“Aww, Dan, I’m not close to the edge at all! Just a couple more minutes, okay? I just want to take one more look from this high spot.”
Dan had opened his mouth to call his younger brother down when suddenly Skeeter started laughing. “I think I found it! There, under those bushes by that bunch of rocks!” He jumped down from the boulder he’d been standing on and ran over to the place he’d pointed out.
“Whoopee!” he yelled. “I knew it! X marks the spot!”
Kristi, Robyn and Anna ran over to see what Skeeter was pointing at. The other boys had already beat them there. They all stood staring at something on the ground.
A large X made out of small stones was laid out under the scrubby bushes.
“Those dummies!” Skeeter crowed. “They actually put an X where they hid their stuff for anyone to find! And we found it!”
“Found what, Skeeter? So far we’ve only found an X,” Robyn said.
“Well, it—whatever it is—has got to be around here somewhere! Maybe we have to dig for it,” Skeeter said. He got down on his knees and began pawing at the ground.
“Wait!” Kristi said. “Let’s look around first. These bushes are right in front of this big pile of rocks and boulders. Maybe there’s something there.”
“We don’t really have time for this, guys,” Dan said. “We have to get back to camp.”
“Uh-huh,” Kristi said absentmindedly. She pulled back a few branches, and then jerked back some more. “Help me with this, Skeeter,” she said. He grabbed the bushes and held them back while Kristi took a closer look at the rocks they were covering. She pushed against one of the rocks at the bottom of the huge pile of boulders.
“Careful!” Pete said. “You’ll bring those rocks down on your head!”
“No! Look at this! These rocks down here are just sitting by themselves. I think someone put them here. They’re not connected to the pile of boulders. They’re covering some kind of hole! I can see between them that it’s dug out.” Kristi struggled with the rock until Dan got in there and helped her shove against it.
Suddenly the rock moved. Inch by inch they rolled it away from a dark, gaping hole. They tackled the other rocks then until finally they were looking into a deep, dark hole.
They stood silently staring at the hole. It was narrow, but a thin person could easily slide through and down into the gap—or push a box deep inside. It seemed to tunnel down into the ground. Skeeter was all set to go down the hole and explore.
“No!” Dan said firmly. “We’re going back to camp. You can tell Dad what we found, Skeeter, and then later we can come back. You can’t go down there without some light anyway. Come on, let’s go.”
Skeeter didn’t argue. Dan was right. They needed light, and their father should be there when they went down into the tunnel. He took off running. He couldn’t wait to tell his dad! “Come on, Paul!” he yelled over his shoulder.
Steve and Rachel looked up as the teens came running over the ridge. “Hmm, they must be hungry!” Rachel chuckled.
“Dad! Mom! We found it! We found the pirates’ treasure!” Skeeter shouted as he bounded down the hill. He ran into camp ahead of all the others.
“What are you talking about, Skeeter?” Rachel asked. “What pirate treasure?”
“Well, I don’t know yet. We haven’t found it exactly. Just the hole. X marked the spot!” he panted.
“What on earth are you talking about? X marked the spot?”
“Yeah! I stood up high and looked down and there was the X made of stones. I said ‘Those dummies!’ Can you believe it, Mom? It was so cool!”
“Oh, yeah! Now could someone else please tell us what’s going on?”
Kristi filled them in on the details of their discovery up on the ridge. “I think Skeeter’s right, Dad. It looks like that may be the place where Paul’s uncle and the others hid those boxes,” she finally said.
“Well, I’m afraid we’re just going to have to wait until morning to find out. By the time we finish eating it will be too late to start climbing around on the ridge. It gets dark early here.”
Skeeter groaned. “Aww, Dad!”
“Sorry, Son. That’s just the way it is.”
As they sat around the campfire that night they tried to guess what might be in the boxes when and if they found them. Paul had no idea what his uncle had been up to. He never seemed to have any money, so he was sure it wasn’t treasure, like gold and silver or jewels.
“Maybe it’s more quilts,” Robyn suggested with a twinkle in her eye. “Maybe our pirates are the world’s greatest quilt thieves and they just forgot to stash our trunk of quilts with the rest!”
“Aww, Robyn!” Skeeter scoffed. “Get serious!”
They finally decided to go to bed. In their excitement, they had almost forgotten about rescue and when it would come. Now as they lay snuggled in their quilts, they wondered if tomorrow would be the day help came for them.
All except, Skeeter, that is. He was sure he’d never get to sleep that night. His mind was filled with finding the boxes, and what was in them. He finally did fall asleep, and when he did, he dreamed of ol’ Captain Wooden-Leg. Le Capitaine Jamb de Bois was loading boxes of quilts onto his sailing ship and eating a pepperoni pizza at the same time. Skeeter noticed the pepperoni slices made a big X on the pizza. The captain turned to Skeeter in his dream and stared right at him. He growled, “Aargh, me matey! Ye’ll walk the plank for that!”
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CHAPTER TWELVE
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Bullets on Buccaneer Bay
Steve went back up the ridge the next morning with the teenagers. They took a few tools, some rope and the flashlights they had found on the boat. The batteries were running low so the light was dim, but they hoped it would be enough to help them in the tunnel.
Steve laughed when he saw the X made of stones. “You’re right, Skeeter. I don’t think those pirates are too bright. I guess they didn’t know the X belongs on the treasure map, not on the treasure itself!”
He got down and examined the hole. He shone the flashlight down into it. “Yes, I think you’re right again. This seems to be a tunnel, alright. It’s dirt right here at the entrance, but then it’s rock the rest of the way down. And it widens out just a few feet in, too. I don’t see any signs of animals down in there, but it’s too dark to say for sure. It definitely looks man-made, but it’s old—made long before our time, I think. Look at these chips in the rock. Some kind of tool made those many, many years ago.”
“Paul’s uncle and his friends must have found an old pirate hidey-hole,” Kristi said.
“It looks that way,” her father agreed.
“Can I go in, Dad?” Skeeter asked eagerly.
“I don’t know, Skeeter…” Steve said doubtfully. “I’d rather check it out myself first, but I don’t think I could squeeze through the hole.”
“How about if I go with him, Dad?” Dan asked. Pete volunteered to go, as well.
“Well, okay, but let’s tie this rope around your waists so if you need help getting back out we can reach you. Now, watch carefully for any sign of loose dirt or rock that might cave in, boys. If you see anything like that at all, carefully and quickly back out again.”
“And watch out for snakes and spiders and rats!” Kristi said helpfully.
“Thanks!” Skeeter said sarcastically. He hesitated for a moment but then followed Dan quickly through the hole. Pete followed them.
It seemed like hours, but it was actually only a few minutes later when they heard Pete call back, “We found something! It’s a small cave down here! The boxes are here!” There was no clapping or cheering on the outside, though. Kristi and the others stood holding their breath, unable to relax until the guys came back out again.
Finally they heard scuffling sounds and a pair of sneakers appeared. Pete was backing out, pulling a crate with him. Skeeter followed with another box, and then Dan, dragging a third box. They were covered with dirt, but th
ey were all grinning from ear to ear.
“It’s not so bad down there!” Skeeter boasted. “No snakes or spiders, but there are at least five or six more crates! Let’s open these and see what’s inside!”
There were padlocks on each box, but Steve smashed the clasp of the first crate with a heavy crowbar he had brought from the boat. They lifted the lid. Inside was another box—a plastic tote. Steve unsnapped the lid and lifted it from the tote. They stared into the box.
It was filled with guns. Machine guns, semiautomatics, handguns… A few boxes of ammunition were stuffed in between the guns, as well. No one said a word. Just looking at the guns was scary. They seemed to be evil.
Steve broke into the second box. Another plastic tote was inside. This one contained something different—plastic bags of a white powdery substance, and bricks of some kind of green weed wrapped in plastic. “Drugs!” Pete said softly.
The third box contained more guns. Steve stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. “So,” he said grimly, “our pirates are gun and drug runners.”
“What’s that, Daddy?” Kristi asked.
“Well, they probably were working for some big-shot crime lord in South America, running guns and drugs illegally to the United States. They probably picked them up in their boat and brought them to St. Lucia where they’d be put on a plane to fly them to Miami. I’d say they got greedy, and faked losing this stash, and then hid it here until they could get their hands on a better boat and run it to the States themselves. Then they would keep the millions of dollars the guns and drugs would bring for themselves.”
Skeeter whistled. “So it really is a pirates’ treasure!”
“It sure is, Skeeter. But it’s death to many, many others. We have to tell the authorities about this when we get back to St. Lucia.” They looked soberly at the boxes on the ground before them. Finally they closed the boxes and put them just inside the entrance to the tunnel. They covered the hole with rocks again and started back across the ridge.
They hadn’t gotten far when they saw Rachel running toward them, waving her arms and yelling something. Steve and the kids started to run toward her. Finally they heard, “A boat! There’s a boat coming into the cove!”
They ran faster than ever then. They had just reached the crest of the ridge above their campsite when Steve stopped short. “Look! There’s a red and blue strip on that yacht! I think Paul’s uncle and his gang are back!”
The others stopped dead in their tracks and looked at the yacht in the bay with dismay and fear. Steve was right. It was them, alright. And there was no denying the pirates would know they were here. The old fishing boat still sat hung up on the rocks in the cove. Their campsite was in plain view on the beach. And of course, the giant SOS on the beach said, “Here we are!” There was nowhere for them to hide. Even the hole they had just found was no protection. It was the first place the pirates would go once they came ashore. They wouldn’t be happy, either, when they saw their stash had been found and tampered with!
“Get down!” Steve ordered. “They’ll see us standing on this hill!” They threw themselves to the ground and watched as the yacht sailed further into the cove.
“Lord,” Steve began to pray, “we need help right now. Please, Lord, these are dangerous men, and there’s no one who can protect us from them but You. Please, Father, show us what to do, and keep us strong and trusting You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“Come on,” he said softly. “There’s no place to hide, but maybe we can outrun them. Stay down, and let’s back away. Once we’re down the hill on this side we’ll stand up and run—south. Away from their stash. They’re going to go there first.”
The others agreed and began inching their way down the ridge. Finally Steve gave the signal for them to get up and run. Kristi caught a glimpse of the gang as they passed a little cleft in the ridge. They were in a small raft, rowing to shore. They were pointing at the campsite and talking excitedly. That’s all she saw, but it was enough. The pirates were really here.
Steve thought about the guns in the tunnel behind them and wished for a moment that he could get his hands on them in order to protect his family and friends. Then he shook his head. Too dangerous. They would just trust in the Lord alone.
They got down to the beach on the west side of the island and stopped behind some rocks to catch their breath for a moment. “We can’t stay here,” Steve said. “If they come to the top of the ridge they’ll see us. We need to move further down the shore to the southern end of the island. The ridge will hide us from their view there, at least for a while. Let’s go!”
They raced along the shore. Kristi kept glancing back, expecting to see the pirates in pursuit behind them at any moment. They rounded the curve of the shoreline and paused again to rest. For the moment they felt safe enough.
“What are we going to do, Daddy?” Kristi asked.
Her father thought for a minute. “I think maybe we should circle back toward the cove. Hopefully, they’ll leave the beach and go after those crates. While they’re gone, maybe we can get out to the yacht.”
“If they didn’t leave someone behind to guard it,” Dan added.
“Yes, that’s the problem,” Steve agreed. They cautiously made their way along the southern end of the horseshoe, trying to stay out of sight. Once they got to the very end they discovered they were nearly even with the place where the yacht stood anchored in the cove. All that separated them was a stretch of beach and a couple hundred feet of water.
They looked toward their campsite. The pirates were still there, knocking down The Hut, and kicking their belongings around. The quilts were trampled into the ground. They watched as Paul’s uncle spit on one of them. He laughed wickedly, and spit again. The leader of the gang stood gazing up at the ridge and up and down the beach. He obviously was looking for them. Another one of them—it looked like the nasty guy with the scarred face—was pouring their water over the campfire. He scuffed sand into it, and grabbed another jug of water, pouring it senselessly on the ground, as well.
Paul bowed his head into his hands. His shoulders shook. “Hey, it’s okay, Paul,” Skeeter whispered, patting his friend on the back. “We won’t need that stuff any more, anyhow! We’re getting off this island!”
The pirates left the beach at last and began climbing the ridge. They were looking around, trying to find the Camerons and their friends, but finally they disappeared over the edge.
Kristi heaved a sigh of relief. They watched for a few minutes more, but when the pirates didn’t return, they turned their attention to the yacht.
They couldn’t see anyone on board. All four of the men who had stolen the yacht had come ashore. There was no sign of Stanley. Still they waited, not knowing if the pirates had picked up other members of their gang along the way.
Finally, when they’d waited several minutes and all remained quiet on the yacht and beach, Steve said, “We’d better make our move. We don’t know how long they’ll be gone. I’m going to swim out to the yacht first and make sure everything’s okay. If it is, I’ll signal you. Can you all swim that far? Good!” he said when they nodded. “I’d rather not take a chance on going to the beach for the raft.”
They watched as Steve swam out to the yacht. He paused a moment in the water when he drew near, looking and listening for any signs of life. Finally he reached the ladder on the back of the boat and climbed aboard.
Steve disappeared into the cabin. They held their breath, praying he’d come out again. He reappeared at last and moved to the side of the boat closest to them. He waved his arms silently, motioning for them to come.
They glanced once more toward their camp. There was no sign of the pirates so they hurried down to the shore and slipped into the water. It wasn’t a long way to swim—maybe twice the length of their high school’s swimming pool back home, but with the threat of the pirate’s return any minute, it felt like they’d never get there.
At last they reached the safety of the yach
t, and one by one they climbed aboard. Steve had gone into the cabin again. They went inside looking for him.
He was kneeling beside Stanley. The poor fellow was tied up on the floor, and Steve was trying to cut through the ropes that bound him. Other than a few cuts and bruises, the young islander didn’t look too bad. He grinned widely when he saw them. “I okay! You okay! Let’s leave dis place!”
“You got it, Stanley! Here, Dan, see if you can cut these ropes around Stanley’s ankles. I’m going to start the yacht and get us out of here. Pete, would you please raise the anchor? Rachel, get on the radio and see if you can reach someone. Tell them we need the police in St. Lucia.” Steve turned to the wheel and started the engine. They had never heard a sound so beautiful as when it coughed once and then caught. They were rescued! They were free! They finally dared to cheer out loud!
Steve was backing the yacht up to turn her around, though, when they heard shouts coming from the island. The pirates were running down the slope of the ridge, waving their guns wildly and screaming curses. They hit the beach and began firing at the yacht.
“Get down, everyone!” Steve ordered. But there was no need to worry. The bullets fell short of the yacht as it quickly made its way out of the cove and into the Atlantic.
They looked back at the pirates far behind on the beach. They were yelling and screaming at one another and a fight had broken out. Suddenly Kristi started laughing. “Look! I think they shot their own raft! It’s dead in the water! Now they really are stuck there! They can just sit and wait for the police to come and get them, and their drugs and guns, too. Thank you, Lord! And now, St. Lucia, here we come!”
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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Treasures of the Heart
It was midafternoon by the time they got back to St. Lucia. Steve had turned the wheel over to Stanley once the young man had recovered from his ordeal with the pirates. Steve spoke on the radio with the police in St. Lucia, and they were waiting for them when the yacht pulled into Rodney Bay.
The Secret of Buccaneer Bay (Kristi Cameron Book 5) Page 10
