The island looked barren, not like the tropical island they would have expected. There were very few trees to speak of, other than a few palms on the southern end of the islet and some scrawny, stunted-looking things scattered here and there over the rest of it. Grasses and a few cacti grew out of therocks, and they could see dozens of birds, but otherwise the island was empty. Still, it was land, and land seemed awfully good to them after their rough night at sea.
“Wait here,” Steve said to Rachel. “Dan and Pete and I will go ashore first and check things out.” Pete and Dan didn’t need to be asked twice. They were over the side of the boat almost before Steve had finished speaking, and swimming for shore. The others watched while the three of them explored the beach. Steve finally looked up, waving his arms at them to come ahead.
It was an easy swim. The water was deep until they were almost on the shore, but a few minutes later they were wading onto the beach. It was not the soft white sand, or the black volcanic sand of St. Lucia. The beach here was rocky, and covered with broken seashells and seaweed. Little hermit crabs scurried here and there, and a number of dead fish lay rotting in the sun. Not really a welcoming sight, Kristi thought.
A steep ridge ran the length of the islet. When they climbed it they realized that the strip of land they stood on was very narrow. Sunlight glinted off the water on the other side. It was probably only five hundred feet wide at its widest point. Other than the ridge itself, there wasn’t much shelter from the wind and sea on this deserted isle. No wonder the few trees were stunted and deformed.
Rachel had been standing in one spot with a puzzled expression on her face when suddenly she said, “I think I know where we are!”
“What? Where? How could you know?” the others exclaimed.
“Remember the other day when we were at Pigeon Point, and I was inside the museum doing research while you were all outside having fun without me? Well, I just remembered reading a description of a little island that was a hideout for some pirates hundreds of years ago. It was shaped like a horseshoe and was somewhere between St. Lucia and Martinique—well, kind of between them, but in the Atlantic. It had a deep cove, and pirates would hide there when they were being chased by the army or other pirates. They called it Buccaneer Bay.” She paused. “I think this is Buccaneer Bay.”
Paul stepped forward. “Wi! Yes! Monnonk, I hear him say Anse de Boucan. In angle, English, dat is Buccaneer Bay. I come here wit’ him one time.”
“How far is Buccaneer Bay from St. Lucia, Rachel?” her husband asked.
“I don’t really know, Steve. It’s too small to be on any of the regular maps, but I’m sure it must be on mariners’ navigational charts to keep sailors from crashing into it like we did. I don’t think it’s too far from either St. Lucia or Martinique, though.”
“Buccaneer Bay!” Skeeter exclaimed. “Cool—no, maybe not so cool! Now that I’ve met some real pirates, I don’t think they’re so great at all. But still it seems weird to think we might be standing in the same place real pirates stood hundreds of years ago.”
“Well, we shouldn’t be standing around at all,” Steve said. We may be stuck here for a day or two until someone finds us, so we’d better find some way to make ourselves comfortable.”
The next few hours were spent exploring the small island in search of food, water, firewood, and anything else that might help them until they were rescued. They removed whatever they thought they could use from the boat and brought it onto the shore.
Robyn and Kristi spread the quilts out in the sun to dry. They were so colorful and pretty, and brightened the drab beach. It made their hearts happy to look at them, not only for their beauty, but also because it was a reminder to them of how God had provided for them, and still would. “And look,” Kristi said, “the Lord gave us nine quilts before we ever knew we needed nine—one for Paul, too! They’re going to feel great tonight when we each get one to cuddle up in!” They tried to ask Paul where the quilts had come from, but he only shrugged and shook his head.
Pete and Anna found fresh water in a small pool in the midst of a field of rocks and boulders. It was standing water, which meant they would have to boil it, but after the storm the pool was full and overflowing. Rachel was pleased when they brought back a bucket of water. She was looking over the little pile of food they brought off the boat.
“There’s not much here,” she said, “especially for such a large group, but there are plenty of crabs on the beach, and we have fishing gear off the boat, too, and a whole ocean of fish. We won’t starve! Besides, I’m expecting to be rescued in the next day or two, anyway. For now, let’s think of this as a great adventure—stranded on a deserted island! Lots of people dream of that!”
Steve and Dan swam back to the beach from the boat. Steve was frustrated. “I worked on that radio for almost two hours but I can’t figure out what’s wrong. The battery is fine, I’m hearing static, but I can’t pick up anything at all on it. We took another look at that leak, too. We have the tools to fix it, but it has to be lifted off the rocks where it’s stuck before we can move it anyway. I don’t know if we’ll be able to rescue ourselves or not. We may just have to wait for help to come to us.”
Paul and Skeeter had gathered crabs on the beach. They helped Steve build a fire and Rachel got busy boiling water in the pot from the boat. “Is there anything else we need to do right now?” Skeeter asked. “I want to explore the island and see if the pirates left any hidden treasure!”
“Well, before you start looking for treasure, we need to make some kind of shelter from the sun, Skeeter. There’s not much shade out here,” Steve said. “I found a sail and a couple old tarps on the boat. Why don’t you guys help me find some wood from the boat and maybe a few branches from those little trees and we’ll see what we can come up with.”
Everyone pitched in. It took the rest of the day, but in the end they gazed in satisfaction at what they called “The Hut.” It was tall enough to stand in, and seemed to be sturdy enough, although if they had another storm like the one that had brought them there, it would never stand against it. They had made a small tent, as well, for the girls to sleep in.
That night they sat around the campfire on the beach. Rachel had cooked the crabs for their supper, as well as a little of the rice and beans from the boat. The temperature had dropped with the setting of the sun. The fire was small, but it felt good against the evening chill. Kristi, Robyn and Anna sat with a quilt draped over the three of them. They were all tired after their busy day and not much sleep the night before.
“Do you think anyone is looking for us yet, Daddy?” Kristi asked sleepily.
“I don’t know, Kristi. But if they didn’t start looking today, I am sure they will tomorrow. The yacht will be missed, and I’m sure the people at Emerald Paradise will start wondering where we are, too. Once they start looking, it shouldn’t be too hard to find us. I’ll tell you what—the first thing tomorrow morning let’s make some kind of message on the beach where a plane or helicopter might see it. You know, a giant SOS or something.”
“Cool, Dad! I’ll help!” Skeeter said eagerly.
“Do you think you could spell it, Skeeter?” Robyn teased. He tossed a pebble at her.
“I’m glad the Lord knows where we are, anyway,” Anna said.
“You bet He does, Anna! Why don’t we pray right now and ask Him to show someone else where we are, too,” Rachel said.
They went around the circle praying, all except for Paul. Steve finished the circle of prayer. “Our Father, thank You once again for keeping us safe through the storm last night. Thank You for bringing us to this place and for providing for our needs today. We pray once again that You might send help to rescue us from this island. We are trusting you to save us, Lord, just as we trusted You to save us from our sins and be our Savior. Thank You for that, Lord, and for being a Father to us, as well. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”
Paul was looking around the circle at each face when they ra
ised their heads. He had a puzzled look on his face. “God, He is your papa, your father?” he asked.
“Yes, Paul,” Steve said. When we asked Jesus to forgive us of our sins and be our Savior, we became children of God.”
“I do not have a papa,” Paul said, “an’ no manman, no mother. Jus’ monnonk. An’ mwen grann, my grandmother. I not see her for long time. She live on zile de Matia, Martinique.”
“God wants to be your Father, too, Paul,” Skeeter said. “All you have to do is ask Him to forgive you of your sins and accept Him into your life.”
Paul shook his head sadly. “Non, God no want me for His pitit, His child. I too bad. I been a pirate, a bad guy. God canno’ forgive my sins.”
“Yes, He can, Paul. Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood to pay for your sins, and the sin of the whole world. If you accept Him as your Savior, He will wash away your sin, and you will be a child of God.”
“Vre? Dis is true?”
“Yes, the Bible, God’s Word, says it’s true,” Skeeter said earnestly.
“I want to be His fis, His son. You will show me how to pray, wi?” Paul bowed his head, and in his broken English and Kréyòl, he asked Jesus into his heart at the campfire that night. When he looked up again, his eyes were shining. “He did it! He forgive my sins! God, He is mwen Papa now!”
____________
CHAPTER ELEVEN
____________
X Marks the Spot
The next morning they were up early. Skeeter was eager to get to work on their SOS. “We need to put the message far enough away from the water that the tide won’t wash it away,” Pete said as they began working.
“And dig the letters deep, packing the sand with water so they’ll stand out, and won’t get filled in with sand again.” Skeeter suggested.
“Good idea, Skeeter!” Dan said. Soon the teens were hard at work making a message. It took them all morning to get the letters big enough, but when they were through they were happy with the results.
That’s great!” Rachel said when she saw their handiwork. “That won’t be missed by anyone flying this way, that’s for sure!”
They ate a quick lunch of fish that Steve had caught that
morning in the cove. Skeeter was anxious to start looking for pirates’ treasure now that their work was done.
“Go on, you guys. You’ve all worked hard—you deserve a little fun. Just be careful! Watch where you’re walking and what you touch. We don’t know what kind of critters are on this island,” Rachel said.
They started off by climbing the ridge. Skeeter led the way down the slope on the other side and to the beach. “Why don’t we just follow the beach around the whole island?” Dan suggested. “It’s probably not much more than a mile all the way around.” The others agreed.
The beach on that side was much cleaner and less rocky than where they had set up camp. Pete thought it was because it was more protected from the storm out on the Atlantic the other night. They started down the beach, picking up shells along the way. There really wasn’t much to explore along the empty shoreline. Looking up the ridge there wasn’t much to see there, either, but rocks and a few more of the scraggly little trees.
“It sure doesn’t seem like there would be much to draw the pirates here to Buccaneer Bay, except for the bay itself which they used for a hideout,” Kristi said. “I mean, there’s nothing to steal, no fruit or other food, no shelter… They must not have stayed for long when they came.”
“And why would modern-day pirates like Paul’s uncle come here?” Robyn asked.
“Paul, did your uncle and the other men do anything whenthey came here? Did they go anywhere special on the island?” Pete asked.
“I don’ know,” Paul said, shrugging his shoulders. “Dey lef’ me on de bato. Dey gone long time, but I don’ know wha’ dey do.”
“Hmm, if they were gone a long time they must have been up to something,” Dan pondered. “Were they carrying anything, Paul, when they left or when they came back?”
Paul’s eyes lit up. “Wi! Yes! Dey took big boxes wit’ dem, an’ dey come back for more, too. When dey come back to de bato, de boxes, dey were gone!”
“Oh-ho!” Skeeter said excitedly, “So they brought a treasure here and left it! But where did they hide it? Did you notice which way they went when they got on the island, Paul?”
Paul thought a moment. “Non, but when dey come back to de bato, dey come from dere.” He pointed back the way they had come. “Dey come from de ot’er end of de island.”
“We’re almost to one end of the horseshoe now,” Dan said. “Why don’t we just keep walking this way and make our way back up the island on the other side, rather than backtracking here.”
They followed the curve of the shoreline and soon found themselves back at their campsite. Rachel and Steve were sitting in the shelter of The Hut, talking. “Back already?” Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow. “Did you find anything?”
“Not yet,” Kristi answered, “and we’re just passing through. We decided to follow the coast all the way around the island.”
“Paul said his uncle and his pirate friends brought a bunch of boxes here one time and left them,” Skeeter said. “We’re going to look for them. He thinks they took them that way,” he added, pointing north.
“Hmm, I think I’ll go along with you,” Steve said. “Want to go for a stroll on the beach, Honey?” he asked Rachel as he pulled her to her feet.
“Sure! I’d like to see what the rest of the island looks like, too.” They set off again up the beach.
The northern part of the island wasn’t as easy to hike as the first half had been. The ridge that had been a gentle slope further south, was now much steeper, and ended abruptly at the north tip of the island. Tall cliffs ran down to the rocky coast. There was very little beach there.
“Whew! I thought we were going for a nice little walk on the beach!” Rachel puffed as she climbed over another boulder. “Maybe we should have hiked up the ridge instead of the beach. Let’s take a break for a minute.” She sat down on a rock, trying to catch her breath. She gazed up at the cliffs above them. “Look—do you see those holes in the cliffs? Look at the birds flying in and out of them! I wonder if they’re just small holes, or if any of them are caves?”
It’s hard to say from down here,” Steve said. “There’s no way up there from here, unless you had ropes and pulleys like a mountain climber. Maybe we’ll be able to find a way down from up above.”
“No thanks!” Rachel said. “That’s all we need—someone falling off a cliff! Let’s leave the holes and caves to the birds, thank you!”
They started around the coast again a few minutes later. Once they rounded the northern tip of the island, the beach widened and they left the cliffs behind. They finally came back to the place where they had begun.
Skeeter was disappointed. There was nothing along the shore that looked the least bit mysterious or like it could be hiding a pirates’ treasure trove—except for the holes in the cliff, and how could a pirate get his treasure up and down those cliffs? Maybe they should be looking for buried treasure—little mounds in the sand with X marking the spot.
“Well, this has been fun, but I need to get back to camp and start making supper,” Rachel said. “Steve would you come with me and get the fire going? Guess what, kids? I went to the supermarket today and they were having a sale on—crabs! That’s right, crabs and rice and beans for supper again tonight!” She and Steve started over the ridge to get to the campsite. Rachel turned and called back just as they reached the top, “Be back at camp in an hour, okay?” She waved and they disappeared over the crest of the hill.
“Well, now what?” Robyn asked.
“Let’s go swimming,” Kristi suggested. “This is a nicer beach than the one on the other side.”
“No, we’d better stick to the cove for swimming,” Pete said. “It’s safer.”
“Pete’s right, Kristi,” Anna said.
Kris
ti smiled at her friend. “Of course.”
Skeeter grabbed Dan’s arm. “I know! Let’s go to the top of the ridge and follow it north. Maybe we’ll see something that will lead us to the pirates’ treasure!”
“What treasure, Skeeter? You’ve dreamed this up in your head, and now you’ve got yourself believing it!”
“Okay, well maybe it’s not treasure exactly, but those guys who stole our yacht brought something here and hid it, and I want to find out what! Right, Paul?” Skeeter threw his arm around his new friend’s shoulder. Paul grinned and nodded his head.
“We’ll go, Skeeter, but I want you to promise you won’t go near the edge of those cliffs. You know Mom and Dad would be upset if you did.”
“Okay, I promise! Let’s go! We’re running out of time!”
They pressed on up the slope, and across the ridge. From up there they could see the water that totally surrounded the tiny islet. The horseshoe shape of the island was clearer than ever. If the island itself hadn’t been so drab and barren, it would have been an awesome sight.
They were nearly to the end of the ridge when Skeeter said, “Okay, everyone look for a cave or a hole or even a mound where something might be buried. I just know it has to be around here somewhere!”
“What exactly is ‘it’, Skeeter? What are we looking for? Chests of gold and jewels?” Robyn asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess we’ll know it when we see it! At the very least, it might just be the boxes Paul’s uncle and his gang took off the boat.” They spread out and started looking among the boulders and scruffy bushes and trees.
It was getting late. Dan called out, “Hey, you guys, we need to start back to camp. We can come back and look tomorrow. And Skeeter, what are you doing over there by that cliff’s edge? You promised you’d stay away!”
The Secret of Buccaneer Bay (Kristi Cameron Book 5) Page 9
