Uma would never admit it, but the Isle of the Doomed gave her the creeps just as much as it did Harry. She’d lost him somewhere around the forest of thorns, but heard his call and made her way back to where she saw him last, finally coming upon him in the middle of a clearing.
“Tell me you’ve found the trail,” she said, Gil right behind her.
“Nope, nothing like that,” said Harry.
“Oh, so you got bored and gave up, did you?” she accused.
“Stop grouching. Follow me.” Harry led them to what he’d found. There, carved into the bark, a symbol glimmered in the evening light.
“What is it?” said Uma.
“A crescent,” said Harry.
“Or maybe it’s a moon,” Gil added.
“A crescent is a moon,” Harry snapped. He traced the mark with his finger. “The professor didn’t make a map, Sophie said, because he thought it would be too dangerous to leave around. But he had to have some way to figure out where he’d kept it.”
“You think this is it? This mark?” Uma asked.
“Shall I grab the shovels?” Gil asked.
“I don’t think this symbol marks the treasure. Remember, we’re looking for a trail. The path isn’t on the ground. It’s written on trees. If I’m right, there are more of these markings. Follow them, and we’ll find the treasure,” said Harry.
“Or we’ll find out where two lovers carved a heart in some tree,” said Uma.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” Harry joked.
“That I’ll cut you if you don’t find the treasure chest?” Uma snorted. “There’s nothing here that says trail to me.”
“Fine, you’ve got a better idea on how to find this thing?” Harry said.
Uma shook her head reluctantly. “It’s just there are a lot of trees, and it’s not exactly easy to get a look at their bark.”
“I know, I had to hack off a branch to find this one, but I think that’s the point. The trail is hidden. It’s not supposed to be easy to find.”
And it wasn’t. They searched trees and shrubs, rocks, and moss. They cut aside branches and sheared the leaves off of bushes.
“I’m beginning to feel like a lumberjack,” Gil whined.
“And I’m—” Uma stopped.
“What is it?” Harry asked.
“About to give up. That was what I was going to say, but look here.”
Her toe had hit a rock. A small sun—a rough circle, ringed by radiating lines—graced its surface. “I think our professor had a chisel,” said Uma. “It’s a sun, and I think that last one was a moon. This might be a trail after all,” she said. Now her spirits were lifted. The impossible suddenly seemed a tad more possible, though they had found only two symbols. It wasn’t exactly a trail, but it was a good enough start.
“Two points make a line,” said Uma, “so let’s look this way and that and see if there is another marker that aligns with these first two.” She stood at a spot midway between the two marks and pointed in either direction. Gil went one way, Harry the other, hacking his way into the jungle as he went.
The third mark was easier to find than the second. It wasn’t exactly in line with the first two, but it was close enough, so Harry found it relatively quickly.
“It’s a star,” said Uma when she caught up to him.
“We’re on the right path,” said Harry. “Three marks: the sun, the moon, and a star. Just like the symbols on the wizard’s hat. It cannot be a coincidence.”
As the crew drove deeper into the jungle, the marks were more difficult to unearth, hidden as they were among tangled branches or scratched on stones half covered by clumps of moss. And the trail bent in every direction, not following a straight line, but curving to and fro, making it difficult for the pirates to judge where they might find the next mark.
Branch after branch fell to the earth. Stones were overturned. They made a royal mess of the island, but there was no one there to complain about it. And Uma doubted the goblins would mind, although she still hoped they wo