What Treasure Can Buy

It has been a moment since I have posted, but life is busy. Please enjoy this spooky read.

In the vast azure waters, off the coast of Morocco, Arturo steers the yacht due west, just past the Canary Islands. This time of year, the islands host fewer tourists because the Atlantic becomes more temperamental and the weather cooler. The recent earthquake off the southernmost island and the threat of tsunamis certainly did the trick of keeping people away. His wife, Sarah, decided that it was the perfect opportunity to be the first to find the lost pirate ship of the notorious Spanish pirate, Angel Garcia. She has no competition on this expedition for the long-lost royal treasures of the first Christian Kings of Spain. That is what’s at stake and from an investor’s perspective, Arturo likes his odds.

Arturo watches her pour over old maps and textbooks, graceful in her movements even as the yacht tips roughly side to side from the swelling waves. He is as invested as he can be. When he donated those first millions towards the archeological exploration of pirates and treasures all those years ago, he never imagined he would fall so madly in love with the lead professor on the project. So madly in fact, he is now chasing legendary treasures in a small yacht, in turbulent waters with an inexperienced and presently sea-sick pupil all for the greatest investment he ever made. His beloved wife.

Arturo laughs aloud at the absurdity as he watches Sarah’s dark curls bounce in her ponytail to the sounds of retching from young Evelyn, persistent over the howling winds.

“There!” Sarah calls out while pointing to a large formation of rocks just past the coastline of the Tenerife. It is not on any map, having only recently been exposed by the earthquake.

“Are you sure?” Arturo questions. The rock formation is large and the currents around it will make it difficult to steer. It is covered in seaweed and barnacles from being underwater for so long. With unpredictable waters, shallow tides, and jagged edges of stone along the entirety of the islands, Arturo sees no way in. The Spanish government was hesitant to grant anyone permission for docking. Arturo is, of course, the exception following yet another donation to the local law enforcement. For the valiant efforts of all guards who diligently watch the seas, his beloved had poetically flattered.

“Yes! Go around to the east side. You will see an opening. If we are lucky, the current will help us sail right through!”

Arturo winces at her confidence while Evelyn finally lifts her head from the portside to see what Sarah is referring to. Her blonde hair is now darkened and matted against her cheeks; her eyes are bloodshot.

According to Sarah’s instructions, Arturo finds the opening. It is tall enough for the yacht but there is no telling what lies beyond. Arturo leads the yacht into the cave with little effort as the current is indeed on their side. His palms become sweaty against the pull of the wheel.

Despite the crashing waves and the strong gale, once they enter the dark ancient hallway, their boat is gently steered into a large cavern where silence falls around them. Sarah grabs the large flashlight at her feet, instructing Evelyn to do the same. Arturo switches the yacht’s lights on but none of the equipment responds. Even the motor stalls.

“Sarah, find the flares”.

“It has to be that the seismic activity is creating an electrical current and it is messing with our stuff”, Evelyn offers.

“I can’t find the flares, Arturo!”

The darkness envelopes them before the flares are found and they are completely blind to the danger ahead until all passengers are thrust forward from the yacht crashing against a hard object. Arturo, Sarah, and Evelyn groan as the lights on the yacht and flashlights flicker on.

“Is everyone alright?”, calls Arturo.

“Are you seeing this?” croaks Evelyn, flashlight trembling in her hands.

“Yahtzee!” Sarah exclaims while removing her jacket and sweater to reveal the top half of a wetsuit.

“Sarah, I’m going to radio in before something happens to the power again. Someone should come help us with all…this”, Arturo suggests, pressing himself upright on shaky legs. All this was a massive wooden ship with the Spanish flag and Jolly Roger hanging together on a large mast. More than that are the bones, darkened and splintered with age, but otherwise well preserved. The cave floor is covered with them. Arturo’s stomach turns, as Evelyn vomits once more.

“Take it easy Evelyn. This is the find of a lifetime and you’re missing it!” Sarah sighs and shakes her head. “Have some water and sit a while. I don’t want you passing out”, she teases. “We got to get on that ship”.

“We really do, we’re taking on water”, Arturo panics. “I’ll grab the radio and life float”.

“Evelyn, get the equipment, don’t let it get wet! I’ll grab the journals”. They all scramble about the now-sinking yacht. Sarah pulls herself up the ladder, followed by Evelyn, who passes her the equipment, then the journals and finally the radio.

“The radio isn’t picking up a signal. It’s just static”, Arturo says while climbing over the ship’s edge.

“Well, we are in a cave, I’m not surprised”, Sarah retorts, collecting her notes as they all look over at the yacht now almost fully submerged.

“Professor, I don’t like this. This is not what I signed up for”, says Evelyn.

“Occupational hazard I’m afraid. Don’t worry, I’ll get the Coast Guard”, Arturo grabs the radio and begins to search the channels.

“I might as well start documenting and collecting samples. Evelyn, take a thermal reading of the room, I’m going to make my way to the inside of the ship. That’s where the treasure will be”.

“Are you sure that’s safe, this ship has been underwater a long time”, Arturo says.

“I’m tying a rope around my waist “I’ll be fine. Let me go through it for about 15 minutes. Let’s keep our voices and movements low to minimize vibrations. If I pull once I’m good, If I pull twice, pull me back. If you haven’t heard from me in 15 minutes pull anyway”, Sarah is completely in her wetsuit now, an equipment belt around her waist.

Evelyn is rummaging through a box, never lowering her gaze from the room around her. Arturo watches her as she finally puts down the flashlight and picks up the reader when she releases a smoky breath. Evelyn’s eyes meet Arturo’s as he raises his eyebrows in confusion.

“Sarah, I’m cold”, Evelyn calls down to her, too frightened to move from her squatted position.

“I can see her breath”, Arturo confirms.

“That’s strange, it feels hot. It’s hot in a way that doesn’t make sense to be hot.”

“What does that mean?” Arturo asks while setting the radio upright.

“It means we are all so cold that we can see our breath, but our thermometer is reading 40 to 45 degrees Celsius.” Evelyn clips back.

“That doesn’t make sense, the reading has to be wrong”, Sarah examines the reader. “This is all new so let’s take it a bit at a time. My love, get the Coast Guard”.

“On it”, Arturo continues working on finding an open channel. “Be careful down there”.

“Always”, Sarah smiles as she disappears into the darkness of the ship.

Evelyn sets a timer as she attempts to adjust the settings of the reader to try again. Arturo starts to work on the radio and for a few moments, they work and watch silently together, waiting for the timer to go off. At the ten-minute mark, Arturo gets through to the Coast Guard.

“Arturo Palacios to Coast Guard please confirm you received the coordinates over”, he speaks into the receiver.

“Roger coordinates received; a boat is on the way.”

“Roger that over and out, see you in 20”.

Arturo looks at a relieved Evelyn. “Is this your first expedition?”

“Unofficially, yes”, Evelyn does not look up from the reader. Her hands are shaking now.

“What do you mean unofficially?”

“It means that because you guys didn’t want anyone to know about this place yet, Professor made me sign a non-disclosure. I’m not here”.

“That sounds about right. And I lost my favourite yacht. That’s going to be hard to explain to the insurance company.”

“What? You don’t normally use your yachts to crash into pirate ships?”

Arturo turns his head towards the open hatch of the ship deck as the timer slowly ticks on. “It’s an investment, and my investments normally pay off”.

Evelyn sits back and looks at Arturo for a moment before turning back to her notes when suddenly the rope goes taught. Arturo and Evelyn look towards the rope and they both jump towards the hatch.

“Sarah?” Arturo calls out, but there is no response. The light she took down with her is also off.

Arturo grabs the rope and starts to pull.

“Evelyn, come help me I’m getting a lot of resistance here”, he says through grunts.

Evelyn joins behind him and with great effort begins to pull Sarah out. The ship groans under their weight and effort. Their lights and equipment begin to flicker once more, but at last, Sarah emerges. She is in the fetal position. Evelyn holds onto the rope as Arturo rushes to Sarah’s side. The quiet returns once more and the lights cease flickering. Evelyn is panting hard, while Arturo sits his wife upright.

“Sarah, what happened?” She does not look at him, and her gaze is vacant, but cocooned to her chest Arturo makes out the peaks of a large ruby and gold crown. Arturo kisses her forehead and turns to open the inflatable lifeboat and lower it into the water.

“Evelyn, help me get her onto the boat.” Evelyn walks over to Sarah but Sarah hisses back at her.

“Now what?” Evelyn stops in her tracks and looks back to Arturo, as her breath begins to smoke out of her mouth again. The temperature around them dropped quickly. Arturo lowers himself to the opened lifeboat.

“We must get out of here. The Coast Guard will be waiting just outside for us, we can meet them. Get the crown away from her,” He calls up.

The lights begin to flicker but now there is movement. He can’t make it out because of the flickering lights. Evelyn is trying to coax Sarah to give her the crown and get her seated, but Sarah will not let go. She begins to shake violently before stopping abruptly and looking up with anger at Evelyn.

“M..MM…Mr. Palacios?” Evelyn yells over the sudden sounds of strong wind, many voices, and scraping that swells all around them. Arturo secures the oars as he now has the bow facing the exit, but when he turns to check Evelyn, Sarah has stood up and is now standing over a kneeling Evelyn, her eyes wide as Evelyn trembles below her.

“Sarah!” Arturo calls out to her. She sharply turns her head to look down at him, and it is like shadows from the bones in the cave rush past the walls and block their path. The lights stop flickering, and Arturo is unable to move. He stands face to face with a shadow of a large man and there is nowhere for him to go. He looks back up at his wife as she clutches the treasure to her chest.

“Evelyn, take the crown, toss it back”, Arturo manages to say quietly but harshly, and once those words leave his tongue, the cave falls deathly silent once more, although the shadow remains. They are freezing now yet sweat is streaming down all their faces. Evelyn rushes Sarah, but Sarah bares her teeth and growls back. Arturo releases the oar to help but is pulled back by the shadow. Evelyn manages to pry the crown from her hands, but Sarah lunges at Evelyn, knocking her and the crown over the stern of the ship and into the water.

“Sarah, no!” Arturo cries as Sarah collapses onto the deck of the ship, confused and panting. The shadow releases Arturo and dives in after Evelyn and the crown, taking her down into the depths and vanishing. Evelyn did not even have time to scream.

When Arturo reaches Sarah from climbing the ladder, he grabs her by the shoulders and gently coaxes her down. She is in a daze and stumbles into the lifeboat, but the path is now clear. Arturo grabs the oars and stiffly rows out through the tunnel and into the now clear skies of morning. Arturo does not stop until he has placed some distance between them and the island, his arms screaming. It is only then that Arturo looks back. It’s as if nothing and everything had happened. The day was warm and beautiful. He looks down at Sarah huddled in her seat. She has calmed, her breathing has become even, and her gaze soft.

“Arturo”, she whispers hoarsely.

“Hush mi vida, it will be okay”, he kneels to hold her. He touches her face and checks her briefly before he sees the Coast Guard quickly approaching.

“Evie,” she manages to say.

“No, it was just us today. There was too much air pressure in that cave. We found nothing. We lost nothing”, he emphasized each syllable while looking into Sarah’s eyes to see if she understood. Sarah shudders but nods curtly.

“Nothing but the yacht”, Arturo then kisses her forehead as they wait for the Coast Guard to meet them.