The man who was working the pulley tried to bring it back to him, but the rope kept tearing.
“Leave it!” he shouted from the ship to the guys below. “It’s only fruit!”
The men scattered to safety and the guy holding the pulley let it fall to the ground. The crate smashed to the floor. The wooden box broke apart in several pieces, sending out red and orange fruit that splattered on the street.
“Wait!” One of the men shouted. He ran over to the splattered mush of fruit to kneel and inspect. After a short moment, he stood up and walked away, saying, “We’re all good here.”
Ignoring the mess on the ground, the men went back to work, ready to receive the next crate.
Katie, Tyson, and Cyrus walked by, unnoticed by the workers.
“Isn’t it a bit dangerous?” Tyson asked. “To be doing that where people walk? Shouldn’t they leave a warning?”
Cyrus shrugged. “What’s so dangerous about it? Did something fall on you?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then there’s no danger,” Cyrus replied. “And why should they leave a warning when it’s very clear that they are working?”
Tyson didn’t have an answer for this, so he said nothing.
They kept on walking down the harbor, each anchorage with a ship, either docked or getting ready to sail off. They walked around for over ten minutes; the port never seemed to end. The further they went, the more unusual the ship’s contents were. When they reached a ship that carried furniture Cyrus stopped them.
“Listen closely,” he said, leaning in closer to them. “The ship that crashed is not far from here. Apparently, it sunk while they were mooring it. Some accident. From what I can tell, no one can understand why they crashed.”
Katie and Tyson nodded.
“The ship was importing jewelry. It crashed about three weeks ago and only yesterday did they finish recovering all the cargo.”
“So do they have my mother’s necklace then?” asked Katie.
“I don’t think so,” Cyrus replied. “There was a rumor going around that there was something aboard that ship more valuable than any other piece of jewelry they were carrying, though I do not believe there is any connection to the necklace.”
“What else could it be?” Tyson asked.
“It does not concern us. We are here for the necklace, and the necklace only,” Cyrus said. “If we find anything else we are to leave it. We do not have the time to get arrested for stealing jewelry.”
“Then how do you even know if my mother’s necklace is there?”
Cyrus looked at her with a curious expression, as if he wasn’t sure why she asked that question, or the tone that she asked it in. Regardless, he answered her patiently. “Because of Serena. I think Serena placed the necklace there just before she saw you.”
This made some sense to Katie, and she nodded.
“All right, let’s get going,” Cyrus said. “If anyone else finds it before we do we’ll have trouble getting it back.”
“Couldn’t they also use it as a weapon?” Tyson asked.
“They could,” Cyrus said, “Though I doubt that most people would even know what it truly is.”
Tyson and Katie nodded. Cyrus gave them a determined look and led them down the pier towards the ocean.
The ocean was vast and blue, and in every other way just like the oceans on Earth. There were even seagulls that scoured the ground for food. Across the way, there was a beach, though it was accessible through the pier.
When they reached the ship, Katie let out a gasp. All the ships looked large, but this one, even though much of it had been capsized and was underwater, looked larger than the rest. There was more room for ships to be docked, but this one was the last in line.
Cyrus crept in the shadows, looking over his shoulder often. Tyson and Katie followed suit, though half-heartedly and didn’t bother much with the secrecy of it.
“I don’t want to be seen,” Cyrus said. “Just in case.”
Katie and Tyson looked around. People were walking by, and many more laying on the beach further away, but Katie was sure no one was paying them the slightest attention.
They walked down the wharf. Cyrus stood at the edge, looking down at the wreckage. He contemplated for a while and then said, “We’re going to have to dive.”
Katie already assumed this and wasn’t surprised. Neither was Tyson. In fact, when Katie turned back to look at Tyson, he had already taken his shirt off.
“What?” he asked when Katie stared.
Katie didn’t reply. She imagined what it would be like to be aboard a ship that was sinking. Then she wondered if anybody had drowned when this ship sank. Before she got too lost in her thoughts, Cyrus said, “Let’s go.”
With saying that, Cyrus dove into the water and disappeared beneath its murky green surface. His head surfaced after a few moments and he turned around to look at Katie and Tyson before beckoning them with his head to join him. Cyrus hadn’t taken his shirt off before jumping in.
Tyson quickly jumped in. Katie didn’t feel up to a swim but that didn’t stop her from diving into the water. Cyrus led them underneath a wooden platform that Katie thought must be part of the pier. There was an air pocket big enough to allow most of their heads above water.
“So the search begins,” Tyson said, smiling. Cyrus returned the smile and dove his head back underwater. Tyson and Katie followed him. This time Cyrus went further than he had done last time and Katie worried about the oxygen level in her lungs, but Cyrus soon enough found another air pocket.
“Our next dive will probably be long,” Cyrus warned to
