“Oh boy.” Ben’s mom groaned. Ben slid a chair across the floor and sat next to his aunt at the computer.
“So as I was looking over the instructions for the compass, I noticed that they give coordinates.” Lacey explained.
“What are those?” Ben asked.
“You haven’t learned about longitude and latitude yet?”
“Oh yeah, like it tells you where you are on the earth, we learned about it about it with a GPS unit at school.”
“So you know how to use a GPS unit?” Lacey asked.
“Well, sorta, I guess. But how does that help us win the prize?”
“See this Ben? It says
44 degrees 8’14.1” North and 124 degrees 7’41.4” West.
So if we look on the globe, I think we could find it!” Lacey exclaimed.
“But what are all the extra numbers, like after 44 degrees there’s an 8 and 14.1, what do those mean?” Ben asked.
“I think they have to do with the exact angle, or exact locations, since the longitude and latitude lines make squares, those numbers help us determine where exactly in the general area the particular spot is. I bet a GPS unit could tell us exactly where to go.” Lacey paused in thought.
Ben’s mom suddenly came over to the computer. “I wonder if you could use Map Quest to find out where that is.” She said.
“Oh good idea! I’ll go to that web site.” Lacey said.
“What’s Map Quest?” Ben asked.
“It is a web site that will give you directions. If you know an address you can type it into the information boxes on the web site, click enter, and the web site will find that exact address for you. Then if you want it will give you directions to that address from your address. You may be able to enter in longitude and latitude coordinates, but I’m not sure.” Ben’s mom explained.
“Hey, look! You
can
search by longitude and latitude on here!” Lacey almost yelled. She entered in the two coordinates listed in the instructions from the compass. “Okay we have 44 degrees 8’14.1” North and 124 degrees 7’41.4” West.” She then clicked enter. “Oh my gosh!” She grabbed Ben’s arm. “Ben look at this! Look at where the treasure is!” She pointed to the screen. “If these coordinates are correct, that ten thousand dollars is here, it’s on the Oregon coast!” Lacey jumped up from the computer chair, turned to Ben’s mom and asked, “Hey sis, can I steal your son for a few days? We have a treasure to find, and I want to leave tonight!”
B
en stacked his new sleeping bag on top of his blue duffle bag in the entryway. He could barely sleep the night before; he was so excited about this trip with his aunt. If they could find the ten thousand dollars he could get a new laptop and a cell phone. He stared out the front window. The morning sun warmed his face as he waited. Then excitement shook his chest as he saw the familiar green SUV pull into the driveway.
“She’s here Mom!” he yelled. He ran to the door and unlocked it. Lacey walked in carrying two large coffees.
“Here ya go, sis.” she handed one of the coffees to Ben’s mom. “Okay buddy, you ready to go?” Lacey picked up the sleeping bag and threw it over her shoulder.
“Yep, I’m ready.” Ben turned to the door.
“Um, forgetting something?” Ben’s mom asked as she walked over to him and gave him a hug.
“Mom!” he yelled as he wiggled free from her arms, and then pulled the door open. He walked out to Lacey’s SUV and put his duffle bag in the back seat. Then walked around and hopped in the front seat.
“Please be careful.” Ben’s mom said to Lacey.
“No worries, we won’t be doing anything freaky, the treasure was advertised on a cereal box. They wouldn’t have put it somewhere dangerous.” She took a long sip of her coffee. “We’ll be back in a day or so, I’ll have my cell on the entire time.” Lacey gave her sister a hug then turned and walked out the door.
“Okay buddy, we just have to stop at the Super Mart and pick up a good GPS unit.” Lacey backed the SUV out of the driveway as she talked.
“Sorry we couldn’t leave last night.” Ben said. “I had to go to Karate, and guess what? I passed my belt testing so now I’m a red belt!”
“Wow, that’s great Ben! So, if we encounter anything scary on this trip you can protect us.”
“I’ll try!” Ben smiled.
They pulled into the Super Mart parking lot, and walked inside the store. “I think we need to go to sporting goods.” Lacey said.
As they approached the sporting goods department a teenage boy with a pony tail asked them if they needed any help.
“We need a good GPS unit, something that’s easy to use.” Lacey told him.
The boy showed them the display of various units, in all different colors. They looked like walkie-talkies with small screens. “What are you gonna use it for?” The boy asked.
“We are trying to get to a certain latitude and longitude point on the coast.” Lacey replied.
“Oh, you guys are geocaching?” He asked.
“What’s geocaching?” Ben replied back.
“Oh, it’s this awesome new sport. Someone will take a container of some sort; fill it with cool stuff. The container is weatherproof so it can stay out in the elements without getting damaged. Along with the items there is a log book inside.” He grabbed one of the GPS units from the display. “Then they will document the exact longitude and latitude; they call it a ‘waypoint’, submit the information online at
geocaching.com
, then wait for people to go to that cache. So you go onto the internet and wham! All these locations come up, they’re marked using longitude and latitude, and sometimes the person who owns the cache will put clues in as well. Then you take your GPS unit and enter the exact waypoint of one of the sites you want to go to, the GPS unit then gives you step by step instructions on how to get to it.” He showed them how to get to the longitude and latitude screen on the GPS unit. “It is really cool, ‘cause when you find the geocache, you sign the log book, you take something out of the container and then you put something of your own in. Then the next person to go to that geocache can take the item you put in. It is like a scavenger hunt, but everywhere.”
“What do you mean everywhere?” Ben asked.
“Oh man, geocaches are everywhere, they’re on street signs and park benches, but they can also be at the top of mountains, or on the ocean floor where you would need scuba gear to get to them. It’s so crazy! Not a lot of people know about it, but they will soon.” He put the GPS unit back in the display. “I think the best unit for geocaching is this one, it’s made by Garmin, and is super easy to use.” he pulled a bright yellow unit out of a box. “It has a huge screen, it will tell you step by step instructions, and it will give you elevations. It does a lot more than that, but those are the basics.” He handed it to Ben so he could check it out.
“That sounds great.” Lacey said
“Oh and one other thing, this unit has a communication chip in it, you can’t call other people, but if you get into trouble you can call 911. 911 can then track your signal without you even having to talk to them; you just press this emergency button.” He pointed to a red button that had a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle of it.
“That’s cool.” Ben said as he continued to play with it.
“Great, we’ll take that one, now does it come with a car charger and stuff?” Lacey asked.
“Yep, it’s all in there.” The boy said, as he took them over to the register. “Ya know, you better take a map as well, the unit is great, but to get a huge
view
it is nice to have a paper map.” He grabbed one of the maps off the counter by the register, and then rang them up.
As soon as they got to the car Ben ripped open the package and took the unit out. “We should enter in the waypoint now,” he said, as he pushed buttons until he got to the proper screen. “Then we can charge it on the way to the coast.”
“Sound’s good.” Lacey said as she pulled out of the parking lot. “We should grab some lunch; I don’t want to stop on the way.” Lacey pulled into a fast food drive through. They ordered their lunches and then got on Interstate -5; the freeway ran the length of Oregon and would take them north to the city of Eugene where they would cut over to the coast.
“So are we gonna split the money?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, I figured we would split it down the middle, how does that sound?” Lacey said as she concentrated on the freeway.
“So five thousand dollars each…wow, what are you gonna do with your half?” Ben asked.
“I’ll use it to pay some of my student loans.” Lacey replied. “College is really expensive; maybe you should save your half for college, Ben.”
“Well I want a new laptop and a cell phone.” Ben said, from the way he spoke it was as if they already had the ten thousand dollars in their hands. “But the rest I could put into a savings account, or buy video games and stuff.”
“Whatever.” Lacey said with a smile.
They continued north for about three hours then headed west off the freeway. Ben’s stomach was churning with anticipation, he was so excited that Lacey wanted to do this, no one else would have taken him seriously, or they just wouldn’t have believed that it was possible. But now he was actually on his way to having five thousand dollars. He wondered what that would feel like. Would it be cash when they found it, or a check? Maybe it would be on one of those cool new gift cards that look like a credit card. He dosed off thinking of all the possibilities.
Ben awoke to tapping on his shoulder. “So we’re here at the coast, right now we’re in a town called Florence, can you see if you can find our location on the GPS? It should be fully charged now.” Lacey nudged as Ben rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned loudly. He grabbed the unit, pressed the ON button and then the button he figured out was an immediate link to the screen he needed.
“Okay so, according to this we need to head north on this highway for about 30 miles, it looks like the coordinates from the cereal box are located at a lighthouse. Hang on let me find out if I can get a name on here.” He pressed more buttons until he saw text appear on the screen next to a large red dot marking the spot of the waypoint he had entered earlier. “Yeah, here it is. Those coordinates point to Hacita Head Lighthouse. Do you think the money is in the lighthouse?” He asked.
“I hope so; wow that makes this easy doesn’t it.” Lacey smiled as she continued north on the highway. “Can you check the regular map to see if there is like a parking lot at the lighthouse? I mean what if we can’t get in?” Lacey wondered. Ben unfolded the map, stretching it out over his entire body. Lacey pointed to the highway they were currently on and told him to look up the map on the coastline until he found the lighthouse.
“Yeah, looks like there’s a park there.” Ben replied eagerly.
About half an hour later they pulled into the parking lot of Hacita Head State Park. As Ben opened his door the wind pulled it from him and slammed it harshly. He jumped out and shielded his eyes against the tormenting breeze. Lacey walked to the back of the SUV and opened it; then unzipped her backpack and grabbed a hooded sweatshirt. She quickly pulled it on, and shivered. “Doesn’t feel like summer vacation does it?” She asked Ben jokingly. “Did you bring a sweatshirt or coat at all?”
“Yeah, Mom made me. Hang on a sec’.” He ran to the other side of the car, grabbed his sweatshirt from the duffle bag, and returned quickly. The fog created a thick layer of moisture on his arms, as if he was floating in a cloud. Through all of it though; he could still see the heavy beam of light from the lighthouse cutting through the fog over the ocean.
The lighthouse was huge, standing alone on a point; Ben could hear the waves crashing just below the structure as they approached. He held the GPS unit firmly in his hand; strangely no one else was around. The parking lot was empty and except for the sound of their shoes on the gravel, the howling wind, and the crashing waves in the distance, it seemed eerily quiet. Ben quickened his pace to keep up with his aunt, not wanting to be left behind.
They circled the outside of the lighthouse, looking in the tall grass that was growing around the base. Ben continued to look at the GPS unit, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. “What do you think of this?” He asked. Lacey took the unit and analyzed what she was seeing. They were facing the lighthouse’s rounded wall, with their backs to the ocean.
“From right here it says we need to go straight about eight feet.” She said with a confused tone.
“We can’t go straight, unless…do you think it is in the wall?” Ben asked with concern and excitement.
“No, I don’t think so…hey follow me.” She started walking around the wall until they came to an old door. The red paint was flaking off in some spots, and the handle was weathered from the salty ocean air. “Okay, see, now it says go straight eight feet again. It must be inside.” She concluded as she grabbed the door handle and began to turn it.
The door was locked, so she began knocking. After a few minutes of banging on the door she pulled out her cell phone, and then dialed 411, for information. “Yes can I have the Hacita Head State Park’s number for Florence, Oregon please?” She said to the operator.
Ben continued to circle around the lighthouse as he listened to his aunt. He heard the loud call of a seagull above him and looked up. About four feet above his head was a window, and oddly enough that window was open.
He ran back to Lacey and grabbed her arm. “Come here” he said as he started to drag her towards the window. Lacey closed her phone and followed.
“Check this out.” Ben pointed to the window. “What do you think?” He asked.
“It’s a small window; I bet if I boosted you, you could get in and unlock the door.” She said as she stepped below the window.
“What if there’s nothing on the other side? I mean how would I get down?” Ben asked. His stomach grumbled, reminding him of his fear of heights.
“Well I bet it’s not as high inside, so you would probably only have to drop a few feet.” Lacey said, trying to be as convincing as possible. “Let’s just try it, if it doesn’t look like you can make it, you can just come out this way again, and I’ll grab you.” She reassured him.
Ben stepped next to his aunt; she bent down and clasped her hands together. He put his foot in her hands. “Okay, ready? One—two—three!” She said as she used all of her strength to lift his weight. He grabbed onto the edge of the window, pulled himself up and rested his stomach on the window frame. His feet were hanging from the outside, as his head bobbed inside the lighthouse.
It sounded strange inside; he looked from side to side. A spiral staircase circled the middle of the round room. Other than that there were only cobwebs and old sand that had made its way in over the years.
“Okay I’m going in, you’re right, it’s not as high inside.” Ben said as he twisted his body through the window. He looked up and noticed something that seemed totally out of place. At the very top of the ceiling was a bright red circular container. On the bottom of the container staring him in the face was a black compass with the letter N, E, S, and W on each point. He couldn’t contain his excitement, “You won’t believe this!” He yelled to his aunt. He lifted himself through the window then dropped to the floor.
Lacey heard a loud crash inside the lighthouse. Something felt wrong. She jumped up toward the window. “Ben!” she yelled. No response. “Ben!” fear ran down her spine, “Ben are you okay? What was that noise? Can you hear me?” she continued to yell as she ran around the lighthouse back to the old locked door.
Ben was in a state of shock, when he let go of the window ledge he had expected to fall only two feet, but as his feet touched the floorboards the old rotten planks gave way. His body fell through a ridged hole, he felt the boards scratch him on his stomach and back, and then with a thud he landed on an even older set of stairs. His body landed in an upside down position, his legs above him and his rear in the air. He breathed for a second then felt more movement. He began rolling backwards down the stairs; he could hear them cracking as his body thumped about. He reached for anything to grab onto, but found nothing he could grasp. Finally he landed on level ground.