The Saltire Secret

Stories involving buried treasures and long forgotten secret societies tend to involve older people, ancient times, and exotic, far away places. Adventures of that sort do not typically fall into the laps of twelve-year-olds living in present-day Chicago.

But that is exactly what happens to twins Alex and Olivia Fontaine, who are home alone for the first two weeks of summer vacation (as their parents, ironically, attend a business conference in an exotic, far away place). Unexpectedly, a stranger appears on their doorstep during a driving thunderstorm to deliver a letter. The letter is from the twins’ beloved Grandpa Boyd, a history professor with a habit of getting himself (and sometimes Alex and Olivia, too) involved in all kinds of adventures.

Grandpa Boyd’s letter reveals his latest quest: searching for the hidden fortune of the Brotherhood of Dixie, a secret society from the days of the American Civil War. And, like all good treasure hunts, this one involves a map—Grandpa Boyd has managed to uncover a trail of clues left by the Brotherhood’s mysterious founder. Each clue leads one step closer to the treasure.

But, Grandpa Boyd is not the only person on the trail. Others are seeking the treasure too, including the great grandson of the Brotherhood’s founder, who will stop at nothing to recover what he considers to be his family inheritance.

Now, it seems Grandpa Boyd has disappeared, and Alex and Olivia must find a way to work together despite their very different personalities…because it has been left to them to follow in the footsteps of history, solving puzzling clues leading to a hidden treasure…and, hopefully, to their missing grandfather.