Aloha, Lugosi! The Gretch Bayonne Action Adventure Series Book #4

by Steven M. Thomas

  “Maybe we should go get him,” I said.

  “And risk being killed, again?” Crumby asked. “That wouldn’t help your mission. Until he comes back smiling and waving the white flag, we’re not going anywhere!”

  Just as the captain said that, Alex appeared out of the jungle, followed by dozens of natives. There were even women and children with him, all smiling and waving. The white flag went up, and I was ready to hit the island.

  “Not yet,” Captain Paranoid insisted. “It could be a trap.”

  “What the hell are we waiting for?” I asked. “These are obviously hospitable people! What more do you want them to do?”

  “I want him to return to the ship to assure us that everything is okay,” Crumby said.

  “I don’t remember you telling Alex that,” Speck said. “I believe you just instructed him to wave the white flag.”

  “That’s right,” Barber added. “And he is waving it quite nicely now.”

  Crumby and I were greeted like royalty on the beach by men, woman and children.

  “This is a beautiful island!” Alex exclaimed. “Wait until I show you their village! It’s amazing!”

  “You go back to the Eclipse now,” Crumby ordered. “You’re job here is done!”

  “But, Jonas!” Alex said. “I did what you told me to do! Why can’t I just stay here and help you look for this man? I mean, I am already here! They don’t need me on the ship!”

  The captain pointed towards one of our dinghies sternly. “Just go!” he ordered.

  We followed the natives through a large path, passing coconut and banana trees. It was breathtaking. When we finally reached the small village, we were dumbfounded by it’s beauty.

  Hundreds of small huts decorated with seashells circled a large rock that had once been the mouth of a volcano. The seashells had been carved into various animals. Fish, whales, dolphins, turtles, and birds. These people were not just friendly. They were first class artists.

  We were taken to a man who apparently was their chief. No one spoke a word of English, but it was obvious that we were being greeted warmly.

  The King looked at me and smiled. He nodded his head and motioned with his right hand for me to come closer to him. “You Bay?” he asked.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How the hell would this man know who I was?

  “Yes,” I answered. “Do you speak English?”

  “English!” he said. “Yes, but I am better at reading than speaking.”

  The chief gestured to the other natives that were surrounding us. Most of them were women and children. Then, suddenly a beautiful young woman appeared. She had dark olive skin and amazing round eyes. Her smile was like none I’d ever seen. And she was smiling and looking directly towards me.

  “Hiwanda,” the King said, introducing her to me.

  “My name is Gretch Bayonne,” I said. “But my friends call me Bay.” I was absolutely mesmerized by this gorgeous creature.

  “I know who you are,” she replied. “It is an honor to meet you, sir.”

  I was used to being recognized for the Graf book, but this truly floored me. We were on a tiny island that didn’t have electricity or newspapers, let alone radio.

  “I take it you’ve seen my book,” I said, stammering for words.

  “I have not,” she replied.

  “Then how do you know who I am?” I asked.

  “A man came to the island not long ago,” she explained. “And he had a photograph. It was you. It was a photograph and a story of how you saved people.”

  “This man,” I asked. “Who was he?”

  “He was royalty,” she answered. “From the other side of the world. He had come a long way.”

  “What was his name?” I asked.

  “Count Dracula,” she replied.

  Chapter Seventeen

  No one else but Lugosi would have a photograph of me and refer to himself as Count Dracula. I was certain he had to have been on the island.

  “When did he leave?” I asked Hiwanda.

  “It has been a long time,” she replied. “Many moons ago.”

  “About how many?” I asked desperately.

  “I am not sure,” she answered. “But I can show you where he left from.”

  I followed Hiwanda to a beautiful bay on the other side of the island. It was very small and secluded. When we arrived, she pointed to the east and took off her grass skirt and top and jumped into the blue water. When she surfaced, she smiled and gestured for me to join her. I was reluctant to shed my clothes but thought it was the only thing to do under the extreme circumstances. So off I went, butt naked into the lagoon with the most beautiful girl on the face of the planet. We embraced, weightless in the warm, blue water. Rolling together in the vastness of the ocean, we became one. Time stopped and nothing mattered. We were in a place I’d never been before. And I didn’t want to leave.

  I was shocked back into reality slowly by the feeling of something strange beneath us. Bubbles of air shot up abruptly as we swam back to shore. By the time we were on land, the bubbles had erupted into a cavalcade of water shooting up some six feet into the air. We grabbed our clothes and hid in horror behind some brush. The bubbling water quickly flattened out and up popped the top of a small boat.

  “What the hell is that?” I asked.

  “They are back,” Hiwanda replied. “We must go now!”

  I didn’t have time to ask her any questions. She sprinted off ahead of me, as I tried to put my clothes back on while watching whatever the hell this was in the lagoon. Just as I managed to pull on my pants, I recognized what it was that damned near drowned us. It was a submarine.

  I stayed hidden behind the brush and trees and watched as the hatch opened on top of the ship. Two men stepped out onto the top of the boat and began arguing. I couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but one thing was clear. They were speaking German.

  What the hell are they doing here? I thought. They are a long way from home! A few minutes later, they climbed back inside the U-boat and submerged into the lagoon.

  There was some sort of celebration going on when I arrived back at the village. Everyone was gathered at the bottom of a big hill, singing and dancing. I spotted Crumby in the crowd and headed towards him.

  “I just saw a German submarine in the bay on the other side of the island!” I told him.

  “What?” he asked. “That’s not possible!”

  “I know what I saw!” I yelled. “The damned thing came up out of the water. Two men got out! I think they were Nazis!”

  The villagers started surrounding us, forcing me to walk up the hill before Crumby could respond. The king and his daughter, Hiwanda and a dozen others were standing at the top of the hill, all gesturing for me to join them. As I stood next to the beautiful Hiwanda, the king started speaking to the crowd. I had no idea what he was saying, but it was obvious that this was some sort of party.

  “That submarine,” I said to Hiwanda, “had you seen it before?”

  “Yes,” she whispered as her father ranted on about something.

  “It was a Nazi U-boat,” I said. “Have you talked to those men?”

  “No,” she replied. “They just come and go but do not walk on the island.”

  The crowd burst into cheers for some unknown reason, and the king and his people began the descent from the hill back down to the village. I had no idea what that was all about and didn’t really care. My mind was on the damned Nazis in the U-boat.

  The bizarre celebration continued with a feast of fish and coconut concoctions and god knows what else. I didn’t recognize any of it as being even remotely edible. I was seated at a table along side the king and Hiwanda and many other people. It was like a wrap party for a big movie at Truser’s Restaurant.

  Crumby finally managed to get near enough to me that we could talk. “Are you certain it was a German sub you saw?” he asked.

  “Positive,” I answered. “No mistake about it. And ev
ery time the damned Nazis show up, there’s trouble.”

  “You may have another little problem on your hands as well,” Crumby replied.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “I could be wrong,” he said, “but I am pretty sure you just got married.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I tried to casually stroll away from the island celebration with Crumby, only to be followed by Hiwanda and a hundred other people. When we reached the beach, the jig was up.

  “I have to go now,” I told Hiwanda as the captain and I drug our small dinghy across the white sandy beach towards the water.

  “Then I go with you,” she said smiling.

  It seemed like the entire village was there, cheering and waving. I suddenly felt guilty for having been there in the first place. And I didn’t want to see the crowd turn ugly in the event I shun their princess before departing from their beautiful world. I had to think fast.

  “It is far too dangerous,” I explained. “You need to stay here. This is where you belong.”

  “I belong with you now,” she said, still smiling. “We face the danger together.”

  In that moment, all rationale went out the window like Grandma throwing crumbs to the pigeons on 53rd and 3rd.

  “Then get in the boat,” I replied. “But we have to go now.”

  Crumby looked at me like I was crazy, but didn’t say a word.

  By the time we reached the Eclipse, I was already regretting my decision. “We’re not legally married,” I whispered to Crumby as we climbed aboard the ship.

  “You are as far as she’s concerned,” he replied. “And that is all that matters.”

  Sharkey and Barber were quite perplexed as to why we would be bringing a beautiful women along on our voyage, but they didn’t ask any questions. Speck didn’t say a word.

  But Alex wasn’t so silent.

  “What is this?” he asked. “This doesn’t seem to fit in with your mission, bringing an island girl on this search.”

  “It is none of your concern, cousin,” Crumby replied.

  Hiwanda seemed to be thrilled to be on our little boat, sailing away from her island. She understood my mission, and I believed her when she said she had met a man named Count Dracula. She was now a part of my team. And besides, we were married. I’d never been married before.

  My island bride spent the night with me in Speck’s crow’s nest, and for the next two days, we only went down to the deck to eat and bath and fish. It was almost as if we were on our honeymoon. She sang and danced in the crow’s nest as if she were on top of the world. And for those two days, we both were.

  “This is one we should check!” Speck shouted out, peering through his binoculars.

  The island was small, like all the others, but had a fair amount of vegetation and trees, but no tall peak.

  I had to pry Hiwanda away from me so I could get into the dinghy with Crumby. “I will be back shortly!” I told her. “Just stay here!”

  As we neared the island shore, suddenly we saw two men sitting on the beach. “What do you make of this?” I asked Crumby.

  “I’m not sure,” he replied. “But they aren’t natives.”

  “Ahoy!” one of the men yelled as we hit the beach. “You have come to rescue us!”

  They were both dressed in strange looking costumes, like something out of an old pirate movie. They both wore baggy purple pants and bright yellow and white shirts. And they were dripping wet.

  “What happened to you men?” Crumby asked.

  “Our ship was just sunk by pirates!” one of them exclaimed. “It just went down! We managed to swim ashore, but the others, all gone!”

  “We didn’t see any ship,” I said. “When did this happen?

  “Just now!” the odd man yelled. “You must have seen it! It was Captain Kid and his gang!”

  “Calm down,” Crumby said. “I can assure you, there is no pirate ship out there. And Captain Kid, he hasn’t been around for two hundred years.”

  “Oh, it was him all right!” the man explained. “I don’t know how your vessel made it by him! You’re damned lucky is all I can say!”

  “Have you seen anyone else on this island?” I asked, ignoring the crazy pirate story.

  “I told you!” he replied. “We just got here, minutes ago!”

  “We didn’t come here to rescue you,” Crumby said, “but we won’t leave you here. We’ve come looking for a man and his wife.”

  “Just stay right here,” I said. “We have to have a look around. Then you men can join us on our boat.”

  We walked away from the two wet castaways and began searching the island.

  “What do you suppose their story is?” I asked Crumby.

  “The ocean can play tricks on you,” he replied. “God only knows how they really got here. But something bad happened, for sure.”

  “I’m not so sure we can trust them,” I said.

  “You want to leave them here then?” the captain asked.

  “I don’t know yet,” I replied. “Maybe.”

  “That is entirely your call,” Crumby said. “I would not feel the least bit guilty in doing so.”

  We walked for a long time and saw nothing but small trees, shrubs and sand. The island seemed completely deserted. Then we came upon a most frightening sight. It was just beneath one of the largest palm trees I’d ever seen.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Crumby and I stopped dead in our tracks. I glanced around the area to see if there were any more surprises. It looked like Skeleton Man had been alone for quite some time.

  He was buried from the waist down under the palm tree. He had on the remnants of a shirt and was still clutching a pistol in his right hand. A large gold medallion hung around the bones of his neck. It was engraved with a giant H.

  “Son of a bitch!” I said. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

  “Wait,” Crumby insisted, as he walked closer to the skeleton. “Do you see this necklace?”

  “I see it,” I replied. “But I don’t want to get any closer than I already am!”

  “It’s an H,” the captain said.

  “I can see that,” I replied. “Now let’s go. No one is here but this man, and he obviously expired a long time ago!”

  Crumby began digging around the skeleton’s torso with his hands.

  “This could be the big H my uncle was talking about!” he said. “Come help me!”

  “I am not about to touch that thing!” I yelled. “And besides, the H isn’t that big! It is on a medallion. That doesn’t constitute a giant H to me!”

  Crumby remained on his knees, shoveling small handfuls of dirt at a time from around the bones buried beneath the palm tree. He was ignoring me.

  “Listen!” I yelled. “If you insist on digging, you’re going to need a proper shovel!”

  He looked up at me, smiling broadly, as he stood up.

  “We have to check this,” he explained. “You do understand, don’t you?”

  I hated to admit it, but I was curious myself. After all, it was an H, and could be considered a big one considering it was on a medallion. And why the hell would this guy be buried up to his waist anyway? He had a gun in his hand, so it was unlikely that he was buried alive.

  We walked back down to the beach with the intention of taking the two strange castaways back to the Eclipse and returning with shovels.

  “But we can’t let them know what we are returning for,” Crumby insisted. “If they have any inkling that there is a treasure, they will surely turn on us.”

  “We’ll just tell them we are still searching for my friend,” I said.

  “And if we do happen to find the treasure,” the captain said, “we will just tell everyone that it is a chest full of junk.”

  “And why would we retrieve a trunk filled with worthless articles?” I asked. “No one is going to buy that.”

  “We’ll say it is clothes that you believe had belonged to your friend we are looking for,” he answe
red. “Unless you have a better story.”

  “That’s good enough,” I replied. “No one would care about that.”

  When we got back to the beach, there, about 50 yards from the water, we were greeted by another horrific sight. It was two more skeletons, buried from the waist down.

  “Jesus!” Crumby screamed. “These were not here before!”

  The pair were side by side out in the open. They had on tattered shirts of faint yellow and white. A chill ran down my spine. They had on the same necklaces that the two castaways were wearing just a couple of hours before.

  “It’s the men we were talking to!” I yelled. “The two crazy castaways!”

  “That’s not possible!” Crumby yelled. “These skeletons have been here for ages!”

  “Look up that pathway!” I explained. “This is the way we came, right? Where we left the dinghy and the two men!”

  Crumby looked back to where we’d just come from and then down to our dinghy that we’d drug up on shore.

  “They must have gone somewhere,” he said.

  “They were right here!” I yelled, pacing in circles around the skeletons. “And these certainly were not!”

  “This doesn’t make any sense!” the captain said.

  “You’re damned right it doesn’t!” I exclaimed. “But these two are wearing the same damned things the men we talked to had on! Explain that!”

  We ran as fast as we could to our dinghy and fled the tiny island. There was no question in my mind what had just happened. Crumby and I had been talking to the ghosts of two men who had probably passed away more than a century ago.

  Chapter Twenty

  Neither of us said a word about the two men we’d encountered on the island, let alone anything about the skeleton under the palm tree with the Big H medallion on. No one would have believed us anyway. Hell, I didn’t believe it myself.

  Before we sailed off, I asked the captain if he wanted to go back with shovels, just to make sure. “Not this trip,” he replied. “Maybe some other time. But for now, you have a friend to find.”

  I knew the captain was making excuses. There was nothing in the world he cared more about than finding the treasure under the Big H. He just didn’t want to go back to Ghost Island. It scared him that much.