"Zack?" Cody called softly through his brother's door; not wanting to wake his roommate, Woody, who was still snoring sleepily just across the hall.
He rapped smartly at the wood a second time, trying in vain to keep still.
After about ten seconds of unresponsive silence, a low, irritated groan issued from somewhere within the room.
Another minute passed without a word. Cody was just about to knock again when the door opened centimeters from his fist, and Zack's tussled, sleep-deprived face appeared in the doorway.
He looked at Cody blearily, blinking. "…Yeah?" he slurred, slouching against the doorway.
Cody rocked on the heels of his feet. Zack took in his twin's practically vibrating frame and groaned, stepping aside in resignation.
Cody took the less-than-exuberant invitation in good humor, flouncing inside with a smirk. The map was clenched against his side.
After rubbing the sleep from eyes with the edge of one grimy pajama sleeve, Zack glanced at Cody up and down with some confusion.
"Why… are you already dressed?" He asked finally, after looking at Cody for some time. His face was strangely wrinkled: irritation warring with confusion, and a grudging curiosity.
Cody flashed him a smug grin, holding out the map. "Couldn't sleep."
Zack glanced at it sleepily, gesturing vaguely to his bed with one hand. Cody understood, making his way over to the mattress, map in hand. Zack followed more slowly after closing the door, and upon contact with the bed lay down completely, so that his legs were hanging off the side.
"Just… tell me what you wanted t'say, and let me sleep." Zack waited impatiently for a rational response, and turned to glare at his brother, irritation quickly returning. "Okay?"
"Right," Cody agreed easily, staring at the map; the first words he'd spoken since entering. He gestured to the document excitedly. "You won't believe what I found."
Zack didn't respond, which seemed to disappoint Cody a bit. He pouted, but quickly recovered.
"This writing, around the edges," he said, pointing to the marks in question excitedly, "I think it's a poem. A riddle…. Sort of." He paused dramatically. Zack remained unmoved.
"Before, I thought it was just talking about the birds," he continued. "You know…. Like this, for instance." Cody circled his finger over some scribbles in the upper-left corner of the map.
"This first part here, says, roughly translated: 'The treasure to be found on these islands cannot be matched, for it is beyond any value imaginable.' And at first—for obvious reasons— I just assumed that Pepperbeard was referring to the remarkable properties of the Henderson Crake's guano."
A small pause. Cody waited, holding his breath.
"Your mind is a fascinating place," Zack remarked, without even opening his eyes. His voice was flat, and unsympathetic. Cody rolled his eyes.
"No, no, Zack, you're not listening... Listen! 'Untold be the worth of these rarest of jewels', it says; 'this endless expanse of gold. He who should find it shall be richest upon the earth.'"
Zack sat up, finally listening; all traces of sleep apparently gone. Cody went on, narrating in a low, animated whisper.
"'Dangerous be the waters that surround this place; but for those who can traverse them…." Cody lowered his voice. "Endless wonder."
Zack stared at Cody, realization dawning. "You mean... actual treasure? Like... gold, and stuff?"
"Yes! Zack, I really think so!"
For a moment, the excitement on both brothers' faces matched completely.
Zack breathed, taking it all in. "Whoa. So... Wait. This is still that Henders-thingy Island from before we're talking about, right?"
Cody nodded, beaming. "Yes, if Pepperbeard's map is to be believed… which I'm almost positive it is. He spent his entire life exploring those waters; if anyone were to have discovered any kind of treasure on those islands, it would have been him!" He sighed, happily. "That man... is just-" he trailed off, grinning stupidly at nothing.
Zack's eyes widened, a familiar gleam entering them. "You don't think…?" He asked slowly, watching Cody's reaction.
Cody paused, sucking in a breath. "What?"
"I mean... Captain Pepperbeard? Who had a ship?" He waited patiently for it to sink in, but Cody merely looked puzzled. "Come on. Hidden treasure? An old map, telling us exactly where to find it?"
Cody laughed derisively, as it dawned on him. "Oh, you think he's a pirate. Don't you." His words dripping scorn.
Zack nodded, looking awed. But Cody merely rolled his eyes at him. "How old are you, Zack? Nine? Seven?"
Zack remained unfazed, grinning like a maniac. "Cody, you just have to look—it all makes sense! Just think of it!" He wrapped an arm around Cody's shoulders, jostling him back and forth. "By tomorrow afternoon, the Tipton will be docked safely upon New Zealand's rosy shores." He squeezed Cody's shoulders again, emphasizing the point. "And we will be in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time…. Can't you see? It's perfect!"
He jumped off the bed, pacing. Cody looked after him, crossing his arms doubtfully. "I don't like where you're going with this," he said shortly, his voice crisp and disapproving.
"No, really, Codes, it's pure brilliance." Zack paused in his pacing, turning to look at his brother with wild, hungry eyes. Cody didn't like the look on his face.
"No, you really. I-"
But Zack interrupted his thoughts. "Can you navigate?"
"…What?"
Zack pointed to the map. Cody saw where he was looking, and held the scroll to his chest defensively. "If we took that with us…" Zack said cautiously, "Do you think that you could take us there? To that Hender place?"
Cody considered it for a long time, not really looking his twin in the eye. But eventually, he nodded, residual adrenaline clouding his judgement.
"Yeah… yeah, I probably could. But, Zack, what you're suggesting, it's… well, complete stupidity. Henderson Island is uninhabited for a reason. It's like the poem says. The waters are treacherous."
Cody stood up, then, facing his brother. Zack didn't seem to be paying much attention, but Cody made the effort anyway. "A-and plus, Zack, the rocks surrounding the island are probably all completely jagged and sharp; impassable. The islands are all relatively new, you know, geologically speaking, so there's got to be a dangerously high obsidian content as is in the igneous rock bed surrounding the…"
Zack turned to Cody, grabbing him by the shoulders mid-sentence. "Cody, stop. Think about this rationally, will you? We wouldn't be trying to 'inhabit' the island at all. We'd just be there for a couple of hours, while the boat is still docked on the mainland. Just long enough for us to take a look around and see what we can find."
Cody opened his mouth once more, but Zack silenced him. "I know what you're going to say; but we're not like those other explorers, from before. We've got Pepperberg's map or whatever to guide us, if we get lost- not to mention cell phones. And the lifeboats on the Tipton are well stocked for emergencies."
His voice grew soft, then, and he turned Cody around slowly in his grip, so that Zack was standing closely behind him. He breathed out against Cody's neck, gesturing with a wide, warm arm to indicate some invisible scene before them. Cody shivered at the sensations that skated down his back, and closed his eyes. "The two of together, Codes… we'd make a great team. What with your knowledge of the history of the area—combined with my survival skills and strength—we'd be in and out of there in no time."
"I don't know…." Cody hesitated. The feel of Zack's hands clenching like a vice around his arms, as well as the feel of his warm breath fanning against his neck, were making it surprisingly hard to think.
He'd been so invigorated in his room that evening when he'd realized just what he'd discovered. The glow of it had made him giddy. But now...
Well. Perhaps he should have expected that Zack would react like this.
In any case, there was no going back now. If Cody refused to help, Zack would just attempt to go on his own, and end up getting hurt. Or worse.
"Fine," he declared, nostrils flaring.
Zack grinned, stepping back from him. "That's more like it, Codes! Way to be!" He slapped Cody's back roughly before rubbing his hands together eagerly.
"Not so fast, though," Cody warned, frowning. He turned to face him. "I do have one condition."
Zack stopped, ears perking. "Yeah? What's that?"
"That Bailey goes, too."
Zack opened his mouth to protest, but Cody gave him a look. "I'm serious, Zack. Bailey's knowledge of navigation is… well, I wouldn't say better than mine. But it's definitely more 'sea-oriented', if you know what I mean. We could really use her know-how."
Zack stared at him for several moments, thinking. Then he grinned, holding out his hand. "Fine," he agreed easily, smiling. Too easily. Cody looked down at the proffered hand, suspicious, but Zackary's face was all innocence.
"Really?" Cody said slowly. "That's it? No begging, pleading…"
"Nope," Zack said, still smiling.
"And… there will be no tricks. You promise?"
"No tricks," Zack agreed, nodding. Cody waited. "All right. 'I promise.'"
Cody continued to look at the hand warily, but eventually caved. "…Good," he said, shaking it soundly.
As soon as Zack released him, Cody turned away and pulled out his sanitizer, applying it to liberally to both hands. Zack rolled his eyes, but flopped back onto his bed, yawning dramatically. After a moment's consideration, he pulled the map out from under him and held it lengthwise for Cody to take.
"Thanks," Cody said, surprised, and took the document—rolling it up and slipping it through a belt loop. "I… guess I'll see you in the morning, then."
He started to leave, mind whirling; and had already approached the door when Zack called out to him from the bed.
"Oh yes… Cody? I forgot to mention one thing."
"Yeah?" Cody inquired, not turning around.
"Do me a favor, will you? Let's not tell any of the adults what we're doing, until after we come back with the treasure. Okay? They'd just try and stop us if we did."
Cody paused, calculating, but nodded. That made sense, he supposed. As much as he was loath to keep secrets from adults, he knew that Zack was probably right about it ruining their plans prematurely.
"Oh, and Cody?" Zack called out again as Cody's hand wrapped around the shiny, metal handle.
"…Yes?" Shoulders tense.
"Don't… tell Bailey, either." Cody stopped, and Zack continued hastily. "Not just yet, I mean. We'll definitely tell her, yeah? But don't do it tonight. We'll do it together, in the morning, once we've planned our cover."
Cody was instantly suspicious. "…Why?"
Zack sighed impatiently. "You might not tell anyone else, but we can't trust that Bailey won't. You know what she's like." Cody prickled at that, a frown tugging at his lips, but Zack hastened to explain. "It'll just be until we're all set to leave, all right? At that point, one of us can go fetch her and explain that we have to leave right away, so that she won't have time to report us."
It sounded plausible enough. But it didn't feel right, not telling his girlfriend about plans that included her. "I don't like it, Zack. I really think Bailey deserves to know." He turned half-way. "I'm pretty sure I could convince her not to tell…."
Zack sighed again. "Maybe. But you can't know that for sure. Do you really want to give up the chance of a lifetime; give up the chance to find out if the Hender Bird really is extinct, like the government says?"
"Henderson Crake," Cody corrected automatically. Zack ignored him.
"Don't try to tell me this isn't important to you."
Cody sighed. He knew perfectly well that Zack could care less about some bird he'd only heard about that morning. He also knew that the only reason Zack was excited about this at all was because of some dumb treasure, that they weren't even sure actually existed.
He wasn't stupid. He recognized the hunger he saw in his brother's eyes for what it was.
And yet… the thought of missing out on the discovery of a life-time… it tore at Cody, relentlessly. And so, despite his misgivings, he already knew what his answer was going to be.
"Okay," Cody said, turning back to the door. He twisted the handle and slipped out into the hallway, before he could change his mind.
He just hoped he was making the right decision.
