Not only did Homer desire this membership, but he also needed it. He’d promised his late uncle Drake that he’d continue the quest for the most famous pirate treasure of all time—the lost treasure of Rumpold Smeller. But Homer was twelve years old, so he’d need help organizing and funding such a grand quest. That help could come from L.O.S.T.—but only if Homer was granted membership.
“Whatcha looking at?” A little boy popped his head around the corner of the house. The boy was Squeak, Homer’s little brother. He clutched the handle of a red wagon. A baby goat lay in the wagon, nestled on Squeak’s favorite blanket. Since most farms in Milkydale were goat farms, baby goats had been popping out all month like weeds in a carrot patch.
“It’s a letter for me,” Homer told him.
“I like letters,” Squeak said. “I’m naming this goat Butter, ’cause she looks like butter.” He leaned over and rubbed his freckled face against the goat’s back. “She smells like butter, too.”
“That’s nice,” Homer said, only half listening as he pulled out a single sheet of plain white paper.
A bolt of excitement darted up his back.
“What’s it say?” Squeak asked.
Four words that meant everything to Homer. Four words that would be the beginning of his destiny.
Your time has come.
Also by Suzanne Selfors
To Catch a Mermaid
Fortune’s Magic Farm
CONTENTS
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
Epigraph
PART ONE: THE PUDDING FARM
1. Breakfast with the Puddings
2. The Untimely Passing of Uncle Drake
3. A Snooty Delivery
4. Droopy Dog
5. The Horrid Howl
PART TWO: MILKYDALE
6. To School
7. Weird Cloud
8. Paint Milkshake
9. The Unexpected Invitation
10. Ajitabh the Cloud Man
11. The Library at Midnight
12. The Worst Thing That Ever Happened in Milkydale
PART THREE: THE CITY
13. The Runaways
14. An Elongated Lady
15. Tomato Soup Girl
16. Misters T. and C. Snooty
17. The Soup Warehouse
18. The Tortoises of City Park
PART FOUR: THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
19. A Party for Very Important People
20. The Cave of Brilliance
22. Beneath the Microscope
PART FIVE: THE TOWER IN THE SKY
23. Clouds, Clouds Everywhere
24. Conqueror of the Sky
25. Another Letter
26. Secrets and Syrup
27. The Most Treasured Possession
PART SIX: THE EVIL LAIR
28. A Friend’s Deception
29. Return to The City
30. Swallowed Alive
31. Inside the Lair
32. The Monster in the Pool
33. A Gentleman’s Agreement
34. The Shape of a Hero
35. Some Final Things
Acknowledgments
The Most Famous Treasure Hunters of All Time
A Preview of Smells Like Treasure
Also by Suzanne Selfors
Copyright
Copyright
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2010 by Suzanne Selfors
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
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Second e-book edition: November 2011
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ISBN 978-0-316-08913-5