A Hero's Passage by J D Little

Author:J D Little [Little, J. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jerry D Little
Published: 2022-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN: HARD-A-STARBOARD

The sun was on his back, shining in through the open hatch above. With a flashlight, he was examining the port side bulkhead of number five hold. He had already checked the other four holds and found nothing. If anyone had slipped something aboard during the ship’s visit in New York, they had done an excellent job hiding it.

He systematically worked his way down the port side, the beam of light riding over the wall, which consisted of wooden slats, eight inches wide and set four inches apart. He was looking for breaks or deformities in the wood or anything else that seemed out of place.

There! The third board up had been disfigured.

He stepped over to it and shined the light on it. Yes, it looked like someone had pried the nail out with a claw hammer and then replaced it. Whoever had done it had taken their time, working the nail slowly out of the wood to minimize the damage done to the board. Who would do such a thing, and why?

He pulled his knife, which he always wore on his belt, from its sheath, and slid the point in between the two boards. Applying pressure, he slowly began to work the nail out. It gave way and pulled halfway out in an instant. Yes, someone had been messing with it. He continued to work on it, and in short order, the nail pulled free. The board dropped, slightly, revealing a small opening. Moving closer, he could see a tiny void behind the board, the perfect hiding place. He slipped his knife back into the sheath and took hold of the board with both hands. Pulling on the end, he worked it loose until he fully revealed the void behind.

Something was sitting on the crossbeam inside the void. He dropped the board to the deck and pulled the flashlight from his pocket, snapping it on as he did so. Bending down, he moved in to get a better view and found a small package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string hiding within. He moved the flashlight beam around, studying the package and looking for any wires or booby-traps. Satisfied that there were none, he turned the flashlight off and stuck it back into his pocket. Then he slowly reached into the void and oh so carefully picked up the package with both hands.

It was a lot heavier than it looked. What could it be? A bomb, maybe? Or some poor seamen’s cache? Gently he set it down on the deck, then propped up his flashlight in a gap between two nearby crates, positioning it so the beam of light shined on the package as it sat on the deck.

Dropping to his knees, he again carefully studied the wrapping and the string. Still no sign of a booby-trap. It could be just one of the crew trying to pad his wallet with a little something extra slipped on board and hidden down here to get it past customs.

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