The map was tucked inside a book at the library sale. It was drawn in crayon on the back of a pizza delivery flyer, and it said:
TREASURE IS BURIED HERE.
With an X marking a spot in the middle of the garden. There was also a small drawing of a treasure chest, but it looked more like a box with a handle, and someone had written "REAL TREASURE" next to it in wobbly letters.
"This is obviously real," said Max.
"It's drawn on a pizza flyer," said Mia.
"That's how they hide it. So nobody finds it."
Mia looked at the map. The X was right in the middle of their garden, between the tomato plants and the old birdbath. She looked at Max. Max looked at her.
"We should dig," said Max.
They got shovels from the garage. They went to the garden. They found the spot — right where the X said, between the tomato plants and the old birdbath. Mrs. Henderson from next door was hanging laundry and watching them over the fence.
"What are you two digging for?" she said.
"Treasure," said Max.
"In the garden?"
"That's where it's buried."
Mrs. Henderson looked at them for a long moment. "Well," she said, "don't dig up my tomatoes." She went back to hanging sheets.
They started digging.
Six inches down, Max's shovel hit something hard.
"Got it!" he said.
They carefully brushed away the dirt. It was a garden gnome. A small, bearded gnome with a red hat and a fishing rod, sitting on a toadstool. He was smiling, the way gnomes always smile, like he knew something you didn't.
"That's the treasure?" said Mia.
"It's a gnome," said Max.
"Maybe it's worth something."
"Maybe it's magic."
They lifted the gnome out of the hole and set him on the grass. He was heavy, made of that thick ceramic stuff that garden ornaments are made of. His red hat was chipped. His fishing rod was missing a hook. He looked like he had been in that hole for a very long time.
"We should put him back," said Mia. "On the X. That's where the treasure goes."
They put the gnome back on the X. They patted the dirt down around him. They stood back and admired their work.
"There," said Max. "Treasure, secured."
The next morning, the gnome was gone.
Mia found him by the back door, sitting on the welcome mat like he had been waiting to come inside.
"Max!" she shouted.
Max came running. They looked at the gnome. The gnome smiled his knowing smile.
"He moved," said Max.
"Gnomes don't move," said Mia.
"Well, this one did."
They carried the gnome back to the X. They put him down. They patted the dirt. They went inside for breakfast.
After breakfast, the gnome was by the birdbath.
"He's admiring the view," said Max.
"He's a garden gnome. He's not supposed to have a view."
"Everyone has a view, Mia. It's a free country."
They carried him back to the X. They patted the dirt. They went to school.
After school, the gnome was in the tomato plants, sitting among the ripe red tomatoes like he was guarding them.
"This is getting weird," said Mia.
"It's a treasure hunt," said Max. "Treasures move. That's part of the challenge."
"Since when?"
"Since always. Read a book."
They carried the gnome back to the X. They patted the dirt. Max found a brick and put it on top of the gnome to hold him down. He also piled a few rocks around the base for good measure.
"There," said Max. "Try getting out of that."
The next morning, the brick was on the ground, the rocks were scattered in a perfect circle, and the gnome was sitting on the garden wall, looking out at the street like he was thinking about making a run for it.
"He's casing the joint," said Mia.
"We need a better plan," said Mia.
They tried everything. They tied the gnome to the birdbath with a jump rope. By lunchtime, the jump rope was in a neat pile on the ground and the gnome was by the compost bin, inspecting it with great interest. They dug a deeper hole and buried him up to his hat. By dinner, he was sitting on the kitchen windowsill, looking in at them while they ate, his little ceramic face pressed against the glass.
"He's watching us," said Mia.
"He's a gnome. He watches. That's what they do."
"Like a bird."
"Exactly like a bird. Except birds can fly. This one just... walks."
That night, Max put the gnome in the shed and locked the door. He double-checked the lock. He put a stick under the handle for good measure. In the morning, the shed was still locked. The stick was still under the handle. The gnome was inside.
Max opened the door, triumphant.
The shed was empty. The gnome was sitting on the roof of the shed, holding his hookless fishing rod, smiling at the sunrise.
"How did he get up there?" said Mia.
"I don't want to talk about it," said Max.
"Did you see him climb?"
"No."
"Then how do you know he was on the roof?"
"Because he was on the roof, Mia. I opened the shed and he was not in the shed and then I looked up and he was on the roof. Those are the facts. I am not qualified to explain them."
Max stared at the gnome on the roof. The gnome stared back. Max had the distinct feeling that the gnome was laughing at him, although of course gnomes cannot laugh because they are made of ceramic.
"He's mocking us," said Max.
"He's a garden ornament," said Mia. "He doesn't know what mocking is."
"Tell that to his face."
Mia looked at the gnome. The gnome looked at Mia. The sunrise caught his red hat and made it glow.
"Why does he keep moving? Nobody told him to move."
"Nobody told him to stay still, either," said Max.
Mia thought about this. "That's actually a good point."
The next morning, Mia sat down in front of the gnome. He was by the sundial now, which was a new spot. He looked comfortable.
"Gerald," said Mia. (She had decided his name was Gerald.) "You are the treasure. The map says so. You are supposed to be on the X. That is where treasure goes."
Gerald smiled his knowing smile.
"You cannot just wander around the garden like you own the place."
Gerald said nothing.
"You are an inanimate object. You do not have feelings. You do not have preferences. You do not get to choose where you sit."
Gerald sat there. Being inanimate. Having no feelings.
"I am talking to a garden ornament," said Mia. "This is my life now."
Gerald smiled. His smile did not change. But Mia could have sworn it got a little wider.
"Stay," said Mia. She pointed at the ground. "Stay."
She went inside. She counted to one hundred. She made a sandwich. She ate the sandwich. She came back outside.
Gerald was by the rosebush.
"Max!" she shouted.
Max came running. "What?"
"He moved again."
"Of course he did."
"He doesn't listen."
"He's a garden gnome, Mia. He doesn't have ears."
Mia looked at Gerald. Gerald smiled. His smile was starting to look less knowing and more smug.
"We need to think about this differently," said Max.
"How?"
"Well, what do we actually know about gnomes?"
Mia thought. "They live in gardens."
"They sit in gardens," Max corrected. "They sit on toadstools. They hold fishing rods. They smile."
"So?"
"So maybe he doesn't want to be buried. Maybe he wants to sit in the garden. On a toadstool. Holding a fishing rod. Smiling."
Mia looked at Gerald. Gerald looked at Mia. His fishing rod was still missing a hook, but he was sitting on a stone that looked a bit like a toadstool, and he was definitely smiling.
"He's a garden gnome," said Mia slowly. "He's supposed to be in the garden."
"On the X," said Max.
"No. Just... in the garden."
They looked at each other. They looked at the map. They looked at the X.
"The map is wrong," said Mia.
"The map is a pizza flyer drawn in crayon," said Max.
They looked at Gerald. Gerald looked at them. His smile was wide and patient, the smile of someone who had been trying to explain something for a very long time but nobody was listening.
"Fine," said Mia. "You win. You can stay in the garden. But you have to stay in the garden. Not the kitchen windowsill. Not the compost bin. Not the roof of the shed. The garden."
Gerald said nothing. But his smile looked, if possible, even more smug.
They put Gerald by the rosebush, where the sun hit the petals in the afternoon and the bees came to visit. They did not put him on the X. They did not tie him down or bury him or put a brick on him.
He stayed.
For three days, Gerald stayed by the rosebush. He watched the bees. He watched the birds. He watched the tomato plants grow. He sat on his stone and smiled his smug little smile, and he did not move.
On the fourth day, Max found the map again. He looked at the X. He looked at Gerald. He looked at Mia.
"Do you think there's actually treasure somewhere else?"
Mia looked at the map. She looked at the spot where the X was drawn. She looked at the tomato plants and the old birdbath.
"Maybe the gnome was the treasure all along," she said.
"He's a garden gnome. He's worth three dollars at a garage sale."
"That's not the point."
"What's the point?"
Mia thought about it. She thought about the map and the digging and the gnome who would not stay still. She thought about how they had spent a whole week chasing a garden gnome around the yard, and how it had been the most fun they'd had all summer.
"The point," she said, "is that we found something."
Max looked at Gerald. Gerald looked at Max. His smile was wide and patient and just a little bit smug, like he had known the whole time.
"Yeah," said Max. "I guess we did."
They sat in the garden for a while, watching Gerald watch the bees. It was quiet and warm and the tomatoes were turning red and the roses were in bloom. A butterfly landed on Gerald's hat and stayed there for a full minute before flying off. Gerald did not move. He just sat there, smiling, as if having a butterfly on his hat was the most normal thing in the world.
It was a good garden. Gerald had good taste.
Mrs. Henderson leaned over the fence. "What happened to your treasure?" she said.
"It's sitting by the rosebush," said Mia.
Mrs. Henderson looked at Gerald. Gerald looked at Mrs. Henderson. "That's a garden gnome," she said.
"We know," said Max.
"He was buried in our garden," said Mia.
"Was he now," said Mrs. Henderson. She looked at Gerald for a long moment. "Well, he seems happy enough." She went back to hanging her laundry.
That afternoon, Mia found another piece of paper in the library sale book. It was drawn in crayon on the back of a grocery receipt. It said:
TREASURE IS HIDDEN HERE.
With an X marking a spot under the old oak tree.
She showed it to Max.
"Do you want to dig?" she said.
Max looked at the map. He looked at the garden. He looked at Gerald, who was still by the rosebush, still smiling, still holding his hookless fishing rod.
"Absolutely," he said.
They got the shovels. They went to the oak tree. They started digging.
Gerald watched from the rosebush, smiling his smug little smile. He had a feeling this one was going to move too.