“Wow! I am flying!” Annie exclaimed in amazement. She felt so light, like a feather floating in a gentle breeze. It was as though the pull of gravity no longer existed. She felt free of all the limitations of this world. This was like crossing over into another existence; like an entirely different level of consciousness.
They were now above the cliffs, slowly descending towards the ground. They landed behind a bush that was not very far from the trail. The bush hid them from view.
Annie turned and looked out towards the ocean. Everything was shimmering like polished crystal. The sky and water had a dazzling auroral glow of purple and gold. This all went well beyond her wildest imagination!
She noticed something that was laying at her feet. The rock was there! She reached down and picked it up. The captain smiled, saying, “There’s something inside that rock, you know!”
Captain Saunders nodded at Travis. Travis turned and said to Annie, “There are two rings inside this rock. Break it open, and you will find them!”
The captain placed his hands around Annie’s. His hands felt warm and gentle, like flowing currents of energy.
“The rings are for you and your mother Emily,” he said.
Annie looked bewildered. “Emily?” she repeated.
The captain smiled as he began to slowly fade from view. Annie blinked her eyes several times. There was an intense flash of light, then everything suddenly went black. Annie was so tired. She had to sleep.
She woke up laying on the ground next to the bush. The evening sun was blazing into her eyes. When she opened them, she had to squint and blink, and the sun made them water. Annie rubbed her eyes as she rose to her feet and looked around. The rock was still there next to her.
She did not know how long she had been laying there….and for the moment how she had gotten there. Annie picked up the rock and began to run swiftly back to the trail head. She headed directly towards the bush where she had hidden her scooter. She pulled it out of the bush and ran with it to the road. Annie flew back to the campsite on the scooter with all the energy of a spooked horse, her adrenaline pumping.
Annie could hear her mom and Logan calling out her name as she neared their camp.
“Annie! Annie!” Her mom screamed. Natalie looked relieved when she caught sight of her approaching on the scooter.
“Where have you been! We’ve been looking all over the campground for you!”
Annie jumped off her scooter crying. She ran over and hugged her mother tightly.
Natalie fought back the tears. “Annie, you were gone on your scooter for over two hours! Where did you go? What’s that in your hand?”
Annie wiped the tears from her eyes. “It’s the rock that I found in the cave. I went back to see if I could find it.”
Natalie looked angry. “Do you mean to tell me that you went back to that cave alone without my permission, to get some silly rock!”
Annie’s lips quivered. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do!”
Natalie embraced her daughter again. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again, Annie!” She scolded. “You’re grounded for a week when we get home! Do you hear me!”
“I’m sorry, mom. I should have never gone down there without your permission. I will never do anything like that again.”
Natalie sighed. “It’s time to get dinner. Your clothes are damp, Annie. Go and change and then you can help me get dinner.”
That night they heated two large cans of ravioli and some canned peas. Natalie cut some cheese into cubes to go on top of the ravioli. They all ate like ravenous bears. The day’s strenuous activities left them famished. Annie had seconds; Logan had thirds.
As Logan scraped his plate clean, he glanced over at Annie’s rock. It was still on the end of the table. “Were did you get that rock?” he asked.
Annie looked over at it. “I found it down at the cave this morning. Don’t you remember?”
Logan thought for a second. “Oh, right, now I remember…. but I thought that you left it in the cave.”
“I thought that I did, too.” Annie replied. “But I found it up by the cliff trail. It was near a bush.”
Logan looked puzzled. “I wonder how it got up there? Maybe someone went into the cave after us and they found the rock, then they took it with them up to the trail. Remember the voices that we heard in the cave? I bet it was them!”
“Yes. That could be how it got up there,” Annie agreed.
Suddenly she began to remember what had happened to her at the cave. There had been no rock where it should have been…. Annie shuddered as she recalled how she was swept out of the cave by the ocean surge, and the sharp pain on the top of her head as she hit against a rock.
She felt the top of her head. There was a sizable knot there.
“I saw them,” Annie said.
“Who did you see?” Natalie asked.
“I saw the Captain and the boy. His name is Travis. They are the ones who gave me the rock.”
Natalie looked somewhat annoyed. “Annie, this is ridiculous! I don’t want to hear another one of your wild stories. They were probably just some kids playing around there after we left, and they took the rock from the cave and left it up there by the trail.”
Annie scraped her fork across her plate, making swirling lines in the ravioli sauce. She was beginning to remember more clearly what had happened after she had hit her head. She just vaguely recalled that she had seen Captain Saunders and this boy named Travis, but now it all seemed like it had been a dream. It was just a dream…. but it all had seemed so real at the time.
Annie decided not to tell her mother about what had happened at the cave. She knew that if her mom found out that she had almost drowned, the entire trip would be ruined and Annie would lose her mother’s trust for a very long time.
“Annie, I feel that you are holding something back……is there something that you want to tell me?” Natalie inquired. “By the way, how did your clothes get wet?”
Annie knew that she had to come up with an explanation fast. She did not want her mother to know about the danger she had encountered at the cave.
“I went to get a drink, and somebody clogged up the water fountain so that it squirted water all over me. Then these other kids started daring each other to get wet. We started a water fight.” (This was not a lie, after all, this had really happened…. Only on the last day of school!)
Natalie’s expression lightened up considerably and she looked relieved. “Annie! You should know better than to get involved in water fights…. that sounds like something your brother would do!”
Annie glanced down at the table. She felt guilty about telling her mother this fib, but she knew that if she hadn’t hidden the truth….at least for now, and if her mother found out that she had almost drowned inside the cave…. they would probably never come to the ocean again.
Natalie cleared the table and washed the pans as Annie helped to put things away. Then they played a game of scrabble. Natalie won with a triple word score on the last turn. She was good at word games.
As they were putting the game away, Natalie reminded them that this was going to be their last night of camping. Logan and Annie were disappointed. They pleaded to stay at least one more night.
“We only packed enough for three nights, kids!” she reminded them. “I would also like to get home so that I can get some work done around the house.”
Annie and Logan were too tired to argue anymore. The day was beginning to wane towards twilight. They decided to take one last walk down to the ocean to see the sunset. They took the cliff top trail to the cove.
There was a strong wind blowing inland. The waves were rolling in with white caps that came crashing down on the rocks below. The sun was a giant red ball on the horizon. The breeze swept through their hair. They did not feel as cold as they had on previous outings to the ocean, it had been a warm day after the fog burned off.
The power of nature ruled supreme here on the high cliff top
s overlooking the mighty Pacific. Sun, wind, and the constant crashing of the waves against the rocks had a tranquil affect that held Natalie and the kids spell bound. Annie closed her eyes, feeling the ocean wind hitting against her face, brushing her hair back, and the last rays from the setting sun seemed to warm her inside.
The sun disappeared into a cloud layer that hung low on the horizon. A mist appeared below them down in the cove. It began to take on a strange pillar shape again that hung just above some of the rocks not far from shore.
“Look at that!” Logan cried, pointing towards the misty formation. “What the begeebies is that!?”
“I don’t know,” replied Natalie softly. “It’s strange, though.”
The mist suddenly began to swirl around like it was rotating within a whirlwind. Now a dense layer of mist covered the entire cove, so that it became difficult to see anything but the mere shape of the largest rocks down on the shore.
Natalie and the kids could hear voices that seemed to be coming from the somewhere beneath them. It sounded like men shouting. The words were difficult to make out clearly, but Natalie was certain that she could hear someone shouting.”
“Did you hear that?” Natalie asked.
“Yes!” Logan answered. “I thought that I heard someone shouting.”
“It’s the captain!” Annie said. She stepped forward, too close to the edge of the cliffs. Natalie reached out and grabbed onto her arm.
“Annie!” she cried. “Get back! You’re too close to the edge!”
“Captain!” Annie yelled. “Captain!”
The mist suddenly lifted upwards from the cove and moved towards the cliff tops. The mist now encompassed them as it moved inland.
As the mist lifted, the cove became visible once again below. Now in the fading light of evening, the rocks in the cove began to take on mysterious shapes.
Natalie shook her head, “This is a very strange place. That mist can play tricks on your eyes.”
“I think that I saw a ship out there mom!” Logan exclaimed. “It was like a ship from a long time ago. But it seemed like there was something wrong with it…. I think that they were in trouble….it was sinking! Did you see it, Annie?”
Annie shook her head ‘no’ and remained silent. Natalie began to shiver from the cold ocean air that by now was creeping on shore. The last light of day was quickly fading as the sun vanished below the horizon.
“It’s time to go now,” Natalie said softly. ‘It’s getting dark and I’m cold.”
As they walked back towards the campground, Annie turned and glanced back over her shoulder at the cove. Suddenly, a glowing orb rose slowly over the cliffs. Then the orb shot straight upwards into the twilight and was gone.
“Mom! I saw a light!” Annie cried.
“What?” Natalie said, as she and Logan wheeled around and looked back towards the cove again.
“I saw this ball of light over there above the cliffs. It shot up into the sky and was gone!”
Natalie looked all around the cove, trying to see anything unusual. “I don’t see anything, Annie. It could have been car headlights or a ship beacon.”
They walked back to the campsite and decided to go to bed early. Natalie and the kids needed the rest in order to get an early start in the morning. They all slept soundly.
Natalie was the first one up in the morning, pouring bowls of cereal for breakfast. Annie and Logan were famished, and between them they ate almost an entire box of Honey Nut Cheerios.
After breakfast, they all pitched in and packed all the camping gear. Logan took down the tent, once Annie and her mom had rolled up the sleeping bags and cleaned it out, sweeping every corner. Everything was packed and ready to go by 8:30.
Natalie slammed the rear compartment door shut as she stuffed the last box into the SUV. She got into the driver’s seat and started the motor. Logan and Annie were sitting with their safety belts fastened. Suddenly Annie remembered that she had forgotten something.
“Wait, mom!” she cried.
She ran out of the SUV over to the picnic table. The strange looking rock was still there on the end of the table. Annie picked it up and ran back to the SUV.
“What is that in your hand?” Natalie asked.
“It’s my rock…. I almost forgot it.”
“Oh, that rock…. you’re saving that?”
Annie opened her backpack and placed the rock safely inside. “I want to keep it, mom. It may be a fossil.”
Chapter 12
Annie’s Research
It had been a long ride home. Annie and Logan slept through the last part of the trip from the Bay Area to Woodland. Natalie was relieved to be back. Camping had been fun but a lot of work. The familiar comforts of home were very welcome after three days of ‘roughing it’ by the ocean.
It took a few hours to unpack the SUV and to get things put away. Annie went to her room to unpack. She found her smart phone in her backpack, and once she had everything unpacked she decided to write again.
She opened the diary app and wrote about the last day of the trip, describing her adventures at the cave. She left out the part where she had almost drowned.
She tried to recall everything that had happened to her, but now it all seemed like a blur. Her experiences at the cave now seemed like a strange dream; and she could not remember most of it. She knew that Captain Saunders had told her something, but she could not quite recall his exact words.
Annie finished making the diary entry. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.Thoughts raced through her mind like flashes of light…. the cave, the broken pieces of wood washed up on the beach, the dream about a shipwreck…. the ghosts that seemed to haunt the cove. Was there really a shipwreck at Ocean Cove?
“I really need to research this.” she thought. “If I can just get to the library and read some books about California shipwrecks.”
Annie asked about going to the library over dinner. Natalie was pleased that her daughter wanted to read during summer vacation, so she forgot all about grounding her. They decided to make a library visit first thing in the morning.
They slept in late and had breakfast at 9:30. Afterward they left for the main library in Sacramento.
Once there Annie conducted a computer search. Topic: California Shipwrecks. She was able to locate several books on this subject.
Natalie glanced at the books as they were at the checkout desk. Logan checked out a book called “Haunted California” as Annie held onto several books about shipwrecks.
“Shipwrecks and ghosts!” she laughed. “Now there’s some curious titles. This must have something to do with our camping trip up to Ocean Cove, I bet!”
“Did you say Ocean Cove?” The librarian said with raised eyebrows. “That is one of my favorite places along the coast. My father owns a cottage up that way. Some of the locals do claim that a ghost haunts the overlook trails there. I’ve never seen it though,” she said.
Annie began to tell the librarian about some of their experiences at Ocean Cove. She nodded and seemed interested.
“Hold on a minute,” she interrupted. “I remember that we do have a document in archives about a shipwreck at Ocean Cove. It’s a copy of an old manuscript written by a Marion Marks of San Francisco, taken from her diary that she wrote over a hundred years ago. Let me look that up……then I’ll pull it from our archives room for you.”
Natalie winced, saying, “Well, I don’t know if you need to go to all this trouble!”
Annie felt otherwise, and quickly made her sentiments known. “Mom! I want to read it! This will have more information about Ocean Cove!”
“Well, okay, if it’s that important to you, Annie.” Natalie conceded.
The librarian went into the back room. She was gone for almost 10 minutes. When she returned, she held a thin document that was protected by a hard-brown cover.
“Here it is!” she exclaimed with pride in her voice. “The memoirs of Marion Marks 1901 - 1908.” She blew the dust off
the cover. “It has been acclaimed as an excellent eyewitness account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. She documents the earthquake in the diary, giving vivid details of the tragedy. But it’s towards the beginning where you will find mention of a shipwreck at Ocean Cove. It’s a copy, but you will have to read it here.”
“Okay, Annie.” Natalie said. “You have half an hour…Logan and I will go back to the magazine section and wait.”
Annie thanked the librarian and excitedly walked over to a reading table and sat down with the document.
She skimmed through the pages, looking for information about a shipwreck. The first twelve pages were mostly about Mrs. Mark’s family and marriage…and a few entries about trips to the ocean.
Next, Annie found some pages that discussed Marion Mark’s mother. This is where Annie found references to a shipwreck. She carefully read an entry made on September 26, 1901. It read:
“This is the anniversary of that terrible tragedy that took the life of the captain. We loved him dearly. The day was September 26, 1885. I remember the day so vividly, when we rode the cable car down to the wharves. He showed us the rings and said that he was going to propose marriage to my mother. When my brother Jimmy and I waved goodbye to Captain Saunders, we had no idea that this would be the last time that we’d see him.”
“We found out several days later that his ship, the Winslow, went down in a storm somewhere near Ocean Cove. The captain and the steward, Travis Beacon, drowned in the mishap. My mother was devastated by the news.”
“About a week after we received the news of the sinking of the Winslow, Mr. William Tuttle, the first mate of the ship, came to my mother’s work at the restaurant in the Grand Hotel. He wished to help my mother through her time of grief. She invited him to our home for dinner on the following Saturday. They began to develop an interest in each other, and Mr. Tuttle courted my mother for several months. They were married on June 20th, 1886. He (my stepfather) never returned to the sea. The tragedy of the Winslow influenced his decision to retire from merchant shipping and to begin work for the ferry lines.”
Ghost of Ocean Cove Page 10
