CHAPTER 13

“This is, like, the most complicated treasure hunt ever,” I complained to Beck when we were up on deck at sunset, packing gear into duffel bags for the excursion into the Amazon rain forest.

“Totally,” she agreed.

Yep, instead of a Twin Tirade, we were having a Twin Harmonious Convergence, a very rare event during which we both peacefully agree about everything. This was only number seven of those.

“First Dad had to find a map in Rome,” said Beck.

“Then,” I continued, “we had to dig up a Dear Pope letter off the coast of Costa Rica.”

“Next,” said Beck, “we have to find the Sacred Stone. What comes after that? The magical marimba? The enchanted empanada?”

“And this very minute, the rest of the Treasure of Lima is sitting right over there,” I said, gesturing toward Cocos Island, since we were still anchored in its bay. “We just have to crawl into the cave and take it.”

“So why don’t we?” said Beck.

“Let’s do it.”

“I agree.”

“Wow,” I said. “These Twin Harmonious Convergences are even shorter than Twin Tirades.”

“There’s less spit involved, too.”

“We should take a vote,” I suggested. “See if Storm and Tommy agree with us.”

“Good idea.”

We bustled down belowdecks to see what Storm thought. She’d just finished the treasure map she’d created from memory and was printing it out.

“I’m with you guys,” she said after we told her our idea about going back to Cocos even though Mom and Dad said we didn’t have time. “This map is so convoluted and confusing, it might just be one piece of a bigger puzzle. We could end up spending years hiking around in the rain forest. And I hate humidity.”

Next we polled Tommy.

“We should definitely go back,” he said. “Merck and Sileny saw us outside that cave. They might put two and two together and decide to go back to steal some more treasure from us.”

Long story short, the four of us went to Mom and Dad and presented our arguments for going back to the island to retrieve the rest of the treasure.

“We should take a family vote!” I said.

“Fine,” said Dad.

So we did.

It was four against two. Me, Beck, Storm, and Tommy against Mom and Dad.

But that didn’t mean we won.

“I’m sorry, guys,” said Dad with a heavy sigh. “Mom and I have to veto your vote. We are not going back to the island. Too much is at stake.”

“Now go to bed,” said Mom. “It’s getting late. We’re heading to Peru first thing tomorrow morning.”