“Well, thestory says that one of the men shot the other and buried him withthe chests. Then he drowned on the way back to his captain. Leavingthe exact location of the treasure a mystery, even to Peter Eastonhimself.”
“Well, thatwould drive any man insane,” Henry quipped.
“Yeah, peoplehave searched for years on and around Shell Bird Island, but noone’s ever found it.”
“Then how dowe know it’s true?” Henry asked as he reached over to soak hiscloth in the cold water again.
“We don’t,” Ireplied with a grin. “But I know someone who might.”
***
Lottie satacross the desk from me, fiddling with the hem of her apron. I’dasked Finn to go get her for me and Henry left with him when shearrived, giving us some privacy but claiming to need fresh air.
“So, what’sthis all about, then?” she asked me.
I smiled atthe sight of the diamond studs in her ears. “Do you like mygift?”
Sheabsentmindedly reached up to touch one. “Yes, thank you. You don’thave to give me anything, you know.”
“I know,” Iassured her. “But I wanted to. It’s a token of my friendship andappreciation for The Queen.” I leaned back in my chair. “God, it’sthe least I could do for what you’ve given me.”
“Is that whatthis is about?” she continued. “Did you need them back?”
“No! Goodness,no,” I told my friend. “They’re yours. Keep them.” I stole a glanceat the stack of captain’s logs I’d been reading. “Lottie, you saidyou grew up on this ship, right?”
She lookednervous. “Yes, why?”
“I haven’ttold everyone yet, but we’re going to be heading out on a reallylong journey.”
She leanedback and crossed her arms. “How long? Where are we going?”
“England.”
She boltedforward. “England? Jesus, Dianna, that’s two or three months at seabefore we even meet landfall.”
“I know,” Ireplied. “And we’re going to need some serious money to fund a triplike that. Not to mention the means to survive once we’re there,and then for the journey back.”
Her big blueeyes stared at me. “So, what does this have to do with me?”
“Lottie, didyour father ever mention The Treasure of Shell Bird Island?” Herlook of shock was enough to tell me the answer.
“How doyou–”
“I know allabout it,” I said. “And I also know that it’s enough to fund athousand trips to England.”
“That treasureis cursed,” she replied curtly.
“How so?” Iamused.
I knew damnwell it wasn’t. But then a part of me wondered if that waspossible. That maybe a curse isthe reason no one’s ever found it. Who was I to say magic andcurses didn’t exist?
“You have totravel through The Devil’s Dancing Pools just to get to the mouthof the caves,” she explained. “Cave’s apparently protected bysirens. And then the treasure itself…” she shook her head andstood, turning away from me in frustration. “No, it’s not possible.We’ll all likely be killed.”
“What aboutthe treasure?”
“It’sprotected by a Watchman,” Lottie told me.
I shrugged.“What’s that?”
She ran herhands through her hair inexasperation as she paced the floor. “My grandfather was on thatmission, you know?” She didn’t wait for my reply, just kept pacing.“They said he drowned trying to get back to Easton’s ship, but thatwas a lie. My grandfather shot and killed the poor bugger who wassent with him, then buried thebody with the treasure.”
I chewedon my lips as I listened. Then Irealized. “A watchman.”
Lottie nodded.“He abandoned his captain and fled back to England with thelocation of the treasure locked away in his mind.” She finallystopped pacing and turned to face me. “But not before he told myfather.”
My eyeswidened. “Your father? But he would have been just a boy.”
“Yes, I know.His memory of it was foggy, but we spent years sailing back andforth to the West Coast, searching for the cave. It wasn’t untilthe year he died that we finally figured it out.”
“Figured whatout?”
Lottie’s eyesglossed over as they faded away in thought. “I was still just agirl, barely sixteen. We figured it out together one night afterlooking at maps for hours. But he refused to take me.” She cameover to my desk then and rolled out one of the maps that sat atopof it, pointing to the area over near Corner Brook. “See, here iswhere everyone knows Shell Bird Island to be.” Her finger skimmedacross the paper, coming closer to where we currently were andstopping at a minuscule dot. “Buthere, nestled right in this cove just off the South East Coast isShellbed Isle. And if you mispronounce it?”
I beamed.“Shell Bird Island.”
“Exactly, andlook,” she pointed to the spot just before it, a long and narrowinlet. “The Devil’s Dancing Pools.”
I stared atthe map unblinkingly. “Rapids. Of course. If you can get throughthe rapids, you’d come to a pool of calm water, which is probablywhere the mouth of the cave is.” Excitement flowed through myveins. We were going to get that treasure. But then one look atLottie and all of that came to a halt. “But, wait. Your father. Yousaid he went?”
“Yes, hewent.” Her eyes glistened with tears again. “And he never cameback.”
I stood on myside of the desk and reached a hand over to cover hers. “I’m sosorry.”
Lottiesniffled and wiped away a stray tear. “It’s fine, it was a longtime ago.”
For a moment,I wanted to toss the whole idea. But I was determined. I had amission and that treasure was the key to everything. I shifted myhand from hers and planted my fingers on Shellbed Isle. “We’re going.”
“What?” shereplied in disbelief.
“We’ll makeit,” I assured her. “I’ve been white water rafting dozens of times.I can maneuver us through the dancing pools.”
Lottie backedaway, shaking her head in confusion. “Whitewater–” she paused and her face turned to anger.“But what about the sirens and the Watchman?”
“I have afeeling we can get past the sirens,” I told her, thinking of my ownencounter and hoping it would work in my favor again. “And we’llhave three burly pirates with us. I think we can handle a singleghostly guard.” She seemed to vibrate with anger or fear, I wasn’tsure which one, as she considered my words. A few moments passedbefore either of
