Golden Legacy

by Robert James Glider

  “Abi? You’re okay. Michael is next to you. Please tell me he’s breathing.”

  “Uh … he’s unconscious and breathing.”

  “Thank God.”

  “Jac! Where’s Jac?” Abi said. “I love him, Roni. I’m such a fool.”

  “You love Jac? Oh, God, Abi, why didn’t you tell me?” Roni cried. “Abi I have to tell you something.” Roni turned her head. What is that noise? Then she heard a quantity of the same strange sounds—clack clack clack—coming through the opening and getting closer.

  Crabs!

  Then she heard another sound. “It’s a motor! Oh my God, Remy is coming back to kill us!”

  CHAPTER 52

  Remy guided the small Zodiac he’d found on the Adventurer up onto the beach of the island on which Chauncey said the treasure was buried.

  Chauncey, with her hands tied tightly behind her back, struggled as Samuel dragged her from the boat.

  Remy jumped onto the sand and grabbed Chauncey by both of her shoulders. He drew her close and squeezed. “If you cooperate, I’ll let you live.”

  She winced as his fingers dug into her bare skin.

  “You son of a bitch. Did you kill my son?”

  Remy let her go and smacked her with the back of his hand, sending her to the ground. “No … he’s alive,” Remy lied. He was alive when he’d left him, but by the way he was losing blood, Remy knew he would be dead by now.

  “Listen to me,” Remy said. “It’s your choice. I’ll let him live if you help me. If you refuse, I’ll go back and kill him.”

  “All right! All right. I’ll help. But you’d better keep your promise, or I’ll kill you.”

  Remy laughed at the absurdity of Chauncey’s threat. “Good choice.” He grabbed her arms and lifted her from the ground. He pushed her toward a small break in the foliage. “Wait there.” He then reached into the Zodiac and picked up two large backpacks. Each carried a shovel, a pick, two canvas bags, fifty feet of rope, and other necessities. Remy thought it convenient to have found two backpacks packed and ready for the treasure hunt onboard the Adventurer. He slung one over his arms and handed the other to Samuel. “Lead the way.”

  “Hurry, Jac, the tide is coming in!” Mandrago yelled. He pointed toward the largest of three openings on the surface of the cliff.

  “You sure it’s that one?”

  “Not absolutely. I was groggy, but it looks like the right one.”

  “Okay, here we go.” Jac timed a rising swell and gunned the engine to position the Zodiac on the wave’s crest. “Everyone get down lower than the sides of the Zodiac or the ceiling of the cave will take off your heads!”

  Jac maneuvered into the front of the breaking wave. He cut the engine, and like a surfboard riding the crest of a wave, the Zodiac pushed easily through the cave’s opening.

  “That was a hell of a ride!” Mandrago said.

  Townsend’s man turned on his flashlight. The cave was about thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide. The ceiling was over twenty feet high. At one end there was a sand embankment.

  “Jac!” He heard Abi’s voice.

  “Is everyone all right?” Jac said. His voice resounded through the cave.

  “I think so.”

  When Jac guided the Zodiac up on the small sand island, Townsend, his man, and Mandrago jumped out. They swatted and kicked attacking crabs away.

  “We see you, Abi,” Mandrago said as he kicked away a large crab that tried to hold on to his shoe. “It’s too bad I don’t have a pot! Peri would cook you! God damn crabs!”

  Mandrago and Townsend’s man carried Roni, Abi, and Michael to the Zodiac.

  Jac cut the ropes binding them.

  Michael groaned and opened his eyes. “Where am I?”

  “Mike, you okay? Jac said.

  “Yeah. What happened? It’s you, Jac! Thank God. I thought you were dead. Is my uncle okay?” He looked up as Roni leaned down and kissed him.

  “Yes. Remy left you all in this cave to die—crab food. Peri is waiting for us on the beach. He’s okay except for a bump on his head.”

  “Jeez. The last thing I remember is James telling his men not to harm anyone. Then Remy damn near took off his head. Chauncey was screaming when someone hit me. I was out until now,” Michael said.

  “We won’t get out of here unless we leave now. The water’s rising fast,” Jac said.

  “Wait! James is back there!” Roni pointed. “I think he’s dead. He gave me a message for Chauncey.”

  Townsend was already kneeling by James’s side checking for a pulse. “He’s dead. He’s lying in a puddle of his blood. Poor bastard bled out.” Townsend knocked several crabs off James body, picked him up, and carried him to the bow of the Zodiac.

  Jac started the engine and turned the Zodiac around to face the opening. The opening was gone—it was under water until the wave receded.

  “Okay. This is going to be a little hairy,” warned Jac. “Drop down below the sides when I tell you. That’s when we go.”

  Jac waited. Two waves came and went before a big one crashed through the opening.

  “Duck!” As the water receded, a narrow gap appeared. Jac pushed the throttle to full while keeping the boat aimed for the opening. He laid back and felt the momentum increase as the ceiling of the cave blurred. He prayed. Everyone was huddled together on floor. The Zodiac bent and slowed as it scraped against the sides of the opening. It sounded like the hide being ripped off a large animal. A sudden surge forward, and they were clear. Jac let out a loud whoop when he saw the sky. Then he saw a wall of water coming at him. Another wave was about to break.

  “Stay down!” Jac yelled. The Zodiac hit the wave head on, went up, and bent in half as it sprung over the top of the wave and landed hard on the water. Jac saw large gouges on the sides of the boat. Thank God, Jac thought, for its thick hide. He moved the boat out of the way of the next incoming swell and headed toward the beach.

  Peri and Auntie Mick were standing in the surf, waving. Jac waved back.

  “Great job, son! I’m glad you remembered everything I taught you,” Mandrago said.

  Jac smiled. Abigail moved toward Jac and threw her arms around him.

  “Let’s go get Chauncey and take care of that Mafia bastard,” Michael said.

  CHAPTER 53

  A thick overgrowth of banana palms covered what a few hundred years ago might have been a pathway leading to the top of the mountain. Remy thought it was a good sign that the treasure might still on this island. Covered in sweat, Samuel hacked away at the thick vegetation. The heat was taking its toll. Samuel had stopped several times in the last ten minutes to rest and take a drink from his canteen.

  Remy realized he had to do something or Samuel would collapse. He didn’t want to kill him—at least not yet. Remy had decided he wouldn’t work hard since he needed to save his energy to carry the treasure.

  “Take a break,” Remy said.

  “Boss, this take a long time unless you help.”

  “Untie our prisoner. She’ll help you. And if she tries anything, kill her.”

  Chauncey found a shady spot and fell to the ground. “I need water.” Sweat soaked her clothes, and drops were forming in every pore on her body. With her hands tied behind her back, she was unable to wipe her face and spit out the salty secretions invading her mouth.

  “Damn it! There’s no breeze,” Remy said. He took his canteen from his backpack, took a long swig, and bent down to allow Chauncey a measured gulp.

  “Jac Kidd is going to come for you soon,” Chauncey taunted.

  Remy slapped her hard across the face. “Shut up and let me worry about Kidd.” Remy was angry. “I’ll untie you if you promise not to try any funny business. If I see you playing games, I’ll kill you. Then I’ll go back and kill your son. Do you understand?” He had to get to the treasure before
Kidd came after him. He had a man on Kidd’s boat with plenty of ammunition to stop Kidd from coming through the mouth of the lagoon. And his other man here with him would get him back to the boat. With what they had for firepower, Remy felt he would be able to hold them off and somehow escape.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Remy reached down and cut Chauncey’s bonds. “Samuel, give her the machete and let her take a turn in front of you. And be careful she doesn’t try to cut your head off.”

  Townsend ordered his men to load James’s body aboard the helicopter.

  Jac had laid out his plan to assault the Adventurer using both the helicopter and the Zodiac. Jac, Townsend, and two of his men would take the Zodiac. He turned to Peri. “How’s your head?”

  “I’m okay, Jac. I have a headache and I’m a little dizzy. Abigail said I have a mild concussion.”

  “Peri, it’s better that you stay with Abi, Auntie Mick, Michael, and Dad.”

  “Wait a minute. I’m going with you,” Abi said.

  “No way. You’ll be safer on the helicopter.”

  “Now you listen here, Jac Kidd, my safety is my concern. I’m going with you. That son of a bitch killed my mother.” Abi didn’t wait for an answer. She picked up a weapon from the ground and climbed into the Zodiac.

  “Just take her with you and be careful,” Auntie Mick said. She gave Jac a kiss on his cheek and a hug.

  Jac shrugged his shoulders and muttered something unintelligible.

  “Come on, son, let’s go find Chauncey,” Mandrago said.

  With the helicopter leading the way, Jac sped the Zodiac toward the island where the maps indicated the treasure was buried. As they approached the inlet into a lagoon, Jac saw that the Adventurer had dropped anchor and was blocking the way to the beach. Beyond the Adventurer, the smaller Zodiac, kept onboard for shore transport, had been pulled up on the beach.

  “You hear that sound? Jac Kidd’s coming to kill you,” Chauncey mocked.

  “Shut up, you whiney bitch!” Remy screamed. He reached out to slap her but missed when she ducked to the ground. He looked out through the foliage and saw a helicopter hovering just outside the inlet. Then he heard shots and saw his man on board the Adventurer firing at four men and a woman in a Zodiac that was zigzagging its way toward the beach.

  “Tie her up to that palm tree and leave her,” Remy said. “Let’s go. We’re close to the top. We have time to search for the treasure and find another way off this mountain.”

  With the undergrowth thinning, they were able to move faster. Remy broke out into a small clearing at the top of the mountain. After both men took a swig from their canteens, they searched the area for clues. The mountain had been formed by a volcanic upheaval thousands of years ago. Most of the ground was a dark color. But there were spots where coral and shells revealed that at one time the spot they stood on had been on the bottom of the ocean. One spot instantly caught Remy’s eye. Plant growth was all around it, but a small area was bare where a lighter colored coral was heaped higher than the ground, forming a small mound.

  “Dig in that bare spot where there’s no plants. I’ll survey the area and find another way off the mountain.”

  Looking down over the side of the sheer rock face, Remy saw a rock ledge about three feet wide that might be a way off the mountain. It was a drop of about twenty feet. If he missed, or if the footing gave way, he would fall several hundred feet to a certain death on the rocks below.

  “I found it!” Samuel yelled.

  CHAPTER 54

  The small Zodiac zigzagged its way toward the beach under a rain of bullets. Everyone aboard kept low. When a bullet deflated one of the several air chambers, the little craft slowed but didn’t stop.

  Jac prayed Remy hadn’t killed Chauncey. As they neared shore, he had a glancing thought of Anne and Mary’s arrival at that same spot three hundred years ago. The two women had been under the gun. They had to complete their mission, hide their shares of their recent plunder of the Spanish caravel, and return to the island where Calico Jack had left them before he and his men went off to Tortuga. From Anne’s account in her diary, he knew that, when Calico Jack returned, he wanted their shares since he had spent all of his drinking and whoring. According to Mary’s diary, when Anne and Mary refused, he became enraged and beat both women unmercifully. Both diaries indicated neither woman ever divulged the location to Calico Jack or anyone. Mary later wrote in her diary that she and Anne were so weak from the beating that they succumbed to Calico Jack’s advances. He told them that, if they resisted, he would let the rest of the men have their way with them before he cut their throats. It was the last time Calico Jack took advantage of them. Jac guessed, from Mary’s account of the incident, he took the women seriously. She wrote that, when they recovered and threatened to cut off his balls and feed them to the fish, he stayed away. But Calico had fired two lucky rounds the last time he slept with them, because two months later when they were caught, both women were pregnant.

  The boat scraped up on the sand.

  “Run for cover!” Jac yelled. Townsend helped Abi while Jac and Townsend’s men picked up and carried the Heckler & Koch automatic guns and ammo for each of them. They had enough firepower to take down a small army.

  “I want to take these men alive,” Townsend said.

  Abi remained silent.

  Jac could see from the look on Abi’s face that she was struggling. On one hand, she had taken the Hippocratic oath as a doctor to save people. On the other hand, he knew she wanted to take personal revenge on the little man from Virginia who had killed her mother and Chauncey’s son. It would be a hard decision for Abi. Jac hoped her ethics would prevail; he knew her oath would make it difficult for her to reconcile taking a life. Hopefully it would stop her. Also, if Chauncey was alive, she would want to exact her revenge on the man who had killed her son. Jac didn’t want either woman to live with the guilt of taking a life, so he decided that, if he got the opportunity, he would take the decision away from them. He could live with it.

  The man firing at them from the Adventurer turned his attention to the advancing helicopter. This drew fire away from the Zodiac.

  “Okay, let’s go get this done,” Jac said. “It looks like they cut through the heavy growth over there.”

  Townsend’s man, with a machete in hand, led the way. Townsend had ordered his other man to stay with the boats on the beach in case Remy found a way past them. The steep climb and the overwhelming heat caused them to stop frequently and hydrate. Abi crawled under the shade of a banana palm. She was wiping away sweat that had seeped into her eyes when Jac dumped some water from his canteen on her head. “That should help cool you down,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  “This way! They left me! Help!” A voice yelled from above them.

  Abi wiped her eyes and quickly rose. “That’s Chauncey’s voice!”

  Jac and Townsend bolted through the thick foliage.

  Jac turned and yelled, “Abi, follow us. Stay with Townsend’s man.”

  Remy gawked at the dark green emeralds set in the gold brooch that Samuel held in his hand. Remnants of what looked like a canvas bag were mixed in with the large cache of exotic jewelry and gold and silver coins lying loose in the hole Samuel had dug. Remy knelt down and scooped up two handfuls of the coins and stuffed them into his pockets. He told Samuel to do the same but not to weigh himself down with any more since they were going to climb. Remy picked up the two backpacks and emptied their contents on the ground. “We don’t need this stuff anymore!”

  “Okay, boss. We be rich.”

  You naïve son of a bitch—I’m rich! Remy thought “We have to get out of here first to be rich,” he told Samuel. Remy had no intention of sharing the treasure with anyone. He wanted to get it out safely, and then he would dispose of excess baggage. But for now, two men were needed, so he would play along.

 
; “Load each of the backpacks with as much as one person can carry,” Remy said. “Bring the ropes and the knives. Kidd is near where we left the bitch. Damn it! I should have killed her.”

  Samuel stuffed gold and silver coins, rubies, and other precious stone-encrusted jewelry into the large cavities of the two backpacks. When they were filled, he lifted each of them and was satisfied each pack weighed around fifty pounds. He zipped them up and peered into the hole. There was still a lot of gold and silver, but they would have to leave it behind. Samuel thought that maybe someday he could come back and get the rest. He pulled all the loose earth and rocks back into the hole and brushed the area to make it look like no one had dug anything up.

  Remy picked up a backpack and grunted as he put it on his back. It was heavy, but he would manage. “Don’t forget the ropes and knife. We’ll need them. I found what looks like another way off this mountain.”

  They quickly picked up their weapons and headed for the side of the mountain where Remy had found the ledge.

  CHAPTER 55

  Chauncey had called out several times while Jac and Townsend were climbing up the mountain toward her. She was relieved when she heard them yell that they were near. She had only one thing on her mind now—well really two. First, find out about her son’s condition, and second, kill Remy. She and Abi had formed a bond after finding out their ancestors, Anne and Mary, had children with a common father, Calico Jack Rackham. That made them distant relatives. She and Abigail had talked about what they would do if Remy was caught alive. They had secretly formulated a plan for his demise. All they had to do was find the opportunity to carry it out. Chauncey knew Abigail was a doctor, and purposely killing was against everything a doctor was taught. She decided she would pull the trigger before Abigail could act.

  Chauncey knew her son would need to be punished for running a criminal enterprise with Mullee. She silently prayed he would not have to die. Townsend was a fair man and could hopefully help James avoid the death penalty, she thought.