“Shit…” I muttered under my breath, still not believing it. I began to suspect the stories weren’t true. Or maybe Lottie’s grandfather really did hide the treasure over near Corner Brook. In which case, we were doomed. Tears bubbled to the surface, and I refused to cry in front of these men. But I felt defeated. I felt like an idiot for leading them all there. I was about to turn and admit my failure when something in the water caught my eye. A strange movement, unnatural, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Or an eye that didn’t know what to look for.
I took a careful step toward the water’s edge, but Henry grabbed my arm. “What are you doing?” he asked in alarm.
“Shhh,” I told him and gently pulled away. My eyes scanned until they found the movement once again, an invisible being made of water watching us intently from just below the surface. It was like spotting a clear jellyfish moving in the waves. You don’t see it until you… see it.
“Hello?” I called to it and bent down to dip my fingers in the water, inviting it over. I saw the shimmer, like a heat wave, dive below the surface and swim toward me. And then, to my surprise, felt it take my hand. I remained calm and gently pulled upward, a human-like form comprised of water rose as I did so. Gasps of shock and disbelief resounded from over my shoulder, but I just stared in awe at the magical being that held my hand.
“You,” it said, the sound coming from all around. Just like it did that fateful night. “Time traveller.”
My eyes widened. “Wait, how –”
Water shimmered across her form and I witnessed it fill with color. Delicate scales of peach and green, blinking eyes as blue as the deep ocean. Her hair, long and winding, made of seagrass. She finally met my gaze and grinned, showing a mouth full of pointed corals.
“The sea has and always will remain. It exists beyond the realms of time, and I exist within it. Of it.”
I just stared in awe. I’d never get used to the sheer marvel that is magic. My life has been touched by it in so many ways, probably more than I even know.
“Thank you for sending me back,” I told the siren. “But I’m afraid I need your help again.”
She released my hand from her wet grip. “Is that so? And what do you request of me?”
“We’re searching for some caves. They’re supposed to be here.”
“Oh,” the siren replied, “Is that so? And why do you seek these caves?”
Lottie sidled up next to me, her eyes glistening with wonder. “Treasure. We seek treasure.”
The creature cocked her head to the side and inhaled deeply the air around Lottie. Her eyes fluttered open and the deep pools of blueish green glimmered with recognition. “Your blood has been here before.”
Lottie’s cheeks flushed with crimson, her eyes gawking. “My father!” she said in a desperate rush. “he came here ten years ago. You saw him?”
“His body poured over the falls, yes.”
She couldn’t keep them back any longer. her tears streamed down. “Then it’s true,” she spoke through blubbery lips. “He did die.”
“But you knew that,” I said, confused.
Lottie wiped her face with both hands and composed herself, shaking her head to clear it of emotions. “Yeah, I did. But part of me always wondered if maybe he just ran off. Or was taken.” She shrugged, helpless. “You know?”
I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant. We never did find my mother’s body, and I finally knew why. But all those years, logic told me she had drowned. She was dead. But a part of me always held on to the maybe, the perhaps, the… hope.
Amos pushed through the crowd of men and came to stand next to Lottie. I felt Henry tense at my side, but I held his hand firmly. “Gaw! Enough with all this glabberin’ on! Where’s the God damn treasure?”
The siren, perturbed by the disheveled pirate, returned to the water. I watched as her lower half resumed its translucent appearance while the rest of her remained visible. Beautiful. “The caves you seek are hidden. And the treasure is protected. Why should I lead you to them?”
“Please,” I begged her. “I need it to save someone dear to me.”
“So, you have noble intentions?” she asked. I nodded. “I already granted you a wish, Time Traveller. For nothing in return. This time I require a token.”
“A token? What do you mean?”
Henry leaned in and whispered. “Be careful, Dianna. The Fae are fickle and twisted. She could very well lead you to your death with a slight of words.”
I cast my eyes back out to the water. “What exactly do you want from me?”
Her toothy mouth twisted into a grin, accompanied by a strange and devious look I’d yet to witness her make. It made me uneasy. “I ask nothing of you right now. But I shall call on you in the future. It could be tomorrow, it could be on your deathbed. But I will call, and you will answer. Agree, and I’ll lead you to the caves.”
I chewed my bottom lip in thought. I didn’t like the idea of agreeing to something I had no knowledge of. She could ask me for anything in the world and I’d have to oblige.
“Dianna, don’t do this. We’ll find another way,” Henry begged me.
But there was no other way. Maria was on a warpath to my mother, with a decent head start on us. I had Amos and his crew of pirates, thirsty for my blood if I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. I inhaled deeply. “Fine. I accept.”
“Dianna!” Henry said angrily.
I shrugged and shook my head, pleading him for forgiveness. “We don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” he replied, eyes glistening.
My heart tightened in my chest at his pain. “Not that I can see. I’m sorry.” I turned to the siren. “Show us to the caves.”
We all watched as the sea creature raised herself up and then dove back down into the water with a splash, creating massive ripples as she did. Just like the night I came back. Only this time, instead of creating a giant whirlpool to suck us into oblivion, the water from our feet to the rock wall which surrounded the tiny island parted. The water rose above us, suspended in time. As if invisible glass walls held it in place so we could walk through to where two cave mouths were revealed.
“Come on!” I called to everyone and we entered the chasm.
Just as we reached the entrance of both caves, the siren stepped out of the water next to us and resumed her terrifying, yet beautiful mermaid-like form. “Two choices. One will lead you to the treasure. The other will take you back out to the Earth above.”
“Which one do we pick?” I asked.
The siren didn’t answer, and I watched as she stepped back through the wall of suspended water, disappearing in an echo of crazed laughter.
“Great,” Finn called out with a moan. “This is just lovely.”
Amos stared down at me in despise. “You said you knew which cave.”
“Watch it,” Henry warned him and the pirate backed away.
I glanced back and forth between the two dark mouths, trying to decide which to choose. They were identical in every way, no determining difference. Both were near-perfect circles, about ten feet in diameter. Neither even had a glimmer of light from the sun on the other side, which told me the one which was an exit was probably a long way out. But I had to choose, and I had to do it fast.
“It’s the one on the right,” Lottie piped up.
I leaned and whispered low. “How do you know?”
“I don’t,” she whispered back. “But I remember my father always saying that the right one is always the right one. He used it for everything. The silliest motto, really, when you think about it. Of course, the right one is correct.” She stared at the dark holes before us. “But what if the right one is truly the right one?”
I could have kissed her beautiful face right there in front of everyone. Pirates and their curious ways, their twisted words, and riddles. I knew then, the cave on the righthand side had to be the correct one.
“Finn, can you grab that stick right there?” I remo
ved the white scarf I wore around my neck and wrapped it tightly around the tip of the stick and then lit a match to it. I held the homemade torch in my hand as I led the way into the cave, and hopefully to our treasure.
The cavity seemed to incline slightly the deeper we went. We trudged along quietly, the only sounds were that of our labored breaths and slick footsteps on the wet, rocky floor. I admired the way the firelight made the damp stone glisten and the brown seaweed that hung from the tops appear alive. Like lazy tentacles. Finally, we came to the end. A solid wall of stone.
And no treasure.
“No!” I cried desperately as I felt the jagged surface in front of us.
“What kind of trickery is this?” Amos spoke angrily. “Why lead us to a dead end?”
“Mind yourself,” Henry warned him and stepped close beside me. The dimming fire highlighted the worry on his face and I knew what he was thinking. What now? “Perhaps the treasure has just been claimed by someone else. There was no way of knowing that.”
I felt like crying. Or screaming. Anything to relieve myself of the guilt and fear that possessed my body. I turned around in the spot I stood, anxiously searching for a secret door or a flashing light that said enter here! I let out a huff of frustration and threw my back against the wall in defeat, yelping as I fell through a curtain of seaweed and down a narrow hole.
“Dianna!” I heard Henry scream.
I hit the bottom of the tunnel with a hard smack, my skull bouncing off the rocky floor. My head spun as I moved to my feet. I was barely able to stand in the tiny cavity. And it was pitch dark.
“I’m okay!” I called up to everyone above. I fished another match from my jacket pocket and flicked it across a rock. The tiny flame lit the hollow which held me, and I squealed in delight at what shared the space with me. Three small chests.
And one skeleton.
The match burned out and I tossed it on the ground before lighting another. “It’s here!” I yelled up to them. “The treasure is down here! Toss me a rope!”
The sounds of joyous laughter echoed through the cave a few feet above my head and my heart beat wildly with excitement as I hauled it closer to me, careful not to disturb the poor soul who’d been trapped there all those years. I tied the rope around the chest in a criss-cross fashion.
“Okay, haul it up and toss the rope back down!”
After the third one was hoisted, I bent to place my hand over the face of the skull and said a silent prayer for the fallen pirate. Hopefully, his soul could rest in peace. There wasn’t much more I could do. I then wrapped the rope around my wrist and climbed the narrow tunnel back up to my awaiting friends. The rough, jagged rock surface of the narrow space tore at my hands but I didn’t care. My body was flooded with adrenaline. When I reached the top, I swung a foot through the hole and pushed myself out, landing on my feet. I stood tall and flipped my straggly curls from my face as I turned to my companions, but all joy fled from my body at the sight before me.
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded to know. Amos and his two men had gaged and tied Henry and Gus. Finn had been knocked unconscious and his massive body laid on the ground while one of the men held Lottie in place, her arms tight behind her back as she struggled against his hold.
“You should have known,” Amos replied. “Never trust a dirty pirate. I thought to kill you anyway, treasure or no treasure.”
He bent down and smashed one of the chest’s corroded locks with the hilt of his sword. The lid opened with a rusty creek to reveal more treasure than I ever thought imaginable. Coins, pearls, jewels. All sitting atop of a bed of gold coins. It was all in there and glistened like sleeping gems in the dim light of the torch fire.
“But I much prefer to walk away with the prize.”
“You have no honor then?” I spat. “I was going to share the treasure with you, Amos!”
“Why would I settle for one chest when I can possess all three?” He cackled a gurgled smoker’s laugh and motioned to his men. “Grab the chests. Tie these two up and let’s get out of this wretched place.”
I was about to protest, to fight them for the treasure we worked so hard to find. But, to my utter surprise, Lottie beat me to it. The very second Amos’s henchman released her arms, I watched as she drove an elbow deep into his gut, sending him reeling over. She brought her knee up and smashed his face against it before grabbing his sword and swung it around in her hands like something straight out of a movie.
“You’ll be leaving this cave a dead man if you dare move another inch,” she warned Amos.
He appeared as alarmed as I was but pointed his sword right at her, ready to fight. “If you think I’m going to let a woman keep me from leaving here with these chests, then you’d be mistaken.” I caught the quick flicker of his eyes at his conscious deckhand and then over to where I stood. I knew then, he was coming for me.
“Stay away from me!” I backed up as the pirate lunged toward me. Just a few feet away, his able sidekick duked it out with Lottie. But I knew then, my friend could defend herself. I, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky.
The sounds of swords clashing defended my ears in the small echo of the cave as I yanked my trusty dagger from my side with shaky hands. Behind my attacker, Henry and Gus wriggled against their ties, eyes bulging, desperate to break free and save us. I felt sorry that they had to watch the horrid scene about to unfold in front of them. My attacker took a wide swipe at me and I clumsily raised my weapon up to block it, the sharp blade just inches from my face. The sheer force that he exuded in one arm was nearly enough to bring me to my knees.
Nearly.
I held my ground and pushed my blade hard against his. “Why won’t you listen to reason? We can share it, and no one has to get hurt!”
“You truly expect me to believe that?” he replied and finally retreated his sword as he stepped back, readying himself for the next blow. “After I’ve shown my true colors? No one is that merciful.”
“I swear!”
Amos lunged one more time and I barely dodged the second swipe of his sword. His body came crashing into mine and I pushed against him with all my might. Before I could react, the man fell down the narrow hole I’d just crawled out of. In the same moment, Lottie brought her foe to his knees. A sword to his neck.
My chest heaved with quick, heavy breaths. Adrenaline burning hot through my veins. “Is that your secret hobby?” I asked my friend, still shocked at what I witnessed her do.
Her sword remained at the man’s neck as she stole a glance over her shoulder at me and shrugged nonchalantly. “Among other things.”
I shook my head, snapping back to reality as I ran over to Henry and Gus. “Yeah, you’re definitely the more mysterious one.” I knelt down, released them from their ties and gags. Gus immediately dove for Finn. “Are you guys alright?”
Henry grabbed my jacket and pulled me toward him, our bodies smashing together as his arms held me a little too tightly. “My God, that was pure torture.” His mouth found mine and locked on. I could feel the desperation and relief seeping from his pores, in his rapid breathing, and I understood. I felt the same. “I don’t know what I would have done.”
My hands covered his as they held my face firmly. “It’s okay,” I assured him. “I’m fine.” My head turned and looked down at the three chests at our feet. “Henry, we did it.”
His answering smile was enough for me. “That we did.”
“What do we do about these three?” Gus asked. His foot nudged the first man Lottie knocked unconscious, Jack, and looked at her with a sort of admiration.
I hopped over to the hole in the wall and peered down into the darkness.
“Amos?” I heard him moan, probably waking up from a brief blackout. I knew how far down it was. He’d be fine. I turned around to face my small crew and the one man of Amos’s left conscious. “Listen carefully,” I spoke to him. He was a tall, broad man. Balding at the top but sported a bushy beard that hung from his face. He glared up
at me but never replied. “We’re leaving here with the treasure. You could have cooperated. You could have played nice. But you ruined your chances at any of it now.”
“You’d leave us here to die?” he spat.
“I should,” I threatened. “It’s what you guys would do, isn’t it?” He didn’t say otherwise. “But, no, I won’t leave you here to die. I’m not heartless.”
I grabbed the rope that had hauled myself and the chests out of the tiny cavity and wrapped it into as many knots as I could. “I’ll leave this at the mouth of the cave. Wait until you’re sure we’re long gone.” I narrowed my eyes at the man and then grinned. “Follow us and I’ll set Lottie after you.” I squat down so our faces were eye-level, for my next words I really wanted to resonate with the pirate. “And be sure to tell your friends, when you do escape this cave with the life I so graciously spared, that The Pirate Queen is a merciful captain. But I am never to be crossed. Do you understand?”
He refused to reply.
I glanced up at Lottie, who still held the sword to his throat, and nodded. The man winced as the sharp edge pressed tighter to his skin. “Do you understand?” I repeated.
“Y-yes,” he finally offered.
I stood tall, hovering over him. “Good.” I turned and walked back to Henry, Lottie following close behind.
“We’ll find you,” he dared to tell me. I spun around and stared incredulously. “We’ll climb out of this cave and hunt you to the ends of the Earth. Amos won’t let this go. He’ll demand blood.”
Before I could respond, Henry took a few steps toward the kneeling man and glared down at him with those black, soulless eyes. The ones I thought were long gone. A slight chill crept up my spine at the sight of the emptiness he so easily displayed. As if he slipped on an old mask.
“Come find us, then. I welcome it.” He raised his boot and slowly pushed the man’s face down to the ground, holding it there. “But the blood that’s shed shall not be ours.”
We all stood around in silence, shocked by Henry’s sudden dark demeanor that revealed itself. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what Gus meant, about the way Henry was before my arrival. My ears began to ring as my blood heated with fear and worry that something was wrong with my beloved. What had really happened to him back there on Kelly’s Island? I took a careful step forward and touched my hand to his arm.
The Pirate Queen Page 15
