(7/26) The Goose's Gold Read online

  is for Greed…

  Spike and Chip came out of the house carrying the box of gold. Gram Hath-away followed them onto the porch.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Hathaway” Spike said. “Do you really think your friends will help us?”

  Gram Hathaway smiled. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. I’m going to talk to my banker on Monday morning!”

  A yellow cab pulled up. Spike and Chip got in and sped away. Ruth Rose’s grandmother went back into the house.

  “She’s pretty excited,” Ruth Rose said.

  “I would be, too, if I was gonna get rich,” Josh said.

  “I don’t think she’s gonna get rich,” Dink said. “I think she’s gonna get robbed!”

  The Absent Author

  The Bald Bandit

  The Canary Caper

  The Deadly Dungeon

  The Empty Envelope

  The Falcon’s Feathers

  The Goose’s Gold

  To Fred and Mary, bestest friends

  –R.R.

  In memory of Gromere

  –J.S.G.

  “Hi, Mom, I’m in Florida!” Dink said into the phone. He glanced out the airport’s large windows. “I can see palm trees! And it’s about 80 degrees!”

  Donald David Duncan, known as Dink to his friends, was on winter vacation from school. He, Josh, and Ruth Rose were visiting Ruth Rose’s grandmother. She lived on an island called Key West.

  Dink’s mother told him to have a wonderful time. “And remember your manners!”

  Dink grinned into the phone. “What manners? Just joking, Mom! See you in a few days.”

  Dink hung up the phone. As he bent over to pick up his backpack, he saw a pair of feet in the next booth. They were tan and in sandals. One hairy ankle had a tattoo of an eagle’s head.

  Dink heard the man’s voice. He was whispering, “…then we take the dough and split. They’ll never find us!”

  Take the dough and split? Was this guy planning a robbery? Dink wondered.

  He leaned toward the other booth so he could hear better.

  “Those old cookies are loaded,” the man whispered. “We get in and out, then we drown the goose and disappear!”

  Dink blinked. Loaded cookies? Drown the goose? What was going on here?

  Suddenly, Josh snapped his fingers in front of Dink’s face. “Earth to Dink,” he said.

  “Come on, we have to go find my grandmother,” said Ruth Rose.

  Dink stepped away from the phone. He peeked into the next booth, but it was empty.

  Dink hurried after Josh and Ruth Rose.

  “You guys aren’t gonna believe what I just heard!” he said. “I think some guy is planning a robbery!”

  Josh and Ruth Rose looked at Dink. “Are you kidding?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “No, honest!” Dink said.

  Dink tried to imitate the way the man had whispered. “He said, ’take the dough and drown the goose!’”

  Josh looked at his friend. “That’s it?”

  Dink nodded. “Well, he also said something about loaded cookies.”

  “Maybe he said ’bake the dough and brown the goose,’” Ruth Rose said. “Sounds like he was a chef, not a robber.”

  Suddenly, they heard someone call, “Yoo-hoo, kids. Over here!”

  “There she is,” Ruth Rose said excitedly. “HI, GRAM!”

  The kids hurried over to a smiling woman with white hair.

  “Honey, how you’ve grown!” Ruth Rose’s grandmother said. She gave Ruth Rose a hug. “Merry Christmas!”

  Ruth Rose blushed. “Thanks, Gram. These are my best friends, Dink and Josh. Guys, this is Gram Hathaway!”

  Gram Hathaway was short and tanned. She wore shorts, a purple T-shirt, and a baseball cap—backward!

  Gram shook hands with the boys. “I’ve heard a lot about you two.” she said. “Got your bags? Let’s go home and have a nice supper.”

  Ruth Rose’s grandmother led them through the exit doors. The evening was hot and humid. Everyone wore shorts and sandals.

  “Boy back home we had a foot of snow!” Josh said. “I can’t wait to see the ocean!”

  “There’s a lovely beach not far from my house,” Ruth Rose’s gram said. “I think you’ll find the water pretty warm for December.”

  They piled into her small white car. “Buckle up, everyone,” she said.

  Dink and Josh climbed in the back. Dink almost sat on a pair of in-line skates. “Just dump those on the floor,” Gram said.

  Josh snuck Dink a look. “Do you skate?” he asked Ruth Rose’s grandmother.

  She winked at Josh in the rearview mirror. “Only on Tuesdays and Fridays. The rest of the week I jog or swim!”

  A few minutes later, they were zooming along a busy street. Dink watched the tall palm trees as the car whizzed past them. Through rows of neat houses, he caught glimpses of blue sea and nearly white sand.

  “Look, a pelican!” Josh cried, pointing out the window.

  “You’ll see plenty of those here,” Gram Hathaway said. “And they aren’t afraid of people. I saw one swoop down and snatch a girl’s ice cream cone!”

  “They better not try that with me!” Josh said.

  “Here we are,” Gram Hathaway said. She pulled her car into a driveway surrounded by rosebushes.

  Dink saw a small pink house with blue shutters. Window boxes were filled with bright flowers. Pots of pink geraniums sat on the front steps.

  “You’ve got an awesome house, Mrs. Hathaway!” Josh said.

  She laughed. “Please call me Gram, and thank you!”

  The kids followed Gram into a yellow living room. In one corner, a Christmas tree stood on a table.

  “Okay, drop your bags and let’s eat!”

  Gram led Ruth Rose and Josh into her kitchen. “I hope you like fried chicken!”

  Dink followed slowly. He couldn’t stop thinking about the man on the telephone.

  If he was just talking about food, Dink wondered, why was he whispering?

  “I smell cookies,” Josh said the next morning.

  Dink rolled over and looked at Josh. He was sitting up in bed with his nose in the air.

  Dink grinned. “You look like a rabbit, Josh.”

  “No, I’m serious,” Josh said. He walked over to the window and took a deep whiff. “Yep, it’s cookies. With chocolate chips!”

  They heard a knock on their bedroom door. “Hurry up, you guys!” Ruth Rose said. “Gram is making breakfast!”

  Dink and Josh scrambled into shorts and T-shirts. They did a quick job of washing up, then hurried down the stairs.

  Gram Hathaway stood at the stove, spooning pancake batter onto a hot griddle. She was wearing running gear, and her hair was tied in a red bandanna. “Good morning, boys. How’d you sleep?”

  “Great,” Dink said. “Except Josh snored all night!”

  “Ha!” Ruth Rose laughed as she poured orange juice into four glasses. She liked to dress all in one color. Today she was wearing green shorts, a green T-shirt, and green jelly shoes.

  Josh glanced at the stove. “I thought I smelled chocolate chip cookies.”

  Gram smiled. “What an observant young man! There’s a batch in the oven that’s almost done.”

  Josh nudged Dink. “See? I’m an observant young man!”

  Gram brought a platter of pancakes to the table. “I’m baking cookies for our company.”

  “Who’s the company Gram?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Her grandmother smiled mysteriously. “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”

  While they ate breakfast, Gram told the kids about some of the sights to see on the island.

  “Be sure to take a ride on the Old Town Trolley” she said. “It scoots all
over town.”

  “How do we get to the beach?” Josh asked.

  “Just walk to the end of my street, then turn right,” Gram said. “Two more blocks, and you’ll see the water!”

  “Can we help you clean up?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “I’ll clean up after my run,” Gram replied. “You kids go have fun, and I’ll see you for lunch.”

  The kids each grabbed a warm cookie, then hurried outside.

  Ten minutes later, they were carrying their sneakers and wading in the ocean.

  Dink was looking at guys’ feet on the beach. He saw plenty of ankle tattoos, but none were eagles.

  From the beach, they walked up some steps to a wide concrete pier. There were benches and tables, and vendors selling food and souvenirs. A man was juggling oranges and grapefruits. Big gray pelicans sat on posts, waiting for tourists to feed them.

  “Let’s go see those boats,” Josh suggested, pointing toward a long wooden dock.

  The kids ran along the beach and crossed over to the dock. Dink saw a sign that said WATCH FOR SPLINTERS AND FISHHOOKS! NO BARE FEET!

  People were lined up, fishing. One little girl shouted, then pulled up a silver fish the size of Dink’s hand.

  The kids pulled on their shoes and hiked along the long dock. Boats were nestled in slips on both sides.

  Everywhere they looked, people were washing, polishing, or painting their boats.

  “I wish I had a sailboat,” Josh said as they continued along the dock. “I’d live on it and sail around the world.”

  “What about me and Dink?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Oh, I’d hire you as my cook,” Josh told Ruth Rose. “You could make me cookies and pizza.”

  He nudged Dink with his hip. “And Dinkus could wash my clothes and make my bed!”

  “Yeah, right,” Dink said. “And make you walk the plank!”

  “Listen! I hear music,” Josh said.

  A radio stood at the end of the dock next to a man holding a paintbrush. He was painting curly gold letters on the side of a white boat. So far, he’d finished G and O.

  Smears of gold speckled the man’s tanned fingers. He was short, but the muscles on his arms made him look like a weightlifter.

  Another man stood next to him, eating a muffin. He was tall and skinny, with a blond ponytail. Both men wore tank tops over baggy jeans.

  The skinny man nodded at the kids. “Howdy,” he said.

  “I like your boat,” said Josh. “Do you live on it?”

  The skinny man turned down the radio. “There’re two beds up front,” he said. “A kitchen and a bathroom, too.”

  Dink noticed a yellow rubber dinghy strapped along one side of the boat. Two long fishing poles were lying on the deck.

  “Is it a fishing boat?” Dink asked.

  The skinny man shook his head. “Naw, we’re after treasure. We dive for gold.”

  “You do?” Josh said. “Cool!”

  The man waved his muffin out at the ocean. “There’re plenty of sunken ships out there,” he said, grinning. “Me and Spike here found one.”

  The man with the paintbrush gave his friend a sharp look. “Chip, maybe these kids don’t want to know our business,” he said.

  Chip shrugged. “Just bein’ neighborly,” he said.

  Spike went back to his painting.

  “Did you find any gold yet?” Josh asked.

  Chip looked at Spike.

  “Yeah, we got some,” Spike said.

  “Could we see it?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Spike thought for a minute, then handed Chip his paintbrush. “Sure, why not?” he said. “Come aboard and watch your feet.”

  Spike climbed down some stairs to a little cabin. When he came back up, he had something shiny in his hand.

  “These are Spanish coins,” Spike told the kids. “Almost four hundred years old.”

  The kids stared at the gold coins in Spike’s hand.

  “Pretty neat, huh?” he asked.

  The large gold coins gleamed in the sun.

  “Awesome!” Josh said.

  The kids thanked Spike and Chip and walked back along the dock.

  “I wonder how much those coins are worth,” Josh said.

  “A lot!” Ruth Rose said.

  Josh sighed. “Wouldn’t it be cool to dive for treasure?”

  “Josh,” Dink said, “you need to know how to use an air tank and everything. They go down deep!”

  Across the street, a small orange train was loading up with passengers.

  “There’s the trolley!” Ruth Rose said. “Let’s catch it!”

  The kids rushed over. They climbed aboard and sat right behind the driver. When most of the seats were filled, the trolley gave a jolt, then moved down the street.

  “Where does the trolley go?” Dink asked the driver.

  “We go everywhere, my man!” said the driver. He handed Dink a map. “See those blue circles? Those are my stops. You can get off at any of them, then hop back on when I come by again.”

  The driver stopped the train in front of a white building with overflowing flower boxes. The sign in front of the building read MEL FISHER’S TREASURE MUSEUM. SEE SPANISH GOLD AND SILVER INSIDE.

  “Who’s Mel Fisher?” Dink asked the driver.

  “Mel Fisher found an old Spanish ship loaded with gold and silver,” he said. “Some of what he found is in this museum.”

  He pointed at the sign. “Why don’t you kids hop off and check it out? I’ll swing by again in about forty-five minutes,”

  “All right!” Josh said.

  The kids got off the trolley and followed a few of the other sightseers to the museum.

  Inside were rows of glass cases. Each case held gleaming gold, silver, or jewelry.

  The kids walked around the room staring at the priceless treasures.

  After a while, Ruth Rose stopped in front of a picture of Mel Fisher. He was wearing a long gold chain. The real chain was displayed in a glass case below the picture.

  “Listen,” Ruth Rose said. “‘This solid gold chain was made in 1622 and weighs 200 pounds. It is worth more than one million dollars!’”

  “Boy imagine wearing that around your neck!” Josh said.

  Dink was looking at a picture of Mel Fisher’s boat. “Look, this says it took him almost twenty years to find the treasure!”

  “Speaking of food, let’s get some lunch,” Josh said.

  “We weren’t talking about food,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Well, my stomach was,” said Josh. “Looking at treasure makes me hungry!”

  A few minutes later, the trolley stopped back at the museum.

  “What’d you think of all that gold?” the driver asked them. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

  “Did Mel Fisher get to keep everything he found?” Dink asked.

  The driver shook his head. “Some had to go to the state of Florida, but he and his investors got rich on the rest.”

  “What’re investors?” Josh asked.

  “People who lent Mel Fisher money,” said the driver. “Fisher had to borrow a lot to buy equipment and pay his crew. When he struck it rich, he paid his investors back with gold!”

  The man grinned in his mirror. “Wish he’d asked me to invest!”

  A few minutes later the kids said good-bye and hopped off the trolley. They raced home and rushed into Gram Hathaway’s kitchen.

  “How was your morning?” she asked.

  “We rode on the trolley, Gram!” Ruth Rose said. “The driver was so nice!”

  “He dropped us off at the Mel Fisher museum,” Dink said.

  “And we met two guys who dive for treasure,” Josh added. “We went on their boat and saw real gold coins!”

  Ruth Rose’s grandmother smiled. “I’m glad you got to see some treasure,” she said with sparkling eyes. “Now let me tell you about our special company! Their names are Spike and Chip.”

  “Gram, how do you know Spike and Chip?” Ruth Rose asked.

&nbs
p; “Wash up for lunch, and I’ll tell you all about it,” her grandmother said.

  The kids crowded around the kitchen sink and washed their hands.

  “A few weeks ago, Spike and Chip came to my senior center,” Ruth Rose’s gram said. She set a plate of sandwiches on the table.

  The kids wiped their hands and sat down.

  “They told us all about the treasure they found!” Gram continued. She poured lemonade. “Now they’re looking for investors.”

  “Just like Mel Fisher!” Dink said. He reached for a tuna sandwich.

  “That’s right, Dink,” Gram said.

  Josh heaped three sandwiches onto his plate. “Are you gonna get rich?” he asked.

  Ruth Rose’s grandmother laughed. “We’ll have to wait and see,” she said. “Anyway, we’re each thinking about investing ten thousand dollars!”

  “Gram!” Ruth Rose said.

  Her grandmother’s eyes twinkled. “I know, it is a little scary.”

  “Boy, I’d do anything to go with them when they dive for treasure!” Josh said.

  “That reminds me,” Gram said. She took three presents off the counter. “Merry Christmas!”

  “Wow, thanks, Gram!” said Ruth Rose.

  “Yeah, thanks!” said Dink and Josh.

  “They’re all the same,” Gram Hathaway said. “That way you won’t have to share.”

  The kids pulled off the paper.

  Inside, they each found a book called Finding Sunken Treasure in Florida.

  The cover showed a boat like the one Mel Fisher had used. Under the boat was a sunken ship. Divers were searching the wreck and bringing up treasure.

  “I thought you’d have fun learning about shipwrecks,” said Gram, “since I might be investing in one!”

  “This is so neat!” Josh said. “Thanks a lot!”

  Ruth Rose’s grandmother stood up. “You’re very welcome. Now I have to get busy. Spike and Chip will be here in an hour! Can you help me set up the living room?”

  “Sure,” Dink said. “What do you want us to do?”

  “I’ll need about ten folding chairs. They’re in the hall closet. And bring out the three card tables.”

  The kids arranged the tables and chairs around the living room. Gram Hathaway set out covered plates of cookies on one of the tables.