Sinbad and Me

by Kin Platt

  15. That night the Sheriff told me on the phone the car belonging to those two men fell into the bay near the Red Roost. He said I was suspect here too because I gave them the wrong side of the road to make their turn on. Fact. Was I sorry? No. Another fact.

  16. Saturday night I found out – excuse me, we both found out about the River Queen in that newsreel, right after Rick Battles saved those dumb kids from the cave. Fact. I also found out the orange plate on the men’s car meant Florida. Minerva’s fact. Frankie Teska is supposed to be living in Florida. At least I think so. But if I don’t know for sure, it’s no fact. So cross out that one.

  17. Mom called from Westport, Maine, that same night. Pop fell off that dumb ladder and nearly broke something but didn’t. Fact.

  18. Sunday morning. You and me and Minerva took that walk to the graveyard and found the riddle on Captain Billy’s tombstone. First dogwatchers follow me and so forth. Could we figure it out? No. Fact.

  19. We went to Captain Billy’s house but the gate was padlocked. Fact. We found a boat, or Minerva did, and rowed into Dead Man’s Cove, then Captain Billy’s cave. Fact. Fact. I found the cipher of big white crosses and circles on the roof of the cave. Fact. Minerva found the skeleton on the ledge. The water rose and we got out. Just before leaving Dead Man’s Cove, both Minerva and me saw what looked like a ghost on the catwalk of Captain Billy’s house. What’s that? You saw it too? Okay. More facts. Now was it really a ghost? I don’t know. So cancel that last fact.

  20. After Minerva went home we found a copperhead snake on our lawn. You were doing a real good job of being a hero but I need a big pillow to sleep on that I’m used to, so I interfered. That way we share the credit and nobody got hurt except that copperhead. Fact.

  21. I think those same two guys put that snake there. But I can’t prove it. So no fact. Later that night another phone call from Mom about Pop’s bad ankle. After that, a mysterious phone call with nobody talking on the other end. Who was it? I don’t know and that’s a fact.

  22. Monday morning I told Mr. Snowden a little about old houses because he was interested. He told me about my silver dollar being worth a lot of money, and about Big Nick Murdock being the owner of the River Queen.

  23. Later. Mr. Peter Newbury at the old coin shop told me my 1851 silver dollar was worth four hundred dollars! Big fact.

  24. Later, at the newspaper, I found the old gossip column picture of a girl with Nick Murdock who looked like the same one as on Mrs. Teska’s picture. Only the caption said her name was Anna Myszka! Fact. I also got the sad news about Mr. Bagler’s father, the ex-mayor, shooting himself because people in town thought he was mixed up with Big Nick. Was he? I don’t know. Mr. Bagler said he didn’t know either. I take his word for it. Remember whatever facts we got there.

  25. I bumped into Herky Krakower – you know, that kid with the photographic mind and the mathematical genius – and he gave me a lot of good information on that cave cipher that was bugging me. Fact. He had a lot of dope on Marconi’s code too, which helped later. Even though it wasn’t the same. But if he hadn’t told me it was a double cipher I never would have solved it. Unless I still haven’t and I got it all wrong. Now is that a fact? I hope not. No comment yet.

  26. I saw that reporter Don Defoe and the girl from the real estate office. That led me to going in there to find out who owned the castle. That got me the name of Mr. Gideon Pickering. Fact.

  27. Then I had that hunch about going back to the graveyard, where I found out about all the other Murdocks. Also about all the Defoes. The only thing I haven’t found out yet, come to think of it, is where their wives got buried. But the mystery there was Big Nick disappearing in 1920, according to the newspapers, and the last Defoe not dying or getting killed till 1930. So in answer to my own question, did Big Nick do it? I don’t know. Was Big Nick already good and dead? Only according to the newspapers. According to Mr. Pickering, whom I saw today, he might be assumed alive as well. But it’s sure no fact.

  28. Mrs. Teska came to the graveyard, and while she was praying to her kum not to strike me down dead I discovered the new riddles on the other sides of the Murdock tombstones: JONAH JAWS, BALD WITH CLAWS, ONE FROM TWO, and DOUBLE YOUR DUE.

  29. Then Mrs. Teska told me she was the original Anna Myszka and was once married to Big Nick Murdock. Two facts according to her but not yet to me because we agreed it has to be for sure before anything becomes a fact. So hold everything there. She also told me about the curse of this kum, Urosh Blagojek; hauled off and beat me silly with that cane of hers, and told me to stay away and we’re not friends anymore. I don’t know if this applies to you, Sinbad, or not. Anyway, that’s all a pretty terrible fact.

  30. After that I went back to the cave. And that crazy guy in white came zipping across the bay, from I don’t know where, and when he left, the symbols inside the cave were all freshly painted. Also I fell on that rock and nearly split my dumb skull. Then I went into that cave–don’t ask me why–and nearly qualified as a dope for the Rick Battles TV show because I got flooded in there. Then, on the way out of the cove, I bumped into Mr. Snowden, wearing frogman gear. Do I know why? No. Was there an explosion in the cave? It sounded like one. Did Mr. Snowden do it? No facts.

  31. That night I got the first clue about what a dogwatch really is. Then the call from Mom. Pop, by getting mad at the wall, broke his hand. So we’re still on our own. Then the breakthrough on the big cipher in the cave with the help of Sir Francis Bacon, and Herky who got me thinking right. Then the visit from Captain Billy’s ghost. Was it really a ghost? You saw it. I saw it. Double fact! So what happens? He tells me to let the Jonah jaws swallow me. So we’ll see about that later.

  32. Tuesday morning came finally, which is surprising because a lot’s happened and it’s still only Tuesday. That dumb moron Frankie Shorten had to start on me with his judo and I took care of him. Then I saw Mr. Snowden had the code and cipher book and also one on engineering hydraulics, which is real Greek to me, on account of I’m no scientist. Then later I saw that nice Mr. Pickering, and he says Anna Myszka used to work at the castle as cleaning girl. And he showed me the key. The same as the one Mrs. Teska has, I’m sure. Only I can’t go and ask her now because she doesn’t want to see me anymore.

  33. Which brings us to the silver dollars which I was dumb enough to forget to bring in to Mr. Peter Newbury. The question is, are they all part of money she earned when she first came over from the old country? Or did she find the treasure? I know 1851 came after Captain Billy died. So I mean maybe it’s part of the million dollars that was supposed to have gone down with the River Queen. So we got no fact there.

  34. And now we come to the final riddle so far. That Jonah jaws one. I’m glad to see you’re still awake because we got to make up our minds real fast if we intend doing something about it. Remember that first riddle said:

  First Dogwatchers

  Follow me.

  Two Beats Four

  The Last Is Three

  I looked at Sinbad. He was gazing so intently at me that you could tell he’d followed every word. Our old clock on the wall showed almost two o’clock.

  “I think we better go and see if Captain Billy’s ghost knows what he’s talking about,” I said to Sinbad. “Are you game?”

  What a dumb question. And that’s a fact!

  CHAPTER 33

  Trouble In Dead Man’s Cove

  On the way to the cove, Sinbad trotted along at my side, not bothering to track down all those mysterious scents he finds so fascinating, and for once not nearly yanking my arm out of its socket.

  “Either we dreamed up everything or something is wrong. Why would those two hard guys pay a visit to Mrs. Teska? They got nothing in common. Except her kid, Frankie. Why would someone try to poison us? We never hurt anybody.

  “Why would Mrs. Teska claim she was Anna Myszka and also married to Big Nick Murdock, if she wasn’t? And why would Mr. Pickering say she used to be a cleaning girl, if she wasn’t?�
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  Sinbad kept trotting along and listening.

  “Also why would Mr. Pickering insist there are only two keys, if there are three? Why would he say Big Nick Murdock might still be alive?

  “If he is alive, why isn’t he living in the Murdock house, which according to Mr. Pickering he still owns? And how come nobody has seen him since 1920? He wasn’t a crook or anything, according to the newspaper. They just said: ‘Millionaire sportsman and gambler disappears.’ Not millionaire crook! So why did he disappear? Unless he had to because he’s dead!

  “Why did Mr. Snowden ask me about Scuttle Point and Dead Man’s Cove when he knew all about the River Queen? What was he doing swimming around there with the frogman mask and flippers? He tells me he’s an old-coin collector so maybe that’s an excuse. But he also thought the River Queen was burned on purpose. Why?

  “Which brings us to another question. What are we doing here and why are we going into the cave again?”

  I stopped and looked at Sinbad. He stopped and looked up at me.

  “I’m glad you asked that question,” I told him. “I only wish I had a decent intelligent answer. I think it’s mostly to find Captain Billy’s treasure so we can help Mrs. Teska out of her jam. If we don’t find that, maybe we can find something left over from the River Queen, that might be considered salvage or public property by now.

  “Also, let’s not forget the riddle, the cipher, and Captain Billy’s ghost,” I reminded him. “According to the riddle on the front of his tombstone, which I now think I understand, we have to go into the cave at this time of day.

  “According to the cipher in the cave, which I think I deciphered, and I sure hope so, now I know how or when to get out of the cave. So that takes care of in and out!

  “According to Captain Billy’s ghost, and the clue on the other side of his tombstone, that Jonah jaws, we got to let some jaws swallow us. That can only mean there is a way of getting through the cave to another secret cave, which opens up in some mysterious way. I don’t know how, on account of I’m no engineer. Maybe Mr. Snowden knows. He’s been studying the book.

  “Anyway, those are all the reasons I can think of right now. And we might as well get that boat and try to find out what all the mystery is about.”

  We rounded the last turn down by the bay and scrambled over a rock ledge. Then we got to the old stone quay. I was relieved to see the boat still there.

  But I wasn’t happy about Minerva Landry sitting in it.

  “Hurry up,” she yelled. “There’s still just time.”

  “What do you mean there’s still just time?” I said.

  She looked at me with that kind of oh-boy-is-this-kid-stupid look. “You know, dumbbell. ‘Two beats four and the last is three.’”

  “You mean you figured it out?” I groaned.

  She looked at Sinbad. “I feel sorry for you,” she told him, “Having to live with such a dumb master.” She leaned over and gave him a couple of good wallops on his back, the kind he loves. His tail wagged and he wiggled like crazy. He just likes to get pounded hard, that’s all.

  “Wait a second,” I said. “You think you’re going back into the cave?”

  “Of course I am,” she said.

  “What about what your father said?”

  “I don’t think he said ‘positively.’”

  “You told me he’d ground you for thirty days.”

  She shrugged. “So what. It’ll be worth it.”

  “Okay. Just one more thing,” I said. “What do you know about Jonah jaws?”

  “Nothing,” she admitted.

  “That’s does it. Out of the boat,” I said, motioning with my thumb.

  She saw I meant it. “No, wait,” she said. “Do you know what it means?” And when I nodded, “How?”

  “Captain Billy’s ghost told me,” I said.

  She hooted. “Are you for real? Captain Billy’s ghost!” I nodded again. “What did he tell you about Jonah jaws?” she asked a little sarcastically.

  “That they had to swallow me up,” I said.

  “Good luck,” she said. “I was just leaving anyway.”

  I helped Minerva out of the boat, then Sinbad and me got in. Her eyes were shining and her face was whiter than I’d ever seen it.

  “You mean you’re going to let the cave swallow you?” I nodded and she tossed her yellow hair back with her hand. “Well, how on earth is it going to do that?”

  “I don’t know yet,” I told her.

  “No wonder you flunked science,” she said. I shrugged. “Well, for Pete’s sake, aren’t you scared?”

  “Of course I’m scared,” I admitted. “I’m not that stupid.”

  “So then, why are you going?”

  “I don’t know. I just feel I got to.”

  Then she said: “Who do you think you are? Rick Battles?”

  I got one of the oars out and started to push off.

  “How about a signal or something, so that I’ll know when you got inside?” she asked. “You know, after you get all swallowed up in there. Before you get digested, I hope,” she added merrily.

  “Ho ho,” I said. “And what kind of signal? I’m not carrying any rockets on me, Minerva.”

  “Wait,” she said. “I’ll think of something.” Her face turned to the top of the cliff. She smiled happily.

  “I got it,” she said. “That’s it. The perfect signal!”

  All I could see was the capped top of a chimney on Captain Billy’s castle.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll bite. What?”

  She pointed toward the cliff. “When you get inside, light a fire. I’ll be able to see the smoke coming out of the chimney.”

  I looked back at her like this time she was the one with the missing brain. “When I get inside where?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Captain Billy’s castle, of course, you dope,” she said.

  I hadn’t even thought about where I might be after I got swallowed up in the Jonah jaws.

  I shoved off. When I finally looked back, she was still there, waving.

  “Good luck, Rick,” she yelled. “Don’t forget the signal!”

  I eased off rowing for a second and spoke to Sinbad. “Remember, she called me Rick. Just for that when we find the treasure we won’t give her a nickel!”

  It was a great day for being on the water. Clear skies and just a slight westerly breeze. I rowed and Sinbad ran from side to side on the bow thwart barking at the rippled waves. They weren’t very high.

  We rounded the jetty horn of Dead Man’s Cove and passed the first and second sentinel rocks. Getting near the cave entrance I licked my lips a little nervously, wondering what I was letting us in for.

  I knew the tides followed the moon and came up a little later each day. According to the riddle, two beat four. I guessed that meant two o’clock beat four o’clock. The last line, “The last is three,” had to mean I had to be in the cave before three o’clock. It had to be time Captain Billy was talking about!

  Well, it wasn’t quite three yet. The spring tide was coming in pretty strong.

  “Now don’t get your hopes up too high,” I told Sinbad. “Maybe we’ll just capsize when that tide and those waves get to work on us in there. Then maybe you’ll wish you hadn’t volunteered for active duty.”

  The current wasn’t running the same way today and I had to swing wide this time to let myself come in right, with my back to the cave entrance. I was taking another bearing from the big rock on my left when I heard the sound of the motorboat.

  “Oh, no,” I groaned. “Don’t tell me it’s that crazy guy in white again!”

  I looked out across the open bay but didn’t see anything. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I shouldn’t have.

  The outboard came around the bend of Scuttle Point, sweeping around the cliff in a wide arc. It was pretty good-sized with two kids in it. No man in white.

  One of the kids pointed to me and the boat abruptly changed course and headed m
y way.

  Rowboats normally have the right of way unless the motorboat approaches from the right. There wasn’t much I could do but hold my course and hope he would pass me starboard to starboard. He came straight at me. There wasn’t thirty yards to spare when I saw who it was! That kid judo expert from school, Frankie Shorten!

  I didn’t know he had a boat. I didn’t know anything about him. Except that he promised to get even after I had to dump him for fooling around that day. The way he had chosen to get even, of course, was a dumb way, but like all these wise-guy morons, anything they think of doing, they decide is okay.

  His boat roared down on me and I got a sick feeling that he was actually going to ram me. At the last possible split second he veered off. I could see the mocking wise-guy grin on his face. He yelled something. Then the spray hit me, then the swell he caused, and suddenly my little boat nearly capsized.

  “Sit down, Sinbad!” I yelled but he had already been dumped to the deck. He slid to my feet. “It’s okay,” I told him. “Just some stupid moron.” I dug in with the oars and got the boat right. Then he came at me again.

  Apart from him being an idiot for what he was trying to do to me here, it was also pretty stupid and dangerous because of those five big rocks in the cove. But he whirled around them in a great swirling curve and I knew I was in for trouble.

  I couldn’t make the cave in time now. He could trap me in there and dump me against the rocks. There wasn’t anything to do but go with the current. I set my stern for Scuttle Point and rowed with all my might, hoping I could get around it in time. But his boat was too fast.

  He roared up close, crossed my port bow, veered again at the last possible second. Again I got the pitching boat under control, bit my lip, and put more muscle on my oars.

  “Sit tight,” I told Sinbad, “Maybe we can still make it around the point.” I didn’t really think so but I was his master and supposed to take care of him.

  The trouble was I still had one more big rock to clear and not enough room to maneuver in. The wash and swell caught me good this time. I saw the big rock out of the corner of my eye. Then we hit it and Sinbad and me were in the water. Over the sound of the splash and the outboard, I heard Frankie laugh. It doesn’t take much to make some people happy.