Ben continued to hold the rope in one hand, then to the surprise of all the ghost fisherman Ben walked to the edge of the cliff where the jagged and sharp rocks protruded. He knelt down and with a shriek swiftly rubbed his forearm on the sharp rocks. As the rocks cut through his flesh, the wound started bleeding, it wasn’t like the slow drip that his wrists had earlier, in fact they had almost scabbed over. No this was a thick stream of bright red blood. He carefully held his arm as he walked to the center of the net, and very silently shook his arm, staining the weathered rope red. Once he felt as if there was enough in the center, he walked out of the net and waited. Nothing happened for a few seconds so he pulled his shirt off and tied it around his arm. All of the ghosts were musing to themselves as to what this young boy was up to. After another minute, Ben’s shirt began to slowly turn red from his bleeding arm, as the blood penetrated all the layers of the fabric Ben pulled it off and with his good arm threw the shirt as hard as he could at the enormous king crab in the corner. It took seconds for the crab to scoop up the small morsel in its claws. It pulled the blood soaked cloth to its mouth and quickly consumed the fabric. Once it had eaten the entire shirt it began to move faster, the blood had certainly ignited its senses. The crab’s beady eyes bubbled and hissed, it moved closer to the net, its huge spider like legs working in unison to reach its goal. It stepped into the net, one claw at a time.
Ben held the rope tightly, he tried to conceal his bleeding arm, hoping it wouldn’t distract the crab from the bait he had placed. Once the crab was halfway in, Ben couldn’t wait any longer, he tugged as hard as he could on the net, it tore the slightest bit on the jagged rocks before giving way and falling on top of the crab. The crab was still distracted clawing at the blood on the net and ground. Ben used the opportunity to pull the net tighter, as he did the crab realized what was going on and began to fight him. Its large legs scrambled, it clawed at the thick rope, hissing and screaming through its eye sockets. Ben fought harder, trying to pull the net down and thereby forcing the crab to the ground but he wasn’t strong enough. The beast was no match for the ten year old boy, its power was amazing, with each thrash of its claws Ben was being thrown and pulled by the rope- but he refused to let go. Finally, he realized that the crabs fight had only further entangled the beast. As quickly as he could, Ben began winding the excess rope around a large boulder that was at the edge of the cliff, after three loops around the boulder he got up and ran to the corner where the box was. He scooped it up and held it to his chest. As he turned, he saw that the crab was coming right for him, it was only slightly slowed by the net that was now tangled around most of its legs and the front half of its body. As fast as he could, Ben ran, he slipped past the crab then skidded to a halt right next to the large boulder. His toes were right over the edge of the cliff when he swung his arms out to catch his balance. When he realized he hadn’t fallen relief crept over his face, he took one step back and turned just in time to see an enormous red king crab claw coming right for him.
The impact of the claw knocked the wind out of Ben, as Ben flew over the edge of the cliff he couldn’t help but think that this must be the exact same feeling the baseball has every time he makes a homerun.
As his body connected to the sea of crabs on the floor of the cavern, he could feel their bodies breaking and snapping under his. He sank into the thick red claws and spindly scary legs, the sound of their hissing eyes surrounded him. Suddenly, his body began to scream in pain as they started attacking him. It felt as though a thousand claws were tearing into his flesh, he fought them off, kicking and hitting and swiping them away. Ben pulled himself to his feet, his balance uneven on their cracking bodies. He looked up quickly, begging for any sort of help, still kicking them away as they clawed their way up his pants. All of the ghost fishermen were floating above him, they couldn’t help him so they just began screaming out commands trying to aid in any way possible.
Ben realized he was stuck. He couldn’t run away from the torment of their claws, he cried out in agony as loud as he could, “HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPP!” Suddenly, about ten feet away a figure appeared. Ben instantly recognized the long worn cloak, the staff he remembered pushing into his back when his journey had first began in Oregon. Deep within the cloak he saw the blue eyes of The Keeper.
The Keeper raised his staff and slammed it through the thick bodies of the king crabs until it met the floor. As it did, what appeared to be a shock wave started circling out from his cloak, the crabs lifted a foot or so in the air and then exploded into bright orange and gold dust. As the wave came to Ben, he too was lifted in the air and then just as quickly fell in a heap on the sandy floor. His body was bleeding and mangled from all the crabs that had tried to consume him. Ben looked up toward The Keeper as he floated toward him. The long twisted staff inched toward Ben’s face, Ben grabbed the end of it and was pulled to his feet.
“Benjamin…” The Keeper whistled.
“It’s you!” Ben sighed in relief, “You are the Cache Master!”
“No, no Benjamin. You finally called for help, and you finally accepted that you couldn’t help yourself, and so as I promised, I am here.” he leaned in closer to Ben, with his amazing height he had to bend over at the waist to get closer to Ben’s face.
“I called for help before, in the net, why didn’t you come then?” Ben was so exhausted he began to weep.
“Benjamin, do you know what happens to a moth if someone cuts it out of its chrysalis too soon?” Ben stared blankly at him, not understanding what he was trying to say.
“Uh, what? No, no, I uh, I don’t get it,” he sighed, defeated.
“When a caterpillar forms a chrysalis to change into a moth, it struggles for days building the strength to break free from the confines of the chrysalis. If someone comes along and cuts that moth out even one hour too early, the moth is not strong enough to survive on its own. It is only through our struggles that we gain strength, Benjamin.”
“So in the net, I was building strength?” Ben questioned.
“Indeed, had you not scraped your wrists on the net, would you have known to lure the beast with your own blood?”
“But if you would have just come, then I wouldn’t have had to fight the crab, I could have just gotten the geocache.”
“Benjamin, I am not with you to aid you in your reward. I come when you are in your weakest moments, these are the moments in which you allow me to come. You see, sometimes admitting you are afraid…is the bravest thing you can do.” The Keeper’s body started to fade, it was almost pulsing.
Ben felt as though he needed to ask every question he could as fast as possible, “Okay, okay, how do I get out…” The Keeper began to disappear, “NO, don’t go yet, please help me get out!”
The Keeper appeared once again, vibrantly, “First you must fulfill your debts, and then Benjamin, just…” his image started to flutter and flicker as it faded in front of Ben’s eyes, “Swim.” The word danced in the air, the whistling of The Keeper’s voice was a music, soft, powerful, and every word meaningful.
“Swim?!” Ben yelled. The Keeper’s eyes continued to glow as the rest of his body finally disappeared, and then just as quickly as he came, The Keeper was gone.
Ben looked around the cavern, a thick gold and orange dust carpeted the sand. He clenched the cold metal box to his chest. Strangely, he didn’t feel any more pain, he looked at his arms, they were fine, his chest, also just fine, there was no evidence of any of the crabs biting him, clawing him, had it all been just a dream?
“So open the box!” Captain Dwight barked in his face. Ben had been oblivious to the ghosts around him. They had swarmed in as soon as The Keeper had vanished. Ben shook his head, trying to bring himself out of his state of confusion and fear. He lifted the metal box as he retrieved the key from his pants pocket. As he slid the key in the lock and twisted, the ghosts all began to whistle and scream, they danced and swayed in excitement, and then as they saw what was inside they got quiet and reser
ved.
“A key?” Captain Dwight asked. The other ghosts also questioned.
“Yeah, that’s what’s in every one,” Ben responded. “Well, so far at least.”
The younger crazy haired ghost that had been hanging upside down in the net next to Ben got in his face, “Yeah, it’s the key, you guys, the key…” his voice got high pitched as he swayed and danced and flopped his hair around, “The key, the kid has the key!” he twisted and sang. Suddenly, they all began to rejoice, they whooped and hollered, they bounced and floated, their energy and outlines became vibrant, so vibrant that again they lit up the cavern. As they moved they parted into two sides creating a pathway, each was pointing toward the end of the pathway. Ben began walking toward the darkness, as he moved they moved, lighting the way. As he got closer, he could see a smooth rock surface, it was different from the rest of the rocks in the cavern, he placed his hand on the cold stone and slid it around. His fingers caught something, Ben looked closer, then looked at the ghosts.
“It’s a lock.” Ben announced.
“Well, DUH!” The crazy haired ghosts shot back, completely amazed at Ben’s stupidity.
“You guys are locked in?” he asked Captain Dwight.
“Not anymore,” Captain Dwight smirked.
“Wait, are you supposed to get out? Is there a reason you’re in here? Did you do something bad?”
“We’ve done our time, boy, we helped you, you agreed to help us. Besides, this is your only way out too.” Captain Dwight motioned for the door.
“Are you gonna hurt people if I let you out?” Ben stared at Captain Dwight.
“Did we hurt you?”
“Well, no…but…”
“Then you’re gonna have to trust us.” Captain Dwight peered at Ben more closely.
“Okay, you’re…you’re right.” Ben mumbled.
“One other thing Ben, that key…it gets you out of here, and gets you into somewhere else. When you get there, remember us, the fishermen, just remember what we devoted our lives to, what we gave our lives for.” The other ghosts began clapping and hollering.
“Right.” Ben didn’t know what Captain Dwight was talking about, but he knew at some point he would.
He lifted his hand toward the lock on the smooth stone, as he slipped the brass key in Captain Dwight yelled out one last thing, “Swim!”
Ben looked at Captain Dwight as the word echoed in the cavern, he was already twisting the key. As it made its final click in the lock a loud noise filled the room, and the door in front of Ben exploded into sand as a huge wave of sea water knocked Ben over and pulled him under. The salt water filled his mouth, nose, and throat. It burned his eyes, as he tried to right himself and gain control he noticed the water, it wasn’t dark and clear, as it would usually be. This water was now filled with all of the dust from the thousands of crabs that had exploded under Ben’s feet, this water it appeared, was filled with gold.
14
Ben kicked as hard as he could, the freezing water had numbed every inch of his body, except his lungs, which burned as they longed for oxygen. He looked at his hand for what had to be the tenth time, just to reassure himself that he hadn’t dropped the key during all the chaos.
As soon as the seal had broken on the door, the ocean water had rushed into the cavern so violently, Ben didn’t have a split second to react. He was overcome by the huge surge of water and had to use every bit of his energy to swim against the current and out the small doorway.
The pillars of the pier were a beacon of hope for Ben. As he pulled and kicked his way through the icy water, he passed them and then staying close by, pulled himself up in the water, one foot at a time, until finally he broke the surface. The chill of the cold air on his wet body instantly awoke the nerves throughout his skin as a surge of severe pain covered him. He looked up to the dock above him, it was far too high to pull himself from the water, but there had to be some sort of ladder or something, he thought. He moved down the length of the pier until he came to a rickety old grey ladder that hung from the top of the pier and disappeared somewhere beneath the surface. He grabbed ahold of the worn, weathered wood and attempted to pull himself up. He was so weak it took every ounce of strength to make it up one rung, he rested for a second and then pulled himself up to the next rung on the ladder, and the next, until he reached the top.
Once at the edge, he carefully pulled his body over the edge of the pier and sighed heavily, he opened his fist and eyed the brass key once again, “This better be worth it, Cache Master,” he mumbled. As he spoke, he felt thunder beneath him, there was a pounding coming from the boards below, panic stricken he rolled over in an attempt to get up but couldn’t muster the strength to pull his body to his feet. The thunder got louder and shook his body, he felt it in his chest, and head especially, pounding, pounding, pounding, and then it was broken with a shriek he recognized, followed by the screaming of his name.
“BEN!” Megan screamed at the top of her lungs. She was running at full speed to meet her brother who had just pulled himself over the edge of the pier about one hundred feet from where she and Trent had been sitting. The old wooden planks shifted and rattled as she and Trent ran to Ben’s side. She was filled with relief, he was alive!
Megan knelt down next to Ben, his body was white, his lips on the verge of being completely blue, she pulled him into a sitting position and started hugging him as she rocked him back and forth.
“We’ve gotta get him warmed up.” Trent said as he pulled Ben to his feet. “He has to move around, get his blood flowing, ya know.” He was forcing Ben to move around, Ben was collapsing with each step, only to be caught by Trent, who was moving Ben’s arms and dragging him around like a puppet.
“I’ll go get help!” Megan began to run back to the fishing warehouse. A minute later, several men were running toward Ben with shiny silver blankets that appeared to be made out of tin foil. The men and Trent took Ben to the side, pulled off his wet, cold clothes and covered him with the blankets, then continued to force him to move around.
After a few minutes, Ben’s color was coming back, the men brought him some dry clothes from inside the warehouse, he had gotten changed and was now eating his second Snickers Candy Bar.
Once he had a few minutes with the sugar in his system, it occurred to Ben that someone was missing, “Hey, where’s Aunt Lacey?” Everyone froze, no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news, and finally Trent realized he had to say something.
“There was an accident, we’re not sure how it happened, but Lacey is being flown to the hospital in Anchorage,” he paused waiting for a response.
“We gotta get going then!” Ben yelled as he attempted to run in the direction of the sea plane they had flown in on. After about the fourth step his legs felt like jello and he collapsed onto the pier.
“Slow down buddy,” one of the fishermen called out behind him. Once he reached Ben, he helped him to his feet. “Your body is in recovery mode right now, give your legs some time, right now the only thing your body can focus on is pumping blood to your arms and legs. Take it slow. By the way, where’d you come from?”
“Under the pier, there is a cavern, deep under water, it’s guarded by a huge King Crab, big as a car, oh and a bunch of dead fisherman, I mean not dead fisherman, but ya know, their ghosts. I got the key from the crab, then I let all the ghosts out, the water pulled me out the door and under the pier, oh and get this! I saw The Keeper again! I know right? So random…anyways…” Ben continued going on and on about his adventure.
The men from the warehouse looked at Trent and Megan with extreme concern on their faces,
“He’s way worse than we thought, you better get this kid to the hospital, he’s delusional, clearly suffered some brain damage,” the men looked at one another, shook their heads in sadness and slowly started walking toward the warehouse.
Ben shook his head and threw his arms in the air, “Well that was rude! Ask me a question and then just walk away, I hadn’t ev
en gotten to the part about the crabs turning to gold, whatever,” he looked at Trent and Megan. “What?” Ben asked.
Megan looked up at Trent, “Maybe we should get him to the hospital.”
Trent picked Ben up and threw him over his shoulder, then he and Megan ran toward the seaplane as fast as they could. Once everyone was buckled and ready to take off, they were airborne in a matter of minutes. Ben still didn’t know what had happened to his Aunt, but he figured the silence could only mean one thing, whatever had happened it wasn’t good.
As the plane flew over the rugged landscape, Megan looked closely at the coordinates engraved on the key she held in her hand.
She carefully entered the information into the GPS app on her cell phone, “Pebble Beach,” she announced. “That’s where this key goes.”
Trent’s eyes got wide, “Seriously? You sure?”
“I think so, the waypoint isn’t right on the beach, but it’s the closest named location, why?”
“Pebble Beach is the site of one of the most controversial future mine operations,” Trent replied. “Scientists say that this mine holds the largest gold reserves in the entire world.”
“Wow!” Megan sighed enthusiastically.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ben interrupted, “we’re not going.”
15
Megan hugged her mother as she entered Lacey’s hospital room. Ben introduced Trent to his dad and then to his mom, who was already lecturing Lacey on safety. Lacey nodded and smiled as she tried not to close her eyes. She was exhausted, the sheer number of tests and scans and IV’s wore her out. All she wanted to do was rest, and no one would leave her room long enough for her to fall asleep. She felt terribly rude, but couldn’t keep her eyes open and dosed off mid-conversation with her sister.
Waypoint Alaska Page 8
