The Favorite Fives: Treasure Trek
It is summertime for the people of Quiet Country, Ohio. Families were eager to get out for the beach, water parks, pools, any activity they will partake in this time of year. For our five children Steven, Linka, Luke, Crank, and Jennifer, they are currently on a beach in Hawaii. It was paradise for them.
"What a refreshing day!" Crank said as he built a sandcastle.
"This was long overdue," Luke commented as he built a sand sculpture of a robot.
Jennifer was surfing on the waves. "Whoo-hoo! Surfing beats skateboarding by a long shot!"
Steven was relaxing on a chair with Linka. They were getting a tan. Nothing can make this a better day for the children.
"Whoo! Let's get in the water. Jen mentions it's relaxing." Linka grabbed Steven's hand to have him follow her to the ocean.
"Couldn't agree more," the boy said.
Unaware of the kids, something was digging under the sand. It felt like a mole. Luke's sand sculpture of a robot exploded. It turned out to be Georgia, Luke's little sister. "Boo!"
Luke yelped as he jumped. He soon chuckled as he pulled his sister out of the sand. "You litte rascal."
Georgia rubbed the sand out of her red pigtails. "This place is amazing. We are lucky to be in summer."
Jennifer finished surfing when she arrived at the shore. "Those skills Crank taught me really paid off! I gotta hand it to him!"
"You know, it was lucky we passed by Daisy earlier. Her mom is good at making smoothies." Crank drank his drink.
Steven and Linka soon arrived at the water. After putting on water goggles, Steven felt water splash on him. He turned to see his friend behind him. She was whistling innocently. Suddenly, water splashed on her as well. "You ain't fooling me, Test!"
The two children laughed as they began to splash each other. A while later, the five kids, grouped together. They were considering what new stuff they would try to consume.
"I think a mango smoothie is in order," Crank commented. "Let's find some to make one."
"We can also grab coconuts to make coconut milk as well," Luke declared.
Steven noticed something around the trees. He gave a peek to make a discovery. The boy noticed some paper lying around.
"What did you find, Steven?" Luke wondered.
"It is a map. It mentions something about treasure," Steven checked it out while dusting it. "And I think this map is older than we are since it seems kind of wrinkled."
"That seems pretty cool to find," Jennifer piqued her interest. "Any obstacles we must overcome?"
"Well, it mentions that we must go inside a cave to find the treasure. But I can already tell this isn't an easy adventure since several of them involve us getting hurt and dealing with villains."
"You sure we are up for this? I mean, we are in vacation now." Linka asked.
"Come on, let's go on it! We should get out of the same routine so we can make it fresh," Crank winked.
"Yeah! Let's go, guys!" Georgia popped out of nowhere, startling the other kids.
"Whoa!" Crank cried.
"What do you think you are doing, tyke?" Jennifer asked.
"Well, we got to get going to find this treasure. It can come of some good use for us," the little girl beamed a smile.
The others, especially her brother, tugged their Hawaiian shirts. This made Georgia feel unsure about something.
"What?"
"Sis, we don't want to upset you, but it would be best if you stay out of this one." Luke tried not to upset her.
The red-haired girl felt a bit offended. "You're joking, right?"
"Why would we? This trek on the treasure is no easy treat. You could get harmed out there!" Jennifer explained.
"Yeah. We don't want you to be hurt because of us," Linka added with concern.
Georgia facepalmed. "Oh, come on. You let Steven's little sister help you rescue him when he got captured by those triplets! And they had weapons!"
"That may be true. But let's not forget the stuff you have gone through. After that rabbit fiasco, you been injured left and right. You suffered through things like on Friday the 13th!" Luke counterattacked.
Georgia responded with a pouty face. Luke had no choice but to bring his little sister back to the beach. He brought her to Bianca Cooper, who was making a sand castle. He went back to his pals once the deed was done. "Stay here with Steven's sister. And don't get stung by jellyfish!"
"Fine," Georgia rolled her eyes in defeat.
After that was settled, Luke headed back to the others. Steven rolled up the map. "Everyone ready to get the treasure?"
His friends agreed with a thumbs up. The five children began their trek. However, they were unaware that a random child was observing them. He had black hair, white skin, blue eyes, and freckles.
"Those imbeciles must not discover that treasure. It only belongs to the rightful owners: the Greens!"
"I agree, Stan. Think of all the days we will spend being rich!" Another boy popped up. He has buck teeth, brown hair, and white skin.
Stan cleared his throat. "Cracket Morsh. Need I ask why you insist on helping me steal that treasure? Aside from wanting 50/50 of it?"
"Well, besides getting rich from it, I was thinking we can blow stuff up here in Hawaii with some explosives we can purchase," the boy prepared a dynamite stick as he smiled mischievously.
Stan grimaced at the thought. "Need I remind you that you got banned from Europe for causing a ruckus at their coffee show? We don't need a repeat of that! What, blowing up stuff is your personality?"
"More likely that it is my hobby. I'm more of a lunatic than you know."
Stan rolled his eyes. As a violent boy himself, it annoys him how Cracket doesn't have standards when it comes to making mayhem.
A few minutes later, the Favorite Fives were walking around a small village.
"Our first destination leads us to a hut. We got to speak with someone that can leave a link to the treasure." Steven declared.
"But how can we tell which one to stop by?" Linka asked. "Some of them look similar to each other."
"Well, we could split up and cover more ground that way." Jennifer suggested.
"I agree. This seems like a great opportunity for us to find a lead," Luke mentioned.
The five children split up to walk to multiple paths of the huts. They were unaware that Stan Green and Cracket Morsh were plotting to plant traps under the huts.
Meanwhile, Georgia Foster sighed as she mumbling to herself. She tried to make a sandcastle, only to feel pain thanks to a crab pinching her finger. "Ow!"
Bianca Cooper took notice of her friend. She grabbed the crab and whacked it with a crowbar, launching it far away. "Cheapstakes…"
Georgia gawked in surprise briefly at this event. "Whoa. You dealt with these things before?"
Bianca squinted. "Eleven times, as a matter of fact."
"Why would a five-year-old girl need a crowbar?"
The spacebun haired girl shrugged. "I wouldn't like to get my hands dirty when fighting."
"You're pretty lucky," Georgia realized something. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Georgia Foster. Little sister of Luke."
Bianca held out her hand. "Bianca Cooper. Steven's little sis," She and her new friend shook hands. "Weren't you the same girl that chased that rabbit one point in the neighborhood?"
After the two girls shook hands, Georgia perked up in surprise. "Oh, yeah. That was quite a doozy adventure me and Luke had. Even the military got involved. It was one heck of a wild goose chase, but with a hare instead."
"Did that rabbit give you rabies at one point?"
"In all honesty, no. I'm surprised that even when I carried it with me from the forest, I did not get infected. Can't say the same how I almost got mauled by a bear, stung by a bee, used as a weapon, shot by a tranquilizer dart though." Georgia recalled all those happening to her.
Bianca winced after hearing all of that. Her new friend has been through a lot. She decided to change the topic. "What is your relationship with your brother like?"
"Quite nice. He is very respectful to me. I sometimes can go a bit crazy when I go on adventures. What is your brother like to you?"
Bianca cleared her throat. "He is a sweet person. Steven is a sibling I would never trade for the world. One time, he got kidnapped by some triplets. His friends were devastated about it, but Linka took it the hardest. Even I was affected by the news. I knew I had to help Linka find my brother, so I joined the detective girl on her case. We almost got killed, but we got Steven back."
Georgia understood what Bianca meant. "He really means a lot to you, huh?"
"Yeah. He is one person I am close to. I wouldn't want any bad stuff to happen to him." Bianca made a sand sculpture of a house. "I like your pigtails. They look small."
Georgia giggled as she cleaned them. "Thanks. I sometimes get them twisted when I wake up in the morning."
Bianca pondered what to do next. "Say, want to follow Steven and the others?"
Georgia clapped her hands. "Count me in!"
Soon, Steven exited one of the huts. There was a clue given to him by one of the habitants. It briefly mentioned something about fire. Maybe Linka and the others received their own hints as well. I remember my mom mentioning that finding a treasure can be found when separate clues get combined. The boy didn't notice at first, but he felt an arrow miss his head. He was both shocked and confused.
"Damn it, Cracket! Your aim is terrible!" Stan complained.
"This is the best I could do. Hell, I'd like to see you try."
Steven decided to usher to the other huts to get more hints about the treasure. He wasn't sure, but he felt that there was a mole following him. He met up with Jennifer shortly after.
"Hey, Steve. Did you get any leads?"
"A little," Steven confirmed as he explained the hint he received. "Mine involves fire. What about you?"
The girl cleared her throat. "Beware the monster, based on the hint."
Crank came forward. "Mine says not to perish in the night."
Luke stated the following. "Coconuts come closer than you think."
Even Linka had a clue of her own, but it was unique. "This one only shows a symbol of a animal that looks like a lion."
"Lion?" Steven questioned. "What are the odds of finding those in Hawaii?"
"Impossible. Lions can't be in this place," Jennifer shook her head.
"Lion or not, I can tell there will be some hazards on our quest for the treasure," Crank added. "We should watch our step."
The five children took some steps toward a bridge. They were unaware that there was a supply of TNT below the boards. Cracket and Stan were observing the scene via binoculars.
"This should do the trick. They got to go out with a bang." Cracket muttered.
"Let's make this trap count! Give me the detonator!" Stan cried.
Cracket got confused. "Wait, I thought you had it."
The two evil kids were wondering where it was. They tried looking in the sand, but they had no luck. One of them picked up a red object that turned out to be a crab.
Back with the two small girls, they planned to follow Steven and the others on their adventure. This turned out to be a bit of a problem, as Georgia would constantly be harmed with hazards such as snakes, crabs, and the burning sunlight. She even almost got eaten by a live shark.
"Yikes! If it were a second later, you would have been tuna!" Bianca felt worried.
"Quite lucky I survived all those here," Georgia planted her arm on a palm tree. This turned out to be a bad idea since a coconut nailed her right on the head. "And I failed to see that one."
Bianca inhaled sharply as she pulled her new friend from the ground. She decided to carry her to avoid any injuries happening to her. "Does this kind of stuff happen to you every day?"
"Eleven times, as a matter of fact." Georgia noticed something red at the end of the bridge. "Hey, what is that?"
"I got no idea but be careful here. It's a long fall from this thing." While crossing the bridge, Bianca looked down to see that there were some pointy rocks. "Just keep looking forward. Nowhere else."
Back with Steven and his pals, they assembled their hints together. The Favorite Fives figured out that the treasure must be in a deep cave.
"Can't believe our goal is close!" Crank cheered.
"This treasure better be worth it!" Jennifer crossed her arms.
"I can tell that getting to it from this point on, it will be difficult." Luke warned.
"Steven, you sure leaving Bianca and Georgia back there was a good idea?" Linka wondered.
"Well, this can be dangerous for kids like them. The hint even mentioned that there might be a death to come from this adventure." Steven got serious. "We can't risk them being in harm's way."
"Well, let's get this quest over with. The sooner we can get this treasure, the sooner we can go back to relaxing." Crank pointed out.
Once the five children entered the cave, they heard some water running. There was a waterfall in plain sight. Several parts of the cave looked shiny.
"This place looks gorgeous," Linka's eyes shined.
Several crystals can be seen in the cavern. Jennifer enjoyed the sight of it. "Can we grab some of those? We can sell them in a store at town to get money."
"Let's hope they aren't hazardous." Steven shrugged.
As they carefully walked down into the cavern, they heard some sort of explosion.
"What the heck was that?!" Crank was surprised.
"I got no idea. We should probably exit this cave right now so there won't be any deadly surprises for us." Steven thought.
"Agreed." The others shared their opinion.
But as the Favorite Fives hurried back to the entrance, another explosion happened. This time, it blocked off the exit that the kids were going to.
"Ah, damn it! We're stuck in here!" Jennifer complained. "Now what do we do?!"
"We could find an alternate route to escape." Linka suggested.
"Great idea, Linka. Finding one won't be easy, so we will have to create it ourselves," Steven concluded. "Come on. Let's slowly go down so we won't rapidly fall to the ground."
Unknown to them, Bianca and Georgia were almost behind them. As they reached their location, it was blocked by a boulder.
"Crap. There goes our plan." Georgia complained.
"How did that even get there in the first place?" Bianca wondered.
"Got no idea, but we have to follow Steven and the others." Georgia started to dig.
"I don't think digging will be the solution. It could be too deep." Bianca explored around the area. But as she took her first step, a net appeared, capturing both girls. "Huh?! What gives?!"
Stan and Cracket popped out of nowhere. "So, you think you can—Uh, who the hell are you two?"
All Bianca did was roll her eyes. Georgia blew a raspberry at the two evil kids.
"Eh, no matter, Cracket. With these two pests out of the way, we can get rid of the others."
"What others?" Georgia raised an eyebrow.
"There were some children here earlier. We have heard that their adventure involves going inside a cavern with a possible chance of death, and riches to be found!" Cracket announced while his pal looked in disapproval.
"Riches?" Bianca was puzzled.
"Riches?!" Stan smacked Cracket. "The hell is wrong with you?!" The boy cleared his throat. "No matter. Those five kids will not see their fates being sealed. If you two brats are smart, you better stay out of the way."
Bianca was unamused as their two captors left the scene. She analyzed any escape method for the net. She got confused when Georgia started biting on it. "What's your plan?"
"You will see," Georgia resumed her plan.
For the Favorite Fives, they have been trying to navigate through the cavern. Their trek to the treasure was tedious. For starters, there were spears shot at angles. Flames flew next.
"Shark!" Jennifer cried before she and the others stopped in their tracks. The fin of the animal swept in the water.
"This ain't no easy treat," Crank muttered.
"Steven! Look out!" Linka grabbed him before some rocks crumbled in front of him.
"Phew. Thanks, Linka." The boy sighed.
"Guys, where would a treasure be in a cave like this?" Jennifer wondered.
"Perhaps it can be close to a deceased person that owns it," Luke theorized.
"That sounds ludicrous." Crank replied.
"No, no, she has a point there," Linka caught on. "There was a movie that my brothers watched that had a group of kids finding a lost treasure. I believe it was called 'The Grubbers'."
"I think my dad even mentioned that those kids had a dangerous journey getting there. That sounds familiar, does it?" Steven added.
"Really? It does?" Steven, Linka, Luke, Crank, and Jennifer looked at the camera. It wasn't long before some rumbling was heard. The kids looked around for the source of the noise, but there weren't any giveaways.
"Let's get this over with," Jennifer shook her head. "This place might fall apart."
"Guys, look! An old boat!" Steven pointed out. It was a big, rusty, and abandoned one. Seaweed was scattered on the broken sail. Even some bones can be found.
"Man, who died here?" Crank wondered.
Upon entering said boat, Jennifer couldn't help but notice some strange stuff on it. No way something like this would still be standing. It would have been turned into rubble if it stayed here for a long time.
Finding the treasure proved to be more difficult than what the kids would have assumed. Suddenly, something shiny got spotted. After taking a few steps, it was revealed to be a coin surrounded by many others. After moving some coins, a skeleton was revealed to be buried in them. Linka yelped and hid behind Steven. "Who the heck is that?!"
"I got no clue. This seems spooky." Jennifer shivered.
Luke analyzed the skeleton. "Whoever this is, it must be several years that they have stuck to this spot. No way they would just die from natural causes."
Crank grabbed it by the hand. It slowly popped off. "Reminds me of that class skeleton from science class." He muttered to himself.
Upon inspecting the coins, Jennifer discovered the name. "This treasure seems to belong to some sort of family."
"The name sound familiar to you?" Luke asked.
"Not likely. I don't think even our folks met this one."
Unknown to them, a couple of tentacles grabbed Linka and Jennifer. Steven and the others gasped when they got pulled away.
"Steven!" Linka cried.
"Linka!" Steven grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out.
Jennifer tried to escape from the octopus's grasp as well, but it was no use. Everyone got interrupted by some laughter. The kids found Cracket and Stan chortling.
"What the hell?" Jennifer mouthed.
"Looks like we are on a sea-food diet!" Cracket boomed. "We see food, we kill it!"
Stan looked dumbfounded at his partner. "That's not how it goes," The boy focused back on the Favorite Fives. "So, you're after that treasure, huh?"
"Yeah. What's it to ya?" Crank asked.
Cracket sneered. "You fools have no choice of gaining it. That will become our property. And just to make sure you won't interfere; this squid will devour you all!"
The octopus got offended and let out a snort.
"ALRIGHT, octopus, then." Cracket rolled his eyes. "There will be no chance for you pesky children to survive. We're gonna plant dynamite on this cavern to make it collapse! While you guys lose your lives, we will be living off rich in ours."
"Toodles!" Stan flipped off the kids as he and Cracket ran off.
The octopus began to dunk Linka and Jennifer into the water. Steven made the first action to leap on the head of the octopus. He tried to grab Linka, but more of the tentacles grabbed him.
"Damn it!" The boy struggled to escape its grasp, but more tentacles grabbed his legs and held them together. Soon, he was getting dunked on the water like his pals.
"Find a weakness!" Linka cried.
Luke and Crank gave each other a look and nodded. There was no time to focus on the treasure. Their pals were in peril! The two distracted the octopus by throwing a barrel at it. This didn't work much as their aim wasn't perfect, but it did cause the creature to be agitated. Luke and Crank dodged the tentacles while running. Steven managed to grab hold of Linka's hand and tried to pull her out of the water. This was hard as the octopus kept moving them in separate locations. Jennifer tried to poke its eyes out, but she kept being swept too fast. The octopus had enough and sank into the water. Steven, Linka, and Jennifer made their breath before they were forced underwater. The three tried to escape, but it was no use. The grasp was too strong. However, they felt some rumbling above the water. They did not expect to hear a muffled voice on the surface.
"Stop harming my brother and friends!" a child's voice was heard. It was revealed to be Bianca, who was hurling pointed rocks at the octopus. Georgia was also helping.
"Get out of here, calamari!" The redhead gal threw one coconut at the octopus's tentacles, forcing it to let go of Jennifer. After exhaling some air, the girl swam to free Steven.
The boy was unfortunately squirted with ink by the octopus. "Ugh!"
Luke threw another barrel to hit the octopus, but he accidentally knocked out Jennifer. "Oh, crap! Sorry, Jen!"
Steven had a hard time seeing due to the ink, but he felt that Linka was struggling to get back on the surface. With no time to lose, he dove back in. Suddenly, Georgia tripped and fell to the water with a big splash. Bianca sighed and landed on top of the octopus. She managed to step on one of the eyes. "Let go of my brother, squid!"
The octopus screamed as it covered its one eye. Bianca grabbed some coconuts and threw them at the other eye, but the octopus got dodged. It used another tentacle to grab the girl by the neck. Steven heard Bianca gasping for air as she tried to get out of the animal's grasp. In a rush, Steven broke free and started to punch the octopus. He was furious that his own sibling was harmed, and he wouldn't let the harmer go unpunished. Soon, Linka, Bianca, and the others got freed and gasped for air. Luke pulled Jennifer back to land. "You ok, Jen?"
"Yeah. Nothing is broken. Don't worry about that barrel. I've been through worse."
All of the kids remembered that Steven was left behind, but the problem didn't stick around for long as they heard panting. The boy got out of the water with some bruises, gasping for some air.
"Steven!" Everyone rushed to gather around their friend.
The kid coughed some water while he was getting pulled back to the surface. "Is everyone ok?"
Bianca came to check on her brother. "Yeah. But are you fine? That was quite the fury you had on that octopus."
"I handled worse fights than this. That octopus might not be the only time I get into a fight like that. We are lucky to survive something like that." Steven rubbed his hair.
"Where the heck are those jerks?" Jennifer looked around.
"Yeah, I like to pound my fists on those two twerps!" Crank cracked his knuckles.
"They might have not gotten far." Luke theorized.
But before they could get a chance, our heroes felt an explosion occur. They looked up to see the two delinquent kids causing mayhem.
"Damn it, those kids are still alive!" Cracket shook his head. "And it's already nighttime! Let's get out of here!"
"Let's blow up this joint. Those punks can't survive in a crumbling cavern." Stan brought up a grenade and used it near a wall. It caused a crack, which made the area around the children crumble. Pointy rocks fell everywhere.
"So long, suckers!" Cracket chortled before he and his accomplice left the cave.
The gang dodged any rocks falling on their location. They won't be able to do this forever.
"Damn!" Bianca cried. "How are we gonna get out of here now?!"
After looking around, Georgia had an idea. She ran to a big boulder and tried pushing it. "Come on, guys! Help me with this!"
Steven, Linka, and the rest joined in to push the big boulder. It took a while, but the exit was found. Once everyone got to safety, the cave started to collapse itself.
"Well, there it goes." Crank mumbled.
"Yeah. Treasure is gone. But on the bright side, most of that treasure remains in that cave which resembled that family." Jennifer said.
"I agree. Even if that family does not exist anymore, at least their legend will live on." Linka added.
Suddenly, an explosion happened. It turned out to be Stan and Cracket landing on a deserted island. A last-ditch effort to kill the kids had gone wrong due to the dynamite exploding too early.
"Damn this dynamite!" Stan cursed. "I told you to throw it!"
"Not my fault you got bad skills with lighting it up!"
The argument was brief since a roar was heard. "Never knew you had it in you this whole time." Stan deadpanned.
"Wait, I thought you did that." Cracket pointed out.
The two boys turned to see a lion behind them. It was hungry for a meal.
"We are screwed."
The two boys tried to run away from the lion, but it was too late as it slashed their faces with its claws. The predator began to feast on its prey as they screamed. The two evil kids were no more.
Later at night, the children were having the time of their lives. Crank was balancing some fire sticks, Luke was relaxing on a hammock with Jennifer, Georgia and Bianca were doing a limbo contest, and Steven and Linka were watching the stars on the night.
"It sure is a beautiful night out there, isn't it, Steven?" Linka giggled.
"I couldn't agree more. Another adventure has gone and done by the Favorite Fives. And it was quite special for us."
"You got that right. Also, we also got your little sister to make a new friend." Linka adjusted her bow.
"Yeah. She is shy at first. I'm glad she got along with Georgia." Steven cleaned his glasses.
Linka smiled. "Thanks for saving our skins back in that cavern. We would have been sushi for that octopus if it got its way."
"Nobody messes with my friends and sister. That animal got what it deserved." The boy dusted off his hands.
"Hey, Steven. I was wondering about something," Linka finished her smoothie. "Even though we lost the treasure, do you happen to know who exactly that family owns it?"
Steven shrugged his shoulders. "I am clueless about the family as much as you are. Not even the others know."
Linka was puzzled. "You believe someone in Quiet Country will be able to identify them?"
"Could be possible. For now, let's enjoy our break while it lasts."
After Linka smiled, the two kids resumed staring at the night sky. There were several stars shining that formed into shapes. Even during a summer vacation, there are more adventures for the children to experience. But some can lead to unsolved questions. Those will be dealt with eventually. The silence of the night was broken when Georgia was running around screaming due to her ponytails being on fire.
"Go to the water! Go to the water!" Bianca shouted in panic.
Georgia managed to reach her destination. "Aaahhhhh…"
Steven and Linka were concerned after seeing that event.
"We should really keep an eye on Luke's little sister." The boy mentioned.
"Yes. We really should."