THE CAVE OF HELL AND THE HIDDEN TREASURE
Written By - Prabir Rai Chaudhuri
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2023
Alex and his sister Linnea were on vacation in Brittany, in this
beautiful region of Morbihan, near Belle-Ile-en-Mer and Carnac, on a small
island called Houat. They had received permission to invite their favorite
friends, Ethan and Celeste.
The parents set up the children's tents at the edge of the beach. They
placed the boys' and the girls' next to each other on top of a small dune.
In the
morning, all you had to do was unzip, get on all fours, roll in the sand and
land in the water for a good swim. Paradise, what...
The weather was fine that day and our four friends decided to cross the island
by following a path that goes all around it and to discover the other side,
where there are cliffs of twenty-five to thirty meters in height. They all
four wore shorts over their jerseys, a t-shirt and canvas sandals on their
feet.
They had already been walking for quite a while, one behind the other,
sometimes chatting, pointing out such and such a plant, a bird's flight, a
steep rock, the color of the water they were overlooking, when everything
Suddenly, they discovered a small creek. A narrow sandy beach, surrounded
on the left and right by the high rocks of the cliffs.
No tourist seemed to occupy this place. The sand was free of any
footprints.
"Look, this little cove, completely deserted," shouted Alex, who was
walking ahead. What a wonderful area for our games!
-It could even become our private cove, added Ethan.
A small, very steep path led to the edge of the water. They got barefoot
and ran on the soft sand. Our friends took a delicious bath in the
turquoise sea here.
As they swam, they noticed the entrance to a cave, on the right, carved into
the cliff. It seemed inaccessible, except at low tide.
So they came back early in the afternoon.
Passing on dry ground now, they entered the cave after crossing some rocks with
sharp edges and sometimes covered with slippery algae. Unfortunately, she
appeared a little disappointing. The sand on the floor and the rocks on
the ceiling met at the bottom of the cave, ten meters away. Indeed, it
rose very strongly and the vault descended very quickly.
They took the time to observe some shells, then they left this dark space and
went back to play on their beach.
The next day, all four decided to return to their little paradise.
As they
descended the steep path that leads to the cove, they saw a boat, a small white
yacht, motionless about fifty yards from their beach.
"Damn," grumbled Celeste. There are some people.
They watched the boat carefully. They saw a man leaning against the
railing. He scanned the cliff with binoculars.
"Quick, let's hide," ordered Linnea. If this continues, he will
see us.
"We're not doing anything wrong," remarked Alex.
"Let's get down anyway," insisted Celeste.
They hid behind a rock and observed a very strange scene.
The man,
about fifty years old, watched attentively the whole cliff. Two younger
ones, maybe twenty, got a dinghy out of the boat and put it in the
water. One of them went up there. They loaded a crate that seemed heavy. Then
they both rowed towards the cave.
They slipped in and stayed there for three or four minutes, after which they
returned to the small yacht with the dinghy, without the crate. They
loaded another large and heavy one onto the zodiac and resumed their ride a
second time. They left the cave again after a few moments and then joined
the boat. They climbed back in and pulled the dinghy on board.
The man watching the cliff put away his binoculars. He went to the
cockpit. He restarted the boat's engine and the yacht headed out to sea.
Our friends went down to the beach and wondered.
-Why was he staring at the cliff like this? thought out loud Alex.
-I'm thinking of thieves, suggested Celeste. They may have deposited their
loot in the cave. They made sure no one saw them.
- Yes, or they are smugglers. And they hide weapons, imagined Alex.
-Drug trafficking, suggested Linnea.
-Perhaps counterfeiters, adds Ethan.
The hypotheses were going well. As our friends advanced them, their
curiosity increased. They decided to go see these famous cases in the
cave, at the beginning of the afternoon.
When they returned around two o'clock, they immediately entered the
cave. But they found absolutely nothing. And no footprints on the
sand. It looked like no one had been there. Where had the thieves
hidden the crates? Did they bury them?
Our friends dug the sand with their hands here and there but without
success. They observed the walls of the cave. They probed its walls,
but found no crevices, no secret passages.
They noticed only one thing, on the ceiling, near the middle. There, two
meters in height, hung a sort of rusty ring, suspended from an iron bar.
Ethan planted himself firmly on his feet and offered his friend Celeste to
climb on his shoulders to try to reach the
Helped by Alex and Linnea, she climbed first on her boyfriend's hands, then on
his shoulders.
Stretching her arms upward, the girl reached for the ring. She managed to
make it turn a little on itself from left to right. Pulling or pushing was
useless.
"It's all rusty," she said. It moves a little, but hardly.
She received rock sand crumbling on her head. She jumped to the ground.
-The parents are waiting for us, reminded Linnea. Come. Tomorrow,
we'll come back to dig through all this at our ease. I wonder where the
crates are.
"Maybe they dug deep in the sand to bury them," Veronique suggested.
- Not possible, affirmed Alex. You know very well that when the tide is
high, digging underwater is almost impossible. Also, by bringing these crates,
they only stayed for a few minutes.
-They may have come to look for them, suggested Linnea.
"I don't think so," replied Ethan. If they had come back to take
them later, we would have seen their footprints, because at that time, at low
tide, the wet sand keeps the footprints.
-Yes, you're right. But then, where are the crates?
-There must be a secret passage, said Alex, but where? And how to find
out?
So they came back the next day earlier in the afternoon, again at low
tide. They entered the cave and walked on the wet sand. No trace of
crate or footsteps. They carefully searched the space.
They carried a small shovel with them. They dug in many places, at random,
without success. Again, they looked closely at the walls of the cave, but
found nothing. The four of them were on their knees near the back, facing
the wall, when they heard a voice behind them.
-Looking for something ?
They turned around and saw three girls. One of them was their age, the
eldest, a younger one, about five years old, and a younger one about three
years old. The taller, barefoot, wore worn shorts, probably cut by herself
from old jeans. Our friends noticed her long brown hair and very clear
eyes. His frank gaze attracted sympathy. The two smaller ones wore a
bathing suit and plastic sandals. The older one asked her question again.
-What are you looking for ?
Our friends looked at each other questioningly. Linnea took a step towards
the eldest.
- My name is Christina. This is my brother, Alex, my friend Celeste and our
friend Ethan.
- My name is Dominique. She is my sister Marion who is five years old and
Annick, three years old. We live in the village. I also have an older
brother, but he works at sea on a fishing boat.
The introductions made, the children observed each other for a moment.
"I'll explain it to you," Alex announced, breaking the
silence. We found this little cove and we intended to spend some pleasant
moments there. And then, the day before yesterday, we saw a boat and two
sailors unloading boxes here in the cave. We can't find them. We are
curious. We think there must be a secret passage but we don't know which
one. We've been looking for a while, but to no avail. Do you know
this place?
- Yes, I've been there once or twice. I never thought of a secret passage,
affirmed Dominique. Neither did my older brother. He works at sea
with a boss during the holidays, because for a year since our dad died, mom has
been spending her days on the continent for her job. We do not have a lot
of money. Me, in the afternoon, I sew nets on the quays of the
port. My older cousin teaches me. Plus, I babysit the two little ones
all day. Mom leaves for work early and comes back late. My brother
saw the boat unloading the crates. He told me to come and see. And
here we are.
-We could look together, suggested Ethan. The more of us there are, the
more likely we are to find. What do you think of the ring up there?
-Here, murmured Dominique, I don't
- Shooting it is useless, explained Celeste. I tried.
-We sometimes see old rings sealed in the vault of a cave. It was used to
pass a rope to tie boats at high tide. The sailor returned at low tide and
found his boat with the hull in the air. He could then clean it, get rid
of stuck-on algae, repaint it. At the next high tide, he set off again.
-Very ingenious, commented Linnea.
Our friends offered to share their snack with Dominique and her two
sisters. The little ones were delighted to devour the fruit and the cakes
that our friends brought and ate with a good appetite. Their big sister
told them not to act like starving people when they had just come home from
dinner.
- But it's good, said little Marion, smiling.
"They haven't been very spoiled since Papa's death," explained
Dominique. We nibble at noon and wait for mom to return in the evening for
supper. She sometimes brings a cake from the hotel where she works, when
there are leftovers.
"I understand," replied Ethan. Do you have to work every
afternoon?
-Almost. Once the fishing boats come back, there are always torn nets. I
sew them up. I make some money.
The four friends noticed injuries to his fingers.
-It's by unrolling them. You know, it's not like you're sewing up a torn
shirt. The ropes of the nets are rough. We get hurt
sometimes. We often get injured at this job.
Our friends are silent. They found Dominique awfully brave. They
really wanted her to become their friend... her, and the two little ones,
lively and smiling.
They set out again towards the village all seven, together. They crossed
the hamlet. A few houses, a hundred, and a small inn, the Hôtel de
la Sirène , a path leading down to the port, and there, an ice cream
parlor and a creperie.
They suddenly saw two men coming up from the port. They recognized those
who were unloading the cases the day before yesterday. Our friends hid
behind a stone wall, let them pass, then decided to follow them.
-I know them, affirmed Dominique, I have already seen these two. They are
not from here. Their boat is docked in the harbor. It is almost at
the very end of the pier near the lighthouse. A white boat. I'll show
it to you later.
The two men rounded the corner. The children jumped over the wall and ran
to the corner of the street. They followed the two young people into the
alley and saw them enter the garden of the Hôtel de la Sirene. They joined
the third of the gang, seated at a table in the shade of a tree. The
friends recognized the one who was watching the sea with the
binoculars. His table was littered with papers.
-What are they doing ? asked Philip. They're studying maps, I
think.
"Looks
like they're looking for something," Linnea whispered.
The children turned and walked away silently.
-Me, said Dominique, I have to go. The first boats arrive.
She took her little sisters by the hand and headed for the port.
Our friends returned to their tents and bathed. Later, the parents
suggested that they go for an ice cream at the port. They took the money
and decided to walk to the wharf. They saw their friend, sitting on a
bollard. She was sewing up a net. Her little sisters looked at her
bickering.
-If we're happy with a scoop of ice cream, said Alex, we could share and give
some to Dominique, Marion and Annick.
-Good idea, accepted Linnea immediately.
-Okay, added Celeste. We are too lucky not to have to spend our holidays
working.
They went to the stone jetty that protects boats from the big waves of the
ocean, and keeps them safe from storms. They saw a boy of thirteen or
fourteen unloading boxes from a boat. Dominique's older brother, probably.
Then, they approached their friend, seated in the sun and who, with heavy
thread and a needle, was sewing up nets. Dominique looked up and waved to
them. They answered her the same way, so as not to distract her.
-It's not very fair, said Ethan with a sigh. The four of us, on vacation
with our parents, we just have to swim, play. We walk around, we have a
good time. He has to unload crates, work on the sea. Dominique has to sew
up nets to earn a few cents. This does
"It's true," replied Alex. All the more reason to keep him
company.
The friends approached.
- How long are you going to finish?
"Oh, maybe in an hour or two," the girl answered.
-Would you like to have an ice cream with us?
Dominique looked at the boy.
- I don't mind, said Marion, smiling.
-We invite you, launched Celeste.
- You are chic. Give it to my little sisters, I don't have time now.
-We'll wait for you to finish, declared Ethan. Do you want us to take the
little ones for a walk?
"Thank you," said their friend.
Our four friends walked to the lighthouse with Marion and Annick. They
looked at the sky, the boats, the sun. The little girls were running
around like young cats. An hour later, their big sister joined them.
"There wasn't too much to do today," she said as she arrived.
They went to the ice cream parlor and managed to get small ice creams so that
everyone could enjoy one, without it costing the parents more.
While they ate, Dominique explained his idea to them.
She said
that in the village church, which is quite old, there is a strange painting on
a wall. It represents a cave that looks a bit like the one explored in the
morning at the foot of the cliff on the wild coast.
She
wanted to show it to them, but the church was closed. She proposed to meet
the next day at nine o'clock in the square.
Ethan explained that, sitting on the docks, the four of them had thought it
over and thought it would be useful to go and visit the bandits' boat. Not
during the day, because they could arrive at any time and surprise them, or see
them from the windows of the rooms of the hotel de la Sirene located on the
edge of the cliff, but at night.
-But if they sleep on their yacht, worried their friend.
"They're staying at the hotel, I think," said Alex.
-Yes, that seems logical, said Linnea.
-I propose to come at ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, resumed his big
brother. But instead of going to the pier, lit by streetlights, one could
go by the beach and swim to the boat. It will take us a few hundred
meters. We get on the yacht by the ladder, well, one or two of
us. We'll see if we find anything, then we go where we came.
-Okay, you have a good idea, confirmed Dominique.
-Are you coming with us?
-Yes I will come. But do you know how to swim?
-Yes, all the same, assured the others.
-Because there is current. It would be better to meet at midnight,
moreover, between rising and falling tide. There will be less
danger. You know, if the sea attracts us, we can be good swimmers, caught
in the current, we can't fight against it.
-Ah well, worried Celeste. Luckily you let us know.
- See you at midnight?
-All right. At midnight on the beach, there, near the black pointed rock,
do you see it?
About eleven-thirty in the evening, our friends left the tents. The boys
dressed in old shorts. The girls with a t-shirt over their jersey because
it was cool. All four with sandals on their feet.
They
walked along the beach and arrived around ten to midnight at the meeting
place. They waited for their friend. She arrived around midnight
minus one, as before, barefoot, with her worn denim shorts.
-Let's go ?
- Yes, okay, Dominique whispered.
-You haven't put on your jersey? asked Veronique.
- No, I'm going like that, she said. It dries afterwards. I warn you,
the water seems colder at night.
Our friends took off the t-shirts and went barefoot. They entered the
water noiselessly. Then swimming the breaststroke all five so as not to be
spotted, the breaststroke creates less of a stir than the crawl, they
approached the boat.
We could clearly see the pier and its lamps every twenty meters. The
lighthouse turned on, sometimes lighting up the sea, sometimes the port, as it
turned. Reflections of lights shone on the boats which moved gently to the
rhythm of the waves.
"That's the one, I think," pointed out Linnea.
"Yes, no noise," murmured Alex.
The pier was deserted. Our friends came in sight of the bandits'
yacht. A well-hung iron ladder descended into the water at the stern.
"We don't all go upstairs," advised Ethan.
-Alex, are you coming with me? Dominique suggested.
"Okay," replied the boy.
He climbed up the ladder. He shook himself a little so as not to leave too
many traces of water behind him and went onto the deck of the
boat. Dominique followed him and did the same. The other three
remained in the water.
"If you see someone coming, the rest of you, call or whistle," asked Alex.
"Right away, I promise," they said in unison.
Ethan, Celeste and Linnea, up to their necks in the water, observed the
scene. Celeste was shivering and chattering her teeth.
-You are scared ? asked her friend.
- No, I'm cold. I'm very cold.
Ethan detached one of his hands from the edge of the ladder where he was
standing and took his girlfriend against him.
-I am going to warm you up. I saw that at the cinema.
He gave
her a small kiss, hugging her to him.
-You,
said Celeste with a smile, you always take advantage of circumstances.
-You have to know how to take advantage of the circumstances, affirmed the boy.
While he kept his friend close to him, he paid little attention and did not see
three men who were heading towards the lighthouse, walking at a brisk pace.
-Look, whispered Linnea, someone is coming. Others should be warned.
-Too late to call them, it will make too much noise, Ethan decided.
He pulled himself out of the water quickly and climbed the small ladder.
- Hey! Friends, oh!
"Yes," replied Dominique.
-Quick, come, three men are approaching.
No more time to go down the ladder. Alex and Dominique placed themselves
on the edge of the boat and dived. All five crossed the arm of the sea
again and found the beach.
Turning around, they noticed that the three young people were not
moving. They were chatting among themselves. Besides, they weren't
the ones to whom the boat belonged.
Arrived on the sand, Alex explained that in fact, they had seen nothing of
interest on the yacht. No trace of weapons, no clues to confuse the
thieves.
- See you tomorrow at nine o'clock in front of the church? Dominique
suggested.
-All right.
She hugged her new friends. They returned by the beach, while she went
straight up to the village. Everyone was shivering with cold.
The next morning around nine o'clock, all seven of them, for now Marion and
Annick were in the game, were in front of the church. They entered it
together. A large building, a little dark, in pretty local stones. As
is often the case in villages by the sea, the framework of the roof resembled
the hull of an upturned ship.
-Look, here is the painting I wanted to show you.
It was a somewhat naive picture, painted directly on the wall. The bottom
represented a cave. You could see a lot of drawn people there. Men,
women and children. The top had two caves, one on the left and one on the
right. To the right, little angels were singing, to the left, little
horned devils were dancing.
-Look, the ceiling of the lower cavern, said Dominique. A ring is painted,
quite similar to the one we explored at the wild coast.
- Yes, you are right, answered Alex.
-That suggests that there would be two invisible rooms above our cave, Linnea
said, thinking out loud. Heaven on the right and hell on the
left. But how to use this ring to climb there?
-I think the explanation is listed below, said Ethan. But I don't
understand it, it's not French.
-Perhaps Breton? Linnea suggested.
- No, replied Dominique, it's not Breton.
-You're right, said a voice behind them, it's not Breton, but Latin.
They turned and saw the priest, who in Brittany is called a rector. He
approached the children.
-Hello Dominique, hello little Marion, hello Annick. And you four, are you
vacationers?
"Yes, rector," replied Celeste.
-Alright. So you visit my church?
-I brought them, said Dominique, to show them the painting.
-Good idea. This allegorical painting dates from the late Middle Ages,
when the church was built. This somewhat naive painting represents earth,
heaven and hell. Note that contrary to what is usually painted, here
heaven and hell are side by side.
-And how do we go to heaven or hell, rector? asked Alex.
"Easy, lad," he replied. It's written in Latin. “If you
turn the ring three times to the right and twice to the left, you go to heaven,
if you turn the ring to the left three times and to the right twice, you go to
hell”.
-What does it mean ? asked Marion, five years old.
-That means, little girl, that if in your life you do more good works than bad,
you will go to heaven and if you do more bad works than good, you will go to
hell. Come on kids, enjoy the holidays. Try to do good works.
Everyone thanked the rector and left the church.
-I believe, affirmed Linnea, that if we turn the ring of our little cave as it
is described on the painting, we will discover the secret passage.
- Do you have time to accompany us, Dominique? asked Philip.
- Yes, I only have to work this afternoon.
- Let's go, everyone.
-All right.
Our friends went through the tents, took some provisions for the midday meal, a
little to drink and locked it all in a backpack. Then they headed for
their little beach. They put the bag on the sand and swam towards the
cave. Low tide is in the afternoon.
This time, Alex served as a base. He made the short ladder to Dominique
who, under the gaze of the others, climbed on his shoulders. She grabs the
ring.
-So, shall we start with paradise? I turn three times to the right and
twice to the left?
"Yes," they replied in unison.
She moved the handle three times to the right.
"It doesn't go any further," she said.
Then she swung it back the other way twice.
They
heard a rumble. The young girl jumped into the water, which reached their
stomachs. The children moved back and the rock, sliding thanks to a very
old mechanism no doubt, revealed a gaping opening in the vault of the
cave. An iron ladder descended. It ended a meter above the ground.
They seized it and climbed in turn. The two little girls didn't want to be
left alone in the lower cave. The boys picked them up and placed them on
the first rungs of the ladder. They climbed nimbly and entered the upper
space with the others.
Very quickly, a creaking sound occurred. Celeste rushed to a wooden lever,
seeing that the door through which they had just entered was closing. She
operated the handle and thus managed to open or close the access as she
pleased.
Feeling safe, they let the passage close behind them.
The
place seemed dark, cold, and disappointing to them. A small cave that
contained nothing except two crates, those of the bandits for sure.
- Well, if this is paradise. I expected better, commented Linnea.
"I thought it would be less cold there," added Celeste.
The little girls shivered bare-chested in their bathing suits. The brave
boys passed them their t-shirts. All were barefoot.
They
observed the place attentively then they headed towards the crates.
Linnea took a penknife from the pocket of her shorts and tried to open one of
them. Marion and Annick were playing a little further in the cave.
Our friend managed to free the lid and what they saw confirmed their
impression. Bandits hid different instruments here. A kind of
spyglass that could perhaps be screwed onto a rifle, and some curious
devices. These people seemed awfully well equipped, professionals
certainly. This made them all the more formidable.
-Good, affirmed Alex, perfect. But before going out, let's try to discover
hell. It might be warmer there.
- Yes, said Dominique, because here, it's freezing.
They searched for the entrance, but found no other passage.
Suddenly,
Marion, who was climbing a rock, because she had just noticed a small crevice,
and wanted to slip her hands into it, called them.
-Come here, I see another ring.
Everyone rushed. Marion showed a second handle just as rusty as the first,
but so well concealed that without the little girl's curiosity, we would never
have found it. Veronique grabs it.
-What do I do ?
- Well, try to open hell for us. Three turns to the left, two to the
right, suggested Linnea.
Celeste turned the ring once, twice, three times to the left.
-It doesn't go any further.
-Try the other way, suggested Alex.
One round, two rounds.
-Careful, it's moving, worried Dominique.
They heard muffled noises again. A barely visible slit widens. A new
cave appeared, to the amazed eyes of our friends.
They entered. Ethan spotted the lever that allowed the passage to be
opened and closed at will. Perfect. The cave of hell closed behind
them.
They observed some old furniture, a table, three chests, a sideboard, a clock,
a tall cupboard. They saw a few gold coins on the floor, Spanish
doubloons. One of the chests was ripped open, but filled with bottles, old
bottles of rum.
- Incredible, friends. Hell seems a lot more interesting to me than
heaven, said Ethan.
"Extraordinary," stammered Alex.
-We have just made a fantastic discovery, added Linnea.
Of course, the clock was stopped. The cupboards, very damaged, contained
clothes, but which crumbled into dust as soon as they were touched. They
saw old books, alas in very bad condition, because eaten away by
humidity. In another chest they discovered sabers and muskets, those
old-fashioned revolvers used by pirates.
"We are in the hiding place of a buccaneer or a corsair," Dominique
supposed.
- Yes, I think so too, added Celeste.
-Here, a few more gold coins. And there, some precious stones, it
seems. They are beautiful, commented Linnea.
Ethan sat down in an armchair at the pirate's table.
-Look what I found in the drawer.
It was
an old parchment, a text still legible, written in clumsy handwriting.
"This
is my testaman. Me, Ourck, the corsère, to you, looter of treasure
saluted!"
"It's full of mistakes," remarked Dominique. Ourck the corsair
didn't go to school very long, I think.
"You will die rich. Die because you are locked up. Rich because I am.
My life was adventurous.
"At
twenty, I had my hand cut off and gold. At thirty, I had my leg crushed between
two hulls of a ship during a boarding and rubies and erodes. At forty, I had
his eye gouged out during a duel with Buck the pirate and diamonds.
"It's
yours! You won't die of thirst, because you have barrels of rhom, but of
hunger. Unless at the thirteenth neck of midnight, I come myself to gouge out
your eye.
See
you soon, together in hell. Ourck." "That 's
it then!
"
remained in his hands.
The pirate prevented any turning back. Our seven friends were locked up in the
cave as Ourck the corsair announced in his will.
Marion and Annick began to cry. Dominique took them both against her and
stroked their hair.
-We won't be prisoners for long, girls. Don't worry. With our
friends, we will find a solution and get out of here. Or else someone will
come to deliver us.
"I'm hungry," groaned Annick.
"Me too," begged Marion.
The backpack had remained on the beach.
-For the moment, there is nothing to eat, explained the big sister. It
takes a little courage. You are no longer little girls. Cry no
more. Look instead. You Marion, you have discovered the entrance, why
can't you find the exit? Go to work. Think about something other than
eating.
They meticulously searched every corner of the cave. They moved the
chests, emptied the cupboards, probed the walls, alas without success.
Suddenly Veronique suggested turning the hands of the clock
carefully. What a great idea! They moved the smallest from one to
twelve hours but nothing happened.
They searched again in the cupboards, behind the furniture, but found
nothing. All efforts were in vain... They tried again to operate the
lever, but without succeeding in opening the access door. The cave of hell
was carefully closed.
-We may have to spend some time here, sighed Ethan.
"Yes," feared Linnea. No one knows where we are.
- Tonight, mom will come home, thought Dominique. She will worry.
-And my parents too, continued Alex. If they come to this beach, they will
discover our backpack and the shoes. Maybe they'll go to the
cave. Will they notice the ring? Will they remember to establish the
link with the painting in the church?
-Only the bandits knew this secret, apart from us, pointed out Celeste. They
are our only hope...
-And again, added Ethan. They have to find Marion's ring to come and find
us in hell. If they had seen him, the gold and jewels of Ourck the
privateer would no longer be here.
- My God, we're going to wait a long time I have the impression, my friends,
Dominique murmured.
All looked at each other.
-However, Ethan thought suddenly, there is a way to get out of here.
-How do you know ? Dominic asked.
- I affirm it because Ourck the corsair did not die in this room. So there
is an exit.
-How do you know he didn't die here? wondered Veronique.
-If he had died in this cave, we would have discovered his skeleton.
- You are right, declared Alex. But where is he hiding? And how to
find the exit?
-Ethan, help us, encouraged Celeste. You always invent solutions.
- Alas, murmured Ethan, hunger prevents me from thinking. But maybe if I
got a kiss from my friend, it would help me think.
-Oh, you, don't do it again, our friend got angry.
"Too bad," declared Ethan. Let's search again. We'll find
something.
The children returned to the mechanism for the tenth time. They moved the
chests and cupboards again. They probed the walls. Not a square
centimeter was left to chance.
Evening was about to fall. Our starving friends were shivering. The
little ones were crying again. The elders tried to console them as best
they could.
Ethan, seated on the ground, looked at the clock.
-What are you doing ? Veronique asked, approaching him. We're all
fidgeting and you sit around doing nothing.
-I do what I am asked, I think.
-What are you thinking about?
- In the will of Ourck the corsair. Read it again. "You will
not die of thirst, because you have barrels of rhom, but of hunger, unless at
the thirteenth neck of midnight…''. Something happens at midnight,
therefore in connection with the clock.
- She's been arrested for a long time. I turned the hands when I arrived. It
didn't help, said Celeste.
-But of course ! exclaimed Philip. Obviously !
The others looked at him, surprised.
- It's not enough to turn the hands, guys, you have to ring it. For three
or four hundred years it has been stopped. The mechanism is flat. You
have to raise it.
Searching the furniture again, they discovered the system working with weights
and chains like in old clocks. They lifted these weights by pulling on the
chains. It made a noise of cogwheels. They put the pendulum in
motion.
Then this
time, while moving the hands, they heard deep and clear “dong” with each
passage of the small hand on the hour. It rang once at one o'clock, twice
at two o'clock, and so on, until eleven.
Ethan turned, seeking the approval of the others, then he slowly advanced the
needle. At precisely twelve o'clock the clock struck ten times, eleven
times, twelve times, thirteen times!
At the thirteenth knock, they heard an eerie creak in the cabinet. A panel
slipped and a sword stretched for years by a few cables or a few ropes, was
projected with incredible force towards the head of the boy who was in front of
the clock.
Alex, having suddenly understood the trap, threw himself on his friend and
rolled him on the ground. The saber crossed the room and went to plant
itself in a wall at the end of the cave.
"You're saving my life," her boyfriend whispered.
- I spare your eye, in any case, my friend. Ourck the privateer keeps his
word. He tried to poke out your eye at midnight. Fortunately without
harm.
-On the other hand, it opens a passage, shouted Celeste. Ethan, you found
the exit. You are awesome.
She jumped to her boyfriend's neck and kissed him.
The tunnel they all followed together, walking on all fours, one behind the
other, led to a small crack that opened out to the sea at a height of nearly
ten meters.
Our friends watched. The Atlantic waves were crashing at the foot of the
cliff.
-Do you think it's deep, or that rocks are outcropping? Linnea asked.
-There are no rocks there, affirmed Dominique. You can dive, but it's very
high. My little sisters will never dare.
- We will all jump, promised Alex, all and together. Me, I take Marion on
my back. You do not mind?
"Yes," said the little girl, smiling.
She climbed onto the boy's back.
-Hold me tight, little Marion. Do not let me go.
-No,
Alex jumped into the water. He made a resounding ''splash'' then headed
for the beach. Marion swam next to him and awfully well and fast.
Linnea took Annick. She was only three years old.
- Does your little sister know how to swim?
"Of course," replied Dominique. We are sailor's
daughters. We learn to swim before we can walk. Don't worry, she's
doing just as well as you.
Linnea, very sporty, jumped with the little one on her back. The others
followed in turn. They walked towards the beach.
They found their rucksacks, rushed to the provisions that were there and to the
fruits, planned for noon. They ate them with great appetite. Then
they returned to the village.
The four
friends met Alex and Linnea's parents who were looking for them and all
accompanied Marion, Annick and Dominique to their mother who was waiting for
them, worried not to find them at home.
They then went to the port and called the village policeman. Listening to
the story of our friends and hearing about the three bandits, he preferred to
call for reinforcements on the mainland.
A police patrol boat arrived three quarters of an hour later, accompanied by a
dozen workers and an inspector.
They
immediately rushed in procession towards the Hotel de la Sirene where the three
bandits were. They were quickly apprehended. And everyone explained
themselves at the station.
Surprise ! The three men were not thieves! The oldest, professor of
history at the University of Paris accompanied two of his students. They
were doing research on the island following a thesis by the two young people.
They had
discovered in old documents that a corsair named Ourck was hiding a treasure on
the island around the 1650s. The professor and his two students had undertaken
excavations in various places but without success. Then they noticed the
painting in the church and translated the Latin text. They directed their
research towards this cave of which the sailors speak, and discovered by the
children.
Stopped in the excavations at the cave of paradise, without succeeding in
passing into that of hell, they brought two boxes of material intended to probe
the walls. But our friends, thanks to Marion had preceded them to the cave
of hell and the treasure.
The children had the honor of having updated this incredible landmark of Ourck
the corsair. Guided by them, all went the next day to the pirate's
hideout. The gold coins, precious stones and all the objects were taken to
the village. The profit belonged to our seven friends.
The children shared a large sum. Unanimously, the four friends gave their
share to Dominique, considering that she needed it more than they did.
They then spent a wonderful vacation with their friend and her older
brother. Dominique and he no longer had to work. The young man often
took our friends and his little sisters on long sea trips. It was a wonderful
summer vacation, full of friendship and adventure.
