Lackbeard by Cody B. Stewart

Author:Cody B. Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Common Deer Press
Published: 2018-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

16

Sweat soaked Carter’s shirt to his back. He’d risen long before the sun with a fresh perspective and vigor, ready to find the treasure of Eleuthera. The crew rose when that vigor came howling out of his lungs.

“On yer feet, scallywags!” he shouted.

They all shot up from the sand. Brad tripped over himself and fell flat on his face. Louis ran around screaming about scorpions until Yvette smacked him across the face, snapping him out of his tizzy.

“Thanks, I needed that,” Louis said, not really meaning it.

“It’s four in the morning,” Brad grumbled.

“Never too early when there’s treasure to be found,” Carter said, ignoring the eye-daggers being hurled at him. “You think treasure cares what time it is?”

Not a single reply came.

“Okay then. Let’s rock ‘n roll!”

Not a pleasant look passed between them as they broke camp. Except from Louis. He passed out some ration kits he’d assembled, and seemed absolutely delighted to do so. The glassy looks and hoarse grumbles didn’t dampen his shine.

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.

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