Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (smart ebook reader TXT) 📖

“Come on Mom! I’m taller than you now!” Dillon complained as he closed up the watch and placed it back in his pocket.

Mom just smiled her soft, almost mischievous smile, she always had when she was trying to get a rise out of one of her kids.

Dillon shrugged it off and offered a smile back of his own. “Nothing much,” he responded. “You know … just hunting for the lost fortress of The Ancient Skull,” he finished with an expressive flourish of his hands.

“That’s nice,” Mom responded without missing a beat or thinking anything was weird about his statement. “Don’t forget to wash your hands for dinner.”

“Really mom! I’m twelve you know!”

“Sorry, honey. You still have to wash your hands.”

“No problem,” Dillon responded with a shrug.

As Dillon headed to the bathroom to wash up for dinner his little sister, Gwen, raced up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hey Dragon Breath! What’s that for?” he asked.

“I just missed hanging out with you and being part of your crazy adventures!” she said, a huge smile cresting her bright face. “Can we play one after dinner?”

“I don’t know … I am pretty busy with homework.”

Her lips quivered as she gave Dillon a sad look.

He smiled back. “Okay, maybe just for a bit.”

Gwen gave him another huge hug and jumped back excitedly. “Maybe we can finish finding the mysterious treasure of woe?”

“Is that what we called it?” he asked. “We’ve gotta think up a better name than that!”

Gwen’s smile seemed almost permanent at this point. “Did you find any treasures?” she asked.

“Not much. Just this old pocket watch and a five dollar bill,” he said as he pulled the money from his pocket.

Gwen looked at the money with admiration. “Not much? That’s great!”

“Well, if you like it so much then how about you keep the five dollars.”

Gwen almost fell over. “Don’t you want it?” she asked.

“No, I would rather have this old watch. I imagine it used to be the property of someone important long ago. It might even have a hidden map, or a clue to even greater treasure stuck inside somewhere.

“Wow,” Gwen mouthed as she stared at the prize.

“Or maybe it’s just an old watch,” Dillon said, shrugging. “But let’s pretend it is the holder of a map,” he ended with a grin.

Gwen nodded her head eagerly. “You always find the coolest stuff,” she said with abounding admiration. “How come?”

“I don't know. Just lucky I guess.” Dillon looked down at the watch and turned it over in his hand. He didn’t understand it, but he just had this feeling that this watch was important somehow. He just didn’t know why. He looked up and smiled at Gwen and shrugged before moving passed her. Maybe his imagination was getting the best of him, he thought, as he chuckled to himself.

Jake watched Derek walk back to their car as he rounded the corner. His leg jiggled a little with nerves. If he was wrong about the kid … He took a deep breath and composed his face. Just in case this was the right kid, Jake purposely parked around the corner, out of the way of the view of Dillon’s house. He didn’t want any possibility of Dillon observing them and blowing their cover. It seemed silly on a rational level, but he knew he wasn’t dealing with rationality here if Dillon was their boy.

“Well?” he asked as Derek settled in the passenger’s seat. “How did it go? Did he see you?”

“No he didn’t see me,” Derek responded. “I made sure of that. I have to tell you though, I was pretty skeptical about your assessment of this kid. But it went better than I thought it would.” He took his ball cap off to reveal a cleanly shaven head; right to the scalp. On the right side of his head he had Japanese Kana characters tattooed, but never told anyone what they meant. Whenever anyone asked him about it he just got quiet and either changed the subject or walked away.

“That’s encouraging news,” Jake replied with a smile. “What happened?”

“Well … when you told me that you thought this kid had some sort of luck in finding objects that others would pass by, even if they were well hidden I thought you were exaggerating,” Derek said. “So I decided to test your little theory and I hid it in a place that no one should have found it.”

“Where?” asked Jake, intrigued.

Derek, looking down at his cap, paused for a moment, then looked up and met Jake’s waiting gaze. “I hid the watch in a natural alcove that had some tree roots growing down over the hole. In the alcove I buried it behind some more roots and moss. That thing should have stayed hidden for ever.”

Jake smiled. “I think we’ve found our kid,” he said as he reached over and turned the key in the ignition.

Dillon lay in his bed later that night staring up at the strange watch he had found. It didn’t work anymore. He rubbed at it with the sleeve of his pyjama shirt, trying to clean the dirt and stains off of it. As he rubbed he noticed that there was some sort of writing on the back. He reached over and pulled his night lamp closer so he could get a better look at it. It was really hard to read, but, after a few moments he managed to make out the letters JTS. JTS he mouthed silently. He opened the watch up again and turned it around in his hands a few more times, looking for anything else he could see that was out of the ordinary. The fact that the hands were missing was definitely strange. He considered the letters for a few moments more. Dillon was sure that, if this watch could talk, it would have a tale to tell that would make his own adventures seem lame in comparison! His mind drifted to fantastical imaginations of far off lands and amazing feats of heroism. He laughed to himself.

Sure, he thought. It was probably just some old man’s junk that he threw out when he couldn’t find any replacement hands!

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more. He couldn’t explain it but he just had this feeling about this watch.

He suddenly heard footsteps coming down the hall towards his room. Quickly, he put the watch down, shut off the lights, and tucked himself under the covers, narrowly avoiding the “mom talk” about going to sleep promptly.

As he drifted off to sleep he smiled to himself as his mind started working out all the possible origins of the watch, a few of those thoughts even followed him into his dreams.

3

Chocolate

Dillon and his friends walked onto the playground with confidence and expectation. They had thirty minutes left in their lunch break in order to continue their adventures of the high seas. As they climbed onto the Jungle Gym it transformed in their minds into a huge wooden ship that swayed back and forth, being tossed to and fro by the pounding of the swells of the ocean.

The boat threatened to come apart as it was hammered by the roaring waves. The crew might have felt better about their circumstances if they weren’t being boarded by pirates! They were warned that this part of the sea was full of them, but the chance to be the ones who found the lost isle of the Dawn Breaker was too much temptation for the crew of six. Their Captain, Colton Drake, was sure they could make it despite the warnings that were given to them before they embarked.

The pirates came on in a fury. First mate, Chet Williams, narrowly dodged a wicked looking jagged pirate blade before coming back with a strike of his own. He scored a hit on the pirate’s side; the sea dog grimaced and fell back a step. Williams smiled slightly, then his look turned to surprise as the pirate returned to the battle with the same fury as the storm that rocked the boat.

Williams worked his blade feverishly, matching blow with parry, parry with blow; neither scoring a hit. The ring of their blades was heard above that of the roar of the storm.