Marathon Gold
By Chris James
Chapter Ten
Jimmy was pretty pleased with himself as he showed his father and mother the two gold coins. Clark had divided them up, each of them receiving an equal share, a reminder of their pact as treasure hunters.
"So you found your treasure? That's wonderful," His father exclaimed. "These must be worth several hundred dollars." And that was all he said.
Jimmy wasn't sure what he expected his parents to say, but their lack of enthusiasm was disappointing. It had to be because of the storm, they were completely distracted. The sheriff had stopped by to make sure they were leaving and said the whole island was poised to retreat to the mainland. He cautioned them to leave early as Route 1 would be clogged with traffic.
So Jimmy joined in the frenzy of packing the truck, and then went to bed in what might be his last night in this house. They were under no illusions, winds of one hundred and fifty miles per hour would do incredible damage and their home might not survive.
The morning was bright and sunny, giving lie to the nature of what lay several hundred miles to the southeast. School had been cancelled throughout the Keys, people we already on the move. The radio said the storm had reached Cuba and was still on a westward course.
Throughout the day his father tried to get through on the phone to his aunts but the lines were jammed. Anne's boyfriend had stopped by to tell her that he was off with his parents to Tampa. She cried and they kissed, but even Jimmy's mother looked on sympathetically.
Life as they had known it was upside down and none of them knew what the future would bring. Jimmy rode his motorcycle up to Clark's knowing he would have to leave it behind since there was no room in the truck. Evelyn was loading the trunk with some final items and the car looked pretty full already. All across the front of the house Jimmy could see the storm shutters had been closed, his parent's house didn't have any.
"Your folks leaving today?" She asked.
"Probably," Jimmy replied.
Clark came out of the house with another small box and she groaned. "Alfred, there's no room."
"I'll hold it in my lap," He said, and she laughed.
"Alfred, you're driving, you can't do that... we'll make room if it's that important."
Clark grinned at Jimmy. "See, there's always room. What brings you here?"
"I was wondering if I could leave my motorcycle under your porch. I brought this small tarp to wrap around the engine so the sand won't ruin it."
Clark nodded. "You may do that, I hope it survives."
Evelyn sighed and walked back up to the house. Clark looked around his yard.
"It's going to be bad I'm afraid, a bit like Michael's storm in the journal. But people will come back and rebuild, I will too. What are your parents going to do?"
"My father says he'll come back and decide what to do once they open the roads again, but we're only going to Miami. You think the treasure will be safe?" Jimmy asked.
"I believe so. We've had dozens of big storms in the past. The coral will protect it until you and Gene come back for it. No one knows it's there and I sure won't tell them."
"I told my parents but that's it. I imagine Nelson will go back to digging again and you know... I hope he finds his treasure, I really do," Jimmy said.
Clark smiled. "What you boys have done here is nothing less than heroic, I hope you remember this time in your life as you grow older. I've seen lots of wonderful things in my life but this really takes the cake. Now go put that cycle under the porch, we're leaving in a few minutes."
Jimmy pushed his cycle in under the porch and secured the tarp around the engine with the rope he'd brought. Then as an after thought he tied the frame to one of the support columns. He scurried out from under the porch and walked down to the dock. The treasure lay out there in twenty feet of water encased tightly in coral. It might get covered in sand but it was secure.
"I hope I still have my dock. The radio says the storm is tearing up Cuba pretty badly," Clark said as he walked across the yard. "We're leaving now, Jimmy."
Jimmy offered his hand and smiled as Clark took it. But that was not enough and he pulled the boy in for a hug. Jimmy hugged back and kept on smiling. He really liked this man; they had done great things together. The house was all shuttered and Jimmy figured Clark would be back and they could go on with life just like they always had.
Clark got behind the wheel and Evelyn waved good bye, then they drove away. Jimmy looked out at the ocean and saw the long striated clouds blowing their way, signs of the hurricane that would soon swallow up the sun. He walked to the end of the driveway and headed for home.
They left the house around three that afternoon, joining the line of slow moving cars on Route 1. The garage looked forlorn all boarded up, as did the other businesses along the strip. They passed the Marathon Motel and Jimmy wondered what Hal would do with the Queen. She was too big a boat to dry dock, but he probably had her tied down six ways from Sunday.
They passed over Grassy Key, Duck Key, Long Key and Indian Key before they reached Islamorada. From what he understood this had been Caesar's island all those years ago. They were halfway to the mainland now and traffic was slowed to a crawl. The trip across Key Largo took forever but then they reached the bridge to the mainland and drove into Homestead an hour later.
They reached Jimmy's uncle's house by dark. Coral Gables was a neighborhood of broad streets and huge mangrove trees, the folks here were pretty wealthy he figured. Jimmy had two aunts and one uncle living in this big rambling house with a pool in the back yard. They went through the affectionate greetings and he was assigned a spot to sleep on the wide screened-in porch at the back of the house.
They all sat in the kitchen and talked for a while. His father nursed a beer and said little. Jimmy could understand, this wasn't his world, they'd been displaced. No one wanted to talk about what might happen, about what the storm might do to their house. If everything in Marathon was destroyed there would be little incentive to go back.
That was Jimmy's greatest fear. Marathon was his home. His friends, his school, his life was there, as was the treasure. But he was almost fourteen; he would go where his family led him.
"So, Jimmy... Lester tells me you've been off treasure hunting," His Uncle Harry said.
That brought a smile, and Jimmy pulled the coins out of his pocket. "I found something too," Jimmy said proudly.
It was a distraction and everyone admired the coins, asking all kinds of questions. Jimmy could see his father paying more attention now.
"How much is down there do you suppose," His father asked.
"Clark said it could be worth a half million dollars if we found it all and auctioned it off."
"Oh, Jimmy... was he joking?" His mother asked.
"Betty, doubloons like this are quite valuable," Harry said. "But if you're going to dive again and bring up all that treasure you'll need permission."
"Permission... from where?" Jimmy asked.
"The State, they have laws governing sunken treasure. Their intention is to preserve the reefs and the sunken wrecks all up and down the coastline."
"But there is no wreck, it's just sitting there on the bottom," Jimmy said.
"You should still seek permission to bring it up. Someone will ask where these came from when you go to sell them. Just picking them up is a crime if you don't get a permit," Harry said.
"But then I have to tell them where it is," Jimmy said. "Then anyone can go get it."
"I don't know how it works. I just know there's a statute in the State Antiquities Law about diving for treasure."
Jimmy knew his uncle was right, the man was a judge and the law was his business. There had been some small damage to the reef prying out those chunks of coral to get the coins. Maybe no one would know, but then they wanted to sell them... someone would find out. It didn't seem fair; they had done all the work of finding the gold.
Everyone went to bed except Jimmy and his father who stayed up to watch the late news on television. Jimmy had no real interest in staying up but he was still trying to get his thoughts together about breaking the law to get the gold. That didn't last as the lead story was about the hurricane.
The weatherman had a map of the Caribbean behind him and on it was the current position of the storm. They were told it was moving slowly westward up the coast of Cuba with sustained winds of one hundred and fifty miles per hour.
The reporter talked about the evacuation of the Florida Keys and the potential for damage here in Miami. The weatherman seemed to stand by helplessly and Jimmy found out why when the man admitted they didn't have any idea which course the storm was going to follow. The only thing the poor man managed to say was that they would know tomorrow.
Jimmy's father shook his head. "That was no help whatsoever. If the storm keeps going west then all we'll get is lots of wind and rain. They need to figure out how to do this forecasting a lot better."
"You mean all those people could have left for nothing?" Jimmy asked.
"Exactly, but the way things are they'd rather be safe than sorry. Let's go to bed."
Jimmy lay on the couch and stared up at the piece of sky he could see through the overhead screens. There were no stars tonight, the clouds had already moved in. Gene would be on the way to Raleigh by now and Clark would certainly be in Boca Raton.
Somehow he knew this hurricane wouldn't pass them by. It was their fate, and Jimmy began to wonder if Caesar's gold really did have a curse on it. That seemed a silly superstition, but even Michael had hesitated to touch the gold. Jimmy looked over at the two coins sitting on the table beside him... maybe there was a curse.
The rain began late that night, and Jimmy awoke to the sound of falling water in the downspouts on the side of the house. His couch was tucked in under the deep eves of the house and the rainfall was coming down through the screens twenty feet away. But there was wind as well, which told Jimmy the storm was moving towards them.
The morning news said it all, the storm had changed course in the middle of the night to the north northwest. Flowing along the coast of Cuba the hurricane had turned and was now targeted at the Florida Keys. Marathon on Vaca Key was at the center of the storm's path.
There was nothing they could do except watch throughout the day as the storm proceeded towards the islands. The weatherman's description left little to the imagination, wind and water would devastate Marathon in the next twenty-four hours. The storm was plotted better now, showing a path up the west coast of the Florida.
The winds outside gusted to fifty miles an hour and it rained all day. Jimmy's father was depressed, certain that his business at the garage was over. The adults sat quietly in the kitchen and talked while Jimmy and his sisters watched a movie on television. It was the ninth of September, a day they would all remember for a long, long time.
Jimmy's father unloaded his truck in Harry's garage and three days later was ready to take off to go view the damage. Jimmy begged to go.
"They might not even let us back on the island," His father said, but then he seemed to understand. "Come on, we might as well see it together."
Once they hit Key Largo the damage became apparent. Trees were down and they were stopped several times by the Highway Patrol. Power was out in the islands, but somehow Jimmy's father managed to talk his way through. They were told to report to the fire station in Marathon where food and water was available.
The bridges had sustained damage and in some places there was only one lane of roadway to get through, but the closer they got to Vaca Key the more damage they saw. Buildings were down, roofs blown off, trees and telephone poles snapped off. With the electricity shut off there were dozens of power company trucks at work, a major effort to repair the utilities was underway.
Jimmy looked in horror as they crossed the bridge into Marathon, the town looked destroyed. The lighthouse at the Marathon Motel was shattered, the docks torn up. But they were both shocked to see a thirty foot sport fisherman with a shattered hull sitting alongside the highway.
The garage was a total loss. The roof was gone, even the walls had crumbled in several places. The two garage bays stood wide open, the doors completely blown away by the storm. Piles of debris and sand covered everything. Jimmy's father didn't even get out of the truck, they just drove on.
There were a dozen cars around the firehouse, and Jimmy's father saw other men in a state of shock. All of them were standing around talking, trying to decide what to do.
"Seventy-five percent of the businesses are out of commission," Jimmy heard one man say. And then he saw Hal.
The Captain shook his hand. "So much for work this fall, it's going to take until spring to get back in shape," Hal said.
"The Queen... is the boat okay?" Jimmy asked.
Hal nodded. "She parted a few of the mooring lines, smashed up the dock, but she's a tough old lady. I lost two of my sport boats, they got smashed to bits. The problem now is recovery. Even if we did have customers there isn't any place for them to stay, motels are all out of commission."
"I'm sorry," Jimmy said. There was nothing else he could say.
Jimmy's father walked over and shook hands around the group of men. They were offered food and water, but neither of them had an appetite. Jimmy looked around for Skipper, wondering if Gene had come back yet. He finally went back to the truck and waited, wondering when his father was going out to look at the house.
His father returned to the truck and shook his head. "Some of these damn fools rode out the storm, that's plumb crazy. I heard Skipper is back and I know you're curious about Gene. We'll go over to the restaurant and see him."
They drove up the highway past the airport. The sheds were gone, the runway littered with debris and another boat sat upside down along the highway. Skipper's place didn't look too bad, at least he still had part of his roof, but the sign out front was a twisted pile of metal. Skipper and his older son were out looking at the damage.
"Hello, Lester... I saw your garage... "
"Yeah, not much left," Jimmy's father said.
Skipper looked over at Jimmy. "Guess you won't be going to school here for a while, the building got pretty torn up."
"Is Gene coming back?" Jimmy asked.
"Not for a while, his mom is trying to get him in school up there. This is all going to take some time to sort out, and then he can come back." Skipper turned to Jimmy's father. "What are you going to do, Lester?"
They walked around back of the restaurant so Jimmy didn't hear what his father had to say. Gene wasn't coming back for a while, and somehow Jimmy knew they wouldn't either. Life had changed but he just didn't know what that meant.
Neither Clark nor the Martin sisters were back yet, but both their houses still stood, although there were plenty of trees down. Their own house was standing... minus a roof, doors, windows... they had all blown away. The carport was gone, the backyard shed had vanished. The living room was filled with sand, and water had soaked the walls so badly they were crumbling... they couldn't live here anymore.
Vaca Key had survived and would rebuild, but the lives of many who had lived here was beyond redemption. The sky was blue, the sun was out and yet the landscape around them was shattered. Jimmy was afraid to speak, to ask what they would do now. He was afraid of the answer... of what his father might be holding back.
There was little they could do here. Jimmy's father stopped at the firehouse once again and left Harry's phone number with the chief. It would take a few days for the state and federal government to arrive in force. But the garage had volatile fuels in tanks half buried in the ground and they would want to talk to the owner.
Jimmy said nothing as they drove back across the Keys heading for the mainland. He could tell his father was in shock, wondering what to do and how to arrange their lives. But instead of going straight back to Harry's house Jimmy watched as his father pulled into the parking lot of the Toddle House.
"Come on, they will have eaten already so we'll get us some dinner here," His father said.
Jimmy looked at the menu and ordered a Master Burger and fries. His father just took a coffee. They gazed across the table at one another and Jimmy realized how sad his father's eyes looked. It was then that he realized his life was about to change... forever.
"I spoke with your mother about this, but I think we're going to send you to live with my sister's family in Maryland. It should only be for a few years, at least until I can establish a business again and find us a home."
Jimmy stared down at his lap and felt like crying. It was bad enough that they had lost everything, but now this. He could argue, but that would change nothing.
"Your sisters are going to stay with Harry and Jean. Anne will run off with that boyfriend of her's the first chance she gets, but Jenny needs to get in school and graduate. This isn't a punishment, Jimmy, but we have to split up for a while until things settle down."
"How long?" Jimmy asked quietly.
"A year... maybe two. You like your cousins up there, you'll go to school with them, play some sports, join the Boy Scouts. Don't worry about tomorrow, do what you can to fit in and enjoy your life. This is all temporary, we're still a family."
Jimmy reached in his pocket and took out the doubloons, sliding them across the table to his father. "Take these to help you start a business," He said. "The sooner that happens the sooner we all get back together."
His father looked down at the coins and smiled. "If you'd managed to get that whole treasure out we could have been rich, or maybe we'd be in jail. No, Jimmy, you keep the coins, they're your good luck charm."
Jimmy ate his hamburger when it came, but he didn't taste a thing. If he was heading north to live with his cousins then the treasure would become Gene's. That was fair; the boy had worked hard for it. They finished the meal and drove back to Coral Gables in time to hear the news. The hurricane had blown up the coast and died in Canada. The storm in Jimmy's life was just beginning.
* * * * * *
In nine days, Hurricane Donna had displaced thousands, from the Antilles Islands all the way up to the State of Maine. In Florida alone the damage was estimated at over $900 million to property, crops, fruit trees and wildlife. There were fifty deaths in the United States associated with the storm, over three hundred in other countries.
The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 will long be remembered as the event that changed the face of the Florida Keys. With winds of 185 miles per hour and a storm surge of eighteen feet, it destroyed towns, bridges and the all important railroad. Those who attempted to escape by train were killed by the water that swept the railroad cars off the tracks. Four hundred people lost their lives that day.
On Vaca Key, in the town of Marathon, the average wind speed of Donna was recorded at 150 miles per hour, with gusts up to 180. The storm surge which wreaked havoc to boats, buildings and highways was measured at thirteen feet. Because of the severe damage and loss of life the National Weather Bureau retired the name Donna from its ongoing list of names assigned to hurricanes.
The Florida Keys managed to recover, and reconstruction began in Marathon bringing the island back to life before Christmas. No one in the Keys will forget what happened in 1935, and the storm of 1960 was just another grim reminder of how powerful a force nature can be. They're waiting for it to happen again.
* * * * * *
The dark blue Chevy rolled across the bridge from Grassy Key onto Vaca Key. The car was new, a '65 Impala, a gift from Jimmy's grandmother. He had driven it all the way down from her suburban Maryland home in only twenty hours, and not one speeding ticket.
Marathon looked different, more crowded since it had been rebuilt. But Jimmy had graduated high school up north and swore the first thing he would do was return here, he had unfinished business. He was eighteen... no, eighteen and three-quarters, although the fractions didn't seem so important anymore.
It had been five years since the storm and his forced banishment to Maryland. He didn't think of it that way now, they had been good years. He had been full of doubt when he first stepped off the train at Union Station in Washington, D.C., but his grandmother was there to meet him. He was scared, nervous, but his family soon put that all behind with their love.
Five years and he couldn't remember another time in his life when he had been so busy. A new school could have been a problem, except he had three cousins there who stood up for him. He played baseball, joined the Boy Scouts, and sailed on the Chesapeake Bay. It was a good life away from the Florida Keys, except for one thing.
His father had died the year before of lung cancer, and the man had never smoked a day in his life. The doctors puzzled over his father's naval career and exposure to chemicals in the garage, no one had the answer. But he was diagnosed late and immediately placed in the West Palm Beach Veteran's Hospital. Lester Vaughn was dead three weeks later.
His parents had been in the throes of a divorce, her idea not his. Jimmy's father had never recovered from the loss in Marathon, but he never gave up, she did. The last time Jimmy had seen his mother was at the funeral, and he wasn't talking to her now. She was still living in Miami and he had driven right on past the city on the way down.
But there were several other people Jimmy considered family, and he was here to see them. The Marathon Motel had been completely rebuilt, the lighthouse larger and stronger than ever. Jimmy knew he would have to stop in later that afternoon and see if the Marathon Queen was still docked there.
The garage his father had owned was now a tourist attraction, the Shell Shop. But he drove on past and down the strip to Skipper's. It was lunch time, but he didn't know if Gene was still working there. There had been letters, one every couple of months over the years. Gene had said he returned his senior year; he would be twenty years old now.
Jimmy parked out front and pushed his way through the door to the restaurant. A new face behind the counter, but he could hear Skipper yelling about something back in the kitchen. Jimmy sat at the counter and the new girl asked him if wanted something to drink.
"A large glass of milk, if you please," Jimmy said.
The noise in the kitchen subsided and Skipper pushed through the door and stepped behind the counter. The girl brought Jimmy's milk and he waited. Skipper picked up an order pad and turned around.
"Can I get... ," Skipper started to say and he froze, then a smile lit up his face. "My God... Jimmy, where did you come from?"
He hurried around the counter and snatched Jimmy off the stool, pulling him into a bear hug. "Damn, boy... you look wonderful."
He pushed Jimmy back and stared him in the eye. "I heard about your father, I'm sorry."
"Thank you," Jimmy said. "How have you been?"
"Busier than ever, what brings you back?"
"I'm going to live here again," Jimmy said.
Skipper smiled. "You couldn't have picked a better time, the town is jumping. I suppose you're looking for Gene, he's over at the theatre now, manager you know."
"Oh wow, he didn't tell me about that."
"Yeah, well the wife's arthritis is acting up, she couldn't stand on her feet all day so she gave him the job, and he loves it. I'm glad you stopped by."
"I came to eat, Skipper... are you still serving food?" Jimmy laughed.
"Oh... yeah, sorry. What will you have?"
"I always eat the same thing when I come in here, do you remember?"
Skipper smiled. "One Beach Burger Platter comin up."
Jimmy enjoyed the meal, just as good as always. Skipper refused his money and Jimmy drove over to the theatre. The front doors were locked so he walked around to the office window. He peeked over the sill and saw Gene sitting in there with rolls of tickets on his desk.
"Hey, Skip J., how's it hangin?" Jimmy said.
"Jimmy!" Gene yelled and ran towards the back door.
The boy hugged almost as strongly as his father, but he held on much longer. Gene grasped Jimmy's head and stared into his eyes.
"Are you back?"
"I can't think of anyplace I'd rather be," Jimmy said.
"Your timing is ironic, I should have known you'd be coming," Gene said.
"And why is that?" Jimmy asked.
"Did you see the marquis out front... do you now what film we're showing?"
"No," Jimmy laughed.
Gene smiled. "It's called High Wind in Jamaica... it's all about pirates."
Jimmy stopped laughing and stared. "Did you ever... I mean did you ever go back down there?"
"No, Jimmy... I've been waiting for you."
They talked for three hours about the past and all that they had accomplished, reliving those heady moments before the hurricane struck. Gene said he would take a day off so they could make the dive; Jimmy shared his uncle's concerns about how they needed a permit. Gene laughed at that, promising they would need no such thing, he had a solution.
"If we get it all out and sell it, what will you do with your share?" Jimmy asked.
"Money isn't the issue for me; my folks have the business which I'll inherit. Neil is off in New York, he doesn't want to live here anymore. But I want to start my own business and I already have a business plan. I need a partner, Jimmy, and I was hoping you'd join me."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I'll tell you, but maybe the Admiral can explain it better, it was his idea. Now I have to get back to work, the theatre opens in two hours and its Friday night. I suggest you go visit the Admiral, I think he's expecting you," Gene said.
Jimmy laughed. "How could he know I was coming back?"
"We knew you were graduating, it was a logical idea. Are you glad to be back?"
"This is where I belong," Jimmy said. "Later, gator."
Gene laughed. "I haven't heard that in years. After while, crocodile. Come back when you're finished with Clark, we'll catch a movie."
The county road was paved now, gone was the white coral surface he had ridden on as a boy. And houses, there was a whole community of people living down here. Jimmy looked past the houses towards the tree line beyond, and realized that patch of forest hadn't been there before.
Damn, Nelson had planted hundreds of trees and they were growing taller. He came to Clark's driveway and could still see some of the storm damage here. Many of the Gumbo Limbo trees were new; the old ones must have been blown down. The house looked the same, but Jimmy thought the roof had been a different color before.
Jimmy pulled up out front next to the old blue car and shut off the engine. The screen door opened and Evelyn stepped out on the porch. Jimmy got out and she gave a small cry of joy, hurrying down the steps to greet him.
"Hello, Mrs. Warren... how are you?"
"Jimmy Vaughn, my goodness how you've grown... just as handsome as ever."
Jimmy laughed and then nodded towards the house. "How is he?"
Evelyn smiled. "Just as ornery as ever, but he's slowing down. Are you back for good?"
"I am, this is my home now... soon as I find a place to stay."
The screen door opened and Clark stepped out on the porch. He looked a little older, but he still had the light of a younger man in his eyes.
"Jimmy... what a surprise," Clark said.
Jimmy climbed the steps and took Clark's hand, and then they hugged. "Gene said you were expecting me," Jimmy said.
"We were. Come on in, let's have a talk," Clark said.
They walked through the house and Jimmy could see the changes. "Storm took the roof," Clark explained. "It was a real mess, but the insurance helped me rebuild. Now Evelyn has her modern kitchen, and we added a downstairs bedroom so I don't have to climb the stairs anymore."
The kitchen was larger and filled with modern appliances. But Jimmy could see the back porch had changed too, it was larger and enclosed with screens.
"The dinghy didn't survive and neither did your motorcycle," Clark said. "I thought I would wait until you came back to replace it."
"It was just a kid's toy, I have a car," Jimmy said.
"Come on; let me show you what else we have now."
Clark led Jimmy out onto the porch where he could immediately see the changes in the yard. The trees that had screened out portions of the sea were gone; in the distance he could see the Sombrero Reef lighthouse. The dock was bigger, stronger, and sitting moored to the bollards was a real nice looking Boston Whaler. A much larger boat than the dinghy, it had to be twenty feet long.
Clark nodded at the boat. "I like sailing, but I can run that baby all by myself. You may use it if you feel inclined."
"We came back," Jimmy said. "My father and I drove down here after the storm to view the damage. It was awful, and I knew right then we were finished here."
"We all heard about your father, Gene told us after you wrote to him. I'm sorry, he was a good man."
Jimmy sighed. "Yes... yes he was. He never got it back together and I'm sorry for that. I spent a lot of time believing that what we found had ruined my life; Caesar's gold had to be cursed. But those were just the thoughts of a kid with too much imagination. It's still out there and Gene said we should bring it up."
Clark nodded. "You can, but there are some new issues to discuss."
"Diving permits, am I right?" Jimmy asked. "My uncle mentioned that."
"Yes. We have a lot more tourist activity out there now. You'll see the Coast Guard has added a bunch of mooring buoys out along the reef, and more warning buoys as well."
"You don't think they discovered what we did, do you?" Jimmy asked.
"No, all that activity was much further south. Our little treasure spot is too close to shore for anyone to be concerned about it. But I've kept an eye on things," Clark said.
"Gene said you knew what to do with the gold. What did you have in mind?"
Clark smiled. "It takes money to make money. Do you still have those doubloons?"
Jimmy smiled and pulled on the chain that hung around his neck. Hanging on the end was one of the golden coins, just as shiny and bright as the day Clark cleaned it off.
Clark nodded. "Good, I'm glad to see you aren't afraid of them any more. I have a friend named Mel; he's a lot like you and Gene... a treasure hunter. Well we got to talking and decided there's a lot more treasure out there to be uncovered, and not just gold."
"He knows about our find?"
"No... not yet. But we both agree, the tourists really come down here for adventure and we ought to give it to them. In fact it was your pirate stories that gave us the idea; we want to open a pirate museum."
"Oh yes, that would be incredible," Jimmy said.
"Mel has the diving permits and I'm working on the business license. So far he's got a lot of odds and ends, a few cannon and the like, but he hasn't found a treasure," Clark said.
"So we use ours. That's brilliant."
"I thought so. Rather than sell the gold we keep it on display and charge admission. It might take a while but we'll make more in the long run... or at least you and Gene will."
"Why us? This is your business idea," Jimmy said
"I'll take a modest share, but you and Gene will split the ownership with Mel. The museum will make money and that means taxes, I don't need the additional headache. Besides I want you both to have something for the future, for your family... you deserve it. No one will ever know where that gold came from, especially not Nelson."
"Oh yeah, I saw the trees... is he still at it?"
"Still at it, just not all the time," Clark laughed. "Bea and Sammy still encourage him. Now there's a man who thinks the pirate gold is cursed, he's wasted years in the search."
Jimmy shook his head. "But we know it's there, it just can't be found."
"He still won't believe that. Some people don't see the treasure we have under our very noses, they have to go digging for gold," Clark said. He looked out across the inlet, watching the clouds drift along the horizon.
"This is our treasure, Jimmy. Even with all that gold sitting out there on the reef we see this place as more precious than all the pirate's treasure in the world. I know you understand because you came back. I hope you're here to stay."
"You can count on it," Jimmy said, and he slid an arm around Clark's waist. "We belong here."
* * * * * *
Some still believe that Black Caesar laid a curse on his treasure to protect it, even Jimmy and Gene began to have their doubts once again. Two weeks after they brought up the final cluster of doubloons embedded in the reef the Florida Keys were hit with Hurricane Betsy, another devastating storm.
There is still millions of dollars worth of treasure buried on land or sunk in the waters off Florida, more of it is discovered every year. There is a grand museum on Key West filled with things found on the wrecks off the Florida Keys. Some of it is pirate gold, but no one will tell you where it came from.
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