“Enough.”

“How much is that?”

“Three hours, maybe a little more. I can sleep tonight, and I’m off for the next four days. Lots of time to catch up. Let’s take advantage of the sunshine.”

“I can’t believe what you talk me into,” said Ray with a sigh. “Take Simone for a walk while I change and gather my gear together.”

Thirty minutes later they were at Lake Michigan, carrying boats, one at a time, from the parking lot to the shore. They made a third trip for their gear bags and paddles.

On the beach they packed thermoses of hot coffee, sandwiches, energy bars, and extra clothing and gear into the watertight hatches.

“What are you thinking?” asked Hannah, noting that Ray was standing at the side of his boat looking thoughtful.

“Now that I’m standing in the wind, I’m not sure I’m layered up enough under the dry suit.”

“I had the same thought. You packed extra fleece?”

“Yes. You?”

“Ditto. But you don’t want to be too hot, either. I think once we get going, we’ll be plenty warm enough.”

They pulled on their spray skirts and zipped up their PFDs, slid into their kayaks, attached the neoprene skirts to the cockpit coaming, and launched into the gentle chop. The waves picked up once they got beyond the headland and turned toward the island.

“Are you warm enough?” asked Ray.

“Perfect, but my skeg won’t deploy. I must have gotten a stone in it when we launched. Would you see if you can set it free?”

Ray brought his bow close to Hannah’s cockpit. She reached across and grabbed his deck lines. Pulling off a mitten, Ray unclipped the knife from the front of his PFD and carefully ran the squared-off tip along the groove between the fiberglass hull and the plastic skeg. He found the offending pebble with his knife and pushed it free.

“Try it now.”

“Perfect. Thank you. What’s our final destination, by the way?” Hannah asked as they drifted.

“Let’s head for the lighthouse. Part of that shore is rocky, but there are also some sandy places where we can land.”

They paddled for few minutes side by side. Ray looked over and saw Hannah’s joyful smile. “What’s going on?”

Hannah laughed. “I get on the water and within a few paddle strokes I connect with this world and everything that has me on the edge of blowing up evaporates. The wind, the water, the blade—there’s nothing else.”

With little more conversation, they held a steady cadence for close to two hours, finally landing on a sandy beach a few hundred yards from the old lighthouse.

“It looks like we’re not alone,” said Ray pointing toward a Zodiac high on the shore beyond the sand.

They spread their spray skirts and PFDs over their boats and settled into a lunch of sandwiches and steaming coffee on a small promontory at the top of the beach.

“I never thought peanut butter could taste so good.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” said Ray, sounding a bit defensive. “Great bread, organic peanut butter. Of course it’s going to be good.”

“What do you think that’s about?” Hannah asked, pointing toward the Zodiac.

“I don’t know. Awfully small boat for this water. Before we leave, we should have a quick look around and make sure no one’s stranded here.”

Later, as Hannah disappeared into the woods, Ray walked up the beach and inspected the Zodiac. Two nylon-covered orange PFDs and a wooden canoe paddle were on the floor of the seatless craft. A small, worn-looking outboard was secured to the transit.

Ray climbed past the boat and looked up the beach. Two young men were approaching him. The first—portly and carrying a metal detector with a backpack hanging by one strap over his shoulder—wore khaki shorts and an unzipped nylon jacket that covered a grey hoodie. He was moving at a good pace. The second boy—carrying a shovel and trailing behind—was tall and extremely thin. He looked cold and morose in his cut-off jeans and a faded red Henley, which was open at the collar, exposing a cotton undershirt.

“How you guys doing?” asked Ray.

“Great,” said the first one, eyeing Ray cautiously.

“Doing some treasure hunting?”

“You a park ranger?” asked the teenager, looking at Ray’s dry suit.

“No. I just paddled across with a friend,” Ray motioned toward their beached kayaks. “We were just about to start back. You guys park rangers?”

The kid with the metal detector laughed. “Sure.”

“So what are you looking for?”

“Asshole thinks he’s going to find buried treasure,” said the taller of the two.

“Screw you, Ty. If I found anything, you’d be first in line to share it.”

“Are you looking for lost items, or are you ….”

“It’s some wild idea Win got out of a book,” sneered Ty.

“Really,” said Ray. “You guys hungry? I’ve got some energy bars in here.” Ray pulled two bars from a pocket in his PFD. There was a momentary hesitation from the boys; first Ty and then Win accepted the offer.

Ty grabbed the wrapping with his teeth, peeled it, and bit off a large chunk of the bar. As he chewed he said, “Go ahead and tell him, Win. Like it’s no big fucking mystery.”

Win fished a smart phone out of his pocket. “It’s a book on Kindle,” he explained. “It says some of the money was buried on the Manitou Islands, just beyond the shadow of the lighthouse. It didn’t say which lighthouse, but that other one is clear out in the water.” He pushed the last piece of the bar into his mouth, and then fidgeted with the phone, holding it out so Ray could read the screen.

“Interesting,” said Ray. “Too bad the author didn’t tell you what time of day or the date. There’s a lot of territory just beyond the shadow of the lighthouse.”

“Yeah, well, the author says early in the book that most of the money was buried at night, so I don’t get how he knew about the shadow anyway. He also says that they buried most of the money during mild weather, but some of the biggest stashes were made during the winter when Capone thought the ‘Untouchables’” were about to close him down.”

“So we’re talking about Al Capone here?”

“Yeah,” answered Win.

“If there ever was any treasure, it’s long gone,” added Ty. “And I’m out here freezing my ass off on a wild goose chase.”

“What’s the book’s title?” asked Ray.

“It’s something about Capone’s lost treasure in Michigan.”

“How did you find out about it?” asked Ray.

“A kid at school. He got a copy for Christmas, a real copy, a book. I got it on Kindle for four bucks. Lots of people downloaded it.”

“Win decided he’d be the first one to the island to get the treasure. Like most of it’s already been found on the coastline,” said Ty, who shivered as he delivered his sarcastic line.

“He’s just pissed because he got splashed a little on the way over. He’s always bitching about something,” retorted Win.

“If I was fat like you, I wouldn’t be cold,” Ty shot back.

“We have some hot coffee,” Ray said. “Would you like some Ty, Win?”

“That’d be great.”

“And I’ve got an extra fleece jacket.”

“I’m okay,” said Ty.

Ray was pouring coffee when Hannah reappeared. “We’ve got a couple of boaters here,” he said, introducing her and giving his first name. “Ty here seems chilled. I offered him a fleece, but he doesn’t think he needs it. We did energy bars and now hot coffee. Hannah’s a doctor.”

“Can I check your pulse?”

Ty reluctantly held out his left wrist.

“Have you had any alcohol today,” she asked.

“No. Nothing.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking directly into his eyes.

“Nothing,” he repeated.

“You need to get warmed up a bit. I want you to put Ray’s jacket on, and I’m going to get a space blanket from my boat.”

They wrapped the reflective, plastic sheet around Ty and continued to give him hot coffee and another energy bar. The shivering went away, and he began to display more affect and a sense of humor.