim," continued Diana, "your parents are fine with it. They're going to be in Europe the next few weeks, anyway. Ms. Trask spoke with them just a few minutes ago."

"I can't believe it!" said Mart.

"I don't think any of us can!" exclaimed Jim.

"When do we set sail?" Brian asked. "It will be Monday, so we have tomorrow and Sunday before we can leave, so maybe we'll have time for some of the sight seeing we wanted to do."

Trixie was silent, but she didn't know if she could handle waiting until Monday. When the Bob-Whites left the restaurant, they walked along the shore and were greeted with one of the most spectacular sunsets they had ever seen.

"Oh that's beautiful," said Diana.

All the Bob-Whites agreed. They wandered around Key West. In the evening, there were all kinds of street vendors, mimes and various other performers out on the street. They finally decided not to do any sightseeing tonight, they had had so much excitement and the agony of wondering if they were going to get to go, that they opted to go back to the motel room.

The next day, Saturday, dawned bright and clear. After breakfast, the Bob-Whites done some touring of Key West. They visited a few museums, but none of them could really get into sightseeing, because just like yesterday, they were so excited about the trip.

"We'll have to come back and spend a week sometime," Diana finally suggested.

"For now," said Mart, "Why don't we have an early lunch? I'm starving. All the Bob-Whites smiled, because Mart was always hungry.

"The question is which restaurant?" asked Brian, "There's so many to choose from."

After lunch, they went swimming and just hung out around the pool and at the motel. Tomorrow, which would be their last day in Key West, they planned to go diving.

 

Chapter 4

Sunday dawned bright and clear, just like yesterday. As Trixie was preparing for the diving expedition they had planned to go on, she felt a chill run up her spine. She had a strange premonition that something was up and a feeling of uneasiness that she just couldn't shake. The Bob-Whites were the only passengers on the catamaran that traveled several miles into the ocean where the coral reef was. All the Bob-Whites donned their equipment and one by one went to the underwater paradise. It was beautiful, Trixie felt like the little mermaid. Schools of beautiful tropical fish swam by as sea urchins could close up if she acted like she were going to touch one of them. Jew fish, sword fish, star fish and sea horse were in abundance. She smiled as she saw a lobster dart into a hole. She had been under for awhile, when she realized that she might have used up most of the air in her tank and she needed to get back to the boat. She turned to the others but didn't see anyone.

How far had she wandered from the boat? She turned to head in the direction of the boat and wasn't sure which direction it was. The waters she had wandered into had grown dark and murky.

Well, maybe I need to surface,  she thought. Then, I can see where I am. At that moment, she noticed someone coming toward her. Judging from the person's size she thought,  Oh, that must be either Jim or Brian. In the black wet suit, of course it was almost impossible to distinguish one from another.  They're really going to fuss at me for getting away from everyone else.

She headed toward the person, expecting them to lead her toward the boat, before surfacing. The person instead dragged her toward the bottom. This must be Jim, but what is he doing? she asked herself. The person went toward an old rusted anchor that lay on the ocean floor with a rope tied to it. Oh my gosh, this isn't Jim! She exclaimed to herself. She kicked and fought as he held her foot in an iron grip. He managed to tie her foot to the anchor and then swam off toward the dark, murky, water. Trixie's mouth formed the words help, even though she knew no one could hear her.

Trixie knew her air had to be about gone, because the tanks they were using were rather small and she had been under for awhile. She frantically struggled with the rope. Finally, she made herself calm down and was able to loosen the rope a little at a time and then she frantically surfaced. She couldn't believe she was so far from the boat. She had to yell as loud as she could and wave to attract anyone's attention. Jim was the first one to see her and he jumped in and swam toward her as fast as he could.

"Trixie, what happened?" Jim asked as he and Brian who also jumped in the water headed toward her. Crying, she told them. The captain steered the boat over toward them and Trixie was so glad to get in the boat and head back to the motel room. Even though it was a ninety degree day, she was freezing and afraid.

After they arrived back at the motel, Trixie made the others agree not to tell Mr. Lynch or Ms. Trask. She knew that after something like that happening, they would want to send the Bob-Whites home to Sleepyside. The others thought it was a freak thing, some psycho out in the water, but Trixie was certain it was because she had the treasure map. Whoever was listening the day she and the others found the map was probably the one who was in the water today.

When she told the others her suspicions, Honey was ready to pack up and all of them go back to New York. But, they all felt that once they got on the water, they would be safe.

To Be Continued

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