I skimmed the next few pages ‘till I found something out of the ordinary. Whenever I flipped through all the pages quickly, I’d see words start to shimmer. The faster I flipped, the clearer the words appeared! After many vigorous flippings, I finally saw the message. The words ‘Shake the journal to and fro’, ‘till a new future shall fall.’ What a strange message! But I decided to give it a try after I’d read some more, just in case the diary was destroyed in the process of finding the ‘cloth to a new future’ . In a quick skimming of the next few pages I discovered that after the Boston Tea Party, Marideth and her father were forced to move after a British Patrol reported seeing the ‘Indians’ rushing out of the Liberty Bell. They fled to Philadelphia where they had to flee again to New York after her father hosted some more Patriots in a midnight meeting. But here’s where Marideth wrote something peculiar. She said, “Father forced me to bury the silver and our most precious possession. If someone has found my diary, I pray that it is in good hands. You will know where I’ve hidden the silver and our great possession if you follow the directions.” All of a sudden, like a flash of lightning, it clicked. The shimmering words were the directions! Excited as I was, I still had missed lunch and my stomach was growling like tiger whose tail had been trampled on., so I took a lunch break and fixed myself a sandwich.
After a lunch of three PB&J sandwiches, I was ready for anything Marideth and her diary would throw at me. As soon as I had gotten in the basement, I copied the directions down onto a piece of scrap paper and sat down to let the message unravel itself. I got the ‘Shake the journal to and fro’’ part, but I didn’t get the ‘’till a new future shall fall.’ part. So I decided to just try shaking the diary and see what happens. It hadn’t taken much shaking, when a small piece of folded up cloth slipped out of the binding of the journal. It looked as old and musty as the diary, so I guessed it must have been what the message meant! Once I unfolded the cloth, all my doubts were washed away in a river of evidence and truth. Inside the cloth was a small letter addressed to the bearer of the cloth (Me), and some more directions, all written in berry juice. The letter read:
If you have received the directions then congratulations. Let me explain, a few nights before the British chased us out of Philadelphia, I was already preparing for it, for I knew that if it ever happened, I would need to be ready to protect the very thing that has kept my Father on the lookout for Patriots who need shelter and lodging. Me and my friend Thomas Hamilton, the son of a blacksmith, made the edges of the pages of my diary shimmer by smelting them with melted silver. We only did very little, so it would shine when flipped in a hasty manner. Now that I have explained, I would like to help you find my family’s greatest possession, a treasure that we will protect ‘til the end of time. Now to find it. First, find the rock shaped like a horse, then walk east 7 ft., turn left, walk backwards 12 ft., and dig ‘till you hit a box with the initials M.M. and our treasure shall be yours.
After grabbing a shovel from the dilapidated garden, I set out to find this ‘treasure’. I was sure it would take forever just to find the horse shaped rock, but after 3 minutes of wandering around, I found it. I followed the rest of the orders and did it a few to times to be sure I’d gotten the right spot when I started digging. It didn’t take long for me to get the small wooden chest. And just as the berry juice written message said, it had the initials M.M written on the top of the chest. I was so excited that I couldn’t decide if I should open it. ‘Should I take it home to show everyone at school? Nah, they’d probably think it was stupid. Should I show Auntie? Nope, she probably start to recite the properties of wood and metal. Alright here goes!’ And I slowly opened the lid.
What I found was nothing close to what I’d expected. I’d expected it might be some jewels or gold, but instead there was piece of parchment paper wrapped in a red ribbon with a small wax seal. This time, I didn’t hesitate. I reached in and gingerly pulled the scroll out with both hands as if it could explode any minute and peeled off the seal and slipped off the ribbon.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! The first words I saw were “We The People”! Yes, I’d found a draft of the Declaration of Independence. I glanced in the chest and saw another piece of parchment paper and opened.
Now you know what the treasure I spoke of is. Not jewels, not wealth, nor power, but our freedom.
As I read these words, I could almost see Marideth, smiling at me through the folds of time.
