The grinding amplified.
Crrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak!
Ben pounded across. With each step, the bridge wobbled more. Then the end slipped from the ledge and the slab plunged downward.
“BEN!”
I watched in horror as the bridge dropped from beneath his feet.
Ben threw himself forward, arms out-thrust.
Time froze. My heart stopped.
Ben’s forearms caught the cliff’s edge. His fingers clawed for purchase. Then his body slammed the rock face, causing his grip to falter.
Six hands shot out and seized Ben’s arms, hair, shirt, and neck. As one, we pulled him to safety.
“Thanks,” he wheezed. “I was a little short.”
“Anytime.” Shelton. Doubled over.
“I still owe you one,” Hi panted. “And that’s just tonight.”
Crack! Crack!
Bullets smashed the rocks above our heads.
“Move!” I shouted.
We charged into yet another black passage.
WE TUMBLED DOWN a ramp and landed in a tangle of arms and legs.
Everyone lay still, too overwhelmed to move. My thoughts were firing in short jagged clips.
We’re alive. Unharmed. The shooter can’t follow.
Slowly, my panting subsided and my pulse decelerated. Disengaging myself from the others, I rose and looked around.
The current chamber was circular, the size of a classroom. A waterfall poured from a hole in the roof to a pool in the center of the floor. I guessed the pool’s diameter and depth at about ten feet each. The water swirled, eventually draining through a chute at the bottom.
The effect was beautiful, like a graceful garden fountain. The rest of the room was empty.
“This must be ‘the dark chamber’s sluice,’” I said. “We made it!”
My gaze scoured the walls, snagged on a platform jutting from the rock. Roughly a yard square, the platform held nothing. Deep gouges marred its otherwise smooth stone surface.
My shoulders slumped in dismay.
Something heavy had once rested there.
Like a chest.
No.
“What’s that gibberish?” Shelton pointed to black letters chiseled into the wall directly above the platform.
“Another riddle?” I said. “But that’s definitely not English.”
The characters were recognizable, but I couldn’t place the language. Beside the lettering was the now-familiar symbol. Bonny’s signature bent cross.
My heart sank into my socks.
She took it. The treasure isn’t here.
“No!” Hi slapped his forehead. “Tell me this isn’t where the treasure’s supposed to be. Please.”
I couldn’t meet his eye.
“It’s gone?” Shelton wailed. “How? Nobody’s been in here before us! Those tunnels would’ve been front-page news. And the skybridge! That never came down until tonight!”
I shook my head. I couldn’t agree more.
Then the pieces fell together. I’d been a fool.
Hi must’ve read my expression.
“What?”
“They moved it.”
“Who?”
“Anne Bonny. Her people.” I punched the air in frustration. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”
Shelton waved his arms. “Explain! Right now!”
“Bonny’s crew busted her out of the dungeon, right?”
“Yep,” Shelton said. “We crawled down that god-awful hole ourselves.”
“She must’ve worried the Brits would discover her escape route.”
“But they didn’t,” Hi argued. “If they had, everyone would know about these tunnels. Her crew must have resealed the dungeon like we found it.”
“But Bonny couldn’t be sure that would work,” I said. “She had to worry that the tunnels could be compromised.”
Hi and Shelton groaned.
“So she and her crew removed the treasure themselves,” Hi said, “reset the booby traps, and took off. Mother—”
“Come on!” Ben’s bellow echoed loudly in the small space. “Why can’t we catch one stinking break!”
My eyebrows rocketed up in surprise. “What?”
“What do you mean, what?” Ben spread his hands. “Look around, Victoria! There’s no way out of here!”
I spun a three-sixty. Ben was right.
No doors, no tunnels, no cracks, no fissures. We were stuck in a subterranean aerie with no outlet.
“So no treasure?” Hi whined. “I thought we had it!”
“It’s gone,” I said. “Bonny moved it somewhere else.”
Hi sat and dropped his head between his knees. Shelton slumped beside him and grabbed one ear.
Ben started tapping the walls, searching for an exit. Clueless what else to do, I removed the treasure map and my pen. As Ben circled the room, I copied the foreign words from the wall onto the back of the map.
Ben and I finished at the same time.
“Nothing,” he said. “The only way out is how we came in.”
“That won’t work,” I said.
“Maybe the waterfall?” Ben levered himself up on the empty platform and stepped toward the wall.
Click.
Ben froze. Pulled his foot back. Looked down at the platform. Swore.
Rumble. Pop! Pop!
Shelton and Hi sprang to their feet.
“It’s a pressure switch!” Ben shouted. “I tripped it!”
Somewhere close, water gurgled, like a giant flushing toilet.
The chamber shook, then went deathly still.
“I think we might—”
“Look!” Hi pointed frantically at the ramp we’d tumbled down moments before.
An enormous boulder now blocked the opening.
“Oh no!” Ben gestured at the roof.
A sluice gate opened overhead. The waterfall surged.
The room began to flood.
Fast.
WATER STARTED OVERFLOWING the basin.
My eyes darted, searching for escape. Found nothing but solid stone walls.
“What should we do!?” Shelton yelled.
“Stay together!” I said. “We may have to swim out!”
“How!?” Hi shouted. “Where!?”
I tried to concentrate. There had to be a way!
Ben leaped from the platform, hands outstretched, and caught the waterfall’s edge. Incredibly, though pummeled by the flow, he held and tried to pull himself up.
No good. The deluge loosened his grip and washed him to the floor. Ben popped to his feet and yelled in frustration.
We weren’t getting out that way.
“I don’t wanna drown!” Shelton wailed.
I looked down. Water swirled like a vortex inside the pool. If the roof was impossible, that left the floor.
Maybe.
I jumped into the pool and fought my way to the bottom. Water was draining through an opening no wider than a Hula-Hoop. Just not fast enough.
We could squeeze through, but there’s no turning around.
I kicked to the surface and crawled out of the basin.
“What are you doing!?” Shelton screamed.
“I have a plan.” As calm as possible.
The boys gathered close, eager for something, anything.
“We swim out through the bottom of the pool,” I said.
“What!?” Shelton was nearing full-blown panic.
Hi looked at me as if I’d proposed we grow wings and fly.
Ben stood motionless, dripping, neck veins bulging.
“It’s our only chance. The drain must lead somewhere.”
“What if there’s no air?” Hi yelped. “We could drown!”
“The pool might empty into the chasm,” Ben warned. “Straight shot, right into the abyss.”
I blinked back tears. “I don’t have another idea.”
The group stood, paralyzed by indecision. The water was up to our shins, heading for our knees.
br />
“We can’t just wait here to die,” I said.
“Fine,” Ben said. “Let’s go for it.”
“Just like a waterslide.” Hi. Shaky.
“Don’t put me last.” Shelton’s voice cracked. “I won’t be able to do it.”
Ben tapped us, one by one, then himself. “Tory. Shelton. Hi. Then me.”
“I took skin-diving lessons,” Hi said. “Well, one. To maximize oxygen intake you take two deep breaths, then hold the third and go.”
Ben nodded. “Don’t exhale until you have to, then release the air slowly. And don’t panic. Just keep swimming no matter what.”
Inside my backpack was a Ziploc bag. I folded the treasure map, zipped it tight, and crammed the baggie in a pocket.
“Our flashlights are supposedly waterproof.” I didn’t say more. No point.
“I’ll take the lantern,” Ben said.
We’d come down to it. No one wanted to move, but we’d run out of time. The water was at waist level.
I hugged each of them. “I’ll see you in a few seconds!”
Grim faces.
I couldn’t hesitate any longer. If I did, we’d all lose our nerve. Maybe our lives.
I stepped to the pool’s edge and whispered a prayer.
Inhale. Exhale.
Inhale. Exhale.
Long inhale.
Splash.
I dove, kicked hard for the bottom, and fired through the hole. Beyond was an underwater tunnel. I dolphin kicked, hauling with my hands. The flashlight slowed me, but I had no choice. Without it I’d be in total darkness.
Seconds ticked by in my head.
Eight …
Nine …
Ten …
The tunnel veered left, then angled downward. My beam barely dented the inky black. I dragged myself forward, arms aching. To my horror, another flooded channel stretched before me.
Fifteen …
Sixteen …
Seventeen …
Panic threatened, but I shoved it aside. Dribbling air from my lips, I struggled on. Ahead, the channel descended even more sharply.
Twenty-two …
Twenty-three …
Twenty-four …
Desperate, I kicked harder, arcing the light wildly. Ten feet ahead lay another bend.
My lungs burned. I was out of time.
Primal terrors howled full throat in my brain.
SNAP.
The flare blasted through me.
I coughed out my last remaining oxygen. Gagged on seawater.
The walls closed in.
I was done.
Then I saw it.
Just around the bend, the roof of the tunnel bubbled upward.
Dropping my flashlight, I thrust with both arms. When I broke the surface, my head nearly slammed into the low ceiling.
Air pocket!
Thank God!
I gulped greedy mouthfuls of air.
Inside, my powers raged. Images flashed from some hidden corner of my psyche. Thoughts burned in my skull.
Somewhere, I knew Coop howled.
More images formed. Shelton. Hi. Ben.
Underwater. Gripped with panic. Losing faith.
As I gasped and sputtered, my brain fired a message.
Air pocket at the third bend! Don’t give up!
I could feel the thought knife into each of them. Their minds latched on and their limbs paddled madly.
Shelton’s head broke the surface. I dragged him to me with one hand. Hi appeared next, hacking and spitting. Then Ben’s face erupted from the liquid.
“Everyone okay?” I yelled.
The boys were too shell-shocked to answer. Only Hi still held his flashlight.
We treaded water, clinging to projections from the tunnel wall.
I noticed that none of the boys were flaring.
“What’d you do?” Hi backhanded water from his eyes. “I heard you inside my head!”
“You saved me!” Shelton said. “I was all turned around!”
“Later.” Ben was still breathing hard. “We have to get out of here.”
“Follow me,” I said.
We swam down the tunnel, using a stone outcropping to pull ourselves along. I thanked the heavens for our last remaining flashlight, and prayed it wouldn’t fail.
Then we hit another dead end.
“Oh no!” Shelton wailed.
“Shh!”
My ears picked up a familiar sound. My nose identified a familiar scent.
Waves crashing. Sand.
“We’re near a beach!” I said. “I can hear the surf!”
“Promise?” Shelton sniffled in the darkness.
“Promise.” I glanced down. The water seemed deeper, but I couldn’t tell how much. “Wait here a sec.”
Holding my breath, I sank to the bottom of the channel. Through the murk, my glowing eyes detected a diffuse light. An opening, several yards ahead. I rose to the surface.
“We’re going to have to dive again,” I said. “Follow my light. I won’t let you down.”
“Just get us out of here, Tory.” Hi was near his breaking point. “Now, if you don’t mind.”
“Will do. Ready?”
“Ready.” Times three.
Inhale. Exhale.
Inhale. Exhale.
Long inhale.
Splash.
I kicked forward, then through the gap into a murky sea cave. The others were right behind.
The surface was twenty feet above. Beyond it, moonlight.
Treading in place underwater, I pushed Hi and Shelton past me. Ben was just behind. We fired to the surface as one.
My head struck something hard. Light exploded between my eyes. I sank, stunned. The flashlight slipped from my fingers.
SNUP.
The power fizzled.
My mind drifted. The world grew fuzzy.
A hand grabbed my arm, yanked hard, dragging me upward. Lightheaded, I allowed myself to be pulled.
My head broke the surface. I took a giant breath.
“Tory!” Ben’s face was inches from mine. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I said. “Dandy. I bonked my head.”
Ben looked at me oddly. “Let’s get to shore.”
“Shore?”
Ben smiled for the first time. “Look around.”
I did. Knew the place.
We were floating just off the Battery, at the very tip of the downtown peninsula. We’d traveled roughly seven blocks underground.
Hi and Shelton waved from a staircase embedded in the seawall.
“An easy way up for once!” Shelton sounded ecstatic.
Ben and I paddled to the steps and slip-slid up to street level. The four of us crossed into White Point Gardens, found a park bench, and collapsed.
My watch was missing. I had no idea of the time.
But dawn was purpling the eastern sky.
Beside me, Hi broke into laughter, sides shaking with spasms of uncontrolled amusement.
“What?” The sound was infectious. I felt a smile tickle my lips.
“Say hi to our buddies.” Hi jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.
I turned, came face-to-face with a monument dedicated to Stede Bonnet and his pirate cronies. I nearly busted a gut.
Cackling, Shelton stumbled to the big hunk of granite. Kicked it twice. Hard.
“Thanks for nothing, you jerks! Tell your buddy Anne we don’t accept IOUs.”
Ben guffawed, reigniting the rest of us. We let the giggles flow, taking the tension with them.
“Do you guys have any idea how screwed I am?” Hi moaned. “My mother gets up in ten minutes.”
“I feel you,” Shelton said. “I’m just as toast.”
“No point worrying about it now,” Ben said. “We survived. We can take whatever comes next.”
Definitely. Kit was going to filet me, but at the moment, that seemed trivial.
“Let’s enjoy the fresh air for a while,” I said.
S
o we sat, side by side, and watched the sunrise.
“MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN,” I joked. “You just have to believe!”
Noon. Bunker. We lounged in our clubhouse, still beat from the previous night’s insanity.
The boys were sprawled about the room, idly tossing a tennis ball. I was on the bench. Coop was gnawing a Frisbee at my feet.
Impossibly, no one had been caught.
Five hours earlier, I’d tiptoed through my front door, prepared for the worst. Already grounded, I had no idea how Kit would react to my sneaking out until dawn. For all I knew, a cop could be sitting in our living room.
So I’d slipped inside, nervous that Coop would blow my cover. Instead, much to my surprise, I’d found a Post-It stuck to the banister.
Early trip to LIRI. Back by dinner. Don’t leave the house. Kit.
He had no idea.
After executing a few of Hi’s best dance moves, I’d collapsed on the couch. I was exhausted, emotionally drained, and smelled like sewage and sea scum.
Coop had hit me like a Patriot missile, tail thumping, his pink sandpaper tongue slathering my face.
“It’s okay, boy. Mommy’s fine. Just had a little scare, that’s all.”
Coop continued bathing my face. From that moment, he hadn’t let me out of his sight.
A foghorn sounded in the harbor, scattering the seagulls roosting outside the bunker’s window slit. Cruise ship, headed to the peninsula.
Sunlight glinted off the tranquil ocean. The temperature was well past ninety.
“My mom caught me downstairs, but she thought I was going out.” Hi laughed. “Like I’m getting up that early on a Saturday. Thank God she’s groggy before her first three cups of coffee.”
“My parents were still in bed.” Shelton lobbed the tennis ball toward Ben. “They never sleep past six. I must have a guardian angel.”
“Will your Dad get after you?” I asked Ben.
Tom Blue’s workday began well before sunup, even on weekends. By the time we’d docked Sewee that morning, his ferry had already set sail.
“I’ll say I went fishing.” Ben caught the ball and flipped it to Hi. “He won’t ask a lot of questions.”
The tennis ball arced across the room, was caught, arced back.
Then Hi voiced the question on everyone’s mind. “So … any guesses at who tried to kill us?”
“Honestly, I have no idea,” I said. “None.”
“It makes no sense!” Shelton spread his hands. “Who could’ve known we planned to break into the Provost Dungeon last night?”