The Treasure Keepers_Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

In her mind Soledad traveled back in time to 1795 when young and confused she was sitting a little further from the bonfire sensing a change in the wind and rubbing her grandmother's ruby medallion by habit. Now she knew that on that cool April night what she had sensed was the beginning of her glorious future. But at the time she was only 20 years old. She was the only grandchild of the most powerful fortune-teller in the history of the Garcia clan, Matilda, and she didn't know what to do with the powers she had inherited from her grandmother. She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear footsteps behind her.

  "Soledad, I brought you baked potatoes," Lidia, one of her best friends, said.

  "I'm not hungry," Soledad said.

  But Lidia wouldn't give up. She sat beside Soledad. Putting the plate down on the ground she hugged her friend.

  "Sole, eat something. You were in your tent all day long."

  "Lidia, I can't eat when I'm worried."

  Lidia caressed Soledad's light brown sleek hair. "I take it that you had that dream again."

  At that moment the figure of a short woman with long jet black hair grew behind them. "Lidia, Soledad, there you are! You're missing the feast."

  "Silvana, Soledad isn't well," Lidia said. Silvana was the third part of the best friends' trio.

  Even though Silvana's mother was the Spanish non-gypsy wife of a Garcia family member, she was accepted as family.

  "What's wrong? It's the dream again?" Silvana said.

  "I was asking her about it before you came," Lidia said.

  "Yes, I had that dream again," Soledad confirmed. She got up and stared intently at the dark landing that was the ocean. The wind was ruffling her yellow skirts and hair. "I feel like something is going to change many people's lives, and that is going to happen on the little island where the treasure chests lie. It's been a few nights in a row that I dream that I'm on that island on a rainy day, I enter the cave that was formed when the ship hit the beach, and I'm about to open one of the chests. I already imagine the gold in front of my eyes in excitement, when my grandmother's spirit appears out of thin air. She warns me not to open the chest." Soledad shivered even though it was warm. "I have always been a little afraid of the old woman. I wish I'd never been born," she said desperately. 

  Lidia and Silvana approached Soledad.

  "Sole, our lives wouldn't be the same without you," Silvana said. "You have no idea how lucky you are to be a true seer like your grandmother was."

  "How can you say that? It's been a torment ever since I found out I was a true seer. I've seen my grandmother's last breath in a dream when I was seven – and two days later she died!"

  "Look at the bright side: if you can see the future, you can warn us before a misfortune happens to us," Lidia said. Silvana nodded. Lidia said with concern, "Sole, is the treasure really cursed?"

  "Yes. My grandmother's powers were legendary. She was a strong woman." For a moment they listened to the guitar's soft melody, Marina's passionate singing at the bonfire and the waves hitting the shore. "I feel like my soul is floating above a ship far from here. Something is happening there right now, and it's going to impact our lives."

  Lidia, Soledad and Silvana jerked when they heard a loud applause and male voices cheering at the bonfire.

  "Sounds like Marina has stolen our men's hearts again," Lidia said. Silvana laughed. Soledad smiled reluctantly turning away from the ocean where the moon was making a trail. She felt the others would never be able to understand her as well as her grandmother would have.