The Treasure of Dead Man's Cove

by George Ivanoff

  Suddenly the ground beneath you gives way. You scrabble frantically to hold on and reach out to grab the spear in the wall. Now you’re dangling over a pit, desperately clinging to the spear. You look down and see your dropped mobile phone hit the water, the sinking glow silhouetting ominous shapes. As the light winks out, you hear the sound of snapping jaws and hungry growls.

  Crocodiles?

  You wonder how long you can hold on.

  You return to the guesthouse to get a torch and then go to the cove. You head straight for the cave.

  You switch on the torch and search.

  You find the Jolly Roger carved into the rock right at the back of the cave. You run your hand over the symbol and realise there is a groove that encircles it. You press the Jolly Roger and the circle of rock pushes into the wall. You hear the grinding of rock against rock, and a section of the back wall slowly moves aside.

  You shine your torch through the opening to see a long passage with steps leading up. You take a deep breath and enter. You climb the steps to the top and continue along the passage for what seems like ages. You start to get impatient and pick up your pace.

  You’re not looking properly and you trip over a rock, tumbling down and dropping your torch. You watch as it rolls ahead of you and then disappears. You crawl forward, up to the edge of a hole. The falling torch shows you how deep it is. And then with a smashing sound, the light goes out. Your heart pounds in your chest. If you hadn’t tripped, you might have plummeted to your death. For the first time since you started this adventure, you feel really scared.

  If you’ve had enough and want to go back to your parents, go here.

  If you decide to carry on despite your fear, go here.

  You take a deep breath and run. You hear a spear slamming into the rock wall behind you … but you are safe.

  Even though it was only a short sprint, you are out of breath when you reach Professor Wagner.

  The two of you continue on until you reach another rock wall. He holds up his torch to examine the surface and finds a round hole at floor level. It’s big enough, so he crawls through. You follow.

  You edge out into an amazing cavern. At the far end are six wooden chests lined up into a path, three on either side. Your eyes widen as you see what they are leading to – a jewelled throne. And seated on the throne is a skeleton.

  ‘One-Eyed William,’ whispers the professor, as he rushes forward, ignoring the treasure chests, to examine the skeleton.

  The skeleton’s hand is reaching out, resting on a stone pedestal, its fingers clutching a huge ruby the size of your fist. The skeleton is wearing the tattered remains of once-fine clothes and has an eyepatch over its right eye.

  The professor reaches out and lifts the eyepatch.

  You gasp and take a step back.

  It’s William! The bone around his right eye socket is lumpy and deformed. And the eye socket itself is enormous – just the right size for the ruby.

  Professor Wagner turns to look at the six chests. ‘The diary must be in one of these.’ He opens one of them and breathes in sharply. ‘Look at this!’

  The chest is full of books and papers. But you are more interested in the treasure.

  You move William’s hand and pick up the ruby. The pedestal rises as the weight is removed. And a boulder crashes from the ceiling, blocking the entrance to the cavern.

  ‘What have you done?’ snaps Professor Wagner. ‘You’ve trapped us!’

  You suggest that replacing the ruby might open the entrance again.

  But he thinks you should put the ruby into One-Eyed William’s enlarged eye socket. ‘The letter said, “Seeing red will help you out”.’

  If you decide to trust your instincts and return the ruby to the pedestal, go here.

  If you decide to trust Professor Wagner and put it into William’s eye socket, go here.

  You take out your mobile phone and switch on the torch app. You turn around and make your way back until you reach the area with the skeleton chained to the wall. Then you remember that the way out is blocked.

  Perhaps you should shake the skeleton’s other hand?

  You take hold of its right hand and pull.

  The wall you had originally entered through opens up.

  Go here.

  You reach out to the pedestal.

  ‘No!’ Professor Wagner gasps.

  But you place the ruby on the pedestal anyway. The pedestal descends, disappearing into the rock floor.

  The ruby is gone.

  But the boulder remains firmly in place, blocking the way out.

  ‘You idiot!’ he yells, as he starts examining walls by torchlight, desperately looking for another exit.

  He eventually finds an old bottle embedded into the rock. He presses it and the bottle moves like a lever. An ominous rumbling fills the cavern. Boulders begin to crash down from the ceiling.

  ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have done that?’ the professor whispers.

  You are certain that you are about to die …

  But then a section of wall slides back. Is it a way out?

  You head for the opening, but Professor Wagner wants to take the chest with the documents.

  Suddenly, six boulders smash down into the six chests in quick succession. It’s as if One-Eyed William is letting you out, but keeping his treasure.

  The opening leads to a sloping tunnel of smooth rock – like a rock slide. The professor jumps through. You look back to see a boulder crashing down onto One-Eyed William, then follow.

  It’s a rough ride, sliding down the curving tunnel of rock, and you are bumped and bruised before you fall out the end and …

  Splash!

  You’re bobbing up and down in an underground river. Professor Wagner is beside you, grumbling about his wet jacket, and up ahead is the mouth of a cave. Sunlight is streaming in.

  You and the professor swim towards the light. You are alive …

  But the treasure is gone, sealed up in the rock with the smashed bones of One-Eyed William.

  You decide to return the ruby to William, placing it into his enlarged eye socket. The weight of the ruby makes William’s skull lean back against the throne. There is a click, followed by the familiar grinding of rock against rock.

  A portion of the wall beside the throne slides away, revealing … a small rowboat with a sloping tunnel ahead. There is a lever in the wall beside it. This must be an escape route!

  You dash over to the boat, ready to climb in.

  ‘Wait,’ says Professor Wagner. ‘We can’t leave the historical documents!’

  He grabs the chest full of books and papers, and heaves it into the boat. Then the two of you climb in. You reach out and pull the lever.

  The boat tips forward. You careen down a rock slide, the professor’s torch illuminating the blur of rocky walls whizzing past. The boat pitches and trembles as it knocks against the walls. You hold your breath and close your eyes as you desperately hold on.

  As the boat slows down you think that you are reaching the end of your journey. But then it tips forward and topples over a precipice.

  Splash!

  You are wet … but still alive. The boat is floating along an underground river to the mouth of a cave. Sunlight is streaming in.

  You and Professor Wagner each grab an oar from the bottom of the boat and begin rowing. Soon you are out of the cave and on the ocean. You see the cove and row towards it.

  You and the professor take the chest of documents to the museum.

  The curator is delighted, her eyes wide and her nostrils flaring as she sniffs each of the items she takes out of the chest.

  You and Professor Wagner are hailed as heroes and the saviours of the town. The discovery of the treasure and One-Eyed William means that Seabreeze will get lots of tourists and become famous.

  Professor Wagner is excited that the diary is in the chest, so he can now finish his book.

  As a thank you, the town pays for your entire holiday and gives you
a year’s supply of chocolate gold coins. You spend the rest of your time in Seabreeze being a celebrity.

  This has been the best holiday ever!

  You reach into your pocket and pull out your mobile phone, switching on the torch app. You notice that there’s no reception. The light is not very strong, but it’s enough that you can avoid the hole.

  You proceed more carefully now.

  It’s not long before you reach a dead end.

  But there’s another Jolly Roger. You press it and the wall opens up. The first thing you see is a human skeleton lying on the floor. You stifle a scream and carefully step over it. But as you do, you feel a section of the floor sink a little beneath your feet. There is a grinding sound and the wall closes behind you, blocking your escape!

  You have no option but to continue. You walk towards another dead end. There is a skeleton chained to the wall. You bring your phone up close and examine it. The chains disappear into holes in the wall.

  You reach out and pull the right arm. As the chain moves, the wall behind you opens up again.

  Now’s your chance to escape! But you can’t help wondering what would happen if you pulled the other arm.

  If you decide to quit while you’re ahead and return to your parents, go here.

  If you decide to pull the left arm, go here.

  You show the map to your parents and tell them how you think it leads to One-Eyed William’s treasure.

  Your parents are not sure they believe the map is genuine. But they think it’s important to show it to the museum curator, just in case. You agree to take the map to the museum straight away.

  Go here.

  You reach out and pull on the skeleton’s left arm. With a grinding sound, part of the wall recedes, leaving just enough space to squeeze through. Beyond is a wider passage. With your phone held out to light the way, you continue on until …

  More skeletons! Two of them. Pinned to the wall with spears through their chests. You wonder what happened to them. A trap of some sort?

  You pick up a stone and toss it down the passage. A spear shoots from a hole in the left wall, embedding itself into the right wall. A deadly trap!

  If you think it’s not worth risking your life, return to your parents and go here.

  If you decide to sprint through the passage in the hope of outrunning the spears, go here.

  If you decide to crawl along the floor in the hope of avoiding the spears, go here.

  You glare at Jack, Jill and Polly. They stop laughing.

  ‘It was just a joke,’ says Jack.

  ‘Yeah,’ agrees Jill. ‘Just a bit of fun.’

  Suddenly you burst into gales of laughter. The three local kids join in. Then you all head back into town for a slurpee.

  The four of you become great friends and spend the holiday together. Because they live in the area, Jack, Jill and Polly know all the best places to go swimming and have fun.

  You have the best holiday ever!

  You take a deep breath and run. You can hear the whoosh of a spear behind you – missing you by millimetres!

  You keep running until you reach another rock wall. You hold up your phone and see a round hole at floor level. It’s big enough, so you crawl through.

  You edge out into an amazing cavern. At the far end are six wooden chests lined up into a path, three on either side. Your eyes widen as you see what they are leading to – a jewelled throne. Seated on the throne is a skeleton.

  You open one of the chests to find it full of gold coins.

  You bypass the others and go to look at the skeleton. Its hand is reaching out, resting on a stone pedestal, its fingers clutching a huge ruby the size of your fist. The skeleton is wearing the tattered remains of once-fine clothes and has an eyepatch over its right eye.

  You tentatively reach out and lift the eyepatch. You gasp and take a step back.

  It’s One-Eyed William! The bone around his right eye socket is lumpy and deformed. And the socket itself is enormous – just the right size for the ruby.

  You move William’s hand and pick up the ruby. The pedestal rises as the weight is removed. And a boulder crashes from the ceiling, blocking the entrance to the cavern. You are trapped!

  You look at the ruby in your hand and wonder what you should do with it.

  Should you put it back on the pedestal? Then go here.

  Or maybe you should put it into William’s eye socket? Then go here.

  You glare at Jack, Jill and Polly. They stop laughing.

  ‘It was just a joke,’ says Jack.

  ‘Yeah,’ agrees Jill. ‘Just a bit of fun.’

  ‘Just a bit of fun?’ you yell at them. ‘Well, it wasn’t fun for me!’

  You pick up a rubber spider and throw it at them. They duck. One by one, you grab the other spiders and lob them. You’re angry. Really angry! You hate being made a fool of.

  You run out of spiders, so you grab the fake treasure chest and hurl it across the cavern. It smashes into the wall.

  You stop and take a deep breath. The other kids peek tentatively out from behind the rocks. You start to calm down.

  But then you hear a rumbling sound, like approaching thunder.

  ‘Cave-in!’ yells Jack, running for the exit.

  You and the other kids follow.

  But it’s too late. Rocks begin to fall around you. You’re knocked off your feet.

  You close your eyes, cover your head with your arms and wait for it all to end.

  When the rocks stop crashing down and the dust settles, you open your eyes.

  It is pitch-black.

  You try to move … but you are pinned down.

  You shout out for the others … but no one answers.

  You are TRAPPED!

  You hope that by replacing the ruby on the pedestal, the entrance to the cavern may reopen. But the pedestal descends, disappearing into the rock floor.

  The ruby is gone.

  But the boulder remains firmly in place, blocking the way out.

  You start to examine all the walls by the light of your phone. But …

  Your phone suddenly goes dark. The battery has run out.

  It is pitch-black.

  And you are trapped with One-Eyed William and his treasure … forever!

  You decide to give the ruby back to William, placing it into his enlarged eye socket.

  The weight of the ruby makes William’s skull lean back against the throne. There is a click, followed by the familiar grinding of rock.

  A portion of the wall beside the throne slides away, revealing … a small rowboat with a sloping tunnel ahead of it. There is a lever in the wall beside it. This must be an escape route!

  You look back at the treasure chests. Should you take them? Or should you just get out of there as quickly as possible?

  If you decide to leave straight away, go here.

  If you want to take some of the treasure, go here.

  You are hailed as a hero and the saviour of the town. The discovery of the treasure and One-Eyed William means that Seabreeze will attract lots of tourists and become famous.

  As a thank you, the town pays for your entire holiday and gives you a year’s supply of chocolate gold coins. You spend the rest of your time in Seabreeze being a celebrity. The mayor even allows you to keep one of the real gold coins as a souvenir.

  This has been the best holiday ever!

  Your parents want to take the treasure to the museum, but you convince them that you should keep it.

  They sell some of the jewels from the chest and invest the money. Your family becomes very rich.

  You keep the rest of the treasure in its chest. You spend your life worried that people may try to steal it. And you feel guilty about not sharing it with the town of Seabreeze.

  Years later, when you are old and frail, you bury the treasure and leave a coded map to its location.

  You wonder if the whole story will start all over again.

  You decide that you can’t leave all the
treasure behind. You dash over to the six chests, grab one of them and drag it towards the boat. With great difficulty you heave it in. The boat creaks under the weight and shifts forward. At that moment, your phone runs out of battery power and the light disappears.

  You climb in and pull the lever.

  The boat tips forward. Suddenly, you are careening down a rock slide in complete darkness. The boat pitches and trembles as it knocks against the walls. You take a deep breath, close your eyes and hold on as you ride this nightmare rollercoaster.

  And then the boat slows down and comes to a stop, gently rocking back and forth. There is a faint glow coming from ahead of you. You lean forward to see. And the boat topples over the precipice.

  Splash!

  You are wet … but still alive. The boat is floating along an underground river to the mouth of a cave. Sunlight is streaming in.

  You grab an oar from the bottom of the boat and begin rowing. Finally you are out of the cave and on the ocean. You look around and see the cove. You row towards it.

  Soon you are on the sand with your mum and dad, showing them the treasure.

  But now that you have the treasure, what will you do with it?

  If you choose to keep it, go here.

  If you decide to take it back to Seabreeze, go here.

  You figure that the treasure may make the boat too heavy. So you climb in and pull the lever.

  The boat tips forward. You careen down a rock slide, the light from your phone illuminating the blur of rocky walls whizzing past. The boat pitches and trembles as it knocks against the walls. As you hold on for dear life, you drop your phone. It gets thrown from the boat and smashed to pieces against the wall. You are hurtling through darkness on a nightmare rollercoaster ride.