The Pirate's Map

by J. N. Cao

  “What do you mean?” said Ralph.

  “To be short, she followed a boy into the jungle, and now they still have not returned,” said Will.

  “What? Why would Matilda do that?” said Ralph. “That girl, sometimes just …” He was lost for words and so just uttered, “Uurgh.”

  “This is not good,” said Roger. “What if something terrible has already happened to her? I mean, why is it taking her this long to come back?”

  “You’re right,” said Will. “God knows what wild beasts are out there. I can’t wait any longer. I’m going to find her now.”

  “I’m coming with you,” said the Prince.

  “Your Highness, I can’t have you do that. It’s dangerous. What will the Queen say?” said Sir Laurence.

  “Don’t worry, Sir Laurence. We have men and weapons,” said the Prince.

  “Yes. And because of that, you don’t need to go. Just wait here, Your Highness,” said Sir Laurence.

  “That’s enough, Sir Laurence,” said the Prince. “And by the way, do you have the map?”

  “I … I am sorry, Highness. But the map was on the ship. I usually keep it on me, but that particular night I left it in my cabin. Please forgive me.”

  The Prince did not say anything for a moment.

  Then finally he said, “It’s all right, Sir Laurence. We won’t worry about that now. Let’s go find Matilda first.”

  “I see what’s going on now,” said James. “You’re not explorers. And the map you’re talking about. To what? Treasure? Of course. All these ships belong to you,” he said to the Prince, “to carry back gold and treasure. And what’s going to happen if you don’t find any?”

  “That’s right,” said the Prince. “We are here for gold. But I promise you, that is all we’re here for. We will not hurt your people in any way to get it. If we don’t find any gold we will simply go back to where we came from.”

  “That’s right, James,” said Will. “We’re only after the gold hidden in the mountain cave.”

  James seemed convinced.

  Then the same young village man came to see James and told him that the little boy had returned, so they all went back into the village and found Anku playing with a large living beetle that he had found in the jungle.

  Chapter 23

  Leaving the Cave

  Victor slowly opened his eyes to see Matilda sitting near him.

  He groaned and then said, “How long has it been?”

  “You only passed out for a moment,” said Matilda.

  “Has it been really that long?” Victor said. “So long that that little bump has grown into a woman?”

  Matilda realised what he meant. “Yes, about twenty years.”

  Victor gasped, “My god, twenty years. I have been in here for twenty long years.”

  He shook his head in disbelief and whimpered a little.

  “I’m sorry about this. I get dizzy a fair bit lately,” he said after he had calmed down.

  “I don’t blame you. I don’t think you have the best diet living down here.”

  Then Victor got himself up into a sitting position.

  “How did you end up here for so long?” Matilda said.

  “I’ll show you,” Victor said as he grabbed his rod and lifted himself up.

  Victor led Matilda to the other section of the cave where Matilda had fallen in before and then along the stream. They stopped at some boulders. The stream still flowed through the small gaps that the boulders left.

  “There was an entrance right here. But it’s blocked now,” said Victor.

  “Why?”

  “An earthquake.”

  “And how did you survived after the shipwreck?” Matilda said.

  Then Matilda followed Victor, who went to sit down by the stream. Matilda sat down next to him.

  “I got hold of a board and floated on that for a while until I was picked up by a ship that was heading to Columbia. By the time I got there, they let me go. But they were happy to drop me off in Portugal in another three weeks. I thought it was a good idea. But then I refused.”

  “Why?” said Matilda.

  “It would be three weeks plus months just to go back to South England,” said Victor. “Anything could have happened during that time, and I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else discovering my treasure.”

  He was now so absorbed in his story that he did not notice Matilda looking at him, speechless, then looking down and let out a light sigh. Matilda could already see how the rest of his story unfolded.

  Victor continued, “I couldn’t sleep not knowing what might have happened to my cave. I had to know that all my gold was still there. So I set out to check on my cave. Then I arrived, and everything was fine. But before I could leave the cave, there was an earthquake. I tried to escape, but some large rocks fell on my leg, near the entrance.”

  He paused for some time. “Now, how did you get here?”

  “I fell through a gap from up there,” Matilda said, pointing at the crevice.

  “Ah, yes. I noticed that it was lighter here,” said Victor. “Why are you even here?”

  “I followed your map, and then after a storm, I ended up here.”

  “My map? Of course. From Paullo Saurez. That old monk kept his word. Good fella.”

  “Yes, good enough to be your slave.”

  “Slave? No, he was my cook, although I did force him. But he cooked well and was obedient, so I trusted him, unlike someone in my crew.”

  “Did someone betray you?”

  “Yes. I didn’t know who the traitor was when I was sailing back to South England, but I was suspicious of a few. Only I know where the cave is and I only took a few trusted men with me to gather some gold. I had a very good memory of where it is. So while my memory was still fresh, I drew a map to it while sailing back. Then I drew another map, a fake one because I had a feeling that someone would want to steal my map. Then on our way back we stopped at Portugal for supplies, and also I decided to free Paullo to have him keep the map for me because I didn’t feel safe leaving the real map on my ship. We stayed overnight at the port, waiting for the fair wind, it was then that Edward Howard captured my ship, and he also knew about the gold. Howard was already there in Portugal waiting for me. He knew that I stop there quite often on my voyages. It was after that that I knew who did it. It was Geoffrey Lowe. I should have known when he didn’t return to my ship. That scurvy coward! He told Howard about me in Portugal. And Howard is no fool. Wouldn’t follow my fake map but instead, preferred that I personally take him there.”

  Then Victor smirked. “And I was not fool enough to lead him right to my gold. Me and what’s left of my crew tried to come up with a plan to overthrow Howard, though it wasn’t easy since they kept a very good eye on me most of the time. But we decided to lead him in circles until we found our opportunity to strike.” He paused. “And what’s also important is that the real map was safe with your mother because of the letter.”

  “The letter never got to her. It was found in the shipwreck, along with the fake map.”

  “What?” said Victor. “Then Howard never sent the letter?”

  “Seems so.”

  “That liar! He promised me! He told me that he had sent it before leaving Portugal. Never ever trust an enemy. Never!”

  Unknown to both Matilda and Victor, what really happened was this:

  About twenty years ago, in the port of Portugal at the rising of the sun, Edward Howard—a fifty-five year old man with a big belly—was kneeling inside his cabin of his ship, his eyes closed and hands clasped together.

  “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” he started. “My last confession was a week ago and these are my sins. I have slaughtered many men for their money and sold women and children, also for money. I’ve told lies and,” he paused, thinking, “oh, you know, so on and so forth. The Lord has seen it all. Now, will you forgive me, Father?”

  Edward opened his eyes and looked up.

  Ol
d Father Frank was sitting on a chair before him. A large man stood beside him, holding a blade at his neck.

  “Well, I … er …” Father Frank said. He face was colourless.

  “Am I forgiven, Father? I need to set sail soon,” Edward said.

  The large man grunted and moved the blade closer to Father Frank’s neck. “Yes, yes. God has forgiven you. Go in peace.”

  “Good,” Edward said as he stood up. “Now, have all the other lads confessed their sins?”

  “Yes, they all have,” said Father Frank, still shaking.

  “Therefore my ship is sinless?”

  Father Frank nodded quickly.

  “Excellent, take him away Don,” Edward said.

  Immediately, Don dragged Father Frank out of the cabin.

  Edward walked over to his desk and picked up a letter. He was still in his sleepwear as he read the letter. Just then his valet came into the cabin with his freshly washed clothes.

  “Morning, Captain.”

  “Captain, do you want me to send that letter out before we leave?” asked the valet as he started to dress Edward.

  Edward handed the letter to his valet. “If you were Victor Harte’s wife, how would you feel after reading this letter?”

  The valet read the letter and then looked up. “Well, he’s in trouble, that’s for sure. I would be very sad, Captain.”

  “Hmm, in trouble, indeed,” said Edward. “He could have written this to tell her to get help. I know that sometimes he gets her to do his little side jobs. And you know how he can be full of tricks.”

  “Then we should destroy the letter?” asked the valet.

  “Oh, I’m not that heartless,” said Edward. “Victor Harte will die after this and I did promise to send this to his wife. And you know that God can be unkind to my ship if I am not a man of my word,” said Edward. He thought for a moment and then laughed. “I’ll keep this letter for now,” he said, taking the letter from the valet and putting it inside the glass bottle along with the fake map. “Like I said, I did promise to send his letter. But I didn't promise to send it straight away,” continued Edward. “So after I get my gold and once he is dead, then I will send out the letter to his poor widowed wife.”

  “Ah Captain, you are brilliant,” said his valet.

  “Wait,” Victor suddenly said. “How did you manage to find the shipwreck to get the letter?”

  It would be a long story to tell, but Matilda summed it up by saying, “I didn’t. The Duke found the letter and then I stole it.”

  Victor smiled, “Looks like you inherited something from me.”

  “It’s not quite like that,” Matilda said. “Well anyway, I have to find a way out of here.”

  Victor was not listening. He was watching something in the stream. “Quick get me the sword.”

  Matilda obeyed and came back with the sword. Victor took it and with one quick movement pierced a fish with the sword.

  “Ah ha!” he said as he pulled the fish from the spear. “Are you hungry?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Don’t mind me,” he said as he started to eat the fish raw. “I don’t get fishes every day you see,” he said as he ate. “Got to survive on whatever I can find. Insects, moss, random plants here and there.”

  Matilda started to fiddle with her necklace, wondering if there were any other questions she had for him.

  “I gave that to your mother as a wedding gift, you know,” he said between mouthfuls.

  “It looks very valuable. Where did you get it?” she said.

  “Oh yes, very valuable. That’s why I stole it from a fat rich lady.” Then he laughed at the thought.

  “Right,” said Matilda. Then she got up and started to look for a way out.

  Suddenly she heard someone calling her name.

  “Who was that?” Victor said and started to get up.

  Matilda quickly went over to the boulders and yelled through the gaps on the side of the entrance, “I’m here!”

  “You brought people?” said Victor.

  “Yes.”

  “Can they be trusted?”

  “Of course,” said Matilda. But then it hit her. She wondered how Victor was going to react when he found out that she had led a group of people to take his gold away. But that was not important right now.

  Matilda yelled through the gaps again, “I fell through a gap from above!”

  “She said she fell through a gap from up there,” she heard Ralph saying to the others.

  “I don’t know,” Victor said. “Even the person closest to you cannot be trusted. I’d better ask Alfred.”

  “Who’s Alfred?”

  Then Victor went over to the rock and picked up the gold tortoise. Matilda came over to him.

  “Alfred will tell me if I should trust these people,” said Victor holding up the tortoise.

  Matilda gaped and then scoffed. “You don’t suppose it can talk?”

  “Of course he can’t, silly. He will tell me telepathically.”

  Victor held the tortoise close to his head, closed his eyes and waited. Then he said, “I hear voices.”

  “No doubt,” said Matilda.

  “Yes. It’s from Alfred.”

  Silence.

  Then Victor opened his eyes. “Do you know what he said?”

  “What?”

  “He said that I should trust NO ONE. Everybody is after my gold. Everyone!”

  “Well then, you can stay here with your gold until you die,” said Matilda.

  Then Victor started to whimper.

  “Please. Let them help you.”

  Victor then finally nodded, “All right, all right.”

  Some time later, Matilda heard Will’s voice through the crevice above, “Are you down there, Matilda?”

  “Yes,” she shouted back.

  There was silence.

  “We are going to get some ropes to pull you out. We’ll be back,” Will yelled.

  “All right!

  Matilda sat down and waited.

  “Yes. Ha ha! I’m going to be free,” said Victor. Then he started to run, the best he could, into the other section of the cave, screaming, “Free with my gold! Ahhahaha!”

  Then Victor came bouncing, in his own way, back to Matilda. Some coins rolled along with him. “Oh my dear, it won’t be long now until you become Princess Matilda. And you can have your pick of all the kings and princes and ——”

  “Matilda!”

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  “We’re going to lower the ropes and pull you up now,” said Ralph.

  “Wait!” she called back, “I need you to pull someone up first.”

  There was a brief silence.

  “What?” called Ralph. “Is there someone with you?”

  “Yes!”

  “All right, then.”

  Matilda went to grab Victor by the arm and they made their way into the water. She then tied the ropes securely around him.

  “Hold tight. They will pull you up,” she told him.

  “All right! Pull!” she shouted to the above.

  Outside the cave, Ralph, Will, Roger and the Prince pulled on the ropes. Eventually, Victor appeared through the crevice. Sir Laurence watched him with a baffled expression.

  When Victor was finally out, he sat on the edge of the crevice. Everyone stared at him. They wondered who was this scruffy man could be. Victor, who still had some fish blood left on his face, flashed them a wide smile.

  Ralph leaned to Roger, “Who’s the tramp?”

  “Hurry up, the Princess is still down there,” said Victor.

  They exchanged puzzled looks and then, without losing any more time, they quickly dropped the ropes down the crevice again.

  Then Victor yelled down the crevice, “Matilda! Don’t forget to get Alfred!”

  “There’s another person down there?” said Sir Laurence.

  “Pull!” they heard Matilda shouted.

  They started to pull and soon Matilda emerged from
the crevice, holding Alfred in one arm. She had also tied the rod to herself.

  The Prince helped her to her feet, then he helped her untie herself. Matilda turned to everyone, smiling. “You’re all alive.”

  “Do we get Alfred now?” Will said.

  “Matilda,” interrupted Victor. “Give me Alfred.”

  Matilda passed Alfred and the rod to Victor.

  Everyone except Victor turned to look at Matilda.

  “I’ll explain when we are on lower ground.”

  Eventually, they all made their way down the mountain and then watched two guards carry Victor down.

  “The sun. The sun,” sang Victor as they carried him, and then he took in a deep breath and slowly breathed out.

  Ralph turned to Matilda. “Say, how does someone like him have all those gold pieces?”

  By this time Victor was with them. “Now Matilda, get those men to carry out my gold.”

  “Gold!” Ralph and Roger said.

  “Yes. This is the cave,” said Matilda.

  Ralph started to laugh with joy and then went to shake Roger by the shoulders, “Roger we did it! We don’t need the map. The gold is right here.”

  The Prince ordered guards to go inside the cave to collect the treasure. So they went to the horses that they had brought along to gather more ropes, blankets, tents or anything that could be used to carry the treasure. While this was all happening, some guards were sent to return to the ships to gather more men, carts and empty barrels.

  Of course, Matilda and Victor were the only ones waiting outside the cave, while everyone went inside to explore.

  Matilda gave Victor some food, which he devoured. “Oh, bread. It has been so long.”

  Then she sat there pondering how she was going to tell Victor that they are taking his gold to the Queen.

  “How do you know these people?” asked Victor. “The tall one with the curls seems suspiciously greedy to me.”

  “Don’t worry. He’s my uncle.”

  “Uncle? I don’t have any brothers, and neither does your mother.”

  “I was adopted.”

  “Adopted? Why? What happened to your mother? Oh no, don’t tell me she’s ——”

  “No. She’s alive. Except I only met her a few months ago for the first time, since she left me in a monastery when I was a baby.”