Ori gasped when he saw what Isabel took out Money So so so much money Treasure Ori exclaimed Where did you get it Jasper asked Isabel From the bowl in my front hall beside the phone Isabel said Isabel had an idea for a game A good one At lunch she and Zoë would go ahead and bury the treasure Then Jasper and Ori would dig for it Whatever you find you can keep Isabel told them Really Jasper said Isabel nodded Jasper and Ori looked at each other The thing is Ori said we’ll be rich So at lunch Jasper and Ori ended up playing with Isabel and Zoë even though they hadn’t wanted to At least it wasn’t babies First they stood on the school steps with their backs turned and counted to one hundred That way the girls had enough time to bury the treasure Then they tore down to the jungle gym They dug and dug with the plastic container and the lid until the sand around the jungle gym was all holey Isabel and Zoë stood by calling Not there and Not
even close and Try again When Jasper stopped to rest he looked over at the girls Their mouths got small like they were sucking on a peppermint A peppermint or a joke They glanced at each other and smiled By the time the after-lunch bell rang Jasper and Ori weren’t any richer
Chapter 2 Every Wednesday Jasper visited his Nan in her apartment not far from his house They had fun riding the elevator up and down making horrible faces in the mirrors on the walls and playing Go Fish for jujubes and Dress Up Nan Today making a horrible face in the elevator mirror was easy Jasper only had to think about digging holes while Isabel and Zoë tried not to laugh Is that a real horrible face Nan asked This face is for Isabel and Zoë who tricked us Jasper told her Jasper told Nan the story When he said I bet they didn’t even bury that treasure Nan made a real horrible face too The elevator stopped on Nan’s floor and they got out Jasper raced ahead to her door and rapped the jaws of the
lion’s head knocker even though Nan wasn’t inside to answer Too bad about the treasure the lion said to Jasper in his liony voice I know Jasper said back I wish I had some treasure to bury Nan unlocked the door for Jasper You’re in luck I just found a whole box of treasure It’s on the table Really Jasper said He pulled off his shoes without undoing the laces and ran ahead to the kitchen There was a box on the table just like Nan said with a string tied around it The sort of box Mom liked long and flat Dad always gave her a box like this for her birthday with a fancy nightie in it except for the time he gave her a bigger box with a Dustbuster in it and she got mad Now Dad always gave her presents in boxes that were too long and flat to hold cleaning things Jasper jiggled the box It was heavy and the things inside rattled and slid A word was written on the side TOYS Nan sat at the table with Jasper I was down in the storage room this morning I found it tucked away there It’s toys not treasure Jasper said
