Ekin and Yicheng
The Map in the Book
Tap Next to start the treasure hunt →
The Map in the Book
Tap Next to start the treasure hunt →
Chapter One · 1 of 40
After school, Ekin and Yicheng walked to the public library across from Key Food, because it was their favourite place in all of Queens, and because they had promised each other that they would read a new book every single week. They loved the quiet smell of the library, and the way the afternoon light fell through the tall windows, and the way Mrs. Alvarez always saved the newest books for them.
Chapter One · 3 of 40
The librarian, Mrs. Alvarez, smiled when she saw them, because she knew both boys by name, and she told them that a whole box of old books had arrived that morning, and that the books were waiting on the back table for anyone who liked a good mystery.
Chapter One · 5 of 40
Most of the books were about animals and mountains and the sea, but one book was different, because it had no title on its cover at all, only a small drawing of a key, and Yicheng picked it up, because a book with no title is a book with a secret.
Chapter One · 7 of 40
Ekin picked the paper up carefully, and when he turned it over, he saw that it was a folded map, drawn in brown ink on old paper, with a winding line that started at the library and stopped at a place marked with a red star. The line twisted and turned like a river, and it passed through places the boys knew well, which made the map feel like it had been drawn just for them.
Chapter One · 9 of 40
At the bottom of the map there were three clues, and the first clue said that the hunt begins where the twisty slide turns, which made Ekin laugh, because he knew exactly where that was: the playground behind the library, where the twisty slide turned round and round like a snail's shell.
Chapter One · 11 of 40
The boys thanked Mrs. Alvarez and ran out of the library, because the afternoon was still young, and the playground was only a short walk away, and a treasure hunt cannot wait until tomorrow when the first clue is so close. They waved goodbye to Mrs. Alvarez, and she waved back, and she told them to be careful and to come back and tell her everything, because a librarian loves a good story as much as anyone.
Chapter One · 13 of 40
At the playground, the twisty slide stood tall and silver in the afternoon sun, and the boys walked all the way around it, looking for the first clue, because a clue can hide anywhere: under a bench, behind a tree, or in a crack in the ground.
Chapter One · 15 of 40
From the top of the slide, Yicheng could see a small blue stone under the twisty slide, and the stone was different from all the other stones, because it had a tiny star painted on it in white paint, just like the red star on the map. The star was small and neat, and it shone white against the blue, and Ekin knew at once that this stone was the first clue, because ordinary stones do not wear stars.
Chapter One · 17 of 40
But Yicheng remembered the biggest oak tree of all, the one that stood behind the library, with branches so wide that they shaded the whole garden, and Ekin nodded, because he remembered it too, and they ran back to the library, with the blue stone safe in Ekin's pocket.
Chapter One · 19 of 40
Between two of the biggest roots, they found a small wooden box, and the box was locked with a tiny brass lock, but the lock was not strong, and when Ekin pulled it gently, it opened, because a lock that has waited fifty years is ready to be opened.
Chapter One · 21 of 40
The boys walked to Queens Boulevard as the sun went down, looking for the oldest lamppost, because Queens Boulevard is long and full of lampposts, and only the oldest one is the right one. The boulevard was busy with cars and buses, and the shops were lit up, and the boys walked slowly, looking at every lamppost, because the oldest lamppost would look different from all the others.
Chapter One · 23 of 40
At the corner where the boulevard meets a quiet street, they found a lamppost that was older than all the others, with green paint peeling off and a glass lamp shaped like a flower. The lamppost stood at the very corner, where the boulevard meets a quiet street, and it was shorter than the others, and its green paint was peeling, which showed that it had stood there for a very long time.
Chapter One · 25 of 40
Inside the lantern there was a rolled-up piece of paper, and the paper had a riddle written on it in neat handwriting, and the riddle said that the treasure was not gold and not silver, but something that grows. The handwriting was small and neat, and the paper was yellow at the edges, and the boys read the riddle three times, because a riddle that is read once is only half understood.
Chapter One · 27 of 40
Yicheng said that the map's last line was the most important part, and the last line said to follow the compass north, past the place where the silver balls fly, and the boys looked at each other, because they both knew what silver balls meant.
Chapter One · 29 of 40
The sun was setting now, and the sky over Queens Boulevard turned orange and pink, and the boys knew they must go home for dinner, because a treasure hunt is exciting, but dinner is dinner, and mothers do not wait for treasure hunters.
Chapter One · 31 of 40
That night, Ekin put the map and the compass and the blue stone on his desk, and he looked at them for a long time before he went to sleep, because a treasure hunt is the kind of thing that makes it hard to fall asleep. He thought about the map and the compass and the blue stone, and he wondered what the treasure could be, and he fell asleep dreaming of gardens and gold and things that grow.
Chapter One · 33 of 40
In the morning, the boys met at the corner of Queens Boulevard with their backpacks full of sandwiches and water, because a long walk to Flushing Meadows needs food and water, and a treasure hunt is no fun on an empty stomach. Their mothers had packed the sandwiches with care, and the boys had filled their water bottles, because a treasure hunt is thirsty work, and Flushing Meadows is a long way to walk.
Chapter One · 35 of 40
Yicheng opened the notebook to the first page, and on it he had drawn the map again, bigger and clearer, with all three clues written underneath in both Chinese and Turkish, because a copy of the map is safer than the map itself, and the old map can stay safe at home.
Chapter One · 37 of 40
They set off north, following the compass, and the needle trembled and then pointed the way, and the boys walked past the shops and the houses and the subway station, because the road to Flushing Meadows is long, but a treasure hunt makes every step feel short.
Chapter One · 39 of 40
At last they reached the edge of Flushing Meadows, and far away, shining in the morning sun, they could see the Unisphere, the giant silver globe, and the boys ran the last part of the way, because the silver balls were finally in front of them.
Chapter Two · 1 of 40
The hedge was taller than both boys, and thicker than a wall, and the boys walked along it for a long time, looking for a way through, because a treasure that hides behind a hedge must have a door somewhere, even if the door is small and hard to find.
Chapter Two · 3 of 40
Low down, half-hidden by the grass, there was a small wooden gate, and the gate was painted green, so that it looked like part of the hedge, and on the gate there was a tiny brass handle, shaped like a leaf. The gate was so small that a grown-up would have to bend down to pass through it, and the green paint was the same green as the hedge, which was why nobody had ever noticed it before.
Chapter Two · 5 of 40
Behind the hedge there was a garden, and the garden was the most beautiful place the boys had ever seen, with flowers of every colour, and neat rows of vegetables, and a small pond where a frog sat on a lily pad, blinking in the sun. The flowers grew in neat rows, red and yellow and purple, and the vegetables stood in straight lines, and the whole garden looked like a painting that someone had planted instead of painted.
Chapter Two · 7 of 40
In the middle of the garden there was a round stone table, and on the table there was a watering can and a pair of gloves and a basket of tomatoes, which meant that the gardener had been here only a little while ago, and might come back at any moment.
Chapter Two · 9 of 40
After a little while, they heard footsteps on the gravel path, and an old man came around the corner, carrying a bucket of water, and he wore a straw hat and a green apron, and he smiled when he saw them, as if he had been expecting them all along.
Chapter Two · 11 of 40
Old Sam listened to their whole story, from the library to the playground to the oak tree to the lamppost, and he nodded at every part, because he had heard the story before, long ago, from the man who had drawn the map. He nodded slowly, and he smiled, because the boys had followed every clue, and they had found the garden, which meant that his friend's map had worked, even after fifty years.
Chapter Two · 13 of 40
Old Sam told them that his friend had moved far away, to a city across the sea, and that he had left the map in the old book, because a map in a book is a message that can wait fifty years, and a garden is a treasure that does not spoil.
Chapter Two · 15 of 40
Old Sam spread his arms wide, and he said that the treasure was the garden itself, because a garden feeds people and shelters bees and butterflies, and a garden that two friends find together is worth more than a box of gold coins. The garden gave food to people and homes to bees, and it had been growing for fifty years, and a treasure that grows is a treasure that never runs out.
Chapter Two · 17 of 40
Old Sam gave the boys a small patch of earth at the edge of the garden, and he said that the patch was theirs now, and that they could plant their sunflower seeds there, and come back every week to water them and watch them grow.
Chapter Two · 19 of 40
Yicheng took out his notebook and wrote down everything Old Sam had taught them, because a good treasure hunter writes down everything, and the most important thing he wrote was that a garden is a promise, and a promise needs water every week.
Chapter Two · 21 of 40
Then Old Sam showed them the rest of the garden, and he told them the names of the flowers, because a flower with a name is a flower you remember, and the boys repeated the names after him, in English and in Chinese and in Turkish, because a garden needs its words in every language.
Chapter Two · 23 of 40
At the far end of the garden there was a wooden bench under a cherry tree, and Old Sam sat down on the bench, and the boys sat beside him, and they ate the sandwiches they had brought, because a morning of treasure hunting makes a person very hungry.
Chapter Two · 25 of 40
Old Sam asked the boys to promise him one thing, and the thing was that they would come back every week, because a garden is a promise, and a promise needs friends who keep it, and the boys promised, because it was the easiest promise they had ever made.
Chapter Two · 27 of 40
The boys walked home through Flushing Meadows as the sun went down, and the Unisphere shone behind them like a silver moon, and they talked about their garden, because a treasure hunt that ends in a garden is a treasure hunt that never really ends.
Chapter Two · 29 of 40
At home, Ekin put the tin of seeds on his desk, next to the map and the compass and the blue stone, and he looked at them for a long time, because his desk was beginning to look like a museum of treasure hunts. The tin of seeds sat next to the map, and the compass sat next to the blue stone, and every single thing on the desk had a story, and every story belonged to the treasure hunt.
Chapter Two · 31 of 40
That night, both boys dreamed of sunflowers, tall and golden, growing in their little patch, and in their dreams the sunflowers turned their faces to the sun, just as Old Sam had said they would. In the dream, the sunflowers were taller than the boys, and their faces were bright gold, and the whole garden smelled of summer, even though it was still only autumn.
Chapter Two · 33 of 40
At school, the boys told their teacher about the garden, and the teacher listened, and she said that the class could plant the extra seeds in the school garden, because a school with sunflowers is a happier school. The teacher smiled, and she said that the school garden had an empty patch, just the right size, and that the whole class could plant the seeds together, because a garden that is planted together grows better.
Chapter Two · 35 of 40
On Saturday, the boys went back to the garden, as they had promised, and Old Sam was waiting for them at the little green gate, and he showed them their patch, where the first tiny green shoots were already pushing through the earth. The shoots were tiny and green, with two small leaves each, and the boys knelt down to look at them, because the first green shoots are the most exciting thing in any garden.
Chapter Two · 37 of 40
As the sun went down, the boys sat on the wooden bench under the cherry tree, and they looked at their garden, and Yicheng said that in Chinese, a garden is called huāyuán, and Ekin said that in Turkish it is called bahçe, and they said both words, because a garden needs its words in every language.
Chapter Two · 39 of 40
The boys walked home along Queens Boulevard, past the library and the playground and the oak tree and the old lamppost, and every place looked different now, because every place was part of their treasure hunt, and a place that is part of a story is never ordinary again.