The Hidden Treasure Map – Personalisiertes Kinderbuch

Seite 4

At home, Tara called her classmate Nina right away. Nina arrived at the door still wearing her rain boots, which she always did when she was excited. „Open it, open it!„ Nina said, bouncing.

Seite 5

Tara lifted the lid. Inside was a rolled-up map. The paper was brown and crinkly at the edges. Across the top it said, in big curling letters, CAPTAIN CORAL'S HIDDEN TREASURE. „Pirates!„ Tara whispered.

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There was a drawing of a ship, a rocky island, and a big red X near something that looked like a tide pool. Captain Coral had once sailed these very waters, and the treasure had been hidden here so that only the truly curious would ever find it. „Real pirates?„ said Nina, her eyes going very wide. „Old pirates,„ said Tara. „The best kind.“

Seite 7

The map showed a path from a lighthouse, across sand dunes, to a cluster of rocks by the sea. Both girls wanted to find that treasure not just for the excitement, but because something about the chest and the careful hiding felt like a message meant for them. Tara grabbed her backpack. Nina grabbed a biscuit from the tin on the counter, because she believed adventures needed snacks.

Seite 8

They followed the map to the old lighthouse near the edge of town. Up close, it was tall and peeling and beautiful. The path led them around it and down a sandy track between tall grasses that rustled and whispered.

Seite 9

„I think we go left,„ said Tara, squinting at the map. „The map looks upside down,„ said Nina. „It is NOT upside down.“ It was a little bit upside down. They went right instead of left and ended up at a muddy ditch full of frogs.

Seite 10

Nina slipped on the edge and one rain boot went SPLAT into the mud. She had to tug it free with both hands and a great deal of determined grunting. „Okay,„ said Tara, turning the map around slowly. „Now I see it. We go back and then left, and then down to the rocks.“

Seite 11

They found the tide pools just as the sun came out from behind a cloud. The rocks were dark and wet and full of small glittering pools. Tara counted the boulders the way the map showed, one, two, three, and stopped at a flat grey rock shaped like a sleeping turtle. She pushed it. Nothing. She pushed harder. Still nothing.

Seite 12

Nina knelt down and looked closely at the rock. She pressed a tiny carved anchor on its side, the same anchor from the chest. There was a soft click. The rock shifted, and underneath was a hollow filled with sand. „You found the catch!„ Tara said. „I noticed it because I was down here looking for a frog,„ Nina admitted cheerfully.

Seite 13

Together they scooped out the sand. Inside was a tin box, old and green with salt. Tara opened it with trembling hands. Inside were ten gold-painted coins, a tiny compass, and a note. The note said, in loopy old writing, For the brave finder who looks closer than the rest. The sea thanks you.

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Tara held the compass up and it caught the light. „We found real pirate treasure,„ said Nina softly. „We found it together,„ said Tara. She gave Nina the compass, because Nina had found the secret catch, and that felt exactly right.

Seite 15

They walked home along the beach with the tin box between them, both talking at once about Captain Coral and where the ship might have sailed. Nina's muddy boot left one perfect trail of prints all the way up the sand. The world felt very wide and very wonderful, and Tara was already thinking about what other secrets might be hiding in the antique market, waiting for someone sharp-eyed enough to look.