🇪🇸 The Salty Spain Special — Chapter 3

🏴‍☠️ The Meeting at the Captain's Table

Morning arrived in Spain.

The sun was shining.

The birds were singing.

The streets were beginning to fill with holidaymakers.

And somewhere in the middle of all this peacefulness, The Salty Gang were preparing for a very serious meeting.

The treasure map had been placed on the table.

Miguel the teddy bear was sitting beside it.

Nobody knew why.

Nobody had asked him to attend.

But Large Lad insisted that he was an important member of the expedition.

The meeting was to take place at the Captain's Table.

Nobody was entirely sure why it was called the Captain's Table.

Captain Morgan had simply announced:

“Everyone meets at the Captain's Table at ten.”

And because he said it in a very serious voice, everyone assumed it was official.

🏴‍☠️ All Hands on Deck

At exactly ten o'clock, the gang began arriving.

Sarah and Susan arrived together.

Dinkz came next, carrying coffee.

McFinleyyy arrived with a notebook and three pens.

John Daniels had somehow acquired a croissant.

Salty arrived looking very confident.

Then Captain Morgan appeared.

He stood at the head of the table.

“Right,” he announced.

Everyone stopped talking.

Even Large Lad.

Well...

For about six seconds.

Captain Morgan placed both hands on the table.

“We have a mission.”

Salty nodded solemnly.

“We do.”

Susan looked at the treasure map.

“Do we actually know what we're looking for?”

“No,” said Captain Morgan.

“Do we know where we're going?”

“No.”

“Do we know who made the map?”

“No.”

Sarah looked at Salty.

“This is going well.”

Salty smiled.

“Absolutely.”

🗺️ The Evidence

Captain Morgan picked up the map.

“This,” he said, “is our only clue.”

McFinleyyy immediately raised his hand.

“We also have the teddy.”

Everyone looked at Miguel.

Large Lad pulled him closer.

“HE'S NOT JUST A TEDDY.”

Captain Morgan nodded.

“Quite right.”

Dinkz looked confused.

“How is he going to help?”

Large Lad looked at him.

“HE KNOWS THINGS.”

Nobody challenged him.

Captain Morgan studied the map.

“The message says: Where the sun meets the sea, the treasure waits beneath the stone.”

John Daniels took a bite of his croissant.

“So we're looking for a beach.”

“Possibly,” said Captain Morgan.

“Or somewhere near the sea,” added Sarah.

Susan pointed to the drawing of the palm tree.

“Definitely somewhere warm.”

Salty nodded.

“Good detective work.”

Susan stared at him.

“We're in Spain.”

“Oh.”

🔎 The Investigation

McFinleyyy opened his notebook.

“I've made a list of possible locations.”

Everyone leaned forward.

“Number one: the beach.”

“Obviously,” said Dinkz.

“Number two: the harbour.”

“Reasonable,” said Captain Morgan.

“Number three: the promenade.”

“Good.”

“Number four…”

McFinleyyy paused.

“An ancient-looking stone.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What's an ancient-looking stone?”

McFinleyyy shrugged.

“I don't know. That's why it's on the list.”

Salty nodded approvingly.

“Excellent work.”

Sarah whispered to Susan:

“I'm beginning to think we're not qualified for this.”

Susan nodded.

“Beginning?”

🍽️ The Large Lad Problem

Suddenly, Large Lad raised his hand.

Captain Morgan looked at him.

“Yes?”

“WHEN DO WE EAT?”

The entire table went silent.

“We haven't even started the treasure hunt,” said Sarah.

“EXACTLY.”

“You had breakfast.”

“THAT WAS HOURS AGO.”

“It was 90 minutes ago.”

Large Lad looked shocked.

“STARVATION.”

Salty sighed.

“Fine. We'll get food after the meeting.”

Large Lad nodded.

“GOOD.”

Captain Morgan continued.

“Our first objective is to identify the location shown on the map.”

Dinkz pointed at the paper.

“There's something else.”

Everyone looked.

In the corner of the map was a tiny drawing.

It looked like a skull.

Captain Morgan leaned closer.

“A skull.”

John Daniels stopped eating.

“Pirates?”

Salty's eyes lit up.

“Now we're talking.”

Sarah shook her head.

“Oh God.”

☠️ The Salty Plan

Captain Morgan stood up.

“Here's the plan.”

Everyone listened.

“We follow the map.”

“Obviously,” said Susan.

“We find the location.”

“Obviously,” said Dinkz.

“We locate the stone.”

“Hopefully,” said McFinleyyy.

“We dig up the treasure.”

“Hopefully,” said Sarah.

“And then…”

Captain Morgan paused dramatically.

“We become rich.”

Large Lad immediately stood up.

“AND BUY FOOD?”

Captain Morgan nodded.

“Lots of food.”

Large Lad sat back down.

“MISSION ACCEPTED.”

Salty looked around the table.

“For once, everyone seems to agree.”

Miguel the teddy bear suddenly fell over.

Everyone stared at him.

Salty picked him up.

“Even Miguel agrees.”

Nobody knew whether that was true.

But it sounded good.

The meeting was officially over.

The map was folded.

The teddy was packed.

Coffee was finished.

The croissant had disappeared.

And Ye Olde Large Lad was ready for adventure.

As they left the Captain's Table, Salty looked back at the map one more time.

There was something strange about it.

The route wasn't simply marked towards the beach.

There was a second dotted line.

It appeared to lead somewhere inland.

And at the end of that line was another symbol.

A large black X.

Salty smiled.

“Lads…”

Everyone turned.

“I think we've just found our first real clue.”

Large Lad immediately shouted:

“TREASURE!”

A waiter looked over.

Everyone smiled innocently.

The Spanish treasure hunt had officially begun.

And somewhere beneath the Spanish sun, something was waiting for them.

Whether it was gold, ancient treasure…

or something considerably more embarrassing…

they were about to find out.

🇪🇸🗺️☠️ TO BE CONTINUED…