The Scavenger Hunt

She had lived in the house on 39th street near Seattle for as long as she could remember. But the woods behind her house was Anna's happy place. Weather permitting, she could often be found there after school and on weekends, studying or just sitting and appreciating the seasonal views. If she turned to her left, she could see the back of her house and other houses nearby. If she looked to the right, she could see deeper woods and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Today, an unusually sunny Thursday in March, was a perfect day in the trees. Anna entered her room and emptied her backpack onto her desk. She sorted out the items she would need to study for the geometry test she would take the following day. Anna repacked her tablet, phone, notebook, and a couple of extra pencils and erasers. Then, in the kitchen, she made her favorite tea combination; two bags of peppermint to one bag of English Breakfast. Pouring hot water over the tea bags and into a large thermos, she grabbed an apple, tied her shoes, petted her vocal Siamese cat Henry, and threw him a handful of kitty treats. "You're an indoor cat, shouty boy. You can't come out with me."

She had created a study area in her favorite oak on a large, horizontal branch. Anna had built a wooden box with a hinged lid and nailed it onto the tree limb. She had waterproofed the box inside and out and used it as a desk and to store supplies she would often need. She had rigged a net a foot or so below to easily retrieve dropped items. She had also fixed a large golf umbrella to a branch a few feet above her head, but she wouldn't need it today.

As Anna opened the desk box, a chill went up her spine, even though it was 60 degrees today. Someone had been here and left something for her. For her! She had only invited her two closest friends to sit with her on her tree perch. Had someone come up here uninvited? She took out the unfamiliar Moleskine journal bound in black leather with a red silk page marker ribbon. On the front, stamped in gold, was written, "A scavenger hunt for Anna Miller-Jones."

Hands shaking, she opened the book. On the first page was written:

"Greetings, Anna. Along with nine other high school sophomores in your area, we have chosen you to participate in a scavenger hunt. The reward is $20,000 for successful participants and a $20,000 gift to the charity we've selected specifically for you. Your charity is Animal House, the rehab and education shelter for wild animals indigenous to your area. We know that their location is easy bicycling distance from your house.

The animals they work with include but are not limited to; Canada Lynx, Cougars, Pygmy rabbits, Grey wolves, Columbian white-tailed deer, various pocket gophers, and many wild bird species. You can learn more about Animal House at www.animalhousewa.com."

The next page had been perforated along the binding.

Rules:

1) Every Thursday for the next nine weeks, we will add a new clue and activity to this book. Until the following Tuesday, you will find time to complete your tasks for the week and ask any questions here. Put the notebook back where you found it every Tuesday before dark.

2) For the sake of your safety, you and your parents will need to sign off on every new task. And neither you nor they may disclose your participation in this contest to anyone else. We will make our best effort to be as transparent as possible to you and them. You must share this notebook with them every week, so they can approve of and keep up with your progress. Once you have all signed, your parents will receive their logins to the scavenger website. They won't be able to post online and may not accompany you on your tasks (although they may drive you to and from there.) They will see the postings of you and other participants and be able to comment and ask questions via your notebook. We will answer your questions in the chatroom, so others may benefit from the answers.

3) Regarding the above rule, you may not actively try to discover the other participants' identities, although you certainly may speculate. Their quests will be different, with clues, tasks, and charities that fit their interests, but the prizes are the same. Currently, there are nine others. There may be multiple winners. You may share with the other participants that your quest is related to your love of nature. You may also not actively try to discover who we are.

4) At the awards ceremony, we will reveal the other participants who have completed their quests. As stated, there may be more than one winner, depending on who successfully meets all their tasks.

5) You must keep your GPA at or above 3.0. We know your GPA is currently excellent, but you can't neglect your classes to pursue this quest. Your tasks will be more manageable for you if you complete your homework first before solving your clue of the week. Be organized. You'll have plenty of time.

6) Post photo proof of task completion to your personal page at scavengerquest20.com. The photos must include you and evidence of task completion. Below the pictures, list the steps you took and any observations you might have. Your login is annamj, and the first time you log in, you will choose a password. There's also a chat room where we encourage you to chat with the other participants without disclosing anything that might identify you. Your user name for the chat room is number1.

7) Whatever you do, do not lose this book or allow anyone but you and your parents to read it.

Below were three lines, labeled Anna Miller-Jones, Jennifer Miller, Heather Jones, and date lines for each. She continued to the next page.

Violating any of the rules will disqualify you. Since you live with both your parents, they must both agree to your participation. Your next clue and tasks will appear in this book the following Thursday. And if you have any questions, please write them on the next page(s).

This week's task has two parts. First, you and both your parents must sign the participation agreement, which you have just read. Secondly, you must obtain a volunteer position at Animal House and work at least two hours before next Tuesday. You may use this experience as work-study and gain credits from your school."

Anna took a sip of her tea and a bite of her apple. She could feel her heart beating fast and hard. And for a few minutes, Anna just sat and thought. Her moms weren't home from work yet so that she couldn't get their sign-offs for at least another hour or so. And she knew they'd want to discuss this with her before they signed. No use anticipating their reactions. Although it was difficult to focus, it would be best to start right by first studying for the geometry test she would take tomorrow. She pulled out her tablet, which her still-shaky hands almost dropped, and logged into Geometry in the 21st Century. She briefly mused on how Euclid would react to the implication that geometry had changed in the past 20 years, and got busy studying.

After about an hour, her parents' car pulled into the driveway. She could hear the voice of Danny, her annoying 11-year-old brother, fresh from after-school coding camp. He got out of the car, shouting about what he wanted for dinner. Her moms were both on staff at Hilltop Hospital in the city and commuted together, picking up Danny on the way home.

Anna finished her snack, packed up her stuff, and got down from her perch in the oak. Excitedly, she ran into the house, where she found Jennymom and Danny arguing about his screen time.

"I do so do other things besides playing games. I look at other people's code and talk to them about it."

"Where do you do that?"

"Um, in the games."

"And that's my point exactly."

"OK, if we can have spaghetti, I'll limit my screen time tonight to two hours."

"One hour."

"And meatballs."

"But you also have to eat some salad."

Anna picked up a knife and started chopping lettuce. "After dinner, there's something I'd like to talk to you both about." Just then, Heathermom entered the room.

"What do you need to talk about? Do you want to talk about it now?" Heathermom looked worried.

"No, let's wait.

"Anna's got a boyfriend!" chanted Danny.

"No, I don't!"

"Would you tell me if you did?"

"Definitely not."

Danny smirked.

"And I'd prefer that he," she pointed at Danny, "isn't in the room. Actually, he can't be in the room."

"There's your screen time Danny, use it or lose it," said Jennymom.

After Danny loaded the dishwasher, he put on his headphones, picked up his controller, and melted obliviously into a video game. Anna and the moms sat around the kitchen table. "I have something I need to show you," said Anna, as she placed the journal on the table.

Heathermom looked worried.

Jennymom picked up the journal, examined the cover, and started reading. When she finished, she handed it to Heathermom. Anna chewed a fingernail and waited.