Lackbeard

by Cody B. Stewart

  Only Carter acknowledged the glee and matched it in equal measure. “Holy crap, man. This look amazing!”

  “Thanks, Captain. This sort of stuff is my forte. I’ve been good at it since I was a kid.” Louis’s eyes sparkled. “I used to make these when Lord and Lady Fluffington, my stuffed bears, would host their semi-regular galas. I made one for my dad once, too.” The sparkle in his eyes suddenly dimmed. “He wasn’t as appreciative as the Fluffingtons.”

  Louis was one of the few from the home whose parents were actually alive. Carter used to be jealous of that. But he realized recently that it may have been worse for Louis—to have parents who didn’t want him.

  “The Fluffingtons sound like they have impeccable taste,” Carter said, and the sparkle returned somewhat to Louis’s eyes.

  Once the crew was ready and mostly awake, they marched into the jungle, the pale light of morning still hours off.

  “We should have waited for sun up,” Brad said as he struggled through a thicket of vines.

  “Nonsense,” Carter said. “Now we’ll reach the treasure before the heat of the day.”

  “This island is a lot bigger than that map suggests,” Louis said. His typically chalky face was beet red. “You sure that thing’s drawn to scale?”

  “No, I’m not,” Carter said. “In fact, I’m quite certain that it’s not to scale at all.”

  Darla held up her iPad. “But satellite imagery and GPS don’t lie. I spent most of the boat trip comparing this map to aerial photos of the island. I can get us there. We should actually be pretty close. It’s just on the other side of this…” Her voice sank into an endless swamp, a muck-filled bog that stretched on endlessly. “Of this,” she said, defeated.

  “Well, I guess we’re getting gross,” Carter said as he hiked up his pants.

  “Whoa, whoa,” Louis said, throwing up his hands. “Louis doesn’t do gross. Certainly not bottomless bogs of gross that are probably stupid with leeches.”

  “Is there any other way?” Carter asked.

  Darla tapped on the tablet, compared it to the map. “Yeah, I think so. But we’d need to cross what appears to be a pretty massive chasm.”

  Louis seemed to shrink. “Louis doesn’t do chasms either.”

  “You’re afraid of heights?” Marcus asked.

  “Afraid? Not at all,” Louis replied. “I’m freakin’ terrified!”

  “Well, Louis better make up his mind. Gross or…freakin’ terrified,” Marcus mimicked in a high-pitched squeal that drew giggles from some of the others.

  Louis stared at the bog. His face crinkled at the sight and smell of it. But Carter could see him almost throw up in his mouth at the thought of looking over the edge of a chasm. “Gross it is.”

  Slowly, as if trying not to disturb what might be living inside, the crew waded into the bog. Squeals of unease emanated from Louis the moment his feet touched the muck. He was a tea kettle.

  Marcus hurried across, pushing through the swamp like it was a pool of acid.

  No one spoke. They all tensed, probably hoping that if they stayed as quiet as possible, they could pretend their pants weren’t filling with muck.

  Carter broke the silence, and the crew’s hard-faked peace of mind. “Anyone else feel like they’re in a horror movie?”

  The crew groaned.

  “Don’t,” Marcus snapped. “Do. Not. Go. There. I’m the only brown kid here. If this thing turns from adventure to horror, the brown kid always gets screwed.”

  They reached the other side without another word. They all climbed onto the far bank and twitched as shivers ran up and down their spines.

  Carter moved to continue their quest, but something didn’t feel right. Like maybe it wasn’t only shivers running up and down his body. “Anyone else feel…?”

  “Yeah,” Brad said before Carter could finish. “Something weird.”

  “Don’t,” Louis said. “Just don’t even. I don’t want to know. Because if it’s leeches, I’m gonna die.”

  “Um, what?” Darla blurted.

  Carter adjusted his headlamp, and shined it at the crew. There were black blobs all over their bodies.

  Louis started jumping up and down, shaking his arms like he was trying to fly away. “I knew it! I knew I didn’t want to know. Gross, gross, gross! I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!”

  Marcus started pulling at a leech clinging to his calf. He pulled as hard as he could, but the creepy creature wouldn’t release its hold.

  “That won’t work,” Carter said. “There’s a better way.”

  Carter took a box of waterproof matches from his bag. He struck one and handed it off, continuing until everyone had one.

  “Watch me,” he said and touched his lit match to one of the leeches clinging to his kneecap. As soon as the flame hit, the black blob sizzled and fell off, leaving a small, bloody smear behind.

  The others joined the fray, burning off the leeches that were using them as unwilling hosts. Dead leech after dead leech plopped on the ground.

  “Burn in hell, you bloodsucking freaks!” Louis was particularly fierce about it.

  Once they’d taken care of the visible ones, everyone retreated into the dark to check their more private areas for intruders.

  Marcus screamed and shouted the longest string of obscenities Carter had ever heard. But when he rejoined the group, he acted like everything was cool. “Shall we?”

  Now leech-free, they continued on, trekking through thick brush and rocky terrain in the dark of the early morning and thick jungle. Carter took the lead, but let his excitement get the better of him. Several times Brad had to call him back to rejoin the others. His lamp provided a minimal amount of light as it was, but when he charged ahead, he left them totally blind.

  “Carter, you’re too far again,” Brad yelled. They’d entered a relatively flat and open area, though their path was littered with rocks, almost like a cobblestone road.

  Unable to see where she placed her foot, Yvette smacked her toe on a rock and stumbled forward. If Marcus wasn’t there to catch her, she would have bounced her head off another one.

  Brad threw his arms up. “Okay, that’s it.”

  Darla and Louis rushed to help Yvette up, only to crash their heads together and nearly fall on top of her.

  “We need to wait until the sun comes up,” Brad said. “We can’t keep pushing on through the dark. Someone’s gonna break their neck.”

  Carter muttered under his breath, “Whatever, Dad.”

  Brad tried to get in Carter’s face, but he couldn’t see where it was. “What did you just say?”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Carter said, smiling, unseen behind the glare of his headlamp.

  “Brad’s right,” Darla said. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t see a thing. One of us could walk off a cliff or step on a snake or fall in a pit of quicksand.” She added before Carter could respond, “And if you call me Mom, I will give you the wedgie to end all wedgies.”

  “Okay,” Carter conceded, “I get it. I’ve been letting my excitement get the better of me. But I’m your captain. I wouldn’t leave you behind or lead you into danger.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “And just for the record, I’m not wearing undies.”

  “Eww. TMI,” Yvette said.

  Carter walked away from the huddled group to find a thicket of bushes. He snapped off the largest stick he could find, then ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around the stick.

  “Give me your suntan lotion,” he said to Louis.

  Louis clutched his bag. “Why would I do that? The sun isn’t up. And you have the complexion of an Irish ghost. No amount of tanning lotion is going to bronze you up.”

  “Just hand it over,” Carter demanded. “Don’t make your captain ask twice.”

  Reluctantly, Louis took his prized bottle of Hello Kitty Tanning Oil from his bag and handed it to Carter. “Pineapple-coconut,” he said with pouty lips. “My favorite. And it’s hella expensive, so please
be frugal.”

  The words had barely left his mouth when Carter popped the top and doused the strip of cloth with the oil. He tossed the bottle back to Louis before striking a match and lighting the cloth.

  With a whoosh of heat and light, the torch burst into flame. Everyone jumped back, shielding their eyes from the sudden onslaught of light.

  “Necessity is the mother of all invention,” Carter grumbled in his pirate voice.

  The crew immediately began scouring the area for sticks, and tore cloth from their own shirts to make their torches. Louis gave the tanning oil up for lost and passed the bottle around.

  Darla took the matches first. “Okay, but seriously, we need to be careful with this. I don’t want to be responsible for burning down the rainforest.” She struck her match and lit the torch. “Mother nature is more valuable than any treasure.”

  When all the torches were lit, the group set off once again. They looked like a parade of fireflies.

  17

  Meanwhile…

  Proud military man and owner of twenty-four-inch biceps that could curl a suitcase of bowling balls, Major North continued his search for the cadet that got away.

  Major North knew the survival store well, even though he had lived on the opposite side of the country. He’d been stationed in this region once upon a time. And even if he hadn’t been, it was only smart to research potential assets before venturing out. He could have named ten sites to resupply at if the need arose. Surplus stores, army depots, gun shows, a few aficionados with exceptional gun collections. If things went Red Dawn, he’d know how to get strapped in a blink.

  Regardless, this store required no research. He knew the owner from way back.

  “Ten-hut!” North yelled as he walked in.

  The man behind the counter, a muscular man with the obvious beginnings of a gut in his lower forties, snapped to attention and saluted crisply.

  “Starting to sag around the midsection, soldier,” Major North barked.

  “Don’t see much action these days, sir,” the man replied.

  North stopped in front of him, their noses almost touching. “That’s no excuse for going soft.”

  The man smiled. “It’s good to see you, sir.”

  Major North took his hand in a strong, bone-crunching shake. “You too, Tolliver. Thanks for the help. I know it’s last-minute.”

  “I owe you my life, sir,” Tolliver said. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.” Tolliver’s attention shifted to the door and the three who just entered. “They with you?”

  Ms. Roberts sauntered to Major North’s side while the cadets marveled at the gear hanging on the walls. She draped herself over his arm. “Certainly am,” she said.

  North politely slipped out from under her. He gestured to the old, rabbit-eared TV that sat on the counter. A news report of the six missing kids played. “One of them is hers. Another’s mine. And I mean to collect them. Just need a ride.”

  Tolliver nodded. “Roger that. Follow me.” He led them toward the back of the store, through a cluttered storage room and into a wide, paved lot behind the building. “That work for ya?”

  Major North’s companions gazed at the helicopter like it was a dinosaur, or a dragon, or some other mythical beast deserving of awe. But the major looked nervous. The old rotorcraft was rusty and in disrepair. It looked like it hadn’t been flown in years. Maybe decades.

  “You sure this thing will fly?” the major asked.

  Tolliver looked offended. “She’s a workhorse, not a beauty queen. But she’ll get you where you’re going.”

  Major North breathed in deep, and let it out slow. His eyes danced over the helicopter, full of hesitation. By the time he’d fully exhaled, he’d made up his mind.

  “Mount up,” he said.

  No one moved. His hesitation seemed to have worn off on them.

  “Mount up!”

  The cadets rushed forward, shouting “Valley Forge Military Academy! Hoo-rah!” and climbed into the helicopter.

  Ms. Roberts brushed her hand against Major North as she passed. “This is going to be so much fun.”

  18

  The firefly parade broke through the thick of the jungle, coming out into a boulder-strewn clearing. The huge rocks looked like squat giants, sitting down to dinner. Carter and Darla held the map and iPad next to each other, studying their similarities.

  They’d done it. They’d arrived at the “x”.

  Fire lit in Carter’s belly. “Aye, ‘tis the place. The game’s afoot.”

  “That’s Sherlock Holmes,” Darla corrected. “Not pirates.”

  “Sherlock seemed like a bit of a pirate, himself,” Carter said.

  “Let’s spread out, see if we can find something,” Brad said.

  The crew fanned out, waving their torches to investigate the clearing.

  “There’s lots of something,” Yvette said. “Rocks, trees, dirt. Be more specific.”

  “I don’t know,” Brad said with a shrug. “Something, you know, treasure-y.”

  “Big help,” Yvette grumbled.

  Just under his bubbling excitement, Carter felt something else—a tingling on the back of his neck, like someone stood behind him, breathing on him. His gut pinched. A rustling on the south side of the clearing drew his attention. He spun, waving his torch in an orange arc.

  He crept toward it, knowing deep down that it was a terrible idea. Images flashed in his head—a hungry panther, man-eating anaconda, zombie pirates. But he kept walking closer to the sound. Only a few feet from the edge of the clearing.

  Then a rustling on the north side. He spun back. But now his back was exposed. He spun again. The zombie pirates had him surrounded.

  He stopped, took a deep breath. “It’s nothing,” he told himself. “Just the jungle. Lots of life, lots of noise. But nothing to be concerned about.” He rejoined the search.

  Carter walked around one of the larger boulders, running his hand along the craggy side. He let himself feel each bump and crack. Then a soft patch of moss. And then…

  Wait.

  Carter felt something in the moss. Or, really, a lack of something. There was a depression, and not a natural one. It was too precise. He traced the pattern with his finger, and bells went off in his head.

  “I found something!” he yelled to the others.

  They all came running. Even Brad looked eager to see what Carter had found. In the torchlight, he looked exactly how Carter remembered him when he was little.

  “Feast your eyes,” Carter said.

  They all groaned.

  “Moss,” Marcus said, sounding annoyed. “Feast your eyes on this,” he said, holding up a stick. “And look over there. I see some dirt.”

  Carter couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile as he traced the impression on the rock with his finger for all to see.

  “Yeah. Moss,” Yvette said.

  Carter held up the four-lock box he’d taken from the museum. He pointed to a pattern on the side of it, and then traced the impression again.

  “Identical,” he said triumphantly.

  “I think you’re seeing what you want to see,” Louis said with folded arms and an unimpressed tone.

  Carter growled. “Seriously?” He scraped the moss away to reveal a carving that matched the box plain as day.

  They couldn’t deny it now. One by one, each crew member’s face lit with astonishment.

  “Oh, yeah,” Marcus said, unable to hide his excitement. “We’re getting into some Indiana Jones stuff now.”

  “Spread out and look for more,” Carter said.

  The crew broke apart and swarmed the boulder like flies on poop. Marcus discovered another marking on the opposite side. Brad and Darla found one on the left. Louis and Yvette found one on the right.

  Carter compared the symbols on the box to each carving discovered on the boulder. All matched. “Well,” he said, slapping the rock. “You’re in the middle of nowhere and you need to hide some treasure. What better place
to do it than under a super huge rock?”

  Marcus pushed against the rock. “This thing weighs a ton. No way we’re moving it.”

  The crew stood staring at the rock, not quite defeated, but not nearly as excited as they were moments ago.

  “The pyramids!” Darla shouted. “The Egyptians used levers and fulcrums to move huge rocks to build the pyramids. We can do the same to move this boulder.”

  Marcus snorted. “Everyone knows aliens built the pyramids. Don’t you watch the History Channel?”

  Louis dismissed Marcus. “Work smarter, not harder. I like where your head’s at, girl.” Louis gestured for the crew to follow him into the forest. “Let’s find our lever.”

  Brad and Marcus found a fallen palm tree. Yvette and Louis rolled one of the smaller rocks. They placed the rock half the length of the tree, which was a few yards away from the rock. Then they placed the tree over it, jabbing the far end under the boulder.

  Darla surveyed the creation, seeming satisfied. “Looks good.” She grabbed onto the end of the tree and hung. Nothing. She swung her legs up and over so that she lay atop the log. Nothing.

  “Come on,” she said to the crew. “I’m not heavy enough. We need everyone up here if we want this thing to move.”

  One by one, the crew climbed onto the log. Each person added to the complexity of their balancing act. One grabbed onto the next to steady themselves. If one fell, they all went down.

  Still, the boulder did not move.

  “Okay,” Darla groaned, tensing every muscle to keep her balance. “Maybe if we do a little hop?”

  “Loco,” Yvette said.

  “Agreed,” Louis said. “Girl done lost her mind.”

  “It’ll be fine.” Darla pumped her legs, and the others followed suit. “One, two…”

  Snap!

  The tree cracked in half, and the mass of teenage pirates crashed to the ground like an oversized human pretzel, elbows and knees and heads smacking together. They rolled apart, all trying to find the wind that had just been knocked out of them.

  “Well that didn’t work as planned,” Darla groaned.

  “You think?” Marcus coughed.