Martin sat on the grassy patch of his backyard. “Hey, Bella, get me a drink, please,” he called. Bella was his sister. “Oh, Martin, get it yourself. Don’t be lazy.” But Bella herself was examining her ant farm and sipping lemonade. Martin rushed to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. “So, this is what you’re doing?” he wondered. “I thought you were hard at work, right? Come on, it’s a wonderful day Bella ignored Martin and just sipped more of her lemonade. “No thanks,” she replied. So, Martin went out without her.
A few hours later, he decided to get a shovel and dig a hole. His dog, Tom, helped. “Hey, boy!” called Martin. “Want me to help dig a hole? It’s fun.” Tom happily stood up on his hind legs and dashed toward Martin. They started digging, and after about ten minutes, his shovel banged on something hard. Martin ran his fingers on it. Now his eyes were as wide as saucers. “BELLA, I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” he yelled. “I FOUND TREASURE!” Bella rolled her eyes and glanced out the window. She was surprised to see that there was a large, metal box peeking out from the ground. Bella ran to the scene. “Help me take it out,” he said. Bella pulled at the box with all her might, but it was stuck.
“Hey, I have an idea,” she said. “We can call dad. He will help us.” They both called for their father, and eventually, he came out. “What is it, kids?” he questioned. “I was giving Tony a bath. I’m busy now.” The kids smiled, and the dog barked. “We found treasure, dad,” started Martin. “Real treasure. Help us take it out.” Their dad replied, “Fine. Let me get the crowbar from the shed. But, remember, I can’t stay here too long, or else Tony will run away.” He came back with the crowbar and took out the chest. “Wow. Thanks, dad!” exclaimed Martin. The two pried it open. They frantically dug through the chest, but all there was were chunks of wood, bead necklaces, and a hammer. “This is horrible! We spent an hour getting this out, and now…” Martin got tears in his eyes. “Oh, come on, Martin. It’s okay. At least you can tell your friends when you see them next.” said Bella. But they didn’t have friends. They had cousins. And most of them didn’t get along very well.
Bella grabbed a bead necklace and put it on. “Oh, man!” she cheerfully said. “I can’t wait to show these to Sally. She’ll love it!” Sally was a cousin. Bella and Sally got along well. They were like best friends. Afterwards, in the evening, Bella walked to the barn and brushed Tony’s mane. “Hey, girl,” she said. “Want to go for a ride?” The horse neighed and happily licked her fingers. “Okay, Tony, giddy up!!” And they were off. They rode around the barn house and returned later. While Tony was in the barn sleeping, Tom came and barked loudly, which woke up the horse. Martin rushed to the barn. “Bad boy!” he yelled at Tom. “Go back to your doghouse. Now.” Then he petted Tony to sleep.
The next day was rough. The two kids were woken up at the crack of dawn by their dad. “Alright, children, listen up!” he started. “Today’s not a lazy day. We have chores to do.” He gave them a list of things that needed to be done. “And when you’re finished, you can have free time- you know, ride a horse or something,” he reminded. First was getting eggs from the chicken. “Come on, Cassie, give it!” exclaimed Martin. “Woah! Cassie! A fox! It’s over there,” said Bella as she pointed to the left. When Cassie turned around, she quickly grabbed 3 eggs and put it in her basket. “Okay, done with that! Next is to bathe Tom,” she said. They walked over to the doghouse and grabbed Tom. “Woah, boy, easy!” yelled Martin. They gave the dog a bath. The next task was to clean the barn. After they did this, the final one was to paint the fence. And then they were done. “Hey, Bella, want to go treasure hunting?” asked Martin. “Sure!” replied Bella.
They got their shovels, and Tom helped too. “I don’t think there’s anything else here, guys,” said Bella after an hour of digging. “Don’t lose hope. We can-” Martin paused. His shovel banged on something hard. Bella pulled it out, and after taking off the dirt on it, they discovered it was only a rusty pipe. The two moaned in despair. “Hey! Kids! Come and get your dinner!!” their dad called. “Coming!” shouted Martin. For dinner there was bread and some scrambled eggs. “Dad, we haven’t even had breakfast! And this is how little we get?” Bella pointed out. Their dad shook his head. “I’m not made of money, guys. If you want more food, go get some eggs from Cassie. I’m sure she has some,” he said. The children ate their breakfast and went out to collect more eggs. “Cassie, look! It’s another fox!” exclaimed Martin. Cassie didn’t move a muscle. “You don’t believe us anymore, do you?” asked Bella. “I- OH MY GOSH! CASSIE!! LOOK OUT FOR THAT SNAKE!” she shrieked. Martin played along and ran around the barn house. He screamed, “It bit me!” and collapsed to the ground. Cassie looked terrified. When she flew down to check on Martin, Bella grabbed five eggs and left. Martin followed, and Cassie was shocked to see that her eggs were gone. She thought the snake ate them. Cassie ran around everywhere, looking for the eggs, but she didn’t find any eggs- or snakes.
The kids cooked their eggs and ate. By that time, their dad was asleep. So, this meant they could stay up if they wanted. But they had to be quiet. “Come on,” whispered Bella. “This is our chance to find treasure.” So, they left off to go outside. They saw that Tom was sleeping. They got a bag of dog treats and lured him out. He barked. “Okay, boy, for every piece of treasure you help us find, I’ll give you a couple of treats,” said Bella. Tom immediately started digging, and all finally, he saw a small box. When Bella opened it, there was a small gem inside. Bella snatched it and ran away. Martin and Tom chased her into the house. She knew that they’d be mad if she didn’t share it, so she pretended to drop the gem. Martin grabbed it and said, “Bella! It’s MINE!”
“No, it is not. We will give it to dad tomorrow.” she replied. “And I know exactly how to use it…” The next morning, they gave it to their dad and Bella said, “We found this. Can you upgrade the house with it?” Their dad’s eyes lit up but then slowly got weary. “Where did you get this?” he asked. “Oh. We just found it-” Martin was interrupted by Bella, who said, “…in a box in Martin’s bedroom.” Her dad was furious and asked why Martin had hid it from the rest of the family for so long. Then he ordered Martin to go to his room. Bella was disappointed, because she was just worried that if she said the truth, her dad would get mad. “Oh well, I will say sorry later,” she decided. “He’ll forgive me.”