Maple's Pirate Treasure Hunt! Part Three

We had a couple suggestions for destinations in this third installment: a cookie store and a spooky graveyard. While a cookie store would be an awesome location.... there is unfortunately none on the pirate treasure map. :-( We'll put it on the next one though. ;-) And we don't have a spooky graveyard (which is also a good idea) ... but we do have a slightly spooky location eventually planned. You'll just have to stay tuned..... :-)

The hint that I found at the entrance to Blackbeard's Wood said:

A hundred paces southward

Find the Stone Rock Road 

Follow where the seagulls lead you

Look for where the water stopped flow

"Where is it telling us to go?" Maple asked me as we stood at the edge of Blackbeard's Wood.

"I don't know, but it's getting dark and we need to go home. We'll start from the base of this tree tomorrow." I tied a red ribbon around the tree to mark where we were.

Then the next day Maple spent several hours getting ready to leave. She explained that she wanted to look good for her photos.

"If you were so concerned with your appearance in this photo-story, why did you make one that involves hiking all-over the countryside in the summer heat?" I asked her. She just wrinkled her nose at me and didn't answer. "You're just going to have to adjust your outfit and hair once we find the hint...," I added.

That did not deter her from being fashionable (and still quirky). Today Maple is wearing the Kate Middleton "Touch of Class" dress from All Dolled Up Doll Clothes, black and grey tights from Sew Fun Doll Clothes, and black gladiator sandals from Ebay's Pawprint Pals (manufactured, just FYI).

After getting "her look" just right we headed out to find the red ribbon and start on our hundred paces south. It took a long time to walk a hundred paces. Mostly because neither one of us could keep count. We had to start over several times.

But we eventually found the Stone Rock Road, which of course as most roads do, went in two directions.

"Where do we go now???" whined Maple. I think she was regretting her choice of trendy sandals as footwear....

"Look for the seagulls, like the hint said," I replied. Did she even read the hint?

"Oh, yeah."

We peered down the road in one direction, then the other. But only the southern side had seagulls floating in the distant air. So we started trudging on our way again, toward the gulls.

An eternity later, the road grew closer to a huge stone building that looked very imposing.

"This must be Fort Black," I commented. I had seen enough movies to know what a fort looked like... plus I finished 100% of the Pirates of the Caribbean Wii game... so I am like an expert on these things... right?

"What's Fort Black?," Maple replied.

I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed deeply.

"It's on the map," I said between my gritted teeth. "There's probably a clue here."

I think she sensed my aggravation and just nodded in response.

Shockingly, Maple then noted that there seemed to be water draining from the building around the foundation. And she had the thought that we should follow the water as it drained down the hill to see where it stopped. I thought this was an amazingly good idea, for Maple. I also started to think about what else was in that drainage water... eww....

So we crept around the foundation along the road, following the water flow. We came to a spot where the water went into a little canal under the road. How were we supposed to follow the water now? We continued walking around the corner of the massive building to find out.

"Look!," Maple said, "It's a drainpipe that doesn't have water coming out of it!"

"I guess that means the water has stopped flowing from it.... maybe the clue is inside," I said. Finally we were getting somewhere. Which is good because I was sweating like a pig and was quite hungry.

We bent down and looked in the pipe. All we saw was moss.

"You stick your hand in and see if there is a clue in there," Maple insisted.

"No way. If I hurt my hand how am I supposed to take pictures of you in your outfit?" I knew how to spin that. "You stick your hand in," I replied.

She stared at me for awhile, obviously thinking that would convince me to do the job.

Then she stared at the drainpipe for awhile. 

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"To see if anything alive comes out of the pipe," she answered.

"Like a snake?" I suggested.

She stared at me again with wide eyes. 

"Wouldn't it be worse if something dead came out of it?"... was my answer to the stare.

Then she scowled for awhile but eventually gave in to her fate. With a horrified grimace on her face she bent down and stuck her hand in the drainpipe.

"There is something in there!" she announced as she pulled out another rolled up piece of paper.

We decided this was a good opportunity for more pictures and we posed the hint sticking out of the drainpipe.

Then Maple "vogued" for the camera....

We thought that was a better shot than Maple bending over, butt in the air, and arm in a drainpipe...

Several glamourous photos of Detective Captain Maple and her clue discovery follow...

What will this hint say?
Where will we go next?
What will Maple wear?
Will I end up smacking her with my camera bag in frustration?

Stay tuned for Part Four where these questions and more will be answered..... 

p.s. Thanks for following our Pirate Treasure Hunt posts!