Page 158 of In the Pursuit of Haven
Hunter’s shoulder blades stiffened ahead of me as he tensed. Now that we were ready to go, he was all business. “Three,” he finished.
We shoved in the keys.
A whooshing sound followed. That could either be a very good or a verybadthing. My heart froze in place as I waited to find out. I felt the pressure behind the door. The heat flooded through the stones. There was no escaping this overwhelming power accumulating through such a small space, even if we all turned and ran. And I wanted to scramble back from this. It took everything in me to stay where I was.
“Hold ground,” Hunter shouted out. He must’ve sensed the panic running through me; and I wasn’t the only one. Abby let out a cry ahead of us. She’d be the first to go down if this went bad. Jessie made a warning noise, even as the whining grew behind the walls. The stone became unbearably hot.
The once undetectable words across the top of the entrance became visible and brilliantly white: “Where are the nine?”
Right here.Were we in the right place?
The door flew open. The cane jerked under my hands and shoved out of the keyhole like something had spit it out. The rest of the Relics fell right alongside it, clattering to the ground. The expected blast didn’t follow.
I could hear the flames. They’d been redirected somewhere else in this cavern. Had Newton’s setup actually withstood the rigors of time?
Stepping back to see what had happened, I noticed the entrance was clear, despite all the rumblings echoing through the cavern.
We were free to go into this mysterious treasure trove, for better or worse.
Chapter Forty-Three
The fire that we’d feared would blow us into bits in a head-jarring explosion crackled on either side of us, as if it had been redirected to light our way instead.
I found Jessie’s hand. His strong, familiar palms were my only comfort as I walked into this strange cavern. The fire ate at the stone walls, scorching them black as we headed farther and farther downward in a steep slope.
“There must be vents in here somewhere,” Jessie murmured, “or these fumes would kill us.”
Hoping he was right and 16thcentury scientists would have taken things like breathing into consideration, we followed Hunter. He’d gathered all the Relics into his backpack and heaved them up against a muscular shoulder.
Luther led the way, casting aside all his usual hesitancy. The older man was beside himself with triumph, cackling and nodding. This was farther than his family had ever gone.
But were all the lost lives worth it? Matthew’s? Drake’s? Robert’s? Felicity’s? Haven’s?Never.
Luther’s crowing only got on my nerves as we rounded the bend and beheld a sight that stole my breath away.
An entire galleon ship had somehow been wedged into the belly of this underground labyrinth of mammoth proportions. A find like this could possibly be more valuable than whatever treasure we found inside, unless the contents were grotesquely extravagant… and they must be to use such extreme means to hide it all away.
I let out a breath, not sure if this was the ship that Phips had used to get to the treasure, but if so… his collection from previous sunken treasures might still be in that cabin.
Would it really be so easy to get to this treasure?
Hunter’s men hurried to be first to reach this priceless find. “Stop!” I cried out. “We don’t know what we’re facing. Even if we’re not dealing with traps, the rotten wood making up that ship will crack under any pressure.”
“She’s right!” Hunter backed me up with a firm nod like he was trying to get in good with the teacher. “Take it easy.” I noticed that he didn’t call his men back completely. That was possibly because he cared nothing for their lives. I knew what he was thinking—better they face the threat first and give the rest of us a heads-up as we followed.
And yet, whatever they did could put us all in danger, not to mention destroy such a beautiful find as a fully intact galleon ship. Even Luther, in his greed, would have to understand the novelty. We could make an exhibit out of this find that millions would flock to our city to see.
Luther seemed unaffected.
After all, he’d been pretending that he had a heart for a long time; could he also have hidden his disinterest for his work?
The ship loomed far above us as we closed in. The flames illuminated each glorious detail in its brilliant light. “The figurehead is gone,” I said.
That was only further evidence that this was Phips’s ship, since he’d sent The Lady out into the world to proclaim the existence of his treasure.
Cobbled steps chiseled into the walls of the cavern led up to the top deck. Clearly, we were supposed to take them, though I was still wary after the threat of the explosion. Even Hunter’s men hesitated at the bottom of this daunting staircase.
“What are you waiting for?” Luther barked out. “Go! There’s only one way to get rich.”
