Brian saw no harm in telling him what they had done with the things they brought up from the Money Pit. In fact he needed to spread the word that the treasure wasn’t on Oak Island any longer. They didn’t need unauthorized visitors.
“The Cultural Office gave us instructions. We left a guard at the site tonight for security but there’s no treasure left there. The sentinel’s there just in case somebody gets nosy. The treasure itself was moved this afternoon to a bank in Lunenburg. It’ll be safe there until the people from the government in Halifax arrive.”
A young man sat at the bar near Brian and Harold, listening to the conversation. He heard the bartender ask Brian, “So are you through looking? Was gold what you came here to find?”
Brian’s answer was cautious. “We don’t know what’s at the bottom of the Money Pit. We think something is, but no one knows what. So far we’re the first to even reach the hundred-foot level without the shaft flooding. This find is a bonus – I would bet money it’s pirate treasure – but I also bet whoever buried it didn’t dig the Money Pit. He just borrowed the top half of it. I hope there’s more to come. We’re going all the way down.”
“Is there more gold down there, you think?”
“Who knows? Everyone here’s heard the tales about Shakespeare, aliens, crown jewels from fallen monarchies – all that stuff. After all this time nobody has a clue if anything’s down there or what it might be. Maybe we can find out. By day after tomorrow if all goes well we may know a lot more.”
The patron at the bar hadn’t engaged in the conversation. He hadn’t even glanced toward Brian and Harold. He just nursed his beer. When the two left the tavern a half hour later the stranger paid his tab, walked to his Cooper Mini in the parking lot and drove away.
Chapter Sixty-Two
At eight pm Brian was in his room preparing for a shower. It had been an exciting, exhausting day. His cellphone rang and he was thrilled to see the caller’s name displayed. Nicole. It was the first time she had called him since her wreck.
“Hey,” he answered. “Is it you?”
“It’s me,” came the familiar voice. “This is the first phone call I’ve dialed myself. I remembered how to do everything, Brian.” She started crying. Tears rolled down Brian’s face too as he thought how far she’d come, but how difficult even the simplest tasks were to someone who was struggling to regain their cognitive skills.
“I’m proud of you, baby. You’re really getting better fast.”
“I miss you, Brian. I hope you come back soon. And I saw your picture on the news tonight.”
That was a surprise. “You did? Are you sure?”
“Yep. You found a bunch of pirate treasure today. It made the national news.”
With the entire area abuzz about Blackbeard’s gold he wasn’t surprised the networks had picked up the story. But no locals had contacted him for a comment. That was a little surprising.
“Did they interview anybody about the treasure?”
“There was a man on the newscast. I don’t remember his name. He had on overalls and was older than you are. Some man from the government also talked.”
Most likely they had spoken to Harold. The old guy was reclusive but he was getting his time in the spotlight tonight. He’d take a look at the Internet later and see what Harold had said.
“I’m hoping we can reach the bottom of the pit in the next two days, Nicole. Then I can take a few days off and come to Dallas. I can’t wait to see you.”
After ending the call Brian watched the news story. He saw Harold Mulhaney expound on subjects from Edward Teach aka Blackbeard the pirate to what lay at the bottom of the pit. Brian held his breath as the interview continued. Harold was privy to most of the information Brian had learned about the Knights Templars and he hoped the old man hadn’t given away anything that should be kept confidential.
And thankfully he hadn’t. Mulhaney had a mysterious look on his face and a gleam in his eye as he responded to the reporter’s questions. “Us locals have heard for years about what might be at the bottom of the Money Pit. Just today Mr. Sadler and I proved there’s something valuable there, and we ain’t even at the bottom yet. I think I know what’s down there. It’s old, it’s rarer than anything on earth and it’s priceless. That’s all I’ll tell ya.” And he shut up, refusing to answer anything more.
Good for you, Harold.
Chapter Sixty-Three
The representative from the Cultural Office in Halifax was at the Money Pit by nine am. Brian gave him a tour and let him speak with the men who had discovered the gold in the shaft. His visit ate up ninety minutes of valuable time but it was unavoidable. The government of Nova Scotia had been extremely helpful throughout the entire process and today was no exception. The man thanked Brian for his cooperation and left to visit the bank in nearby Lunenburg, where the gold was stored.
Brian took Harold aside and congratulated him on a good interview. “You made national news in the States,” he said.
Mulhaney just smiled. Brian almost laughed out loud. He had never seen Harold smile.
“And thanks for keeping the Templar information confidential.”
“No problem, son. My daddy used to say you gotta learn when to talk and when to shut your mouth. That was one time I had talked enough.”
With renewed vigor the crew went back to work in the pit. Excavation continued and by one pm they were at a hundred and fifty-four feet, stopped by a piece of concrete blocking the pit. This was the best sign yet. It was exactly what Brian had hoped for – the early syndicates reported a cement vault with some type of wood inside at this level. Up until now the excavators had run across nothing more than the platforms of logs every ten feet that were described by earlier diggers, but suddenly they were excited.
Brian stopped the work for the remainder of today. He explained to his men that there was a second flood tunnel just above the level where they were now. If that tunnel held during the night they could break through the concrete tomorrow and see what lay below. But if the Money Pit flooded it would be best not to have opened the concrete vault. If for some reason they couldn’t easily remove the contents this afternoon, whatever was there could be destroyed by flooding tonight. Better to wait for a new day and ensure the flood tunnel was properly dammed up.
Brian gave his men a pep talk, thanking them for their hard effort and encouraging them to be ready to achieve their goal tomorrow. He asked them to get a good night’s sleep and meet him at the site at seven am, just after sunrise. If their luck held and the pit was dry, they would learn the secret tomorrow.
Brian told his crew chief and two other men to stay so they could plan the strategy for tomorrow. As they sat with cups of coffee ten feet from the fabled Money Pit, they discussed what lay ahead.
That night he spoke with Nicole and told her everything that had happened today. The excitement in his words was palpable as he explained the wonderful things that might be the Most Holy Relics. And she understood. She asked probing questions and mentioned things they’d discussed days earlier. He was more encouraged tonight than ever. She was on the way back. Not quite there yet, but definitely on the mend. He went to sleep a happy man in every way.
Chapter Sixty-Four
The same rowboat landed on the beach at Smith’s Cove at 3:30 am. The man from the tavern was dressed completely in black, his face covered by a ski mask. He carried a dart gun and on his belt was a silenced pistol in a holster. He had a small backpack. He walked toward the Money Pit, staying in the shadows and listening for any sound of the guard’s presence.
Thirty feet from the excavation point he saw the guard smoking a cigarette. The man was sitting in a lawn chair facing the intruder. He held an iPad in his hands and was staring intently at its screen. The dog was nowhere to be seen.
The stranger moved quietly through the trees and brush until he was behind the sentry. He could hear the iPad now; the man was watching a movie. He moved to within five feet of the guard, raised his
dart gun and fired. The guard toppled forward out of his chair onto the ground. The trespasser had ten minutes before the man would awake from the light anesthetic the dart had contained. That was more than enough time. He tied the guard securely to a tree and gagged him.
Confirming no one else was around, the stranger opened his pack and removed two sticks of dynamite and a cap. With precision learned from years of practice he prepared everything and dropped the sticks into the Money Pit. A timer would detonate the dynamite in half an hour. The explosives were now lying a hundred and fifty feet down the shaft, on top of the concrete vault below. The guard would be safe from the detonation. But the bottom of the pit would be ruined.
The water was calm as he rowed slowly back to the mainland, docked the boat where he had rented it, got in his Cooper Mini and drove to Halifax.
Chapter Sixty-Five
At six am Harold Mulhaney sat in his pickup outside the Oak Island Inn. The sun would rise in twenty minutes – he and Brian wanted to be at the pit ahead of the work crew who had been told to arrive at seven.
They crossed the causeway onto the island and drove to the Money Pit. As he got out of Harold’s truck Brian called out to the guard but got no response. The men looked around and heard a noise. The guard struggled against his ropes and gag, still securely bound to a large oak tree.
They cut him loose. “This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen,” Brian said after the man told him what had transpired during the night.
“When I woke up from being drugged I was tied to this tree. In a few minutes I heard a loud ‘whump’ and saw smoke come out of the Money Pit. I never knew what hit me, but I think someone sabotaged the project, Mr. Sadler. I let you down. I’ve let the whole crew down, and everybody in this area who thought they’d find out today what’s in the pit.”
Brian reassured the man. “Things are never as bad as they seem,” he said, more optimistically than the guard would have expected for having lost the prize he came for.
The guard asked, “Do you think we still can go down into the shaft and open the concrete vault?”
Brian and Harold walked over to the Money Pit. It was impossible to miss the seawater standing just thirty feet below them. One or both of the flood tunnels had burst and the pit had flooded up to sea level, just like every time before.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Oak Island/Dallas
By seven the entire crew had assembled at the site. Brian explained to them what had happened. Word had obviously gotten around the area the afternoon before. Plenty of people knew they had reached the bottom of the Money Pit and were preparing to open the concrete vault the next morning.
Someone had other plans – he either wanted to sabotage the entire project or he intended to open the vault and steal its contents. If it were the latter he would have needed more help. Brian was inclined to believe someone had decided to stop his search for the Most Holy Relics. The perpetrator of this act had put explosives in the shaft. Now the pit was flooded and there was no way to know how much damage had been done at the bottom.
To say the men were disappointed would be a vast understatement. They talked quietly among themselves, their eagerness to begin this exciting day quashed by the grim news of defeat.
The work crew was sent home. Brian and Harold went back to his cabin near the Money Pit, loaded a small crate into the back seat of the pickup and drove to the Oak Island Inn. Brian’s suitcase was packed and ready to go. He threw it and his backpack into the truck bed and they drove to Halifax.
At the Office of Culture and Heritage Development they met with the representative who had come to the pit two days earlier. They told him everything that had occurred since his visit to the site and handed over the crate they’d brought. The official was particularly concerned to hear about the assault on their guard and the bombing of the Money Pit. The official promised a governmental inquiry and said he would alert the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The man assured Harold and Brian the Mounties would be on site immediately to open an investigation. He thanked Brian for his efforts and for the forthright and efficient way he had conducted the entire mission in Nova Scotia.
Brian and Harold Mulhaney had a cup of coffee at the Starbucks near the Halifax airport. They talked about the amazing events that had transpired in the last week. They would keep in close touch; there was a lot left to do on the Oak Island project before they were finished. Harold would represent Brian on the scene from now on.
He caught the American flight to Philadelphia, made a connection and was in Dallas that evening. He hadn’t told Nicole he was coming and the doorman at her condo agreed to let him go upstairs unannounced.
Brian rang her doorbell and heard Shelia’s voice. “Who is it?”
“Pizza delivery for Nicole Farber,” he said loudly.
The caregiver responded, “We didn’t order a…”
Then Brian heard the sound of banging – someone was frantically trying to open the door. Finally the lock turned and the door opened wide. Nicole was standing there sobbing, a huge grin on her face. She jumped into his arms. Neither of them talked for what seemed like forever. Then she said, “You’re a bastard for not telling me you were coming back.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you did. Get in here, Brian. And Shelia, I’m good for tonight and hopefully longer if I can talk this man into sticking around Dallas for a few days. You’re off for now. I’ll call you tomorrow about when I’ll need you back. Oh, forgive me! Brian, you remember Shelia. She’s the best and she’s been a working miracles for me!”
The caregiver laughed at her exuberance. “You’re like a little girl, Nicole. Don’t you hurt yourself! Be careful with her, Brian. She’s mended well but she’s still fragile.”
Nicole smiled and hugged Brian tightly. “Don’t you worry, Shelia! I’ve been waiting for this guy for a long, long time. He’s the best medicine for my recovery. He takes good care of me!”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
A joint press conference was set for the afternoon after Brian returned to Dallas. Half of the broadcast was from the studios of CTV Halifax where the Minister of Culture and Heritage sat before the camera alongside Harold Mulhaney. The other half featured Brian in the Victory Park studio of the ABC affiliate, Channel 8 in Dallas.
The press conference aired at 5:45 pm Dallas time, coinciding exactly with ABC’s national news. A half hour before the conference a release was distributed to the international press. The headline read “Ancient Box Discovered in Nova Scotia; Money Pit Gives Up its Secret At Last.” Social media sites like Twitter were going crazy – this broadcast was certain to break records for viewership given its exciting news.
At the appointed time the Canadian reporter welcomed viewers to the show and introduced the Minister and Harold Mulhaney. “Mr. Mulhaney participated in the discovery of an ancient stone box over a hundred and fifty feet below the surface. The box was in a shaft built centuries ago by the Knights Templars,” the reporter announced.
The feed switched to Dallas where Brian was introduced and his background as a renowned gallery owner and wealthy amateur archaeologist was explained. Video footage of Oak Island and the Money Pit ran as Brian described the area and the background of what brought him to the fabled place. As the camera came back to him, he used a large poster to explain the Money Pit. It pictured the shaft in cross-section from the surface to its bottom. The flood tunnels were shown, as were the ten-foot platforms of timber and the area where the gold coins and jewelry had been found.
“Mr. Sadler, please explain to our audience how your foresight one afternoon a few days ago thwarted an attempt to sabotage your project.”
Brian explained what had happened the afternoon the work crew reached the concrete barrier at 154 feet. He had stopped the work for that day, retaining three senior members of his crew on site to strategize.
One day previously the men had discovered what appeared to be pirate treasure. By dusk word
had spread like wildfire among the people living nearby. With a crew of twenty men it was impossible to keep a secret and Brian knew the townspeople would quickly hear that today they’d reached the bottom. Tomorrow Brian’s crew would open the concrete vault. This would be major news and everyone would be eager to learn what was up on Oak Island.
By 1:30 pm Brian and Harold had made a decision. Instead of waiting to ensure the shaft didn’t flood during the night, they would take a major chance. Clandestinely the three workers would descend into the shaft and cut open the concrete vault. They had several hours of daylight left, hopefully enough to remove whatever was in the vault itself. If they couldn’t remove it the five of them would personally guard the site all night and pray to God the shaft didn’t flood before they could extricate whatever was there.
While Brian and Harold waited at the surface the three crewmen labored in the shaft. The concrete had held remarkably well for hundreds of years, withstanding flooding of the shaft numerous times. A tiny hole was the only evidence of test boring in the early 1800s, and it had long ago plugged itself up with mud. The men used picks and at 2:40 pm they broke through the top of the concrete.
Brian explained for the television audience that the vault itself was a cube four feet on each side. Tightly fitting inside it was a wooden box, the top of which came off easily. Nestled inside the box, protected on all side by cedar shavings, was a stone chest with ancient inscriptions and carvings of a fish on it. It was roughly a foot long, eight inches deep and ten inches tall.
The three men who had opened the vault were sent home with hefty bonuses and a promise of secrecy until the government could be informed of the discovery.
A picture of the box flashed on the screen. It was an ossuary with two parts: a lid and a base. Its purpose would have been to hold the bones of a deceased person. In ancient times ossuaries were used by many cultures; they would usually be placed in niches inside caves.
Brian Sadler Archaeology 04 - The Bones in the Pit Page 26