previously on adventures on Awe Island.
The annual Awe Island Animal Shelter fundraiser was full of unexpected twists.
Madame Amado made a surprise return.
Despite the excitement, Marie still couldn't wait to get home and continue reading the secret spot in the hopes of finding another clue.
Welcome to Adventures on Awe Island.
Chapter 6, The Secret Spot, Part 3.
When Marie got home from the Awe Island Animal Shelter fundraiser, she said goodnight to her parents and got ready for bed.
Her mom told her to go to sleep as quickly as possible because it was quite late and they had to be up early the following day.
But, truth be told, Marie was so energized by recent events that she knew there was no way she could fall asleep right away.
Madame Amato was back and they were going to get to create a custom ice cream flavor with her.
And she had the book she had been waiting to get her hands on again for a long time The Secret Spot.
Although she was still in the early chapters, the story was already captivating.
She fervently hoped there would be another clue somewhere within that would help them solve the riddles.
They still had not figured out the oldest thing on Aue Island, though they had found the strange symbol on Dragon's Cave in the Aue Island forest.
Marie still thought it looked like a butterfly with a circle and some extra lines, but she could see the similarity to a four-leaf clover too.
She hopped into bed with the book in her flashlight and began to read some more under her covers, so her parents wouldn't see that she was still awake.
At some point, she fell asleep.
The next day, Marie brought the book into the kitchen to continue reading as she ate breakfast.
After breakfast however, she had to put it down because it was their assigned day to volunteer at the animal shelter.
She and her mom arrived promptly at 9.30 a.m.
The first thing Marie did was go around and greet each animal by name.
Then she and her mom began to clean their spaces, starting with the cat room.
As they worked, Marie told her mom about the secret spot.
And then the kids encountered this creature called a misanthrope, Marie explained.
The misanthrope has a clue they need, but it keeps running away and won't speak to the kids.
What do you think they're going to do next, her mom asked.
I don't know Marie said, but maybe they could find something the misanthrope likes and trade that for the clue.
Good idea, her mom replied.
After finishing the cat room, it was time to take the adoptable dogs for a walk around town, so people could meet them.
Marie took two of the little dogs on leashes and her mom took two of the bigger dogs.
They tied colorful bandanas loosely around the dogs' necks that read, adopt me, and off they went.
This was one of Marie's favorite parts of volunteering, because people around town loved meeting the dogs.
And if anyone was interested in adopting, they could set up a meet and greet with their favorite dogs through the shelter's website.
Marie and her mom walked the dogs for an hour, then headed back to the shelter.
After putting the dogs back into their kennels and giving each one a treat, they headed out and went to lunch at their favorite cafe.
Marie loved having this special time with her mom after getting caught lying a couple of days ago and having her mom be so disappointed in her.
Having this time now.
Just the two of them reassured Marie that things between them were still okay.
It was nice to just hang out.
It was early afternoon when they got home and Marie went straight back to her book.
She had to read the secret spot in its entirety before it was due back at the library on Monday.
So far, she still hadn't found any special information within the story.
She was at the part where the kids were trying everything they could think of to get the misanthrope to share its clue, but to no avail.
Each time they tried, the misanthrope just ran away, forcing them to find the creature again and come up with a new tactic.
Then, just as they lost sight of the misanthrope again, the kids encountered a wise old woman walking on the path.
She asked them if they needed help, and they explained their problem.
The woman told them they had to tempt the misanthrope with a treat.
While it ate the treat, they could ask it anything they wanted, and it would give them the answer.
Luckily, the woman just so happened to have a basket of freshly baked scones and she gave one to the kids.
So the kids searched out the misanthrope yet again and offered it the scone.
Just as it was about to run away, the creature stopped in its tracks and immediately began to devour the treat.
As it ate.
The kids asked for the clue and the misanthrope began to speak through mouthfuls of scone.
The oldest on this island home, that's the place for you to roam.
There you'll find the gift that's best for you to continue on your quest.
Marie gasped in shock.
She immediately flipped to the inside of the book's dust cover and reread the handwritten clue.
The second half matched the clue in the text get in touch with JJ and Christian immediately.
But she couldn't.
She wasn't allowed to use any of her tech except for school telling them would have to wait until Monday.
So Marie kept reading, hoping that the kids in the book would find the answer Further along in the story.
She got the answer.
The oldest things on that island were the trees.
The trees!
Marie never would have guessed that, but it made sense.
Some trees can live for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
And in this story, the oldest tree on the island was where the secret spot was, the place that held the buried treasure.
Marie could hardly contain herself.
The oldest things on Aue Island had to be the trees.
But how could she figure out which one was the oldest of all of them?
Surely that was where they too would find the gift.
That's best to continue on their quest.
As the riddle stated, she raced to find her dad.
Being a botanist, he would have to know where the oldest tree was.
She found him out in their garden weeding dad, Where's the oldest tree on our way island?
Marie asked breathlessly, anticipation bubbling over.
Her dad paused his work and thought for a moment.
Well, I don't know for certain, but it has long been thought that the oldest tree is at the island's center, which is at the heart of the island forest.
Some of the stories even say that's where Dragon lives.
You may have seen it when you visited Dragon.
Marie swallowed hard.
Of course they had seen it.
It must have been that huge oak tree that was just next to Dragon's cave, right across from where Dragon showed them the symbol carved into the rock of the cave.
It just made sense.
The irony of this was not lost on Marie.
If she had just asked her dad for help at the beginning, he might have taken them three weeks ago.
No sneaking, no lying, no getting in trouble.
Can we go visit the tree?
She asked quickly.
Sure, her dad said.
How about next Sunday, he suggested.
I want to go now, Marie said, feeling a surge of impatience.
She had waited so long for this break in their adventure.
She didn't want to wait another eight whole days.
I'm sorry, we can't go now, her dad said.
Marie kicked the dirt on the ground. dad gave her a quizzical look, then smiled at her reassuringly.
What's gotten into you, he asked with an amused chuckle.
The tree has been here for hundreds of years.
It'll be there next Sunday, I promise.
Marie sighed dramatically and mumbled, okay, and headed back into the house.
She had learned something big, and she couldn't even tell JJ and Christian about it.
It was very frustrating to have to wait to follow up on the clues.
She went back into her bedroom, took out her journal and added the information she'd learned to her notes.
By now it was almost time for dinner and her mom called to her to come set the table.
She closed her journal, put it on her desk, and then headed into the kitchen.
Her mom was putting the finishing touches on homemade soup and a colorful garden salad.
And Marie could smell freshly baked bread cooling on the counter.
The family ate together.
Marie scarfed hers down, counting the minutes to when she could get back to the secret spot.
She continued to read after dinner, still determined to get through the entire story before the book was due on Monday.
She still had quite a few chapters to finish.
The following day the family had plans to go visit the local botanic garden for a special program about native plants.
Afterward, they all returned home to tackle some house chores together.
It was Marie's job to put away clutter and then dust.
She rushed through the tasks as fast as she could and successfully.
The kids in the story now knew the oldest thing on the island was a tree and they had to figure out which tree it was.
But to find the treasure, they needed directions on what to do once they were at the tree.
The instructions, they discovered, were hidden in a library book.
Marie giggled.
Of course that's where they were.
She felt quite certain that this library book she was reading would give her the instructions as well.
Indeed, they were described at the end of the story.
Once at the oldest tree, the kids had to walk 15 feet due west and dig.
And there they found the gift, the buried treasure they had been looking for.
It turned out to be another riddle that hinted at a bigger quest and encouraged the reader to purchase the next book in the series.
Marie groaned.
She wanted all the answers now.
Not more riddles.
At least she had one important answer.
She grabbed her journal and added the buried treasure's location instructions to her detective's notes for future reference.
Then she closed the journal with a satisfying thunk and turned to her schoolbook to make sure she had all her homework done for school the following day.
Before bed she checked in with her parents and explained she had to return a book to the library after school the next day.
Her dad said he wanted her to come straight home after school and they would go to the library together after dinner.
The following day, when she met up with JJ and Christian at lunch, Marie was surprised to see the two look just as excited as she was.
I have news, they all said on top of each other, then burst into giggles.
You first, Marie said to JJ, who flipped open her notebook.
I was going over my notes and something hit me, JJ began.
In the park, Grandma Oak was part of the map that helped us locate the buried treasure there.
So that made me wonder if another tree was going to help us find this buried treasure too, especially since Dragon's Cave is in the forest with lots of trees, lots of old trees, like maybe the oldest thing is a tree Christian chimed in.
You're right.
I was rereading awayislandcom history and someone added an entirely new section called island lore.
I took a screenshot and printed it out.
He produced the printout and began to read.
While many admire Awe Island's historic buildings, the island's most fascinating history may lie in its trees.
Some of the oak trees on Awe Island were present long before humans inhabited the island.
The oldest of these is thought to be the Great Grandmother Oak that is in the center of the Awe Island forest.
From her acorns came our Grandma Oak in the park and countless other generations of oak trees scattered throughout the island.
You too are amazing, marie said admiringly of her friends.
Leave it to jj to use logic to figure things out and to christian to double check places they'd already looked.
My news is the same thing, she noted with a grin.
I finished reading The Secret Spot.
The second part of the riddle that is written inside the dust cover is also in the story, and the main characters learn that their oldest thing is a tree.
So I asked my dad where our oldest tree was, and he said it's supposedly in the center of the Awe Island Forest where Dragon lives.
Wow, JJ said.
Now we just have to get to the tree.
My dad says he'll take me on Sunday.
You can come too, Marie suggested.
Aw, I can't go.
I'll still be grounded then.
Two weeks is like forever, Christian groaned.
Maybe they'd let you go if they knew you were going with Marie's dad?
Tell them it's for a school project, JJ offered.
I could, Christian said hesitantly.
But what if they ask to see the project?
I don't want to get caught lying again.
True, JJ agreed.
And Marie felt the same way.
It was a huge dilemma.
They were all very eager to solve the riddles, but they didn't want to risk getting in trouble again.
It seemed like the only thing to do right now was wait.
In the meantime, JJ and I can talk to Madame Amato while we're making our custom ice cream flavor with her.
Marie suggested.
Maybe she'll give us more information, too.
As she said this, the bell rang.
The three friends stood up, pressed their thumbs together in their secret handshake and gathered their things.
And with that, they headed off to their afternoon classes, determined to wait and wonder what they were going to discover next.
After winning the silent auction bid at the Animal Shelter fundraiser, will Marie and JJ have their custom ice cream making session with Madame Amado before she disappears again.
Find out when the adventure continues in our next episode of Adventures on Awe Island.
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