Julia shakes her head. “We don’t think Stevenson’s book is the clue.”
“Um…” I make a face. “We just solved a cipher with the phrase ‘Treasure Island,’ and you don’t think we’re supposed to look intoTreasure Island?”
“We do,” Sunny says, grinning. “Just a different Treasure Island, that’s all.”
Gabriel holds up the book so I can see its cover.
Images of America: San Francisco’s Treasure Island.
Chapter Fourteen
A wave of total embarrassment washes over me. We’re looking for a treasure buried in 1980s San Francisco, not 1880s Britain.
In San Francisco, we have a real Treasure Island. Well, as real as a Treasure Island can get, I guess. It’s a man-made island northeast of the city. I actually have no idea what it was originally made for. Some kind of world’s fair or exposition, I think. Or maybe it was just an airplane hangar. I do know it got used a lot in World WarII, but to be honest, I haven’t really paid that much attention to military history. I feel like there’s plenty enough history right here, in the neighborhood under my feet.
“So, what are we thinking?” I ask as I start paging through the book.
“Not sure yet,” Sunny says. “Maybe we figure out who built Treasure Island? Or one of the buildings on Treasure Island? Since our riddle is about the Treasure Island builder.”
I nod. “Okay, that’s a good plan. There are lots of buildingsthere.” I turn another page and frown. “But this book doesn’t have any information about who built what. There are only pictures, no captions.”
Not to mention, we still have no idea what the “seven two three” part of the clue means, which is tricky. I feel like whatever our decoded message points to, it should be pretty obvious once we’ve found it. Exactly the way it was obvious when we first came across Harvey’s flyer.
I startle a little.
“Harvey!” I say, looking up.
Julia does a full three-sixty turn. “Where?”
“No,” I say. I hold the book up. “Treasure Island doesn’t have anything to do with Harvey Milk. At least, not on the surface. But the whole point ofGay Treasuresis to get to know the actual gay treasures who made this community. Thepeople. So we need to know what Harvey Milk did on Treasure Island. Maybehebuilt something.”
“Let’s see.” Sunny taps on her phone and scrolls down. “Hmm. Doesn’t look like he did anything there.” She sighs. “But they do have a statue and a boat named after him. See, this is the kind of superficial stuff I’m talking about.”
Gabriel holds up a finger, like he’s pushing the pause button on our conversation. He’s reading something off his phone too.
“It might be superficial, and it might not,” he says mysteriously.
I stand on my tiptoes, trying to read over his shoulder. “What do you know?”
“Nothing yet. But there’s a way to find out exactly whodid what on Treasure Island. I think we need to visit the main library.”
“What’s in the main library?” Julia asks.
“The San Francisco History Center,” Gabriel says. “Sixth floor. We can request all the city archives that have anything to do with Treasure Island. Maybe we’ll find out how this all connects to Harvey.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I say. I slip theImages of Americabook into the return box near the front desk. “Let’s go!”
Julia’s pocket begins to buzz. Her eyes widen. “Shoot!”
She pulls out her phone. “Shoot,” she says again. Her screen is filled with text messages. Julia scans through them and winces. “My mom’s super mad. I was supposed to be home for dinner an hour ago.”
I check my phone. It’s already seven p.m. I’m lucky my own mom doesn’t care when I get home.
“Should we go tomorrow?” I ask. I’m trying hard to sound diplomatic. If it were just me, I’d be catching the Judah train out to the main library this second. But then Gabriel shakes his head and says something that makes the entire situation ten times worse.
“The history center collection is open by appointment only, for viewing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to four.”
“Tomorrow’s Tuesday,” I point out impatiently.
