No Time to Lose!

“Chances are that they have already seen our boat,” my clever dogtective warned. “But we may have enough time to arrange a welcome party if we act swiftly!”

I was so startled, I could only do as he said.

First, we slipped back into the shed and opened the chest. I used a hammer and a chisel and the rusty lock snapped easily. To open such a chest is everyone’s dream, but the trouble lurking on the horizon spoiled our fun. The treasure, however, did not disappoint. Gold coins were heaped next to bars of silver, and beautiful jewels glimmered under a thin layer of mouldy dust.

“No time to admire!” William warned. “Alex, put as much of it as you can in your carry bag. Then fill the chest with sand, but cover it with a thin layer of gold coins.”

I followed his orders as quickly as I could. A lovely sapphire pin caught my eye when it tumbled to the ground, and I stuffed it in my trouser pocket in sheer haste.

I dragged the heavy chest away from the shed, towards another part of the little island. William followed me, doing his best to cover my tracks by scratching over them with his paws.

Suddenly it started to rain.

“We could not have wished for anything better!” I exclaimed as the rain did a much better job of wiping out our tracks than my spotted spaniel could manage.

We half-buried the chest in another shallow hole that I quickly dug a short distance from our shed, and we had it almost covered when William warned that it was time to get going.

I glanced towards the Sonata. She had sailed closer and was now moored opposite the pirates’ boat, which was still bobbing where we had anchored inside the protective ring of the reef.

“They cannot come any closer in a ship as large as that,” I said.

“True, but there are lifeboats as well as a couple of rubber dinghies aboard, and they’ll use them to come ashore.”

We had now almost erased all signs of our activi­ties from the island, and the rain was still coming down in torrents.

“This tropical rain never lasts long,” William warned. “It is time to take cover in the shed.”

I entered first, and William snapped the lock shut on the outside. He was a bit short for the job, and I heard him struggle. I had to open up again to give him an old bucket to stand on.

I heard him scuffing outside before he appeared through the tunnel that he had dug underneath the wall. We were both soaked, but this was no time to worry about minor discomforts.

“Will they not see your tunnel?” I asked.

“I pulled some bushes over it on the outside. They may fall into it, but that will serve them right!” he grinned.

“The time has come to use the gifts that Spears sent you,” William announced. He slipped the binoculars around his neck and scratched in his backpack to find the two-way radios.

“What’s your plan?” I asked.

He flipped me one of the radios. “Stay in touch, and trust me!” he ordered and slipped through his tunnel.

I was left on my own to worry and to wait.