Hiking down the steep muddy banks of the Mississippi made Tommy curse her cute, high-heeled sandals.
“Now, what are we doing again?” Tommy asked Parker once she caught up to him near the shore. The river was only feet away. The frat boys were tromping through the bushes with flashlights.
“It’s kind of like this whole secret society thing,” Parker said. Tommy couldn’t see his eyes in the darkness. Across the river and upstream, a tall bridge made an eerie spider web silhouette. Past that, the tips of the Minneapolis skyline rose into the night sky.
Parker explained how geocaching—called caching—was a bit like a treasure hunt. It revolved around containers that were hidden or buried. People would put together clues and sometimes using a GPS system, find the hidden containers. Inside, the person who first hid the container, kept a tiny notebook. People who participated in geocaching often would sign their name into the notebook. Lately it had become popular for people to carry their own personal stamp—or signature—to show they’d found the cache. They would either sign or stamp a page and then re-bury or re-hide the container for the next person to find.
“What’s the point of it again?” Tommy couldn’t quite see the appeal.
“It’s a mystery, a puzzle,” Parker explained. “To find the geocache, they have to solve the puzzle. I don’t know what the original puzzle was in this one, but apparently, our kid, Cody, was very excited to discover the cache was practically right outside his window. He couldn’t wait until morning either because this one’s a night cache. That means that you have to use a flashlight and reflectors hidden in the woods will lead you to the cache.”
Parker went on to explain to Tommy that the geocaches often contained treasures that finders can keep, called geoswag. For instance, this particular geocache was supposed to contain geocoins—specific coins that geocachers collect.
When Parker said this, Tommy froze.
“The coins. I never told you about the coins.”
“What?”
They were interrupted by the shouts of the frat boys. “Over here! We found it.”