The Treasure Hunters

By Mariko Pratt

Six roommates, each one a different creature, live in a large sprawling house on a hill. While learning how to make apple pie, one of them finds a scrap of parchment in an old cookbook. Although it doesn't look like much, the ragged sheet holds the clues to a mysterious treasure. After much arguing and hurried preparation, they set off traveling in two groups. While one group trudges through thick brush and forest searching for clues, the others travel down the river in a leaky rowboat. Along the way, both groups get into various difficulties. Although their eventual prize doesn't turn out to be what had envisioned, they are still rewarded for their hard work and cooperation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mariko Pratt
• Release date: Jun 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393192053

Mariko Pratt

Mariko Pratt was born in Mountainville, California and grew up in McKinleyville, California where she now divides her time between writing and illustrating and garden work. She had taken up a career writing in order to combat bouts of artistic block. Her artwork had been featured in several local shows along with artwork by her mother Tsuya Pratt. Her first completed short story, Paulie’s Puppy was narrated online in 2012 and there are plans to feature this work in a series collection set in an alternate Humboldt County where the bizarre and surreal is commonplace.

Book preview

To my family

There were six roommates...

... who all lived in an immense two-story house that sprawled across a hilltop like a drunken elephant. It was a house whose many windows were mostly obscured by the unpruned tangle of willow trees, rose, and lilac bushes that made up the garden. This jungle kept the house protected from the bitter winds that often blew in from the sea during the winter.

However, it did not prevent the house's hand-hewn, cedar shingles from gradually fading from red to a sort of overcast gray.  The sort of color that was common in the coastal skies. 

It was on one of those gray days when the sun had not been seen for a week and everyone stayed inside, getting on each other’s nerves.  They were all in the kitchen, helping with making an apple pie and they were not having the least bit of success of getting the ingredients in order.  Someone was either late in getting the basic ingredient of apple pie skinned and sliced, or someone was spilling flour on someone's head, or...

––––––––

Pierard, said the gray mouse named Gregory. Must you keep those tail feathers in the dough?

Sorry Greg, replied the parrot.

That's the third time already, grumbled the mouse. This pie’s going to have more green feathers than green apples!

Pierard's attention was already elsewhere.

Ahoy there, Tris! the parrot hollered across the room.  How are you and Pascal coming along with those apples?

The Churcka grumbled back, I'm doing all the work, and what's he doing? He has his beak burrowed in a book!

I say, Pascal, said Pierard sternly. Surely you could come up with one dozen green apples without difficulty.

However, Pascal, a rather intellectual bird, was so absorbed in an Ogden Nash poetry book, that he didn't give the parrot a single glance. 

Pierard was very annoyed.  It was his idea to teach the others more elaborate recipes than basic bread and biscuits, salads,