The Sam Reilly Collection by Christopher Cartwright

Author:Christopher Cartwright [Cartwright, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashton Publishing Group
Published: 2016-04-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Over the next two weeks Sam made extensive developments on his expedition, but little to suggest the Mahogany Ship ever entered the waterway. His silt samples now numbered more than a hundred, and with the exception of some signs of iron ore, nothing indicated the fabled ship had even passed through the water system. And that could have easily been explained by the natural formation of iron oxide within the natural rocks further upstream.

Sam and Frank split the tunnels into three separate sections, dividing them so that each person could cover more ground. Each of them would explore two small tunnels for a distance of two miles or until the tunnel became too difficult to dive. Afterwards, both of them would dive the fifth and largest of the five tunnels. Michael Rodriguez had left to attend to company business for a few days. He had made it clear that if any discoveries were made, they were to wait for him, because he wanted to be there when the Mahogany Ship finally revealed herself. Byron, the only one who appeared positively out of place below ground, remained at the Mahogany Cavern to maintain communications, and make projections based on the data being brought in.

None of the four smaller tunnels returned anything substantial. Not so much as a nail was found. It was time to search the final tunnel and live with the results, whatever they may be.

On the fifteenth day, Sam discovered something that sparkled.

Nearly a mile upstream in the largest of the five tunnels, he spotted it. His flashlight carefully filtering the area from right to left, it was so faint, for a moment he thought his mind was playing a trick on him.

The he saw it again.

Just the tip was sticking out of the sand. Sam swam towards it, his pulse quickening.

His hand reached in and pulled it from the sand. When he turned it over in the water, the sand disappeared, revealing the head of the king of Spain, Charles V.

Behind his facemask, his grin returned. It was here. The Mahogany Ship must be somewhere nearby! Sam turned to the metal detector again. If the water flowed in such a way as to capture the heavy gold coin in its sediment at this exact location, there was a good chance there would be more.

Instantly, two more sources pinged.

Following the increasing pings, he found two more Spanish coins. He inspected each carefully. All three were identical to the one which Rodriguez had initially introduced him to. Sam was ecstatic with his find. He would finally prove the existence of the Mahogany Ship. At the back of his mind, he was surprised by the condition of the coins – the water made them look like they had just been minted.

He dismissed the thought and pocketed all three of the gold coins.

Securing one surreptitiously in a double zipped pocket, which would beat any scrutiny if required, Sam felt guilty at the thought of stealing from Rodriguez. But he needed to be certain, and this was the only way he could think of doing so.

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