The Mystery at the Coral Reef Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Australia!

  Chapter 2: The Redthroat Emperor

  Chapter 3: A Ticking Watch

  Chapter 4: Three Mysteries?

  Chapter 5: An Intruder!

  Chapter 6: Snorkeling After Dark

  Chapter 7: The Coral Thieves

  Chapter 8: A Secret Plan

  Chapter 9: Long-Lost Treasure

  ‘The Mystery of the Icy Paw Prints’ Excerpt

  About Harper Paris and Marcos Calo

  CHAPTER 1

  Australia!

  “That girl’s going to fall off the bridge!” Ella Briar shouted.

  Her twin brother, Ethan, looked up. The Sydney Harbor Bridge gleamed against the bright blue sky.

  At the top of the massive bridge was a girl peering over the side. How did she get all the way up there?

  And then Ethan saw that there were other people with her. Lots of other people.

  “It’s okay, kids. You can actually climb to the top of the bridge,” their father, Andrew, explained.

  “The view is supposed to be great!” their mother, Josephine, added.

  “Wow!” Ella gazed out at the skyline of downtown Sydney and at the sailboats that dotted the harbor. The view from the top of the bridge probably was great. But she couldn’t imagine being up that high. She’d had enough of high places after Machu Picchu!

  Machu Picchu was an ancient Incan city in Peru that was thousands of feet in the air. The Briars had spent some time there before flying off to Australia. Australia was the seventh stop on their trip around the world. Mrs. Briar was a travel writer. She was writing about their adventures for their hometown newspaper, the Brookeston Times.

  The twins were excited to be in Australia. It was beautiful and warm, plus everyone spoke English, which meant that it was easy to communicate. Best of all, they were driving up the coast tomorrow to visit their aunt Julia, their uncle Owen, and their cousin Harry.

  “Who’s hungry for some Balmain bugs?” Mr. Briar called out.

  “Bugs?” Ethan and Ella gasped in horror.

  Mr. Briar laughed. “They’re not actually bugs. They’re a kind of lobster. I thought we could check out a seafood restaurant for lunch.”

  “And after lunch, we’ll go there.” Mrs. Briar pointed to a white building that jutted out into the bay.

  Ethan squinted. The building looked like a row of stegosaurus spikes. “What is it?”

  “It’s the Sydney Opera House. We’ll do a backstage tour and then stay for the opera,” replied Mrs. Briar.

  “What about the aquarium?” asked Ella. “Hannah’s family went there last summer. She said it was awesome!” Hannah was Ella’s best friend back in Brookeston.

  “I wish we could fit that in. But we won’t have time today. And we’re leaving Sydney first thing tomorrow morning,” said Mrs. Briar.

  Ella pouted. Ethan was disappointed, too. He had really wanted to experience some real live sea creatures while they were in Australia! Hopefully there would be another chance for that.

  CHAPTER 2

  The Redthroat Emperor

  “Are we there yet?” Ethan groaned.

  “This is bo-ring!” Ella complained.

  It was Thursday, and the Briars were driving up the coast to a city called Brisbane. For the first couple of hours, the twins had enjoyed staring out at the passing scenery: the sandy beaches, the turquoise sea, and the pretty fishing villages. But after nine hours, they were more than ready to get out of their cramped little rental car.

  “We’re almost there,” Mrs. Briar assured them from behind the wheel.

  Mr. Briar spread a crinkly map across his lap. “I think we turn off at the next . . . Oops, wrong map! This is a map of Italy.” He dug through his backpack and pulled out another map. “Okay, here we go. We stay on this road until you reach a town called Surfers Paradise. And then we turn inland.”

  “That means away from the coast,” Ella explained to Ethan.

  “I know what ‘inland’ means,” Ethan snapped. “That was one of Dad’s vocabulary words from last week.” Mr. Briar was homeschooling the twins while they traveled.

  It was almost dinnertime when the Briars finally arrived at their destination. Their aunt’s family, the MacLeans, lived just outside of Brisbane. Their house was built on stilts and had a red tile roof. The front yard was filled with palm trees and lush grass.

  Aunt Julia rushed out the front door. “Hello. Hello!” she called, waving excitedly.

  “Jules!” Mrs. Briar hugged Aunt Julia for what seemed like forever. The two sisters hadn’t seen each other since the MacLean family moved to Australia five years ago.

  Aunt Julia turned to hug the twins. “The last time we saw you, you were only a few years old. Ethan, I hear you’re a soccer player. And, Ella, you’re writing poetry?”

  Ethan and Ella smiled and nodded.

  Inside the house, Uncle Owen and their cousin Harry greeted everyone.

  “Welcome to Australia, mates!” Harry said with a wide grin. At fifteen, he was almost as tall as his father. He wore a T-shirt that had a picture of a surfer on it and lime-green board shorts.

  “I hope everyone is hungry!” said Uncle Owen cheerfully.

  Ella noticed that both Uncle Owen and Harry had Australian accents, but Aunt Julia didn’t have an accent at all. It was kind of funny!

  The four grown-ups went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. “Do you have a computer?” Ethan asked Harry. “Ella and I need to check our e-mail.”

  “Sure! You can borrow Billabong Bill,” replied Harry.

  “Uh, Billabong Bill?” Ella repeated, confused.

  “That’s what I named my laptop,” Harry said with a wink.

  A few minutes later, the twins sat on a couch in the family room with Billabong Bill between them. Harry sat on the floor, polishing a surfboard.

  After a moment, an e-mail popped up from Grandpa Harry! He was Josephine and Julia’s father. The twins’ cousin Harry had been named after him. Ethan and Ella were used to seeing a lot of their grandfather back home, and they really missed him.

  TO: [email protected]

  FROM: [email protected]

  SUBJECT: Coral Reefs

  Hello, my dears. Welcome to Australia!

  I received your most recent e-mail, about your time in Machu Picchu. I was happy to learn that you found the Temple of the Sun as well as the special artifact that your grandma Lucy and I came across long ago.

  And now you are in the “land down under”! Did you know that you are very near the largest coral reef system in the world? Coral is amazing because it’s a living organism! It can look like a rock or a plant, but it’s actually a kind of animal.

  Coral reefs are an important habitat for fish and other species. It’s against the law to remove coral from reefs in that area. However, there have been many reports of people doing just that.

  When your grandmother and I visited Australia, we went snorkeling in the Coral Sea. We saw sea turtles, whales, and of course, lots of fish! As a souvenir, I bought her a necklace with a sea turtle pendant on it. She gave it to your aunt Julia to keep.

  Please give my love to everyone! I wish I could be there with you all.

  Love,

  Grandpa Harry

  PS If you get a chance to visit the coral reefs, keep an eye out for the redthroat emperor!

  Ethan and Ella stared at each other. Keep an eye out for the redthroat emperor? What in the world was the redthroat emperor?

  CHAPTER 3

  A Ticking Watch

  The next morning Aunt Julia and Uncle Owen had a big surprise for the Briars.

  “Guess what? We’re going to spend the
weekend at our beach house!” Aunt Julia announced.

  “It’s on the Coral Sea,” Uncle Owen added.

  “The Coral Sea?” Ella tried to remember Grandpa Harry’s e-mail from yesterday. “Is that the one with the coral reefs?”

  Aunt Julia smiled. “Yep, that’s the one!”

  “Hooray!” the twins shouted. They would finally get to swim in the ocean. They couldn’t wait!

  A few hours later, the two families arrived at the MacLeans’ beach house. It was a wooden cottage surrounded by palm trees. Just beyond the backyard was their private beach, which meant that no one else could swim there.

  “Look!” Ethan said, pointing. A sleek gray creature jumped out of the water and arched in the air. It was a dolphin!

  Uncle Owen suggested that they all take a walk on the beach.

  “Not me. I’m going surfing with Rufus and Tommy,” Harry announced. He scooped up his surfboard and took off down a dirt path.

  “Be careful!” Aunt Julia called after him. “We worry about our Harry. He’s a bit of a daredevil,” she told the Briars.

  “What’s a daredevil?” asked Ethan.

  “A person who likes to do daring things,” replied Mr. Briar.

  Ethan nudged Ella. She nudged him back. They liked to do daring things, too—like going on adventures and solving mysteries. The three cousins must have gotten that from Grandpa Harry!

  All the parents started down the beach. Ethan and Ella trailed behind. They kept their eyes on the sand, searching for seashells and other treasures. Ella was eager to find a shark’s tooth to add to her collection back home.

  Waves curled up to the shore and slipped away, leaving small pools of water filled with pebbles and seaweed. Ella spotted something shiny in one of the pools. Could it be a shark’s tooth?

  She bent down to pick it up. It wasn’t a shark’s tooth. It was a watch!

  She turned the watch over in her palm. It was heavy. Inscribed on the back were the letters ZD.

  “ZD. Those must be the owner’s initials,” Ella said out loud. She thought for a moment. “Hmm. That means the watch doesn’t belong to Aunt Julia, Uncle Owen, or Harry.”

  “Yeah, but who could have dropped it here?” Ethan asked when he overheard Ella. “This is a private beach, right?”

  Then Ella noticed something else. “Ethan, the watch is still ticking!”

  “Whoa!” Ethan exclaimed. He paused. “Wait, what does that mean?”

  “It means that the watch probably hasn’t been in the water for very long,” replied Ella. “Whoever dropped it could have been here yesterday or even today!”

  CHAPTER 4

  Three Mysteries?

  Around noon, Aunt Julia drove Mrs. Briar, Ethan, and Ella into town for some shopping and sightseeing while Uncle Owen, Mr. Briar, and Harry stayed behind to do some fishing. The town overlooked the Coral Sea. There were restaurants, stores, and an open-air market with stands that sold everything from local crafts to fancy jewelry.

  Ella had brought the watch along in her bag. She wasn’t sure who it belonged to or why it had washed up on the MacLeans’ private beach. But she was determined to find out. She and Ethan were good at solving mysteries. In fact, they had solved mysteries in each of the countries they had visited so far: Italy, France, China, Kenya, India, and Peru.

  The two sisters stopped at a stand to admire a display of necklaces.

  “Look at this one. Isn’t it lovely?” Mrs. Briar held up a strand of peach-colored beads.

  “What is it made of?” Ella asked the man behind the stand. He had a dark ponytail, and his arms were deeply tanned.

  The man shrugged and waved his hand at a sign. It said: CORAL COLLECTORS.

  Aunt Julia scanned the table, which also displayed bowls, mirrors, and animal figurines. “You have a lot of items for sale, and they’re all made of coral. Where did your coral come from?” she asked.

  “We, uh, have our sources,” the man mumbled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy.” He turned his back and began digging through a crate.

  “He’s not very friendly,” Mrs. Briar said to Aunt Julia as they moved on.

  “I’ve never seen him here before. He must be new,” Aunt Julia replied. “I really do wonder where he got all his coral. It’s illegal to mine coral from the reefs around here, you know.”

  The four of them continued walking through the open-air market. While the others were looking at T-shirts, Ella sat down on a bench. She reached into her bag and pulled out her purple journal and a pen. The journal had been a present from Grandpa Harry, and she used it to keep notes. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and she wanted to get it all down on paper.

  She opened the journal to a fresh page and began writing:

  We found a watch on Aunt Julia and Uncle Owen’s beach.

  It has the initials “ZD” on it.

  She thought for a moment, then added:

  Grandpa Harry said: If we visit a coral reef, we should look for a redthroat emperor.

  She also added:

  We just met a man selling coral jewelry and other stuff. Where did he get all that coral?

  Ella paused to read over what she had written. She blinked in surprise. Did she and Ethan have three mysteries on their hands?

  CHAPTER 5

  An Intruder!

  That night Mr. Briar, Mrs. Briar, Uncle Owen, and Aunt Julia decided to go out to dinner in town while Harry stayed at the beach house with Ethan and Ella.

  “I left you guys a cheese pizza and some cut-up veggies on the kitchen counter,” Uncle Owen told the twins. “We should be back around ten. There’s a cricket match on the telly, if you’re interested.”

  “A cricket match?” Ethan pictured a bunch of crickets hopping around.

  “You’re in for a treat, kids! Cricket is a terrific game,” Mr. Briar said eagerly. “It’s similar to baseball, and it was first played in England four hundred years ago!”

  After more instructions, the parents took off. The twins went into the living room to find Harry. The “telly” was on, and the cricket match was under way. But Harry was nowhere to be seen.

  Ella peered into the bedrooms. “Harry?”

  “He’s not in here, either,” Ethan called out from the kitchen doorway.

  They searched all around the house, but there was no sign of Harry. Where did he go?

  “But I just saw him, like, ten minutes ago,” Ella said, confused.

  “Maybe he went out with his friends and didn’t tell anybody,” Ethan guessed.

  “We should probably call Mom and Dad on their cell phone,” Ella said nervously. It was dark outside, and they were all alone in a place they didn’t know.

  Just then, the door from the garage burst open. A figure stalked in, wearing a strange mask.

  The twins screamed.

  “Whoa! It’s me, mates!” The person took off the mask. It was Harry!

  “You scared us!” Ella cried out.

  “Not me. I wasn’t scared,” Ethan said quickly.

  “Sorry! Didn’t mean to frighten you. This is my snorkeling mask,” Harry explained.

  “Why are you wearing a snorkeling mask?” asked Ella.

  Harry smiled, a twinkle in his eye. “Because we’re all going for a night swim!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Snorkeling After Dark

  “Awesome!” Ethan exclaimed. After all, he and Ella had wanted to see real live sea creatures.

  “Is it safe?” Ella asked.

  Harry chuckled. “I’ve gone snorkeling at night a million times! Besides, you two seem like adventurous types.”

  Ethan beamed. “We are super-adventurous.”

  “But what about our parents?” Ella pointed out.

  “No worries. We’ll be back before they get home,” Harry replied.

  Ella glanced over at her brother. Ethan shrugged. A night swim did sound like fun.

  A short while later, the three of them stood on the beach dressed in slick bla
ck wet suits. Harry had found a couple of his old ones for the twins. Palm fronds rustled in the cool breeze. A cloud passed over the moon.

  Harry had also given the twins some snorkeling equipment: a mask, a snorkel, and a waterproof headlamp. The mask was clear and covered the eyes and nose. The snorkel was a mouth tube that would allow them to breathe when they dipped their faces in the water. The headlamps were attached to bands that wrapped around their heads.

  Ella shivered as she gazed out at the endless black sea. It was so dark out here. Even with the headlamps, she couldn’t imagine seeing anything underwater except for more darkness.

  “Okay, mates. Turn on your headlamps and follow me,” Harry instructed.

  The twins clicked on their headlamps. Harry waded into the shallow water, and they followed. It was cold at first, but after a minute, they got used to the temperature.

  Harry showed them how to put their faces in the water as they swam. He also showed them how to breathe through their snorkels.

  They all began swimming with their faces down. Their lamps made shimmery paths of light in the murky water.

  They could see fish . . . dozens of fish! There were yellow ones and red ones and blue ones and rainbow ones, too. It was incredible!

  Harry pointed to a school of jellyfish. They glowed pearly white as they swam gracefully toward a row of orange rocks.

  Except that the orange rocks weren’t rocks at all. They were coral! Fish drifted in and out of the coral, feeding on algae and plankton. Sea stars clung to the sides. Crabs and lobsters crawled along.