Three thirteen-year old boys meet by chance over their summer vacations in a small and boring seaport village in Nova Scotia. They become friends by necessity; end up searching for pirate treasure and trying to solve the 250 -year old mystery of the Oak Island Money Pit. Seth Goldstein is the wimpy but super- intelligent son of a powerful New York City attorney. Jake Harris is a muscular, football fanatic from an oil family in Horseshoe Bay, Texas and Rob Harmon is a troubled, long-haired surfer kid from San Diego.

One day while taking a short cut through and alley they are approached by a homeless man who makes them an unusual and speculative offer- a treasure map! Although highly suspicious the boys accept the man's deal. The deal as it turns out will take them on a quest through nearly five-hundred years of history, from the Spanish Conquistadors, to the American Revolution to present day.