10 CAUGHT!

CHAPTER 10 CAUGHT! Kaz?" Claire called from outside the tree branch. "The door and windows are closed. You guys can come out now. But hurry!" "See?" Kaz said to his family. "I told you Claire would come back." He swam through the branch and back into the tree house. Little John, Mom, and Pops swam behind him. "I knew she'd rescue us," Little John said as he started to expand. "No, don't expand," Claire said. She held out her water bottle. "Quick! Get in here." She strained to see out the window as she spoke to the

ghosts. "I think Margaret and Kenya caught the person who tried to break in. I want to see who it is." "We do, too!" Kaz said as he passed through the side of the bottle. Little John, Mom, and Pops were right behind him. Claire flung the strap around her neck, then hurried out the door and down the rope ladder. When she was close to the ground, she jumped the rest of the way. It was dark outside, but a light on Margaret's house lit up much of the backyard. "I'll bet life is always an adventure with this girl," Mom said as Claire raced across the yard. "Um... sort of," Kaz said. But adventure was a good thing, wasn't it? Claire caught up to the other girls over by the climbing structure. Olivia and Kenya had hold of someone: Henry's friend, Sam.

Margaret stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "Why were you trying to break into our tree house?" she asked. "I told you. I'm trying to find the treasure," Sam said, lunging forward. But Olivia and Kenya held tight to his arms. "I have to find the treasure before I can join the treasure hunters' club." "There's no treasure in our tree house," Margaret said. "My phone says there is," Sam insisted. "I'll show you if you let go of me." Olivia and Kenya exchanged a look.

"Okay. Show us," Olivia said as they let go. But they were both ready to grab him again if he ran away. Sam reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. "That's a pretty nice phone for a kid your age," Kenya said. "It's my dad's old phone," Sam said with a shrug. "He got a new one." He turned on the phone, and the screen gave off a bluish glow. Like a glowing ghost, Kaz thought. Sam slid his finger around the screen, then held the phone for the girls to see. Unfortunately, Kaz and his family couldn't see the screen from inside Claire's water bottle. "The green dot shows where we are, and the red dot shows where the treasure is," Sam explained. "Let's start walking toward the red dot."

They moved slowly in a tight group toward the tree house, their eyes fixed on the phone in Sam's hand. They stopped right below the tree house. "See?" Sam said. "The two dots are right on top of each other. That means the treasure is here." "Where?" Little John asked. "I'm telling you, there's no treasure inside our tree house," Margaret said. "I don't know what the treasure box looks like, but it could be in there and you might not know it," Sam said. "It could be a big metal box like this." He spread his hands wide apart. "Or it could be a tiny container like this." He held his thumb and first finger an inch apart. "It's probably more likely to be a tiny container." Kaz hovered near the top of Claire's water bottle. "Claire!" he called. "I saw a metal box

inside that tree branch. You wouldn't be able to get to it from the tree house unless you could pass through the branch. But there must be a hole in the tree down here somewhere. That's where the box is. I could feel air coming in from the Outside all around the box." "Maybe there's a hole in the tree," Claire said to the others. "Maybe that's where the treasure is." "There is a hole," Sam said. "It's over here." He led everyone around the tree. Olivia shined her flashlight on a hole about the size of Claire's water bottle. "There isn't anything inside it, though." Sam stuck his hand inside the hole. Claire walked over. "Maybe you're not reaching in far enough," she said. Sam stepped aside, and Claire put her whole arm inside the hole. "Be careful, Claire," Olivia said nervously. "What if there's a bobcat or something in there, and it bites your arm off?"