Liam was out in the backyard with Deak surveying the land, measuring out and marking parts of the ground where he was going to dig and lay the foundation of his new deck. The sun was baking them both and it was only going to get hotter, so Liam wanted to get started on digging before it became too much. If they got the digging done, they could break for lunch and start building once it cooled down. “That should about do it,” he said as he finished measuring out where the support beams would go. “Now comes the fun part.” He picked up a pickaxe and began slamming it into the ground to break the hard crust, meanwhile Deak used a shovel to scoop it out into a wheelbarrow. They would dump it at the edge of the property where the wind would scatter it about.

“I just hope it’s going to be big enough,” Liam continued. “I’ve got big plans for this patio. A small couch and a couple of big chairs, lots of plants, and of course a big BBQ. I might get a couple of picnic tables and put them out in the yard as well, with big umbrellas. I want to be able to have all of my friends over for a night and have a good time.”

Deak nodded in agreement.

He swung the pickaxe into the ground to break-up more earth. “Of course, need to find the money for all that. The wood for this project is stretching me pretty thing as it is.” They finished digging for one of the supports and moved on to the next. “I’m getting the supports today so we can lay those in, and then the rest should be here next week so we can finish building it next weekend. You’re still free right? I appreciate the help, it’s saving me a lot.”

Deak nodded.

Liam scooped up some rocks and tossed them into the wheelbarrow. “All right, that’s good for now. Dump that and I’ll break up some more.” Deak turned, took three steps with the wheelbarrow, and turned back around. “Something wrong?” Liam asked. Deak reached into the rubble and pulled out what looked like a cracked clay pot. He dusted it off and handed it Liam. There looked like there was a depiction of a sea battle wrapped around the pot, a ship sailing the roiling water, and a monster underneath with tentacles stretching up, wrapped around the ship that was trying to sink it. He opened the top and pulled something out of it. “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” He passed the pot to Deak.

Deak shook his head as he took it, looking it over.

Liam unfolded the piece of paper, “Holy shit look at this. It’s some sort of map.”

Deak looked over his shoulder. It was a piece of thick parchment folded over. There was a coastline along a body of water that could be the boundary of the city. A line followed through the water and off the page where it had been torn. There were a couple of buttes and mesas out that way. They had the right half but were missing the left. That was the important part, showing where the treasure was.

“What are you guys looking at?” They looked up to see Mischa standing in the doorway to the back yard. “And where’s this deck you keep talking up?”

“It’s buried under that pile of wood there,” he pointed to the supports he planned on using. “But in cooler news, we found a map! At least, part of one.” Liam held it up to show her.

She hopped down from the door and looked at it. “Holy shit you’re right, what do you think it’s about?”

Liam looked at her dumbfounded. “What do you mean? It’s a map. Obviously it leads to treasure. We just have to find the other half.”

“There’s a signature there in the bottom corner, what does it say?”

They all squinted and tried to decipher the cursive writing: Captain Bartholomew Kai

Deak and Mischa were at the library, a pile of books stacked up on the table beside them, as they combed through them for any mention of Captain Kai. Most of the tales that they read were hearsay, an account of someone reading an account, that itself was someone reading another person’s account with Captain Kai; so many times removed that it was a myth by that point. Still, it was fascinating to find out that their humble little desert town actually used to be on the coast of a giant lake with water systems running in and out of it. The system that fed it was dammed up and diverted over a hundred years ago; the lake dried up, leaving a desolate town that was only now in the last decade finding its legs again.

“I don’t know Deak, I’m not seeing much in here. And what are we even looking for anyway? We’re missing half of a map, even if we find a reference to it, or to treasure, that’s not going to give us the half of a map with the location on it. And if there’s a picture of that map, the treasure is long gone.”

Deak shrugged his shoulders and left to hunt out some more books.

Mischa continued flipping through, wondering the entire time what she was doing, and how much effort she should put into this. Surely there wasn’t really a hidden treasure out in the desert. Why was she getting so amped about it then? Whatever it was, it brought her to the library, a place she hadn’t been in since school, and back then it was just a quiet place to make out. Now she was here pouring over history books looking for, what? A hope? A dream? An adventure? Something different. Something to shake her out of the boring everyday.

But a pirate map? That seemed like a stretch.

She began piling up the books and was going to bring them back when Deak came back with a single book and a beam in his eye. “What is it?” she asked. He handed her the book and he was almost shaking with excitement. She looked it over, it was older than the other books they’d found, and looked different. Where the other books were traditional textbooks, academic, with hard covers and names like Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind the Eye Patch, or Democracy: The Politics of Pirates, this one was soft bound, and didn’t have anything on the cover. She opened it up and the first page stated, “The Mostly True Diary of Lofty, first mate to Captain Kai”, now they were getting somewhere. She flipped through it, she saw that it was his handwritten journal. More importantly, as she flipped through it, a piece of paper slipped out and fell to the table.

She picked it up, unfolded it carefully. It was a thick piece of parchment that felt old and brittle. Deak was hovering over her shoulder watching. She dropped it to the table when she realized what it was. The coastline was the same, the water, and that dotted line leading across it. Only this time it lead somewhere. The other half of the map. “We’re going to need a car,” she said.

They were standing in the driveway of Frogman, a guy they had gone to school with back in the day. They had never been antagonistic towards him but didn’t consider him a friend. They’d say hi if they passed him in the street but weren’t going to make dinner plans. Except now, because he was one of the few people they knew who had a car, and they needed to get out to the desert. Walking or biking wasn’t exactly an option.

“It’s a nice place you’ve got here,” Liam started, hoping he sounded sincere and not menacing. “You live here by yourself, or?”

“With my sister. My parents left us this place when they passed away.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, it was ten years ago. But we’re not selling if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, not at all. Nothing like that. We’ve come to ask a favour.” How did he broach this subject where he didn’t sound like a madman blabbing about pirate maps and buried treasure? What other option was there? “We found a map that we think leads to a treasure out in the desert, but we need a vehicle to get out there. We’ll give you a cut of what we find out there if we can use your car.”

Frogman chewed on the inside of his cheek while he thought it over. “Can I see the map?”

Liam pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over, finding it difficult to let do as he was always a little worried that someone was going to walk away with it.

Frogman unfolded it and looked it over, nodded as he ran a finger along, tracing the path laid out on the map. It seemed simple enough to him. A straightforward trip, there and back again. “One issue though,” he said. “This is over water. I hate to break it to you, but my car only goes over land.”

“We think it’s actually the desert. It used to be filled with water, and those three islands are the buttes.”

Frogman traced the line again. “So that would make this tiny island…”

“The Alaskan Butte.”

“All right,” he said as he handed the map back. Liam sighed with relief once it was back in his hands. “Two conditions. I’m coming with you, we split the loot in equal parts, and you also have to convince my sister that we can use the car.”

Liam shook his head. “Yeah, we can definitely do that.”

Frogman went inside and came back with his sister Caitlin. “What the hell do you nerds want?”

“We were hoping to borrow your car for the afternoon to pick something up,” Liam said. “We shouldn’t be long, and Frogman here will be with us the whole time to make sure we get it back to you on time.” At the sound of his name Frogman cringed.

“Frogman, who the hell is that?” She looked around as if she were going to see a half-man, half-frog creature walking about.

“Your brother.” Liam pointed at him.

She burst out laughing; hysterical, tears running down her face, gasping for breath laughing. She pulled out a set of keys and tossed them to Liam. “I’ve got to work today, but I can find a ride there. Learning that my brother has the nickname Frogman is worth an afternoon without a car.” She collapsed down into a chair and continued laughing.

Frogman walked past them. “Let’s go,” he said as he got in the car.

“Stay safe Frogman!” She called from the porch. “Call me if you’re going to be late.” She was still laughing.

From there it seemed like an easy day. They piled into the car, Liam at the wheel, Mischa riding shotgun with the map in her hand and working the radio, Deak and Frogman in the back – Frogman sweating and worried the entire time, questioning if this had been a good decision. What if something happened to the car? His sister would kill him. And he was ready to kill Liam for letting it spill that everyone called him Frogman – she was never going to let him live that down.

It was a straight shot out of the city and into the desert. Or so they thought. They had almost made it to the edge of town when a red and blue light began flashing in their rear-view mirror. “What the hell is this?” Liam muttered. “We haven’t been speeding or anything. Frogman, this car up to date?”

“Yeah, nothing wrong with it at all.”

Liam pulled the car to the side of the road and killed the engine. He watched in the side mirror as Officer Brady stepped out of the car and walked towards them. “Ah, shit.”

“Well, if it isn’t the Nerd Squad,” he bent down and looked in the car, catching the eye of Frogman. “You got another member it seems, you recruiting for your little band of merry idiots? Don’t tell me you’re multiplying.”

“What do you want Eugene?”

“Ahem,” he tapped the shiny gold badge on his chest. “That’s Officer Brady now. And I was just sitting in my car back there when I saw you drive by, and I know you don’t own a car. Hell, you can barely afford that shack you call a house. So that sparked my interest and wanted to see what’s going on here. Where’d you pick this beater up from, huh?”

“Actually, it’s mine,” Frogman squeaked from the back. “Just barrowing it for the day to run some errands.”

“Hot damn, I thought that was you back there Frogman. Almost didn’t recognize you without your head in a toilet. And is that Deak in there too? Still too much of a coward to talk, or just too dumb?”

“What the hell Eugene,” Mischa leaned over from the passenger side. “You were a prick in high school, you going to be a prick now too?”

“Careful now,” Officer Brady unbuckled his cuffs. “That almost sounds like you’re trespassing. I might have to pull you in for more questioning. I’m sure we could get a lot covered in one of those interrogation rooms.” He leered at her.

“Mischa relax,” Liam said. He turned to the officer. “We’re just heading out for a drive through the desert, want to check out the Alaskan butte.”

“The butte eh,” he looked around like he was trying to find something else to comment on to keep them hung up. “Well make sure you get that taillight fixed when you get back.” He turned and walked back towards his car, smashing their taillight with his baton as he went.

Liam watched him in the side mirror as he sat in the police car and made a phone call. He was going to wait until Eugene left before they continued on, but Eugene sat there staring and talking into his phone. Eugene’s PA system crackled to life, “You can leave now,” his voice echoed out. Liam started the car and pulled away, but he felt like this wasn’t over.

They made it to the butte as night was hitting. They had flashlights and headlamps, and wandered around looking for a way up but couldn’t see anything. It looked like a straight shot right up to the top. “Unless you guys brought climbing gear, I don’t think we’re getting up there. Wait until this place floods again and we’ll get a boat,” Mischa said. Deak came to her with the map, pointing to something on it. She looked it over but didn’t know what it meant. He pointed up to the moon, shining full like a beacon, and then back down to the map. “Oh, holy shit.”

“What is it?” Liam asked.

“It says here that the trail will be revealed in the reflection of a star.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Deak pointed up at the moon.

“That’s right,” Mischa said. “The moon reflects the light of the sun. So we should be able to see it by the light of the moon.”

The did another lap around the butte, keeping the moon in sight. Then it hit a point in such a way that it reflected down the butte, a shimmering line of light like a crack in the rock. They went over and found a narrow path that curled up and around the top. “Come on guys, this way, and watch your step,” Liam said.

They climbed up along the narrow path; Liam, Mischa, Frogman, and Deak coming up the back. It was slow going, the path no bigger than a meter wide and spiraling around the butte. The moon had revealed their path, and their headlamps kept it in sight in front of them. They made it to the top, a small surface area. Deak pulled out the map and handed it to Liam.

“All right, it’s not large so it should be easy to find. Looking at the map here it should be one hundred paces from the trail, along the outer rim, and then twenty-five paces north towards the centre.”

They followed in a line as Liam lead the way, counting the paces out loud. One hundred paces around, and then twenty-five in, and he stopped. They looked around, shovels at the ready, but there was nothing that indicated buried treasure. It was a flat butte, a consistent beige hard sand colour around them. “Well, that doesn’t make sense,” Frogman said. “This is just hard rock, how would there be buried treasure up here?”

“I don’t know,” Mischa said. “We were just following the map. I assumed there would be some indication, a discolouration in the ground, a hole, a trap door. I don’t know. Just…I wanted to find a treasure.”

“Maybe the treasure was the friendships we built along the way?” he said.

“Frogman, that’s dumb, It’s been like six hours. We’re looking for an actual, physical treasure.”

Deak tapped Liam on the shoulder and pointed a bit farther on from where they were looking. It looked like a square of disturbed rock, cracked and loose in the ground. Five more paces north. They all rushed over and began digging in with their shovels. It was rocky, but they were loose, and they were able to shovel them out of the hole. And there it was. Liam pulled out a small wooden chest and brushed off the sand and small stones. It had gold plates reinforcing the edges and the same picture of the sea battle between the boat and the sea monster was carved in the lid. There was a lock on it that they couldn’t open.

“What do you all think?” Liam asked. “Should we break it open with a shovel? No one has a key I assume?”

“We’ll take it with us,” Mischa said. “It’s late, we should get going. And I don’t want to carry a bunch of loose gold and jewels down that path in the dark.”

That’s when they heard the voices and saw the light beams coming up the narrow path. Eugene and a couple of his friends, a couple beers in the bag already, crested the butte. “Well, what do we have here?” Eugene said. Their lights landed on the group and their chest. “I thought you were coming out here for some nerd shit like looking at the stars with telescopes. We were going to smash them and have a good laugh about it, but it looks like you found something much more interesting.” He downed the contents of his beer can, crushed it, and threw it over the edge. “Well now, why don’t you hand that chest over here.”

“What the hell Eugene.” Mischa said.

“That’s not happening. We found it, and we’re taking it out of here,” Liam said.

“I’d like to know how you’re going to do that now that we’ve got the trail covered. Can’t get down unless you get passed us, and you’re not getting passed us unless you give us that chest.”

“Officer Brady,” Frogman’s voice croaked. “Eu…Eugene. Fuck off.”

“What’d you say?” Eugene asked.

“I said fu…fuck off.”

“You little prick.”

Eugene ran forward, arms stretched out in front of him, rushing Frogman. Liam stuck his leg out and tripped him as he went by. He stumbled forward and headbutted Frogman in the stomach and fell, his head bouncing off the ground. Frogman was winded and fell with him. Eugene’s two cronies rushed the group, trying to take on Mischa and Liam. Deak saw the opportunity, grabbed the chest, and made for the trail. He waited there, looked back to see if the others were following him. Frogman was getting up, he pushed Eugene down again and ran for the trail. Liam and Mischa were grappling with the two cronies, but they’d been drinking, their balance already off, and they easily threw them to the ground and ran as well. They went as fast as was safe, single file down the trail. Liam, Mischa, Frogman, and Deak in the back still carrying the chest.

Eugene and his gang were quick on their heels, yelling after them to drop the chest or they’d be sorry. Their lights were getting brighter as they got closer. Liam and Mischa made it to the end and turned around. Frogman was huffing along close behind, but they couldn’t see Deak, weighed down by the chest with Eugene quickly gaining ground.

“I said drop that chest,” Eugene yelled. He had caught up to Deak, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. Deak swung his arm wildly as he fell backwards. The chest went flying into the air. He fell on his back with a thud and slipped over the edge into the darkness. They heard was him yell out, there was a loud crack, and then silence.

Liam, Mischa, and Frogman were standing in Deak’s house. A number of people were all gathered around, sharing memories, and eating tiny sandwiches. Deak ’s parents came up to them and asked them to talk outside for a moment. They followed out the back door.

“We want you to know that we don’t hold you responsible for what happened to Deacon,” his mother began. “It wasn’t your fault.”

His father held back tears. “You were his best friends, he talked about you endlessly. You helped him get through a lot, brought him out of his shell.” His father said. “School in particular – well, he started excelling when he met you lot.”

“Anyway,” his mom said. “There was something that he wanted you to have. He had been working on it for a while, and I think he had big plans for you all, so it felt right to give it to you. Maybe you can continue that dream.”

His father pulled out a set of keys and handed them over. “It’s in the driveway.”

The trio walked around and found a cargo van. They opened it up and inside Deak had modified it, built a set of beds, storage, and a little kitchenette. Everything set up for a long trek.

“Did you bring the chest?” Mischa asked.

Liam went and grabbed it from the car and brought it back to the camper. “I broke the lock on it but haven’t opened it up. Was waiting until we were all together. So, shall we?”

They opened it and all looked inside. The chest was empty, except for an envelope. “What the hell?” Frogman said. “This is what we get? We went through all that, for this? For nothing?”

Mischa took the envelope and opened it up. She pulled out a thick piece of folded parchment. She unfolded it, revealing another map.

“Holy shit,” Liam said. He looked it over, it had similar markings as the first one, and there was Captain Bartholomew Kai’s signature at the bottom. “It’s another map, only this one goes out much farther into the desert.”