a whole tree, roots and all. What a gale it must have been! I lift my skirt as I edge past great clumps of flotsam and jetsam, long jagged boards, the curve of a cask, an oar.
And the wind is still singing, whipping foam from the crests of the waves!
From the depths of a glistening green tangle, something glints as bright as silver. I bend to pull the slippery strands of seaweed aside, and gasp as I pick up the most amazing little treasure box. The sides are patterned silver, and the top is ivory, carved into the funniest mermaid with two tails, one pointing to each side, as if she can’t decide which way she’s heading.
I feel joyful and smug and shivery all at the same time. Not here thirty minutes and I’ve already found treasure! This must be valuable indeed, worth enough to sell or trade for something to get started in my new life.
The box is heavy for something the size of a small loaf. My fingers trace the clasp, turn it; I lift the lid. Staring up at me is a gold cross as big as my palm, inset with stones so red they look like fresh-spilled blood. Like rubies. could it be?
The cross is on a heavy chain. I place it around my neck.
Next I find a chunky ring with a snarling bear’s head, surrounded by a circle of glittering little stones. I put it on my finger. Rubies, gold: I can live on this for years!
As I close the box, a tumble of boards catches my eye. Maybe another treasure is hiding in there. As I clamber closer, I see the boards are curved like a boat’s hull, and I remember the tales of shipwrecks on this shore, long, long ago. Was it smugglers? Yes, that’s it, and now I’ve found their riches!
I’m in luck again. Rich purple fabric peeks out from under the boards. It’s bound to be too wet to use for a cloak, but maybe I can clean it once I’ve got myself a place, and make another dress.
I bend to pick it up … the surprisingly heavy fabric … wrapping an arm, a limp arm … heavy with death.
I leap back, the cross banging against my chest like a fist on a door. I breathe deeply, then lean forward and gingerly lift a board away. It’s a man all right, dead and drowned and newly gone. No smell, no rot, just a beautiful young man with dark hair, a sodden tunic clinging to his body, jewels at neck and sleeve, caught in a snarl of splintered wood.
My head jerks up, and I stare at the pounding sea. A boat crashed on the rocks last night! And I’m the only one here to help.
I whirl around, searching for any movement, a sign of life. A pile of seaweed shivers, and I run over, but it’s only a crab scuttling around a barrel. Another barrel bobs up and down in the water as waves wash it near shore only to snatch it back again. Something else is floating, too. Another body. Is it moving? Could this one be alive?
I run into the surf, the water wrapping my heavy skirts around my legs. When the waves bring the body close, I grab a handful of velvet, and tug, and tug, until I pull it clear of the water—a torso without any legs.
I let go, leaping back with a scream.
A shout answers me from the cliffs above.
A Miracle
I swivel around. Three men on horseback are pounding down the trail.
Relief surges through me like a flood tide. Thank God! They’ll search and find anyone who can still be saved.
They leap from their horses. One strides across the littered beach, splashes up next to me, hoists the half body, and tosses it ashore. Then he takes my arm, guiding me back from the grabbing, sucking surf.
“It’s a miracle!” he says, staring at me, at my dress, as if I’m an apparition. He whips off his cloak and flings it around me. I realize I’m shivering from head to toe.
“Hurry,” I say through chattering teeth. “Someone may still be alive.”
“Oswald!” he calls. “Robert!”
The two men rush forward, and he gestures with his chin along the beach. Without a word they stride off in opposite directions, peering into piles, lifting boards, scanning the waves as the wind
And the wind is still singing, whipping foam from the crests of the waves!
From the depths of a glistening green tangle, something glints as bright as silver. I bend to pull the slippery strands of seaweed aside, and gasp as I pick up the most amazing little treasure box. The sides are patterned silver, and the top is ivory, carved into the funniest mermaid with two tails, one pointing to each side, as if she can’t decide which way she’s heading.
I feel joyful and smug and shivery all at the same time. Not here thirty minutes and I’ve already found treasure! This must be valuable indeed, worth enough to sell or trade for something to get started in my new life.
The box is heavy for something the size of a small loaf. My fingers trace the clasp, turn it; I lift the lid. Staring up at me is a gold cross as big as my palm, inset with stones so red they look like fresh-spilled blood. Like rubies. could it be?
The cross is on a heavy chain. I place it around my neck.
Next I find a chunky ring with a snarling bear’s head, surrounded by a circle of glittering little stones. I put it on my finger. Rubies, gold: I can live on this for years!
As I close the box, a tumble of boards catches my eye. Maybe another treasure is hiding in there. As I clamber closer, I see the boards are curved like a boat’s hull, and I remember the tales of shipwrecks on this shore, long, long ago. Was it smugglers? Yes, that’s it, and now I’ve found their riches!
I’m in luck again. Rich purple fabric peeks out from under the boards. It’s bound to be too wet to use for a cloak, but maybe I can clean it once I’ve got myself a place, and make another dress.
I bend to pick it up … the surprisingly heavy fabric … wrapping an arm, a limp arm … heavy with death.
I leap back, the cross banging against my chest like a fist on a door. I breathe deeply, then lean forward and gingerly lift a board away. It’s a man all right, dead and drowned and newly gone. No smell, no rot, just a beautiful young man with dark hair, a sodden tunic clinging to his body, jewels at neck and sleeve, caught in a snarl of splintered wood.
My head jerks up, and I stare at the pounding sea. A boat crashed on the rocks last night! And I’m the only one here to help.
I whirl around, searching for any movement, a sign of life. A pile of seaweed shivers, and I run over, but it’s only a crab scuttling around a barrel. Another barrel bobs up and down in the water as waves wash it near shore only to snatch it back again. Something else is floating, too. Another body. Is it moving? Could this one be alive?
I run into the surf, the water wrapping my heavy skirts around my legs. When the waves bring the body close, I grab a handful of velvet, and tug, and tug, until I pull it clear of the water—a torso without any legs.
I let go, leaping back with a scream.
A shout answers me from the cliffs above.
A Miracle
I swivel around. Three men on horseback are pounding down the trail.
Relief surges through me like a flood tide. Thank God! They’ll search and find anyone who can still be saved.
They leap from their horses. One strides across the littered beach, splashes up next to me, hoists the half body, and tosses it ashore. Then he takes my arm, guiding me back from the grabbing, sucking surf.
“It’s a miracle!” he says, staring at me, at my dress, as if I’m an apparition. He whips off his cloak and flings it around me. I realize I’m shivering from head to toe.
“Hurry,” I say through chattering teeth. “Someone may still be alive.”
“Oswald!” he calls. “Robert!”
The two men rush forward, and he gestures with his chin along the beach. Without a word they stride off in opposite directions, peering into piles, lifting boards, scanning the waves as the wind
Similar Books
