"Ahh!" Nathan yelled when the masked figure jumped in front of them.
Henry gasped. Maggie and Cole jumped back.
But they were startled for only a second.
The figure was just a kid in a pirate mask.
"Sorry I scared you," the kid said, pulling off his mask.
William grinned. "This is Luke," he told Henry and the others.
"He's a friend from my old school."
"You must like pirates as much as Nathan does," Henry said.
Luke nodded eagerly. "That's one reason I like coming here.
I love exploring Pirate Beach!"
"Pirate Beach?" Nathan echoed. "That's what this place is called?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "It's named after some stupid legend."
"The legend isn't stupid," Luke said.
"Pirates used to land their ships here all the time.
Some people think they hid their treasure on this beach."
"Wow!" Nathan looked impressed.
"That sounds like something from a pirate movie.
In fact, I just heard about a new movie coming out soon.
It's called Revenge of the Pirate's Ghost," he added. "I'm dying to see it!"
"Me too," Luke said.
Just then William's parents hurried out of the house.
"Welcome!" William's mother said.
"We have an exciting weekend planned for you," added William's father.
"How would you like to search for pirate booty?"
"Booty?" Maggie said. "What's that?"
"Booty is what pirates call treasure," Luke explained.
He turned to William's parents. "Is it real pirates' booty?"
William's mother smiled. "Not exactly. We've created a treasure hunt for you."
"What?" William blurted out.
"Cool!" Nathan and Luke said at the same time.
"That sounds perfect for Nathan and Luke," said Cole.
"They're both obsessed with pirates!"
"What's the treasure?" Maggie blurted out. "Is it gold?"
William's mother smiled. "You'll have to wait to see what the treasure is," she said.
"But here's how the hunt will work: we'll give you a clue.
You'll follow it to find a hidden treasure chest.
Some booty will be hidden inside, along with your next clue."
"At the end of the treasure hunt, you'll find a big surprise!" her husband finished.
"Awesome!" Luke pumped his fist. "Let's get started!"
Everyone else looked excited too. Well, not everyone.
Henry noticed that William didn't even seem to be paying attention.
He was staring out at the ocean.
"Come on, Henry." Cole poked him in the arm.
"It's time to find some pirate booty!"
After Henry and his friends dropped their luggage inside the house, William's father handed the clue to Anna.
"Have fun, kids. We'll see you at lunchtime."
Outside, Nathan took the clue from Anna. "Let me see that," he said.
"Luke and I are the pirate experts around here.
I bet we can figure out where the first treasure is!"
"Right," Luke agreed. "I think we should—"
"Don't hog the map," Maggie said, snatching the paper away from Nathan.
"Besides, we don't need pirate experts to find treasure.
We need The Lemonade Detectives!"
"The what?" Anna sounded curious.
Cole started to tell her and Luke about the detective agency.
But Henry was watching Nathan, who was scowling at Maggie.
"You're not the only ones who can figure out clues," Nathan complained.
"And you shouldn't grab stuff out of other people's hands."
"Sorry," Maggie mumbled. She continued studying the map.
"Doesn't it look like the first chest is hidden near those big pointy rocks?"
Henry looked at the map and then down at the beach where Maggie was pointing.
"I think you're right! Let's go look."
They all ran down the beach toward the pointy rock formation.
When they got closer, they spotted a man wandering along in the surf.
"Who's that?" Cole asked.
As the man approached, they could see he had a bristly, reddish-brown beard and twinkling blue eyes.
"I don't know," William said.
"But he shouldn't be here—this is private property."
The stranger had overheard William.
"Private property, hmm?" he said with a chuckle.
"It's a good thing my ancestor, Captain Roger Redbeard, isn't alive to hear you say that."
"Captain Roger Redbeard?" Nathan echoed. "That sounds like a pirate's name."
The man chuckled again. "That's because he was a pirate.
He's the one Pirate Beach is named after."
"Cool!" Luke exclaimed. "Does that mean you're the relative of a real pirate?"
"That's right." The man nodded.
"I'm even named after him. You can call me Roger."
Henry noticed that Maggie wasn't paying attention to Roger.
She'd hurried ahead of everyone.
She looked at the map again and then back down at the sand.
Then she dropped to her knees and started to dig with her hands.
"I bet the treasure is right around here!"