by Brandon Mull
“We’re now beyond the protection of the moai,” Hako announced as the lagoon passed out of sight. “Stay watchful. Everyone has a shovel?”
Kendra’s was more of a spade. Tanu wore his hefty shovel across his back. The satyrs used theirs like walking sticks.
“Yes,” Warren replied for the group.
“I also brought chains and grapnels,” Hako said. “We’re fishing for a rare prize today.”
“We dig it up at low tide?” Knox asked.
“In less than three hours,” Hako said.
“We can get to the treasure that quickly?” Knox asked.
“Proximity is not the problem,” Hako said. “Many have tried to retrieve this reward. Some claim to have seen the treasure box. But the tide always interferes before any can lay hold of it. And as the tide rises, the spider eels come.”
Kendra took a little hop away from Hako, trying to banish the slithering, biting images that came to mind.
“Tell me these eels stay in the water,” Newel said.
Hako shook his head. “They venture onto the sand to pursue prey. The eels are voracious and run on a hundred spindly legs.”
“Spiders have eight,” Knox said.
“The number is off, but the legs resemble those of a spider,” Hako said. “We won’t beat the eels in a fight. Once they show up, we leave. If we have the treasure, we run. If we don’t, we also run.”
“I have more speed potions,” Tanu said. “Some other potions as well. A few gaseous potions. Five doses of courage. I’m working on some new concoctions with Uma. That woman has forgotten more about brewing than I will ever learn.”
“We should use some of the speed potions to dig,” Vanessa said.
“The challenge hinges on getting to the treasure quickly,” Hako said. “So yes.”
“I’m trying to remember the poem you told us last night,” Doren said, twirling his shovel.
“Long ago, a wild boar was found with the map and the poem tattooed on it,” Hako said. “The islanders who copied it down introduced us to the fool’s treasure. Digging at the spot revealed by the map has led to glimpses of the prize.”
“Can we hear the poem again?” Newel said.
Hako recited:
Sift deeply through the golden sand
If you by chance should come to stand
Beside the wheel with bold command
You’ll hold the treasure in your hand
“Has anyone seen a wheel while digging?” Kendra asked.
“The traditions are old and confusing,” Hako said. “Some report to have seen a stone wheel near the treasure box. Others believe the wheel is in the box, or they claim to have glimpsed an insignia on the box. One treasure hunter theorized the wheel might refer to a charm on a necklace lost along the beach. The only aspect the stories agree upon is that the treasure always slips out of reach. Seasoned adventurers have gone mad with frustration.”
“We need to do something others haven’t,” Kendra said.
“To get inside the box, we need to think outside the box,” Knox said.
Kendra rolled her eyes at the triteness.
“Has anyone dug for the treasure using a speed potion?” Warren asked.
“Not to my knowledge,” Hako said.
“When the potion wears off, we might need stretchers to drag us away from the eels,” Warren said.
“My salts will have to suffice,” Tanu said.
“Have satyrs ever helped?” Newel asked.
“I’m almost sure satyrs are a first,” Hako said.
“Satyrs have noses for treasure,” Doren said. “Mark my words.”
They mostly hiked in silence after that. The trail paralleled the sea, running alongside beaches, over rocky stretches, and across clifftops. Occasionally the path angled inland, through jungle or marshland, but it always returned to the seaside before long. The day brightened and warmed as the sun rose, reflecting off the water.
As they came to the end of a bluff, Hako pointed ahead to a narrow spit of sand, no wider than a sidewalk, extending from the coast to a low island perhaps a mile away. The relatively calm ocean lapped at the sandbar but never covered it.
“The crossing to Shipwreck Key will remain above water for less than two hours,” Hako said.
“Twice a day?” Kendra asked.
“Yes,” Hako said. “Low tide comes every twelve hours and twenty-five minutes.”
“Lots of shipwrecks out there?” Knox asked.
“Many in the water, and a strange amount on the beaches,” Hako said. “The formerly wooden vessels that ran aground are all petrified.”
“Petrified ships?” Warren asked.
“We have no explanation for it,” Hako said. “These islands harbor many mysteries.”
“Hoofs are not designed for deep sand,” Newel complained as they plodded out onto the strip flanked by the sea.
“Feet aren’t perfect for it either,” Knox said. “Especially in shoes.”
“What if we get stuck out there?” Kendra asked.
“Shipwreck Key has a high point only thirty feet above sea level,” Hako said. “Nearly half of the islet disappears during high tide. If we get trapped, we’ll wait it out. But with the protections dormant everywhere but Crescent Lagoon, let’s not get stuck.”
Kendra scanned the water as they walked. Scattered starfish inhabited the shallows, and an occasional ray glided by, broad fins rippling. The sandbar subtly widened as they went, until it joined the shore of Shipwreck Key. Tall palm trees populated the center of the islet, with broad, white beaches at either hand.
Where was Seth right now? Could he be on one of the islands? It had sounded like he spent most of his time in the Under Realm. It saddened her to think of Ronodin mentoring him. The dark unicorn could be very persuasive. It was hard to imagine what it might be like dealing with him without her memories. It was easy to picture how Seth might feel very confused and slow to trust anyone. Hopefully the present mission would bring her a step closer to rescuing him.
Hako turned right upon reaching the key. Fine white sand eventually gave way to a rocky section where Kendra stepped carefully. Crabs scuttled into hiding as the group approached, none bigger than a bar of soap. Some of them walked with upraised claws, as if signaling a touchdown.
The beach beyond the rocks glittered with golden sand. Three slanted masts of a large sailing ship projected from the sand about halfway down the beach, along with a large section of the bow, as if the stone ship had been frozen in an attempt to surge up out of the sand. No sails or rigging survived, but one of the masts had a crow’s nest intact. A few smaller stony masts jutted from the sand in other places, along with one end of a petrified canoe.
“This way,” Hako said, jogging swiftly over the sand.
The increased pace brought them quickly to the edge of the water, not far from the largest petrified ship. The waves lapped gently against the sand.
“Is it always this calm?” Knox asked.
“Offshore reefs absorb many of the waves here,” Hako said. “But this is a very placid day. The spot where we want to dig is still too threatened by water. We’ll start in about ten minutes.”
“Did you ever think you would dig for buried treasure?” Kendra asked Knox.
“I figured I would get around to it sooner or later,” Knox said. “The stone boats are weird.”
“Yes,” Kendra agreed.
“Think this beach has some sort of Medusa?” he asked.
“Maybe,” Kendra said. “It is a magical preserve.”
“A gorgon like Medusa wouldn’t turn wood to stone,” Warren said. “At least, no gorgon I know about.”
“It’s a mystery,” Hako said.
“At least I don’t see any stone people,” Knox said.
“The eels don’t lea
ve much behind,” Hako said.
Getting his chains and grapnels ready, Hako talked to Warren and Tanu about a strategy for pulling up the treasure box. Kendra practiced a little with her spade. The sand was fairly easy to scoop. She knelt down and pinched some damp sand between her fingers, feeling the fine grains. The sand was so golden that she wondered if it might be valuable.
“Is there real gold in the sand?” Kendra asked.
“A little, I suspect,” Hako said. “The sand only looks golden here, though. Any you take away fades to a duller hue.”
“Enchantment?” Vanessa asked.
“Perhaps,” Hako said, holding his shovel ready. “Prepare your potions. We have only a limited time. Ready?”
Kendra reached for her flask.
“Kendra and Knox, save your flasks to escape the eels,” Tanu ordered. “Warren and I will use ours first. Then Hako and Vanessa, if they choose. I have a few extra.”
“You need to brew some for satyrs,” Newel said.
“Someday, maybe,” Tanu replied.
“Let’s go,” Hako said, jamming his shovel into the sand about ten feet from the nearest water. Kendra wondered why he had started so far from the water until she beheld how rapidly the hole widened.
Tanu and Warren began digging in fast motion. This was her first chance to calmly watch somebody else use a speed potion. Their incredible haste made her giggle. She and the others helped, and the hole grew quickly. By the time Tanu and Warren slowed, they were four feet below sea level, with heaps of moist sand surrounding the hole, forming a lumpy wall against the sea.
Hako, Newel, and Doren kept vigorously digging while Vanessa used smelling salts to revive Tanu and Warren. Kendra and Knox helped shape the barricade of sand around the hole, evening it out, making sure the side facing the ocean was piled highest.
Soon Warren and Tanu were digging again. Kendra kept her eyes squinted to help protect them from the moist sand flying everywhere.
“Should I use the potion?” Vanessa asked.
“Not yet,” Hako said. “Wait until we see the treasure box. We’ll want a burst of speed right then.”
As they reached six feet below sea level, Doren called out, “I struck something!”
Everyone in the hole gathered to him, and together they scraped sand from the top of a petrified wooden box bound in iron. Hako crouched down, trying to fasten his grapnels to the box as the others dug deeper.
“Told you,” Doren gloated. “Satyrs have a nose for treasure!”
“No!” Warren cried.
“What?” Kendra called. Too many bodies were crowded around the treasure box for her to see.
“It’s sinking!” Vanessa shouted.
“I can’t see it anymore!” Doren cried.
“Drink,” Hako suggested, unstopping his potion.
He and Vanessa chugged the contents of their flasks and started digging frantically. The others moved back to give them room. The treasure box came back into view several times, but overall continued to sink. When the effects of the potion wore off, the deepest part of the hole was nearly nine feet below sea level. Hako and Vanessa slumped to the ground, and Tanu got out his smelling salts.
“This is like trying to dig a treasure out of quicksand!” Warren complained.
As Newel, Doren, and Warren kept digging, Kendra noticed water leaking from the wall of the hole about five feet down. As she watched, the flow increased from several trickles to steady streams.
“Water,” Kendra warned.
“I feel the box again,” Warren called, shovel clanging.
Water spouted into the hole from a dozen places. Hako and Vanessa struggled to stand. As they regained their balance, they found themselves up to their shins in seawater.
Warren dropped to his knees, a grapnel in each hand. “These won’t hook on!” he shouted in frustration. “I can’t get them to grip! No! It sank again!”
“Keep trying,” Hako called. “The water is slowing down. I’ll dig a channel to divert some of it.”
“The tide isn’t back in yet,” Tanu complained. “Why all the water?”
“The fool’s treasure is notoriously elusive,” Hako said.
Frustrated and feeling useless, Kenda stared at the sea. There was no sign of eels, but the water seemed slightly higher than earlier. As she peered up the beach at the huge ship projecting out of the sand, she noticed it was farther inland than seemed natural. Had it gotten stuck there at high tide?
She looked down into the hole at everyone splashing around, scooping up more water than sand at this point. They were going to fail. She knew it. This was what everyone in the past had tried. Hako’s map had been used many times. People had dug at this spot. And everyone had always failed.
Glancing back at the masts projecting from the sand, and thinking about the poem, Kendra had an idea. It might be ridiculous, but not much sillier than chasing a stone treasure box as it sank ever deeper into a watery pit.
“Guys,” Kendra declared. “I want to try something.”
The ship has a wheel,” Kendra said. “What if the treasure is by the wheel of the petrified ship?”
Still digging, Hako grunted out the poem:
Sift deeply through the golden sand
If you by chance should come to stand
Beside the wheel with bold command
You’ll hold the treasure in your hand
“The map and the poem are as old as the treasure,” Hako said. “The map shows that this is the correct place to dig. The treasure has been seen here, including by us.”
“It’s called the fool’s treasure for a reason,” Kendra said. “It has remained elusive because everyone has missed something. It’s slipping away for a reason. The poem mentions a wheel. Have you seen one?”
“No wheel,” Hako said gruffly. “Just a treasure box.”
“I’ll go investigate with Kendra,” Vanessa volunteered. “We have too many people down here anyhow. Help me up?”
Newel and Doren gave her a boost.
“We’ll come supervise,” Newel said. “I know a cursed treasure when I see one.”
“I’ll watch for eels,” Doren said.
Shovels in hand, Kendra and Vanessa ran toward the petrified ship. Charging across the deep, dry sand made Kendra feel slow and awkward.
“The wheel will be toward the stern,” Vanessa panted. “If I know my ships, it will be just behind the third mast.”
Three petrified masts jutted up from the sand, all at the same angle, the first almost uncovered toward the front of the stone ship. The bow of the ship faced seaward, as if the ship had backed in to the shore.
They reached the third mast. Kendra paused to marvel at how closely the stone mast mimicked the texture of the original wood.
“The sand looks pretty deep here,” Kendra said.
“From the angle of the ship, it might be ten or twelve feet down to the deck,” Vanessa said. “To reach the wheel we’ll need a hole deeper than the one by the sea. But the water shouldn’t bother us here for some time.”
“The eels might,” Kendra said.
“We’ll deal with them when they come,” Vanessa said.
“Thanks for backing me up,” Kendra said.
“It made more sense than the frenzy in that mudhole,” Vanessa said.
A couple of paces behind the mast, Vanessa started digging. Kendra began scooping sand as well. The satyrs caught up and lent their shovels to the effort. The hole did not take shape very well at first, where the sand was dry. But as they got deeper, the sand became damper and more manageable.
Not long after, Knox joined them. “Hako is really focused over there. I started to feel like I was getting in the way. I’m pretty sure he wants to take a bite out of the treasure box.”
A minute later Warren came along, soaked clothi
ng dusted with sand, hair wet. “The hole is totally flooded,” Warren said. “Hako is still catching glimpses of the box, diving for it. Tanu is there to help lift in case Hako can get those grapnels attached. I can’t be over there any longer. Hako is like a captain going down with the ship.”
Warren drank his second speed potion and gave one to Vanessa as well. They worked furiously, causing a miniature sandstorm. The others turned away from them, still digging, backs getting steadily peppered with little clumps of sand. By the time Warren and Vanessa collapsed, they had the hole to almost six feet down.
Knox ran back to borrow smelling salts from Tanu. Hako and Tanu returned with him, looking half drowned. Tanu used his salts to revive Warren and Vanessa.
“I wish you guys had remained at the treasure,” Hako said. “We could have used all hands there. I touched it several more times.”
Kendra felt annoyed by his scolding. She didn’t think her presence would have made any difference in reaching the petrified treasure box. They had all been there for several failed attempts before the hole got flooded.
“We’re giving this a try,” Vanessa said, picking up her shovel.
“Not for much longer,” Hako said. “The beach is quite level. When the tide comes in, the water rises fast. The sea swallows the entire beach at high tide, clear back to the trees. And don’t forget the eels.”
“Help dig for now,” Vanessa said.
Kendra wanted to hug Vanessa. Hako had clearly become fixated on the treasure box and saw no value in her idea of digging to the wheel of the ship. But what if they found the treasure here? And even if they didn’t, they could at least dismiss the idea of the ship wheel being relevant to the poem.
Tanu took another potion to help them dig faster, but Hako declined. With many shovels working, the hole widened and deepened. Kendra went to work at the top with Knox and Newel, moving displaced sand away from the hole.
“I think I’ve reached the spokes of the wheel!” Warren called.
Kendra looked down as Warren dug away more sand, revealing the top of the stone steering wheel. Tanu sat off to the side as Vanessa revived him with smelling salts.
“Let’s uncover it and get out of here,” Hako said. “If this leads to anything, I will eat my shirt.”