Stolen Treasure Read online

  “You’re right. She couldn’t be. Plus, she wouldn’t rob herself.”

  “Unless she wanted it to look like she was a victim,” said Billy.

  The duo had many theories, but nothing could be proven.

  Edison said, “I’m going to solve these crimes.”

  “Okay, but you promised me you’d go to the roofed forest with me. Can you solve this when we get back?”

  “Billy, I have to do this now. You can’t take a break when you’re working on a case.”

  “Edison, you’re not a detective. You’re an alchemist. You don’t even have any clues. Let’s just go to the roofed forest like we planned, and then you can go back to playing detective.”

  “I have an idea. I can do both. I will set up my stand tomorrow, and I’ll chat with all of the people who buy my potions. I’ll see if there were robberies in neighboring towns. When I’m done, I should have enough emeralds for us to buy our map, and then we can plan the treasure hunt. I will also have more information to help us solve these crimes.”

  “You better not back out on this trip,” Billy remarked as he got ready to leave. It was dusk, and he knew they would be vulnerable to hostile mobs.

  As Billy opened the door, an arrow flew toward him, piercing his unarmored chest, and he lost a heart.

  Edison quickly put on his armor and grabbed a handful of potions, but as he stepped outside, he wasn’t prepared to see two spider jockeys on his lawn.

  “Two!” Billy cried as he put on his armor. “That never happens.”

  Edison traded his sword for a bow and arrow and shielded himself as he stood in the doorway and shot at the skeleton, striking it with his first arrow. Edison was feeling good about striking the skeleton on the first try, but he lost his confidence when he stared into two sets of red eyes. The spiders, who were controlling the skeletons who rode atop them, advanced toward him. Billy struck one of the spiders with his diamond sword. He slammed the sword deep into the spider until the mob was annihilated.

  “Good job!” Edison exclaimed as he unleashed a wave of arrows at both skeletons. His arrows destroyed the skeleton that was displaced from the obliterated spider. Ten experience points dropped to the ground, but neither one of them could reach for the points because the remaining spider jockey was ready to battle.

  As the spider jockey jerked toward them, the weakened skeleton fell forward and accidently hit himself with an arrow and was instantly destroyed. Billy raced over to the spider and slayed the arachnid in one swoop.

  “That was intense,” Billy sighed.

  “You better get home quickly. We don’t want to have any more battles,” said Edison. He lit a torch and left it on the outside of his home to ward off any other creatures of the night.

  Edison was glad to climb into bed at the end of the day. He pulled his red wool covers over his body and fell asleep. In the morning, he gathered all of his potions, placed them in his case, and walked toward the village. He knew he had to sell enough potions to get the emeralds for the map, but he was too busy focusing on the questions he’d ask the customers. He truly believed one of the customers would offer him some clues in solving this mystery.

  7

  CUSTOMERS

  The sun was shining in Edison’s eyes, and it made him squint. He was patiently waiting for customers, but there weren’t any around. Normally he’d have a line of people wanting to purchase potions, but ever since he had gotten back from the treasure hunt, business was slow. He thought people must have believed he was still away. He never really left Farmer’s Bay and had been worried that going on the treasure hunt might affect his business. He looked out at an empty street, hoping his business would pick up. There was a slight ocean breeze, but the heat from the sun was making him sweat. Edison was ready to pack up his potions when, suddenly, his first customer arrived.

  A woman wearing a sparkly orange jumpsuit walked over to Edison’s stand.

  “Are you Edison the Alchemist?” She asked.

  Edison recognized most of his customers, but she was new. “Yes, I am.”

  “Great.” She smiled. “I need all of the potions of Fire Resistance that you have in stock.”

  “All of them?” asked Edison.

  “Yes,” she replied. “How many do you have?”

  Edison looked through his supply. He realized he packed only two bottles of Fire Resistance potions. “I don’t have much. I only have these two bottles.” He pulled them from his case.

  The woman sighed. “I guess that will do.”

  Edison wondered why she needed all of the potions, but he didn’t want to appear nosy and just stuck to the basics. “Can you pay in emeralds?”

  “Of course. How many?” The woman pulled a handful of emeralds from her inventory, which Edison found strange. Why didn’t she wait until he mentioned how many he wanted?

  “Two.”

  “That’s a good deal. I wish you had more.” She handed over the emeralds and he gave her the potions.

  “I might have some more tomorrow,” Edison said.

  She began to walk away when he called out, “Where are you from?”

  “Huh?” She turned around and walked back toward him.

  “Where are you from? I haven’t seen you before. How did you know I was here?”

  “Everyone knows about you,” she said. “You’re famous.”

  Edison blushed. “I am?”

  Before he had a chance to ask her more questions, a few regular customers appeared.

  “Edison,” one customer called out, “I’m so glad you’re back. I need potions of Healing and Invisibility.” It was James. James always bought Edison’s potions. He lived in a snowy biome, and it would take him two days to get to Farmer’s Bay. James always wore a heavy coat, and Edison wondered how he could keep it on during this heat wave. Edison was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans and was overheated.

  Edison grabbed James’s potions and handed them to him as the woman in the sparkly orange jumpsuit walked out of the town. He wanted to call out to her, but he knew it was pointless because she couldn’t hear him and he had a line of customers. Edison was questioning if he’d make a good detective. He wasn’t getting any answers in the case that he had decided to take on.

  “How’s life going in the snowy biome?” asked Edison. “Have you built a bigger igloo like you told me you wanted to do?”

  “Things are good,” said James, “and I did build a bigger igloo. You have a good memory.”

  The next customer, Anna, was from the neighboring town, and Edison wanted to ask her if there were any robberies in her town. “How are things in Verdant Valley?” asked Edison.

  “Not good.” Anna explained that two homes had been robbed. “My neighbor had an entire chest looted.”

  “That is happening here too!” exclaimed Edison. “I’m trying to help figure out who is robbing everyone.”

  “Wow, you’re the town’s detective?” Anna asked.

  “Amateur one.” He chuckled. “And I’m not getting very far in the investigation.”

  “I’ve also been trying to solve the crimes,” Anna confessed, “but it’s harder than I thought. We should pool our information.”

  “I don’t have any information. We had stranger in the town who wore a green robe, but that’s about it,” said Edison.

  Anna moved over to the side so Edison could handle the other customers. He wanted to question each person, but Anna distracted him. He felt as if she was questioning him. She asked him all sorts of questions about the robberies in his town, and offered very little information about the ones in her town.

  “I have to go,” Anna said and added, “When you get more information, let me know.”

  “Same with you,” said Edison, but Anna just walked away without a reply.

  Edison took note of Anna’s behavior. He tried to question the rest of the customers, but nobody had any new info.

  There was a long break between customers, and Edison was ready to pack up his wares fo
r the night when an old man with long hair and a cane walked slowly toward him and called out weakly, “Are you packing up? Please wait.”

  “No rush,” Edison replied. “Take your time. I’ll wait.”

  When the old man finally reached Edison he said, “I need a potion of Strength. My bones are so weak, and I’m so tired.”

  Edison looked through his case. “You’re in luck. We have a bunch of potions.”

  “I need three bottles,” said the old man as he readjusted his cane.

  “That’s three emeralds.”

  “I don’t have anything to trade,” explained the old man.

  “I’m afraid I can’t sell you the potions then.” Edison felt bad for telling the older man that he couldn’t sell him potions.

  “I can barter.”

  “Barter?” Edison was confused.

  “I will tell you your future if you give me the three bottles of potion,” explained the man.

  “My future?”

  “I can see into the future.”

  “Really?” Edison questioned. He also wondered if this man was wise and could figure out who was behind these robberies, but he realized that he probably wasn’t a psychic or someone who could predict your future, but rather someone who tried to get potions for free.

  “Yes, really,” said the old man. “You don’t believe me?”

  “No,” Edison said, “I don’t.”

  “I will tell you something about yourself, and you can tell me if you want to barter.”

  “Okay, tell me.”

  The old man looked into Edison’s dark brown eyes. “You have a very good friend and he wants you to join him on a trip. You’re conflicted because you don’t know if you should go.”

  Edison was stunned. “Okay, we can barter.” He handed the three bottles of potion to the old man, who quickly placed them in his inventory.

  “You must go on this trip with him.”

  “But I’m not even sure we have enough emeralds to get the map.”

  The old man cleared his throat. “You do.”

  “Okay,” said Edison. “What else?”

  “I can tell you are very upset about something that is disrupting the peace in your town. You will find answers on the trip. Deep underground.”

  “What?”

  “It will make sense when you find it,” said the man, “but you can’t give up. Even when it seems like all you reach are dead ends, you must move forward.”

  Edison found this reading of his future to be extremely vague, and it didn’t make any sense.

  “The only way you can succeed is through friendship,” the old man said and walked away.

  As the old man disappeared down the path, Billy came running down the street.

  “Edison,” Billy spoke quickly, “I found a cartographer and he has a map to the Roofed Forest Biome that he claims contains a woodland mansion.”

  “How much does the map cost?”

  “Twelve emeralds.”

  Edison looked in his inventory. He had exactly twelve emeralds.

  8

  VERDANT VALLEY

  “Great,” Billy exclaimed, “the cartographer is in Verdant Valley. We have to meet him before dusk.”

  Edison wanted to tell Billy about the old man, but he wasn’t quite sure how he’d explain the exchange. He worried Billy might think he was naïve for trading valuable potions for his fortune. Instead he mentioned what Anna had told him about Verdant Valley. “Anna bought some potions this morning and she told me there were some robberies in Verdant Valley.”

  “Really?” Billy was surprised.

  “Yes,” confirmed Edison. “We should stop by Anna’s house and get some information about what is happening in her town. Like me, she is an amateur sleuth on the case.”

  Billy and Edison were on the outskirts of Farmer’s Bay when Liz the Librarian called out to them. “Billy! Edison! I have something to tell you.”

  The duo turned around and walked to Liz. Edison asked, “What’s the matter?”

  Liz caught her breath. “I was curious if you had seen the woman in the green robe again.”

  Edison replied, “No, and I was in the center of the village all day. I was selling my potions. I’m sure I would have seen her.”

  “Why do you ask?” questioned Billy.

  “A lot of books from the library are missing and when I was putting some books away, I heard two townspeople talking about how they were robbed.” Liz spoke quickly. She was obviously upset.

  “More robberies!” exclaimed Edison, and then he looked over at Billy. He wanted to tell him that they should find another time to go on the trip to the roofed forest, but then he remembered the old man’s advice that he must go on the trip with his friend, and his even more cryptic message that he’d find the answers underground. However, he knew the logical decision was to stay in Farmer’s Bay and figure out who was robbing the homes.

  “Edison said there are robberies in Verdant Valley. We’re on our way there. I will ask the librarian if books are missing from their library,” Billy told Liz.

  “That’s a good idea,” said Liz.

  “I’m sorry, we’d love to talk more about this, but we have to go before dusk,” Billy explained.

  The duo ran from their sandy village toward the neighboring lush green biome of Verdant Valley. Edison was out of sorts from the change in biome. Thankfully both towns had great ways to keep cool in this heat wave: Farmer’s Bay had a seaside breeze and Verdant Valley was shaded with large leafy trees.

  “She’s right over there.” Billy pointed to a woman in a white robe. Like the librarian, the cartographer was also dressed in white.

  The cartographer spotted Billy and walked toward him, “Perfect timing,” she said as she looked up at the sky. “It’s almost dusk.”

  “Twelve emeralds, right?” Billy confirmed.

  “Yes.” As they exchanged the map for the emeralds, the cartographer said, “You are getting an incredible map. I’ve been crafting maps for years and I must tell you this is a rare find. I promise that once you reach the roofed forest, you will find a woodland mansion.”

  “Incredible,” Billy remarked. In all of his years as an explorer, he had never seen a woodland mansion, and it was his ultimate goal. He knew there were great treasures in these grand mansions, but he also feared the villagers, the hostile mobs that lived inside these mansions. He heard tales about the Vindicator from his fellow treasure hunter friends, and he was warned it was almost impossible to defeat. Yet, he didn’t let these fears hold him back. As he clutched the map, he wore a big grin.

  “Thank you,” the cartographer said, and they parted ways.

  The sky was getting dark and the absence of light meant that certain hostile mobs were already capable of spawning. Despite this fact, Edison wanted to make a quick trip to Anna’s house to ask her about the robberies in her town.

  “I don’t think we have time to see the librarian,” Billy said as he stared at the setting sun.

  “I know, but we have to visit Anna before we head home.”

  “Now? Really? I want to go home and get ready for our treasure hunt tomorrow,” Billy replied.

  “It will be a quick visit. I promise.” Edison bolted to Anna’s house and Billy followed him.

  Anna was surprised they were at her door. “Wow, it’s so late. Aren’t you guys worried about getting destroyed by a skeleton?”

  “I just wanted to see if there were any more robberies here? We had a few more in our town,” said Edison.

  Billy added, “And Liz the Librarian said a bunch of books had been stolen. Has that happened here?”

  “No.” Anna looked down as she answered. Edison took note of this behavior. She always looked you in the eye when she spoke to you, so this was out of character for Anna. Ever since Edison proclaimed himself a detective, he searched for clues everywhere. “There is nothing happening here. It’s all over.”

  “Thanks, and if you hear about anything happening, pleas
e let us know. Have a good night.” Edison smiled, but Anna didn’t notice because she was too busy staring at the ground.

  “We leave town tomorrow and we won’t be back for a while,” Billy said, and Edison shot him a dirty look.

  “Where are you going?” asked Anna.

  Edison didn’t want to give Anna any more information than necessary, and he was irritated that Billy was giving away their itinerary.

  “We’re going on a treasure hunt to the roofed forest.”

  Anna finally looked up. Her eyes sparkled. “The roofed forest?”

  “Yes,” Billy confirmed.

  “How did you get a map to the roofed forest?”

  Billy explained how he had met with the cartographer and how long he had been planning this trip. As Billy spoke, Edison stared at the darkening sky, worried they’d be attacked on the way home. He had his remaining potions in his inventory and didn’t want them to drop to the ground if he was destroyed. He worked very hard to brew all of the potions.

  “I’ve always dreamed about going to the Roofed Forest Biome,” Anna confessed.

  Edison’s jaw dropped when Billy suggested, “Why don’t you come with us?”

  9

  WHERE’S THE WHEAT?

  Edison couldn’t believe Billy invited Anna. At that moment, she was one of his major suspects. He didn’t feel he could trust her. There were just too many signs that made him feel that she might be involved in the crime. She asked too many questions but gave no answers, and she couldn’t look either of them in the eye. Yet Billy had kindly invited Anna on one the biggest and most exclusive treasure hunts in the Overworld. Billy didn’t even know her very well. Edison leaned against the wall of Anna’s home as Billy set up a meeting point for the treasure hunt.

  “Tomorrow morning, we will all meet in front of your house. Okay, Anna?” Billy asked as he showed her the map.

  “I can’t believe that I’m going to see the Roofed Forest Biome tomorrow. I feel like the luckiest person in the Overworld.”

  Edison wanted to respond, you are, but he remembered the old man telling him the importance of friendship and he remained silent. Even on the walk home, when Edison yearned to raise his voice and ask Billy why he invited Anna, he didn’t say anything. Instead he kept a close eye out for any hostile mobs and said good night before he jogged off to his house in the distance.