Mystery of the Pirate's Map by Charles Tang Read Free Book Online Page A

Walker was a horrible job. He made us sleep in ratty tents and eat lousy food. We had to work nonstop ten hours a day, and we didn’t get Saturdays and Sundays off.”
    Violet said, “That’s terrible.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what he was,” said Jack, nodding.
    â€œThen why did you keep working for him?” Jessie asked.
    Jack frowned. “Because I thought there’d be a big payoff. I thought as soon as the job was finished, he was going to give us all a huge chunk of money.”
    â€œWhy did you think that?”
    â€œHe told us whoever found the next piece of the map would get a huge bonus.”
    Benny said, “ You found it, didn’t you?”
    â€œYes, I did. It was under a big banana tree, about a foot down in the ground.”
    â€œIn a bottle?” Benny guessed.
    â€œUh-huh, the exact same type of bottle you found,” Jack told him. “I was by myself, and I ground out the cork with a stick. I wanted to make sure the piece of paper inside was part of John Finney’s treasure map before I went yelling about it. About a year earlier, some other guy thought he’d found it, but he was wrong. Winston Walker fired him.”
    â€œHow mean,” Jessie said.
    â€œWinston Walker could be very mean when he was angry. Like I said, he wasn’t the nicest guy in the world. But anyway, I shook the paper out of the bottle, and sure enough, it was the third piece of the map,” Jack said.
    â€œWhat did Walker do?” Henry asked.
    â€œWell, I went over and showed it to him, and he was as excited as a little kid. All the other workers cheered and carried me around on their shoulders. That night, Walker took us to a nice restaurant. The next morning he gave us our money and sent us back to the United States. But I never got that bonus he promised. He said he’d send it to me, but he never did. In fact, I never heard from him again.”
    Grandfather said, “Was it a lot of money, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    â€œIt was five thousand dollars. That might not be a lot of money to him, but it sure was a lot to me. Still is.” Jack went on to tell them that he had been sending money to his mother back in the United States. She lived alone and didn’t have enough money. He had told her about the bonus, then called her when he found the piece of the map. They were both very excited. He promised to give her the money so she could finish paying for her house.
    â€œThat’s so awful,” Violet said sadly. “And to think I felt sorry for Winston Walker.”
    â€œOh, you still should,” Jack replied. “His greed is a disease, just as bad as any other, and worse than some. It controls him.”
    â€œSo then why have you come here?” Tom asked. “I mean, why are you so willing to tell us what the third piece looks like? How come you’re not interested in getting the piece Benny found so you can have the treasure for yourself?”
    â€œBecause I don’t want to end up like Walker,” Jack replied. He became thoughtful. “If I found the treasure and became rich, I might start acting like him and thinking like him. He thinks money brings you happiness, but he’s one of the unhappiest people I’ve ever known. And because he’s so unhappy, he makes other people unhappy. I’m not saying all rich people are unhappy, but he certainly is.”
    Suddenly Violet did feel sorry for Walker all over again, although she didn’t say so.
    â€œI made a promise to myself—if I was alive when the last piece was found, I swore I would go to the people who found it and let them know what the third one looked like. I know Winston Walker hasn’t let anyone else see it. Only two people in the world know what it looks like—Winston and I.” Jack took a sip of the lemonade Tom had given him. “Either way, I’ve always had a good memory, and I know exactly