Treasure Hunt Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Copyright Page

  Billie B Brown and the rest of the Secret Mystery Club huddle in their treehouse headquarters in Billie’s backyard. Outside it is raining but the four of them are cosy and warm, munching on banana muffins and sipping home-made lemonade.

  Billie has her secret notebook open and her sparkly pens beside her, ready to take notes. The four of them chat excitedly about the new mystery they have to solve.

  ‘A secret time capsule at school! So cool,’ Billie mumbles, her mouth full of muffin.

  ‘I know!’ says Jack. ‘Where do you think it’s hidden?’

  ‘I reckon it’s buried underground,’ Alex says. ‘They’re usually buried underground.’

  ‘It could be in the walls,’ says Mika, shrugging. ‘I saw a movie once like that.’

  ‘Nah,’ says Alex. ‘No-one would ever find it if it was in the walls.’

  ‘I can’t believe Mrs Singh has asked for our help to find it,’ Billie says proudly, brushing crumbs off her lap. ‘This has got to be our biggest mystery ever!’

  It has been two whole days since Mrs Singh asked them to find the time capsule.

  This is the first time they have all been free to come over to Billie’s house after school. Billie is bursting with excitement.

  ‘But remember, she said it was top secret!’ Jack reminds her. ‘We can’t let anyone else know. She wants it to be a surprise. And anyway, we don’t want other kids to start looking for it, too!’

  Billie shudders. Imagine if someone else found the time capsule before us, she thinks. That would be awful!

  ‘We all have to swear to keep this top secret!’ Billie says, sticking her hand out.

  The other three slap their hands on top of Billie’s and shout, ‘Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!’ Then they laugh, like they do every time they shout their silly secret call.

  Billie picks up her notebook and writes at the top of the page:

  Secret Mystery Number Six: Where is the school’s time capsule hidden?

  Then she decorates the page with lots of question marks.

  ‘So, what’s our plan?’ she asks the others.

  The four of them sit silently for a while. Outside, the rain is starting to clear. They hear the drip, drip, dripping of the raindrops on the leaves.

  ‘I know!’ says Jack, sitting upright. ‘My uncle has a metal detector. We could ask to borrow it.

  It might pick up something hidden underground.’

  ‘Great idea!’ says Billie.

  ‘Hold on,’ Alex frowns. ‘How do we explain why we are walking around with a metal detector?’

  Mika grins. She reaches back and undoes the clasp of her silver necklace with a bird pendant hanging from it. It slithers into her palm. ‘I lost my most precious necklace at school!’ she says, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

  ‘It was given to me by my grandmother in Japan. I have to find it!’

  Billie and the others giggle.

  ‘Perfect, Mika!’ Billie says. She can’t wait to get started.

  That evening while Billie and her family are having dinner, there’s a knock on the back door.

  ‘I’ll go!’ says Billie. ‘It’ll be Jack.’

  Billie’s mum nods. Jack is the only visitor who comes to the back door.

  Billie opens the door and grins when she sees Jack standing on the back step.

  ‘Hi, Jack!’ Billie’s mum calls.

  ‘Hi!’ Jack calls back. Then he whispers to Billie, ‘Can you come outside for a second? I’ve got something to show you.’

  ‘Sure!’ says Billie, feeling her tummy flip excitedly. ‘What is it?’

  Jack leads Billie outside. It is already dark.

  In the shadows, Billie sees something leaning against the back wall.

  ‘The metal detector!’ Billie squeals. ‘How did you get it so quickly?’

  Jack grins. ‘I told my dad that Mika lost her necklace in the playground and needs to find it before her mum notices it’s gone. So Dad rang Uncle George, who brought it over just now.’

  Billie sees Jack’s cheeks turn a little pink. ‘I hope it’s OK that I told them the made-up story?’ he asks.

  ‘Detectives have to do that sometimes,’ Billie assures him. ‘Especially when they’re working undercover. It’s not exactly lying. It’s just not telling the whole truth.’

  Jack looks relieved. ‘Should we take it to school tomorrow? There won’t be anyone there on a Saturday.’

  ‘Good idea!’ says Billie. ‘I’ll call Alex and Mika after dinner and tell them to meet us there. Eet-may ou-yay at-ay ool-skay at-ay en-tay.’

  Jack scrunches up his brow. ‘What?’

  ‘Meet you at school at ten!’ Billie giggles. ‘It’s Pig Latin. Dad taught it to me. He used to use it when he was a kid. I’ll teach you guys tomorrow. It’s perfect for detectives.’

  ‘Billie!’ calls her dad from inside. ‘Your dinner’s getting cold.’

  ‘Coming!’ Billie calls back. ‘See you tomorrow, Jack!’

  She does an excited little skip to the back door. This is the best mystery ever! she thinks happily.

  The next day, the four members of the Secret Mystery Club meet at the school gate at ten.

  Jack has brought the metal detector with him and he shows it to Mika and Alex proudly.

  ‘It’s so cool!’ Alex says. ‘I’ve always wanted one of these.’

  Jack smiles. ‘Usually my uncle only lets me use it when he’s watching. But I guess he thinks I’m old enough to look after it now.’

  They swing open the gate and walk into the school grounds. It feels strangely quiet and the playground looks bigger now that it’s not filled with kids.

  The only people around are a grade one kid and his dad, bouncing a tennis ball, and a mum sitting next to a toddler in the sandpit.

  Anyone is allowed to use the school grounds on weekends but not many people do because there is a big park nearby.

  ‘Where should we start?’ Billie asks, looking around.

  ‘I say we start on the oval and work our way across the whole playground,’ Alex says. ‘It could be buried anywhere!’

  The others agree.

  Jack switches on the metal detector and swings it in front of him as the four of them walk slowly across the grassy oval.

  The detector makes a fuzzy crackling sound as it beep, beep, beeps.

  Every now and then the beeping gets louder and faster and the four of them crouch down excitedly to see what the metal detector has found.

  After an hour they have found five bottle caps, three paperclips, an earring and four coins. But no time capsule. The metal detector was lots of fun at first, but now they are getting tired from walking so slowly. And they have barely done half the oval!

  ‘Let’s take a break,’ Billie suggests.

  ‘Good idea,’ says Jack. ‘My arms are getting tired.’

  ‘I can hold it for a bit if you want?’ Alex says.

  Jack shakes his head. ‘I told my uncle I wouldn’t let anyone else touch it.’

  ‘Let’s sit under the peppercorn tree,’ Mika says. ‘Mum put some snacks in my bag.’

  ‘Yay!’ says Billie. She loves Mika’s mum’s snacks. ‘I’m going to get a drink at the fountain. I’ll meet you at the tree.’

  She jogs to the fountain and leans over to take a big drink of water.

  When she looks up again, someone is standing right
beside her. She jumps in surprise.

  Billie recognises the girl from another class but doesn’t know her name.

  ‘What are you doing with the metal detector?’ the girl asks. She twirls her messy blonde ponytail between her fingers.

  Billie gulps her water down. Her mind spins. ‘Um, my friend lost her necklace,’ she says, remembering their cover story just in time.

  The girl nods. ‘What does it look like?’

  Billie shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another.

  She glances over to the peppercorn tree and sees the others sitting in the shade, eating snacks.

  ‘It’s just…um, a bird on a silver chain,’ she says, remembering the necklace Mika was wearing the day before.

  ‘Are you sure it’s a necklace you’re looking for?’ the girl says.

  ‘Of course I am!’ Billie says, feeling flustered. The way this girl is staring at her is making her uncomfortable.

  The girl nods slowly, not taking her eyes off Billie. ‘A bird on a silver chain. OK. If I see it I’ll let you know.’ She pauses. ‘You’re Billie, right? You’re in Rebecca’s class.’

  Billie nods.

  ‘I’m Edwina,’ the girl says. ‘I live opposite the school. If I find the necklace, I’ll let you know.’

  Billie nods again. ‘OK, thanks, Edwina. I’m going to go back to my friends now.’

  ‘Wait!’ Edwina calls.

  Billie spins around. Edwina fixes Billie with her hazel-green eyes again. ‘If it’s something else you’re looking for, I might be able to help. I know a lot about this school,’ she says, smiling mysteriously.

  Billie doesn’t even answer. She races back to the others, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

  Billie arrives at the tree, out of breath. ‘Guys!’ she says, panting. ‘We’re being spied on!’

  ‘What?’ says Mika. ‘But we’re the spies!’

  ‘Detectives,’ Alex corrects.

  Billie turns around to look at the drink taps. Edwina has disappeared.

  ‘Who’s spying on us?’ asks Jack.

  Billie lowers her voice. ‘It’s Edwina from Olivia’s class. She lives across the road and has been watching us all this time!’

  Mika gasps.

  ‘We have to be careful!’ Alex says. ‘What if she suspects what we’re doing?’

  Billie draws her friends in closer.

  ‘I think she’s already suspicious. When I told her the story about Mika’s missing necklace, she didn’t seem like she believed me at all!’

  ‘You’d better teach us that language, Billie,’ Jack says. ‘So we can talk in front of other people without them understanding.’

  ‘What language?’ Mika asks.

  ‘Pig Latin,’ says Billie. ‘It’s a made-up language my dad taught me. He said he and his friends used to use it when they were our age.’

  ‘How do you speak it?’ asks Jack.

  ‘You take a word, then move the letters that come before the vowel to the end of the word and add ay,’ Billie explains. ‘So, for example, rock would become ock-ray. Tree would become ee-tray. Dirt would become irt-day. Do you get it?’

  ‘I think so…’ Alex says. ‘But what if a word starts with a vowel? Like my name.’

  ‘Then you just add ay to it,’ Billie explains. ‘So you would become Alex-ay!’

  Mika grins. ‘Our-ay ew-nay op-tay ecret-say anguage-lay!’

  ‘You got it!’ Billie laughs.

  ‘What did she say?’ Jack frowns.

  ‘Our new top secret language!’ Billie and Mika say together, grinning.

  Jack smiles. Then he sticks his hand out, palm facing down.

  He scrunches up his face for a second, then crows slowly, ‘Ock-a-doodle-doo-cay!’

  Billie slaps her hand on Jack’s. Then Mika and Alex slap their hands down too. ‘Ock-a-doodle-doo-cay!’ they crow together.

  Billie laughs loudly, pleased her friends like their new secret language. But then she sees a funny look pass over Mika’s face.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Mika says in a hushed voice.

  ‘Yes, I heard something, too!’ says Jack. ‘From behind the tree! A rustling sound.’

  All four of them fall quiet as they hear the sound of footsteps running away.

  Billie quickly peeks around the wide trunk of the old peppercorn tree. She is just in time to catch a blonde ponytail disappearing behind the school building. ‘Oh no!’ she gasps. ‘Edwina the spy!’

  After a long day of metal detecting, the four members of the Secret Mystery Club go home with nothing but a handful of coins each. They are still no closer to finding the hidden time capsule.

  Billie is of course disappointed about not finding it, but at the moment she is more worried about what to do about Edwina.

  That night in the bath, Billie keeps thinking about the strange thing Edwina said to her by the drinking fountain. Does she know more than she’s telling me? Billie worries. What if she’s hunting for the time capsule, too?

  Billie squeezes her eyes shut, takes a deep breath and lies back under the water.

  She can hear bubbles gurgling up to the surface of the water as she slowly lets her breath out.

  If I were hiding a time capsule in a school, where would I put it? she wonders.

  She lets out her last little breath of air and sits up again. When she opens her eyes, Noah is standing next to the bath in his underpants. He has his yellow rubber duck in his hands.

  ‘My turn!’ he says. ‘My turn for bath now!’

  Billie grins and dabs some bath foam on his nose. ‘OK, Nozy, I’m getting out now. Go and tell Dad I’m finished and he can put you in the bath.’

  Billie puts her pyjamas on and pads downstairs. Her mother is stirring something on the stove that smells delicious.

  ‘Yum!’ says Billie. ‘What’s for dinner?’

  ‘Minestrone soup with garlic bread,’ her mum says, smiling. ‘But it’s a little way off yet. You can play outside for bit if you like and I’ll call you when it’s ready.’

  Billie opens the back door. She stands on the back steps and looks out over the garden towards the big apple tree. The sun is setting and flickers of light shimmer through the leaves and dance across the grass. In a month or so the big green leaves will turn golden and fall to the ground.

  Then the Secret Mystery Club’s headquarters will no longer be hidden.

  Gosh, it won’t be the same then! Billie thinks. Trees are very good at hiding things.

  Suddenly this gives her an idea. A super-dooper idea! She dashes down the back steps and squeezes through the hole in the fence into Jack’s garden. ‘Jack! Jack!’ she yells. ‘I think I know where the ime-tay apsule-cay is hidden!’

  ‘We have to go now!’ Billie begs. ‘Come on! It’s still light. We’ll just run to the school quickly and be back before our parents even notice!’

  Jack is sitting on the back deck surrounded by a model city he has made out of matchboxes.

  He had just begun putting Lego people around his city when Billie came bursting through the side fence. Billie can see he is excited by her news but he doesn’t really want to go anywhere right now.

  ‘But you’re in your pyjamas,’ Jack says, picking up a little house that has just fallen over. ‘Can’t we just wait til tomorrow?’

  Billie shakes her head. ‘No! I have a feeling Edwina knows something. If we don’t hurry she might find the time capsule before us!

  I’m sure it’s in the old peppercorn tree somewhere,’ she says urgently. ‘Or buried underneath it. That tree would be as old as the school. It’s the perfect place to hide something! I really have a good feeling about this. Come with me just quickly? Please? Pretty please?’

  Jack looks towards the back door of his house, then at Billie again. He shakes his head. ‘We’re having dinner soon, Billie.’

  Billie frowns. ‘You’re no fun, Jack!’ she says. ‘This could be our biggest discovery ever and you just want to sit here and play with your Lego? Well, fi
ne. I’ll go by myself then!’

  She stomps away and then runs down the side of the house and into the street.

  The sun has slipped a little bit lower and the sky is beginning to blush pink. I’ll only be ten minutes, she thinks. No-one will even notice I’m gone.

  Billie runs to the school at the end of her street. When she reaches the school gate she pulls at it. It’s locked. Billie hangs her head, feeling disappointed.

  She knows that she should just go home and look tomorrow. But now she feels absolutely sure the time capsule is hidden in the tree somewhere. She can see the old peppercorn tree through the iron gate, standing like a big, shaggy monster in the middle of the playground.

  Billie looks up at the gate. It is tall but she is sure she could climb it. Does she dare?

  As she is trying to decide, she hears a voice from behind her. ‘Hi, Billie.’

  Billie’s heart leaps in her chest. She spins around. It’s Edwina.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Billie asks.

  Edwina shrugs. ‘I told you. I can see the whole school from my bedroom window. I saw you try the gate, so I came to talk to you.’

  ‘What do you want?’ Billie frowns. ‘Why do you keep following me?’

  Edwina smiles mysteriously. ‘I know what you’re looking for, Billie. And I can help you find it.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Billie splutters. She pretends she has no idea what Edwina is talking about, but her cheeks burn hot. ‘I’m not looking for anything.’

  ‘Oh well,’ Edwina says, turning away from Billie. ‘I guess you won’t want to see what I have, then.’

  ‘Wait!’ Billie calls out after her. ‘What is it?’

  Edwina stops. ‘First, you have to tell me what you’re looking for,’ she says. ‘Then, if I help you find it, you have to let me join your club.’

  Billie feels her heart start to beat faster. ‘What club? I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Her voice comes out high and squeaky.

  Edwina pauses and smiles at Billie.

  ‘You’re not the only detectives in this school, you know.’ She turns around and walks away. ‘If you want the clue to uncover your mystery, come and find me.’