Treasure Seekers!

I started this in late October and early this month, when my computer was out of commission. To make a long story short: the System folder was corrupted, so it wouldn't boot to Windows, my drive was in another computer being scanned for errors and defragmented, and I was bored. With nothing but an old Windows 98SE startup floppy disk and the EDIT.COM program, I sat down and whacked out the first three chapters of THIS, all in one day. :)

I was unable to do any more of chapter 2 of The Chronicles of Altomaar, as EDIT.COM wouldn't open the weird files that PageFour makes, so I hope that another story set in the same world will help tide you over until I get more done in the other series. ^^;

Without further ado, chapter one.

This is the tale of two treasure-hunting sisters. The older one, Jen, is nineteen years of age, and takes care of her younger sister, Tanya, and together they search for wondrous treasures and strange artifacts.Unfortunately, their life is not easy. Their mother died when Jen was young while giving birth to Tanya, and later, after Tanya was about seven years old, their father disappeared.After waiting some weeks for him to come back, Jen concluded that he would never return, and they were forced to move into the nearby inn.They ended up having to steal sometimes in order to make ends meet, barely having enough food to eat some days. The sisters both were tired of stealing, and would have much preferred not to. And so it was that Tanya came up with the idea of treasure-hunting.Jen has looked after Tanya for eight-odd years since the disappearance of their father. Though they do search for treasure, the older of the two sisters also secretly searches for some sign of their father, hoping that one day they may reunite and be a family once more.

On a particularly gloomy-looking day, Tanya and Jen were in the market, selling the latest of their findings to earn money for their rent, and running a few errands for the innkeeper. As their stock gradually ran down, Jen noticed a beggar who looked to be selling maps. He didn’t seem to be having much luck.When it was near the end of the day, she helped Tanya pack up what little they hadn’t sold, and told her that she’d meet her back at the inn. Jen waited until her sister was out of sight, then confronted the elderly beggar-man.“I’ve seen you around. You’re selling maps?” Jen asked, smiling lightly at the old man.“Indeed, miss!”“Tell me, what kind of maps?”“Treasure maps.” The old man cast a rather doubtful look at Jen, figuring she wouldn’t buy any, either.“You may be in luck, old man, for I happen to be a treasure-h