In the dark of the narrow tower stairway, all Mary could do was touch the cold stone wall and climb.
She was afraid of the dark. She was afraid of heights. But she had to go on. She had to find out who had a light on in the top of the tower.
Nobody was supposed to be here. This was her family's castle, but it was in ruins. She had never seen it until today. She and her parents had come to stay on the island for the summer. They rented the little house down by the gate. Mary had been exploring when she saw the light in the tower.
The stairway ahead was no longer black, but a faint gray. She must almost be there. Mary climbed ten more steps and came to a large wooden door. She eased it open.
Nobody was there. In the room, a lantern hung from a wooden beam. A sea breeze blew in through the window holes. There were many old things in the room -- a chest, a table and chair, a globe, and a big black hat with a feather in it. On the table was a large piece of paper that also looked very old. It had many folds in it. Laying across the paper was a shining sword and a half-eaten loaf of bread.
Curious, Mary tiptoed up to the table. The paper was a map. She bent over it. On it she saw a drawing of the castle on the island. On the castle was a big, black X and the words, "My treasure." Treasure? Mary wondered. There's treasure in our castle? Who wrote this?
Just then, a strange, high voice called, "MAN OVERBOARD!" Mary jerked up and spun around. Behind the door, a parrot stood on a perch. It tilted its head and stared at her with shining eyes. Mary sighed with relief. It's only a parrot, she thought. Don't be so jumpy!

Then she heard heavy footsteps coming up the winding stairway, Mary was afraid and she went to hide behind an old door. A big old man with a wooden leg appeared, he looked like a pirate Mary thought, and suddenly the door fell down and the pirate saw Mary. She tried to escape but the pirate took her by his arm. In that moment she thought that she was going to die, she started begging for mercy.
The pirate started to laugh and told her that he was too old and tired to hurt her and also he told her that he was a good pirate and that his name was Capitan Madness but she could call him “old Mad”.
Mary was very confused, because she always thought that pirates were bad persons, but this old man looked like a good grandfather wearing a costume of a pirate. Mary asked him what were all that things in the table and the pirate told her that he was looking for a treasure in the castle and asked her for help. Mary was very excited and she accepted, so they read the map lots of times until Mary realized that she knew the place.
The treasure was hidden long time ago in a place that Mary knew as her own hand, so she took the old man into an old and forgotten garden and she told him to look for the X, suddenly Old Mad started to laugh as a pirate does, and started to yell “here it is little princess, come now!”. Mary ran to the place and they started to dig all day long, until they found a big chest, but it wasn’t heavy said Mary. “What is it?” She asked when the man opened the chest. She only saw her grandfather’s clothes, but she haven’t seen her grandpa for a very long time. Mary, “What are you thinking about, my dear?” She looked at him, and with tears in her eyes she realized that he was her beloved grandpa, at last she had found her treasure.