Captain Rourke

by Helena Newbury

  “In,” I rasped.

  He shook his head. “Shh,” he said sternly. “Don’t try to speak.” His face was pale. I’d scared the hell out of him.

  “In,” I insisted. With great difficulty, I lifted one hand to point towards the island.

  “Hush!” he told me. He mopped my brow with the cold washcloth again. I could see a portable oxygen cylinder, too, with a mask. That must have been what he kept putting over my face. Probably the only thing that had allowed my spasming lungs to breathe.

  “In... side,” I grated. And this time, I turned to look and he looked, too, finally seeing what I’d seen.

  The cliffs towered fifty feet, all around the island. But one section was different to the others. It wasn’t made up of solid, unbroken rock but a mess of boulders. They’d been lying there so long, they’d almost merged together, the gaps concealed by grass and plants. But if you looked hard enough, you could see the V-shaped gap they filled. A gap just big enough for a ship to pass through, when it had been open.

  “Oh my God,” muttered Rourke.

  The Hawk was right where the map said it was. Captain Mace had sailed it inside the island.

  48

  Hannah

  “Dynamite?” I was sitting on the deck, my knees drawn up under my chin, and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was still warm but I was sweat-soaked and shaky from the attack, and I wasn’t steady enough on my feet for a hot shower, yet. “Actual...you know...dynamite?”

  It sounded so ridiculous, to my ears. Dynamite was for cowboys, breaking out of jail cells, or for cartoon characters to swap for cigars. People didn’t actually own it. Except Rourke did and he was talking about using it to clear the passage into the island. When he brought up a big, plastic case from below deck and carefully unwrapped several sticks, I was amazed to see it even looked like the stuff in cartoons, fuse and all. “And that’s been just riding around with us in the boat?” I asked weakly. “Just rattling around, every time we hit a wave?”

  Rourke just frowned curiously at me, as if it was all normal. More than anything else, more than the smuggling or the bribing officials or the sword or the rum or the living on a boat, it brought home how utterly different his life was. I’m a librarian. He owns dynamite.

  He had to swim over to the island to place it. I watched through binoculars as he scaled the pile of rocks and shoved sticks into what I guessed were strategic locations. I was wincing the whole time, my body taut as a wire: one spark, one dropped stick of dynamite and he’d be gone.

  When he finished and climbed down, I felt like I’d aged thirty years. Then, just as I was about to relax, he bent down, struck a match and a glowing, sparking ember began to rush along the fuse, terrifyingly fast. As Rourke dived into the water and swam around the side of the island, I pressed myself flat against the deck, hands over my ears—

  There was a low rumble, like the loudest thunder I’d ever heard, and the whole boat shook. A hot wind rushed past the back of my neck. And then all I could hear were splashes.

  When I raised my head to look, Rourke was halfway back to the boat, watching over his shoulder as the smoke cleared. The passage gradually came into view, now open...and beyond it was clear blue water, leading into the interior of the island. I gave a low moan of hope. It was just possible I was right.

  Rourke could feel it, too. I could see the tension in his body as he climbed aboard: we had to get there, had to know. He didn’t even stop to dress or get dry. As soon as he was back aboard, he just fired up the engine and took us in. He cursed under his breath as he eased the Fortune’s Hope into the passage. The rock walls were worryingly close and yet our boat was much smaller than a pirate galleon. “Captain Mace was a romantic idiot,” Rourke muttered, “but I’ll give him this: he had balls.”

  The passage turned a corner ahead, blocking our view. My legs were still shaky but I grabbed the rail and heaved myself to my feet, then went to stand behind Rourke. As we began to turn the corner, I unconsciously put a hand on his back, letting the warm press of his muscles against my palm calm me. This was it: if I was wrong, it was all over….

  We turned the corner. Rourke and I gasped together.

  A sheltered bay lined with white sand beaches filled almost the entire interior of the island. The high walls meant there was little wind, the palm trees just barely rustling. Crystal-clear water was beneath us, the bottom too far down to see.

  I looked behind us. The passage we’d re-opened was the only way in or out. No one had been here in three hundred years, not since Captain Mace blocked the passage behind him. No wonder no one ever found the wreck.

  Rourke slowed us and then dropped the anchor. Before the boat had even stopped moving, he was up on the rail, powerful legs bending to leap. He stopped only when I scrambled up beside him. There was no time for swimsuits: I just pulled my t-shirt over my head and dropped my shorts, leaving me in bra and panties.

  “No,” he said sternly. “You haven’t recovered yet.”

  I shook my head. “You think I’m missing this?” I croaked. Strangely, it wasn’t just the cure. It was the Hawk itself. It was everything we’d been through, this whole crazy adventure. I wanted to be there if we found it. My heart had started to pound in my chest and suddenly I understood. I got what drove him to be out here hunting for treasure. I understood the addiction: I was already a little addicted myself, against all my mouse tendencies. What a life. Learning the history, discovering clues, racing to get to the treasure first….

  Except—my chest constricted—he didn’t have that life anymore. It had all gone wrong, Edwards had died, and he’d given it all up, until I came along. What I’d seen was a glimpse into how he used to be. As soon as we were done here, he’d go back to that lonely, miserable existence...and I’d go back to Nebraska.

  I took a deep breath...and we dived.

  I got my bearings and kicked for the bottom. God, the water was so clear! And teaming with coral, small fish and other life, from anemones to starfish. When Mace sealed this place up, he’d created a wildlife preserve: humans hadn’t fished or polluted these waters for three centuries. And the water was beautifully warm: the high rock walls made the island into a giant sun trap.

  It hit me how much more confident I was, now. Open ocean still scared the hell out of me but in these sheltered waters I felt totally at ease. We dived deeper, descending towards the dark shadows at the bottom.

  No. Wait: not just a shadow. There was something huge covering the bottom of the bay! I kicked faster, hands tearing at the water. I couldn’t hold my breath much longer but I had to know. As my eyes adjusted, I started to make out detail in the darkness and then I saw something rising towards me—

  Masts! Three huge wooden masts, one with a crow’s nest still attached, now trailing long ropes of seaweed. And below them a wide wooden deck and a rising prow….

  I twisted around to find Rourke. He was right behind me and I knew the expression on my face probably matched his: sheer, childlike joy. We’ve found it!

  I flew into his arms and wrapped him into a hug, clinging to him. He held me there while he kicked us to the surface and seconds later we emerged panting into the sunlight.

  He gripped my upper arms as we treaded water. “I know you want to get the cure,” he said gently. “But let’s just go slow. Okay? We need to be careful.”

  I nodded. He was right: I was giddy on adrenaline and so desperate to get into the hold and find the cure, I wasn’t thinking straight. I let him lead me back to the boat and forced myself to be patient while we grabbed air tanks, flippers, and masks. By that time, my strength was mostly back and my shakiness had gone.

  The warm, clear water made it an easy dive. There was enough sunlight filtering down from above that we could make out every detail of the ship. Protected from the ocean’s currents by the rock walls, she’d stayed in amazing condition. We could see the huge hole in one side where Captain Mace had scuttled her, the figurehead at t
he front, even the name.

  Rourke led me to the big, square opening in the deck that led down to the hold. We went cautiously, ready to back out fast. We didn’t know what creatures had made their homes in the wreck.

  At first, all I could see was barrels. Then wooden boxes and then—

  I drew in a shuddering breath. Both of us came to a stop, floating above the floor.

  A carpet of gold covered one whole side of the hold. It was like a beach made of doubloons, at least ankle deep. And that was just the money from chests that had broken open and spilled their contents. I counted thirty more that were still sitting undamaged. I couldn’t even process how much money that was.

  And it wasn’t just coins. We passed over boxes too full for their lids to be nailed in place, stuffed with necklaces, bracelets, and rings. There were silver platters and goblets, ornate daggers and scimitars encrusted with rubies. I saw what looked like a full suit of armor, its entire surface intricately engraved, I opened a small chest at random and was immediately dazzled, my face lit up bright by the reflected sunlight. It took a few seconds of blinking before I could figure out what I was looking at: the velvet bags which had once filled the chest had long since rotted away and all that was left were their contents: a layer of diamonds as deep as my hand. I swished them between my fingers, amazed.

  But none of this mattered. I closed the chest and swam on.

  I couldn’t find it at first. I was starting to panic: maybe they just threw it overboard! But then Rourke waved me over and showed me something. What I’d thought was the bottom of the hold wasn’t even close. The chests and boxes were stacked at least three deep. My eyes widened. How much treasure was there?!

  It took twenty minutes of searching before we found the trunk beneath two big boxes. Rourke used his brute strength to haul them out of the way. Both of them were full of gold but he didn’t spare them even a glance, just swam straight back to watch me open the trunk. He wasn’t acting like a man who only loved treasure and the sea.

  I held my breath and lifted the lid. I saw the small wooden box immediately, nestled at the back. When I grabbed it, my hands were trembling so much I dropped it and it fell in slow-motion through the water. I got it open before it landed. Inside was a glass bottle, sealed with wax, and inside the bottle….

  A black stone the size of a lime, rough on all sides except one, where it had been ground down.

  The realization seemed to ripple up from my feet, growing stronger and stronger until it hit me full force in the chest, an explosion of emotion. I’ve found it! I was holding it in my hands, the same stone my ancestor had sent from Africa. Katherine would live. Cassie would live. I would live!

  There was a knot in my stomach that had been there ever since the day Katherine had first collapsed. I finally felt it ease away. Everything is going to be okay!

  My vision blurred and I realized I’d started crying. My whole body slumped, my arms and legs dangling from my body. Then a fear hit me: I was suddenly paranoid that I’d drop the bottle and lose it forever. I gripped it so tight the glass was in danger of breaking and hugged it to my chest, then nodded upwards to tell Rourke I wanted to surface. He nodded quickly: he understood.

  Back aboard the Fortune’s Hope, I carefully removed the stone from the bottle and turned it over in my hands. I had no idea what it was: some sort of mineral, maybe? But I followed the directions my ancestor had given, grinding a tablespoon’s worth into a powder, and then mixing it with cooking oil. It made a thick, black liquid that smelled faintly metallic.

  That was it. All I had to do was drink it. But—

  But I had no idea what it would do to me, or even what the stuff was. If I had a bad reaction to it out here, hundreds of miles from a doctor, I was dead. My ancestor had been sketchy on things like side effects. All I knew was that it worked quickly.

  After almost an hour of debating, I came to a decision. I dug in the boat’s first aid kit and found a pill bottle just big enough to hold the liquid. I poured it in, then taped the bottle to what remained of the stone, and put the whole thing on a shelf next to the hammock. As soon as we got back to Nassau, I’d go to a hospital and then drink it: if anything went wrong, at least I’d have a chance. And if I had another attack before then, I’d grab it and drink it immediately.

  There was still enough of the stone left to make a few more doses but what I really wanted to do was to get the stone analyzed by a scientist: if we could find out what it was, we could find more of it, enough for all the women in my family.

  I found Rourke out on deck and filled him in on my plan. He thought about it, rubbing at his stubble, then nodded his agreement. But I noticed how he kept glancing at the sky. “What?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Weather’s changing. Might be nothing, but we might need to get out of here.”

  I squinted at the sky. I couldn’t see anything different, but if there was one thing he knew, it was the sea and the wind. “Then we should get the treasure up, as fast as we can.”

  He looked at me doubtfully. “I could come back for the treasure. Take you back to Nassau first….”

  I shook my head, determined. “You got me to the cure. Now let me help you. This is the haul of a lifetime. Everything you ever wanted!”

  The anger flared in his eyes for a second. He took a half step towards me and my heart leapt. I could see him fighting for control. His lips twitched as if they were going to form the words, as if treasure wasn’t all he wanted—

  But then he winced as his leg buckled under him and he closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, he looked bitter, resigned. All of the hope that had built in my heart twisted and died.

  “Aye,” he muttered. “You’re right. Let’s get it up.”

  Rourke spent a half hour setting up a winch and hooking it up to the boat’s generator. It wasn’t anywhere near as big as the crane on Ratcher’s boat but it was enough to haul up boxes and crates from the wreck one by one. We got a system going: he’d stay underwater, loading the treasure, and I’d raise it up when I felt a tug on the cable. Then I’d push the chest into one of the cabins and send the cable down for the next one.

  It took over four hours, with breaks for him to change air tanks and both of us to stretch our aching muscles, but we got it done. By the time I slid the last box into place, the sun had set. Every cabin was stacked with treasure right up to the ceiling: you could barely move, even in the main room. And all that gold and silver weighed a lot. Even I could tell we were riding lower in the water.

  Rourke looked up at the sky again and cursed. “I was right about the weather,” he said. “Going to be a big storm tomorrow.”

  “We could get out of here tonight,” I said. One thing I’d escaped so far was rough seas. I really didn’t like the idea of sailing back to Nassau through a storm.

  But Rourke shook his head. “I don’t want to try to get through that passage in the dark,” he said. He looked up at the sky again. “We’ll be alright, ‘long as we leave first thing.”

  Leave. My stomach twisted as it sank in. We’d found the cure and now it was time to go our separate ways. Tomorrow, I’d be on my way back to Nebraska: no more sea, no more danger. It was exactly what I’d wanted, when I’d arrived.

  I bit my lip and stared at him. He glared back: he knew what I was going to say. The silence swelled. I opened my mouth to argue with him, even though I knew it was useless—

  He cut me off before I could begin. “We haven’t talked about splitting the treasure,” he muttered.

  “I don’t care about the treasure,” I said, my voice tight. “It’s yours. All of it. All I wanted was the cure.” I took a step towards him. “And you got me to it.”

  He stared right into my eyes. That same anger was there that I’d seen on the beach the very first day. Furious with me for making him feel this way. “You can have half,” he said at last.

  I drew in a long, shaky breath. “I don’t want half.”

  “You des
erve it. Wouldn’t have found it without you. All those clues.”

  “I don’t want—”

  “I’ll sell it. I know people. I’ll send you the money—”

  “I don’t—”

  He pushed past me, limping towards the front of the boat. “Leave me a bank account number.”

  “I don’t want the treasure, I want you!” I yelled.

  Silence descended on the boat like a thick fog. When Rourke finally spoke, his voice was raw and bitter. “Believe me, you don’t.”

  “I know what I want,” I said in a small voice. And, maybe for the first time in my life, I really did.

  He sucked in the air between his teeth. “You are the most stubborn…. Why won’t you be told?” I opened my mouth to speak but he was suddenly in full flow. “I got you away from that bastard Ratcher, I ferried you halfway around the Bahamas, and I got you to the damn ship. All I want is to be left alone!”

  I took a single step forward, my eyes hot with tears. “Is that really all you want?”

  He stared into my eyes. I saw the facade crack open and the longing beneath it made my heart lift and swell. But then he squeezed his hands into fists and said, “I don’t get to have you. That’s not how it works.”

  I shook my head. “Why are you so sure that you deserve to be unhappy?” I could feel it right there, just beneath the surface: whatever had happened to him to make him like this. I just couldn’t get to it.

  He stared at me a moment longer and the need in his face made me give a strangled gasp. I swore I saw him lean forward for a second as if about to stalk over to me and gather me into his arms...and then he turned on his heel and stalked off. “Get some sleep,” he threw over his shoulder. “We leave at dawn.”

  I stormed below deck and slammed the door. Threw myself into the hammock: I’d even mastered that skill, now. Yoyo hurled himself in to join me, scampered up my body, and stared in concern at my wet cheeks, riding my chest as it heaved in silent sobs.