About sixty feet away the trail ended. Annie was the first to see the surprise at the trail’s end. There was a wide opening there in an outcropping of rock. It was the entrance to a cave.
“Look over there!” Annie cried. “It’s a cave!” She darted like a swift deer over to the cave opening. Logan and Natalie joined her. They stood at the cave entrance peeing down into a long chamber. The cave was dimly lit inside, and at the far end they could see light streaming into it from another opening.
“Oh, this is great!” Logan shouted in excitement. He took a long, deep breath of the cold Pacific air that was streaming out of the cave.
“Let’s explore it!” Annie urged. “There’s a trail inside, too.”
“I don’t know,” Natalie replied with some caution in her voice. “We don’t know what might be in there or if it’s safe…. listen, it sounds like the ocean inside”
The sound of gurgling water was coming from somewhere inside the cave. It could be heard as each pounding wave hit on the rocky ledges below. Most of the cave appeared to be high and dry, but somewhere within there was an underground chamber that connected to the ocean.
Annie started to walk into the cave. Logan followed her. Natalie did not look pleased. “Annie, I did not say that you could go in there!”
“It’s okay, mom!” Annie replied. “It’s safe…. it’s just a little cave….and we’ve never been inside one before.”
Natalie frowned as she walked cautiously forward into the cave. Once inside, as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she felt more comfortable. Cave exploration was not something she had even imagined that they would be doing on this vacation…. yet here they were, standing inside a damp ocean cave.
“See, mom!” Annie said. “This is not at all scary…. you can even see in here pretty well.”
“Yes.” Natalie answered. “That’s because light is streaming in from both ends of the cave. There’s an opening at the other end.”
The roof of the cave was 10 to 12 feet high. The floor was sandy with some rocks poking through here and there, so they had to be very careful not to trip and fall over one of these obstacles. The sides were very lumpy and contained many crevasses throughout the length of the chamber.
Logan led the way this time. They cautiously walked toward the middle of the cave. A little farther ahead they saw a deep pool of water. Just beyond was a second opening. It was not as large, but was several feet higher than the main entrance, and it ran at an angle upwards towards the sky. This allowed the sunlight to stream inside.
They were now standing next to the pool. There was a large crevasse in the rock floor there, and the water filled this cavity like a sunken bathtub. The water would rise and fall as the waves outside crashed against the rocky shore. When a strong breaker hit, the water would rise so fast that it would splash out of the crevasse onto the floor of the cave. Logan and Annie stepped back a bit so as not to get their shoes wet.
“It looks like the ocean wore a tunnel right through the rocks,” Natalie observed. “I bet that this cave was carved out by the constant pounding of the ocean against these rocks.”
“Whoa! Look in there!” Annie exclaimed, pointing downwards into the pool. “The water in there rises and falls with each wave!”
“I wonder how deep it is?” Logan mused. “If I were a diver I’d jump in there and explore it and find out where it goes!”
The cave was only about 200 feet from end to end. Once their eyes adjusted they could see fairly well inside. Natalie sat down on a rock outcropping while Annie and Logan explored some of the rugged regions that were along the inner walls. They came down off a rock slab and then they walked down a narrow ravine that ran parallel to the cave walls for about 60 feet, then it curved in towards the main part of the cave.
As they continued to walk along the ravine, Annie suddenly tripped and fell down. She cried out in pain as she got up.
“Are you okay?” Logan yelled.
“Ouch! No, I skinned my knee!”
“Annie!” Natalie screamed. “Where are you?”
“We’re over here, mom. I’m okay….”
Annie looked down at the spot where she had just tripped. A rounded looking rock was dislodged from the sandy soil there. She bent down and picked it up. It was a very odd shaped rock, rounded on top and flat on the bottom.
“So, this is what I tripped on,” she said, examining the rock.
This rock had an unusual color, almost a rusty appearance. Logan was looking at it as Natalie came around the bend in the ravine.
“Are you okay, Annie?” she asked.
“I tripped and fell on this rock, mom. Look! It’s kind of weird.”
“Mmm…. that is a strange looking rock.” Natalie observed. “It almost looks like there’s something inside it.”
Natalie handed the rock back to Annie. Annie was trying to decide what to do with it when they suddenly heard whistling and voices coming from somewhere within the cave.
“Someone is in here!” Logan exclaimed in a hushed tone. “Did you hear that?”
The voices seemed loud for a few seconds, yet they could not make out what was being said. Then the voices faded away. Annie looked frightened. “Let’s get out of here!” She yelled.
She sat the rock down and started walking quickly back to the main trail that ran the length of the cave. Natalie and Logan followed. They looked around the cave in all directions. There was no one in sight.
“Hello! Anybody here?” Natalie shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the cave. There was no answer. A sudden draft of chill air hit them.
“Let’s go!” Annie yelped. “This place is giving me the creeps!”
They walked quickly towards the cave entrance, retracing their steps. A dense fog had settled in and as they stepped out of the cave. Their eyes had to adjust to the sudden change in light. The air outside the cave was cold and heavy. The fog was moving toward the ocean; whisking around the gaps in the rocks, which by now looked like ghostly figures in the distance.
A stout breeze came from the direction of the cliffs. The fog now appeared to be lifting somewhat at an angle, moving away rapidly from the land.
The foggy air swirled directly above them, creating a vortex. A shaft of sunlight briefly illuminated this area, the golden rays reflecting off the wispy layers of rolling mist. Then they all saw it at the same time! There appeared to be a man‘s face within the vortex!
When Natalie blinked her eyes, it was gone…. the face vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
“Did you see that?” Logan cried. “There was a man up there…. he was looking right down at us!”
“I don’t know about that, Logan.” Natalie replied. “That was probably just a reflection. Our imaginations are beginning to get the best of us. It’s time to go now….”
“Did you see it, Annie?” Logan inquired.
“Yes, I did,” Annie quipped. “It looked like that man we saw yesterday during our walk! You know, the captain. Captain Saunders. I’m sure it was him!”
“Come on, let’s go,” Natalie urged. “This is a strange place, it’s very eerie around here with all of this fog.”
Chapter 11
The Cave
Natalie was exhausted by the time they got back to the campsite. She rested for about half an hour and then she got up and fixed lunch. She called Annie and Logan over to the table for some hamburgers and chips. They opened cold cans of their favorite soda, root beer.
A gentle breeze was now blowing off shore and the sun broke through the clouds. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day, warm enough for them to peel off their sweatshirts.
“How’s everything going today?” They turned around and saw Mr. Bates walking towards their campsite. “We’re just getting ready to pull out,” he said. “I thought that I’d stop by and make sure that you are all okay.”
“Oh, we’re doing fine,” Natalie said. “This is a great vacation spot once you get used to the wind and the sudden change in temp
eratures out here.”
“Yep, the wind and the fog keep the less enthusiastic campers away. But the views here are the best around for miles. Have you had a chance to walk the cliff top trails yet? There’s some fantastic views of the ocean that are just incredible from there.”
“Oh, yes!” Annie reported. “We walked all the trails yesterday…. we even discovered a cove that has an old shipwreck. There’s a cave down there, too!”
“Then you’ve been down to the cove.” Mr. Bates nodded. “We’ve explored the area down there a time of two…. we’ve been camping here for many years now. I do remember a lot of wood that washed up on the beach over there. I read that there were many sailing ships that traveled the San Francisco to Portland routes back in the 19th century. Many of these ships carried cargos of wood from Oregon. These parts of the coastline were especially treacherous for the ships of the olden days, especially if there happened to be a violent storm in their path. There are some shipwrecks right off Ocean Cove, some of them dating back to the 1800’s.”
“We heard that there were some old shipwrecks in this area,” Natalie remarked. “I wonder if any of these wrecks have been explored?”
“I think that most of them have been located,” Mr. Bates explained. “Most of these shipwrecks have been mapped and explored. Sometimes diving expeditions go down to salvage whatever they are able to find. That’s not always easy with these strong currents around here, though.”
“What does salvage mean?” Logan asked.
“Well, young man, I am a school teacher in Fresno,” he chuckled. “Let’s see now, salvage. In treasure diving this means to bring up and restore any valuable items found on the shipwreck.”
“Most of these wrecks that lie in shallow waters were stripped of anything of value a long time ago. One of these days I’m going to have to come out here and explore one of these old shipwrecks. I used to dive down off the Baja peninsula a few years ago, and I still have all of my equipment.”
“That must have been exciting!” Natalie said. “We’re pretty much just flatlanders. I have never tried diving. I think that I would be too afraid of sharks.”
Mr. Bates laughed, saying, “I’ve never been threatened by one yet on a dive. But you always have to be alert and look over your shoulder, you never know when a hungry one might try to take a bite out of you for its lunch….”
“Wow!” Logan cried. “I want to go diving someday and find some shipwrecks and see sharks!”
Mr. Bates laughed again. “Well, it’s a fun sport and it can lead to a lot of adventures that you’d never forget.” He paused briefly. “Well, I have to go now and load up the truck. I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your vacation here. It was so nice to get to know you!”
“Thank you, Mr. Bates. We appreciate everything that you have done for us!” Natalie said as he was leaving. Annie and Logan also waved goodbye. They would miss him…. their trip would have become a disaster without his help.
As they were finishing lunch Mr. Bates pulled out in his pickup truck. He waved and honked as he passed by their camp. They waved back. His face almost looked sad as he drove off down the road.
Natalie decided to rest awhile after lunch. She sat in a lounge chair and read her magazines. Annie and Logan played a game of checkers on the picnic table.
At around one o’clock a white SUV pulled into the campsite next to theirs; the same site where Mr. Bates had been camped. Annie and Logan watched as the new arrivals climbed out of the SUV. They looked to be a nice young family. There was a boy about Logan’s age named Chris. Logan and Chris made friends quickly and they played together the rest of the afternoon.
Annie got her smart phone out of the tent and opened the diary app. As she sat at the table, she made this entry:
July 20th, 2015
This has been one of my strangest days ever on our vacation. I think that there are ghosts that haunt this place! I am wondering if they are from an old shipwreck, because we found planks on the beach down in the cove. Mr. Bates, a teacher, says that there were many shipwrecks in this area a long time ago.
July 21st, 2015
This morning we found an ocean cave not far from where we found the planks washed up on the beach. I explored the cave with my mom and brother. We heard some voices in the cave and that freaked us out so we got out of there in a hurry. I found an interesting rock in the cave, then I fell down and skinned my knee….and I left that rock down there. I wish that I had kept it now.
Annie finished writing and put her smart phone away. She closed her eyes for a moment, reflecting on their strange adventures at the cove.
Annie could not stop thinking about that odd - shaped rock that she had left in the cave. There was something about it that seemed familiar…it was so perfectly shaped, like it was made for some purpose. She began to wonder if the rock might be a part off the sunken ship. It could be something of value.
Annie’s curiosity got the best of her. She had to go back to the cave…. She had to come up with a plan to retrieve the rock. This would not be easy.
She watched Logan playing with his new friend. They were throwing a football back and forth. Her mom had struck up a friendly conversation with the boy’s mother.
Annie never went anywhere without telling her mom where she was going first. But she knew that her mom would not let her go to the cave if she asked. Annie had to think of a way to get back there!
She remembered her scooter. It was still in the SUV.
Natalie was still talking to the woman at the next campsite when Annie approached. “I want to ride my scooter, mom,” she said.
Natalie handed her the keys to the SUV, nodding her head that it would be okay. Annie got her scooter from the back of the SUV, then she returned the keys to her mom. She took off down the road, headed towards the ocean.
Annie could fly on her little scooter. The roads in the campground were paved, so she could pick up speed quickly. She went as fast as she could to the cliffs. Then she folded up the scooter and hid it in a bush. She ran towards the trail and headed straight for the ocean cove.
As Annie walked down the cove trail, she noticed that most of the beach was now under water. There was only a narrow strip of dry sand at the highest point nearest to the cliffs. However, the trail to the cave was still dry and above the waterline. She got her shoes wet as she had to wade most of the way to get to the trail to the cave.
At the cave entrance, waves were pounding the rocks and water was splashing over onto the trail. Annie paused to think about her next move. Her instincts told her that it was not safe to be here now. The ocean had not been this high this morning when she came here with Logan and her mom. She was considering turning back, yet she knew that if she did, there would be no opportunity to return to the cave.
Annie proceeded. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim light within. She noticed that the cave floor was extremely wet, with puddles of water everywhere. This frightened her even more…. but her determination to have that rock drove her onwards.
She retraced her steps back to the same area where she had tripped and skinned her knee. Annie thought that she knew where she had put the rock down after her fall. A gaping hole was still visible there where she had kicked the strange looking rock out of the sandy soil. But her rock was not on the ledge where she had placed it. The rock was gone!
Annie could hear a very strong wave hit the rocks outside, then there was a rushing sound that came from the crevasse pool. It sounded like water was rushing into the cave!
Annie ran back towards the center of the cave. Ocean water was gushing from the crevasse pool and flooding the cave. Annie was on higher ground, but with the water rising rapidly she was trapped up on the ledge!
She stood there and watched as the water rose up almost to her feet. She became frozen with fear, not knowing what to do. Suddenly Annie heard water rushing from behind. She did not have time to escape. A wall of water five feet high swept her off her feet.
Annie was a good swimmer, but she had never faced anything like this. The water pushed her forward down the middle of the cave. She kicked her legs and paddled with her arms to stay near the surface as the movement of the water carried her towards the cave entrance. She held onto a rock ledge there, as she realized that the cave entrance was completely submerged!
There was only one way out. She would have to swim under water. Annie held her breath and went under the cold ocean water. As she neared the entrance a strong current pushed her through the opening. Annie felt a sharp pain on the top of her head as she plunged out of the cave. She lost consciousness.
Annie opened her eyes. An intense light surrounding her. She was lying in a shallow pool, only her head above the water.
She could hear a gentle voice calling out, “Annie! Annie! Over here! Come this way!”
She looked up towards the cliffs. A man was standing there smiling. It was Captain Saunders! Directly behind him was the boy!
“You must come with us, Annie!” he said.
Annie spoke weakly. “Oh, where am I? How did I get here?”
The captain continued to smile warmly as he reached down and grabbed both of her arms, pulling her up out of the water. Annie felt as though she was floating as he pulled her upwards out of the pool to the rocky ledge above. She could feel an energy flowing through her entire body as he held onto her arms.
Annie blinked her eyes as she looked around at her surroundings. It was as though she had entered another world…. everything looked surreal. A warm radiance was surrounding her. The captain, the boy, the cliff walls all were luminescent.
The captain repeated, “You must come with us!” Then he took Annie by the hand. The boy came along the other side and held onto her arm. The captain called him Travis. Together they rose upwards to the top of the sea cliffs.
Ghost of Ocean Cove Page 9
