The Wreck Of The Black Dog

By Paul Nicholson

Emma, Rick, and Lee live in a community on an island south of the equator. their main love in life is to scuba dive. Emma's dad is a scuba diving instructor and has taken the trio out to dive on one of many pirate ships scattered about in the shallow waters surrounding Flagstaff Island. A strange map leads the three fun-loving trios to another island and to a chest full of gold, jewelry, and three handwritten books, hundreds of years old. Even before they can get the chest onto their boat they have trouble. once its back in the boatshed they have more trouble, this time from the Mayor of the community. However, he underestimates the trios resourcefulness and tenacity to stop him taking the island's treasure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Nicholson
• Release date: Jan 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370363360

Paul Nicholson

Born in Colchester Essex, England, Paul has always been a hard worker. After leaving school at fourteen, he began his working life in a motor body repair shop. From there he became a builders labourer, worked in a fan manufacturing factory and became a milkman before returning to the motor body repair business. In 1989 Paul and his family emigrated to Sydney Australia where he still resides. Paul developed Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2000, so spent a long time in hospital. It was here that he read his first book, cover to cover. His friends say the gene for reading must have been in one of the many blood transfusions he had to have. However plausible this idea seems, where his ability to write came from remains a mystery to everyone.

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The Wreck Of The Black Dog

By Paul G Nicholson

Copyright 2018 Paul G Nicholson

Smashwords Edition

The Wreck of the Black Dog

Chapter1

A New Beginning

In 1945, the war in Europe ended. It had lasted for six years, destroyed whole cities, and countless homes. The millions of made homeless through countless air raids were forced to make new their crumbled houses. Others went in search of new homes in countries, unaffected by the ravage of war. It just so happened that some refugees had a chance for a new life on an uninhabited island, a speck of land in the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Azores. Sandy beaches edged with coconut palms encircled high cliffs. On the north side of the island, was an extinct volcano, its steep side’s raising a further 300-ft above the cliff tops. These slopes, covered with Cedar trees, overlooked more than two hundred of acres of soil, so fertile seeds planted began to grow the moment they went into the ground. The place sounded perfect to 100-families that set sail from their homelands in Europe. The groups’ of people wanted to give it a go, to make a new start in life and were willing to undergo a few months hardship for a better life. Upon their arrival, they found old pirate houses surrounding the large inland bay. Scores of such dwellings made of three-inch oak scavenged from captured vessels brought back to the bay after successful raids. Most of the undamaged wood from these ships the pirates used to repair their craft; leftovers went to build habitats for the pirate’s and their families. Over time, these buildings had turned snow white from the hundreds of years of salt sea spray. Many houses needed only a good sweep out to become habitable.

By the mid to late 1960s, Flagstaff Island had become a well-organized, flourishing community. In 1984, a cruise ship company made the island a port of call. The population was by then multilingual. Their ability for this came in useful when visitors came ashore.

Nowadays, the sun-baked land is an all year round, holiday resort for recreational divers. Their attraction, the number of sunken ships scattered about in shallow waters, which lay off Flagstaff’s white sandy shores. The gentle ebbs and flows of the tides left many wrecks undisturbed, and for centuries they been underwater homes to thousands of fish and other ocean creatures. Spotted on one or two occasions has been a long black Electric Eel. Some say the eel patrolled the wreck, of the Twizzle. A noticeable exception to the marine life, however, is the lack of sharks. In the 20-years of Bernard Blackmore’s scuba diving career, he has yet to see one. This big suntanned man ran the island’s diving club from an old boatshed, built way back in the 1700s. The massive structure stood white against a backdrop of a tropical blue ocean. He owned two boats, Barnaby-1, a 20-mt boat with an inboard engine; he used this one to take out small groups, and a newer, Barnaby-2 which was 25-mt in length and had a 5.6-mt beam.

Late one afternoon, Bernard sat behind his desk in the boatshed, with exam papers strewn in front of him. He had to mark them as his 15-year old daughter Emma and her two best friends Rick, and Lee. They had sat a grueling exam to become scuba divers. They wanted to take the smaller of the two boats out and explore the island’s shallow waters. They sat, quiet as mice while waiting for their results, feeling a little discouraged from the air, sucked between Skipper’s pursed lips, and the many frowns he gave with a shake of his head; the boatshed otherwise, lay silent. One could hear mice as they scurried about the floor in search of food. With intentions of increasing the pressure on the young trio, Skipper continued to peer at the individual whose papers he marked; his frown spoke volumes.

Finally, he picked up the answer sheets and banged the bottoms on his desk. Well, there go, all done and dusted, he laid the papers on his desk before he spoke. I am glad I won’t need to babysit you lot in future. Judging by these results, you know as much as I do about scuba diving and I know all three of you can all handle a boat. So I’m pleased to say you’ve all passed. A proud expression covered Skipper’s suntanned face as he peered at his ex-students.

Their relief became apparent when three chairs crashed back as they jumped up, arms in the air, and shouted. The three 15-year-olds could not be happier as they danced around the table and workbench. We’re now qualified scuba divers? Emma screamed, making the old boatshed vibrate to their sound of cheers.

Congratulations to all three of you, Skipper called out, You did well but don’t forget, every time you go diving you’ll learn new things so you. Oh, get on with it. He said and sat down again. All three had become far too excited to listen.

A 15-year old is no longer a child, and knowing neither of them ever fooled around in the water, Skipper felt sure they would be okay in the shallow water around the island. He also held complete confidence in their skill at scuba diving to the depth of 35-ft that covered the island’s plateau. Wahoo. Now we can dive on the Black Dog. Emma shouted at the top of her voice but spotted Jimmy Sharp, Flagstaff’s carpenter from a workshop next door enter boatshed.

What’s your problem Sugarplum is someone trying to strangle you? Jimmy called her a variety of things, but she had yet to hear him call her Emma. From when she had been in her pram Jimmy had teased her, and now she was grown up, did everything he possibly could to annoy the young lady.

Mr. Sharp, will you stop calling me Sugarplum?

No,

Now that we’ve passed our exam we can go diving by ourselves and dad’s letting us take the small boat out whenever we want, she turned to her father and spoke in a squeaky little girl type voice, "Aren’t you dad?" She gave him one of her beautiful smiles, tilted her head to one side like a puppy dog.

Jimmy gave him no time to answer and pretended to be excited. Ooh, what fantastic news, well done, boy-o-boy, now you can take me fishing in the mornings. With no time to refuse, he reached out, pulled her to him, and cuddled her. She resisted and attempted to push him away.

Sorry! she tried to carry on, but he did not give her time to speak, Jimmy held her at arm’s length.

Err I’m planning to go out tomorrow, he said. I’ll give you a knock when I’m up. I’ll see you about 04:00 okay? he gave Emma another hug and then turned to leave. She reached out and caught hold of his T-shirt, and about to protest but he was too quick for her. She missed out. "What’s up, do you want to go earlier? Fine by me Hem, I know, when you wake up, give me a knock, yes?

Emma, who stood 1.57-mt in her diving suit and flippers, held her mouth open in shock. Jimmy always teased the poor girl and found it hard to believe she always fell for his trickery. Sorry Mr. Sharp, she said in a voice as stern as the immortal Judge Kill Joy. The first thing we’re going to do is explore The Black Dog. We’ve been planning this for ages, she changed her angry tone for a more gentle voice and explained, We’re not allowed to go out further than the edge of the plateau. It’s our number one rule, eh dad?

He nodded, and with a smile on his face replied, You’re right Emma, so there will be no angling done from Barnaby-1, at 04:00 tomorrow morning, or any other time.

Jimmy bit his bottom lip and pretended to sulk, but winked at his friend Bernard.

Oh don’t bother with rules. Don’t you know anything about rules, people break them all the time? he turned her away from her dad and whispered. Tell you what, once I’m up I’ll knock on your bedroom window, and you can climb out, he’ll never know.

Rick and Lee had been laughing as Emma’s mouth dropped further open. OOH, NO, I, WILL, NOT, Mr. Sharp, she snapped and forced him to retreat. We’ve been training to scuba dive for over a year now, and I’m not going to break the most important rule we’ve learned. We’re never to go out in a boat without my dad knowing where we are, Emma wagged her finger at him, and chased him back until he hit the edge of the open door and came to a halt, "How wicked of you to suggest such a thing if you want to go fishing in the morning you can use one of your canoes because I’m not taking you anywhere without my dad’s permission, she stamped her foot and snapped her arms down to her side, turned her back to him and said, Erg!"

So, what are you saying, yes or a no? We can go another day if you’d rather.

ERRGH! she said again and began to walk away.

He grabbed her from behind and tried to kiss her on the neck, I’m only kidding Little Biscuit. I shouldn’t tease you like this, should I? You’re worth your weight in sawdust, dried leaves, and a bucket of cold water on a hot day.

Rick and Lee burst into laughter when Jimmy began to tickle her. Him doing this made her scream. Stop it Mr. Sharp now that’s enough; I’ll never give you a cup of tea again. Whenever she gets excited, her voice becomes loud and manages to speak in one long sentence.

The island’s Carpenter loved Emma almost as much as the tea she made. Wow, don’t say such a thing angel, he begged, Do you want me to knock my nails in crooked? Well, I would do if I don’t have at least one cup of your lovely tea a day. By the way, did someone say the kettle was hot?

Her two friends stopped their laughter, and Lee volunteered Emma’s services, I’ll put the kettle on for you Emsky. He told her, as he and Rick dashed away to the kitchen area.

With the racket now at an end, the only sound in the boatshed came from the boy’s laughter at the way Jimmy always managed to rile Emma. Bernard turned to his daughter and asked for an explanation. So young lady, when did you decide to dive on Black Dog and what’s more to the point, when did you intend to let me in on it?

She cocked her head to one side, pouted her lips, and spoke like a little girl. We plan to go scuba diving when we break-up for school holidays, and that’s for six weeks and depending on whether or not we passed the exam we wanted to dive every day didn’t we guys? She raised her voice a few decibels for them to hear.

The boys had to sort out the cups. Lee lifted his head and called out, Yes, you’re right Emsky, five red ones. He pretended to have misheard what she said.

Rick flicked Lee’s shoulder and shouted, She’s right Skipper, and we’ve planned to go whenever we can.

I could do with half your luck, Jimmy said, What do you say, Bernard. How would you like to have nothing to do for six whole weeks other than scuba dive? he put his head back and rubbed his chin, Let me see; the last time I did nothing to do for a month and two-quarters? Ah yes, now I remember, the last time I had that much time on holiday, was a week before I was born. Yes, it’s all coming back to me now; you may already know I was less than a year old when I was born. Which is a very young age and I was in a poor state. Not being able to speak a word of English was a big drawback. It took me years to learn. The first words I spoke were, ‘Are we there yet,’ and I couldn’t even count to ten.

Must we listen to one of your stories Mr. Sharp, Emma said. You went to school, so you must have gotten six weeks off at some time. Bernard and Jimmy laughed, but did not wait for an answer; she turned and sauntered over to the kitchen area where she did her magic with tea leaves and water. As usual, she made a delicious pot of tea for seldom did anyone leave dregs in their cups. This particular day was no exception.

As usual, the carpenter finished his drink first and declared, I can make it through to home time, thanks to the little Goldfish, He stood up and offered to wash up, but added. Oops. I forgot I hurt my leg so mustn’t wet my hands. He clicked his fingers and said. Oh, I know. Leave the washing up for now, and when my bunions are better, I’ll nip back and get it done. Okay, must rush, bye.

He began to run for the door, but Lee called to point out, Hey! Mr. Sharp, you need to come up with another excuse. You used that one last time if you remember.

Did I really? he limped away through the boatshed doorway with his head down and did not look back.

Emma wanted desperately to explore the Black Dog. She was the most recent ship discovered, Black Dog’s figurehead was 20-mts from the edge of the plateau. She lay at a point exactly halfway around the island, and her condition was almost perfect. When her father came across the hulk, she told him she would like to be the first person to go on board. He said that might be possible, but left it at that. Skipper kept a chart, recording all the sites he visited with the divers holidaying at the resort. How many went, on what ship, and what if anything they found. The information sheet also showed where he planned to go on future dives. On occasions, his daughter had read the list he kept for upcoming dives and asked about people diving on the new wreck. He explained she lay so far away and was too close to the plateau’s edge and felt dubious about taking a large group there. She agreed it was a good idea.

The hour was becoming late by the time Emma, her dad, Rick, and Lee began to saunter home. Their conversation was all about the upcoming dive when the mayor appeared. Ugh, here comes that horrible man. I don’t think the man is as pleasant as he makes out. He’s got shifty eyes, they’re too close together, and I don’t like people who look dishonest.

Skipper smiled gave the man a wave and said a polite ‘good evening.’ While she stared at the ground on her way past, when far enough away he questioned his daughter about her strange remark, What on earth made you say such a thing, Emma? He is a fine man and very generous I’ll have you know. Don’t forget; he paid for the installation of those wind generators when he came here, and they weren’t cheap.

Yes this is why the people on Flagstaff made him their leader and rewarded him by giving him that lovely big house to live in, but he’s still got shifty eyes, and I don’t like him. She said in one breath and had Emma spoken one decibel higher; he would undoubtedly have heard what she said. Her dad cringed while the two boys giggled.

I’ll give you shifty eyes. Now, I don’t want you to talk that way about anyone else again, do I make myself clear, young lady?

No problem there; I like everyone else on Flagstaff Island.

You’ll be going to bed as soon as we’re home.

She’s never liked him, Skipper. No idea why the man never did us any harm always comes across as a good old stick to me, not much, bark, but a straight piece of wood. Do you get it Emsky, stick, bark, wood? Oh, you don’t appreciate good humor when you hear it.

Yes I do Lee; the thing is I never hear good humor, especially from you.

She got you there; have you any more clever innuendos up and coming?

Now don’t you start with your big words, Rick. You’re only showing off cos your dad’s the headmaster at school, so there’s no need for you to speak like a dictionary.

Chapter 2

The dive on Black Dog

School finally broke-up, and all children on Flagstaff Island put all their books away to enjoy their six weeks holiday. The following day was picture perfect, and as Lee sat on a bench seat on Emma’s veranda, he looked down towards the boatshed and saw the squabble of seagulls that usually gathered in a group, about 20-mts out and just left of the boatshed. He had often heard them screeching and squawking, but that day, for some mysterious reason they floated around in silence. He watched and wondered why each day, the same birds gathered there when their sudden movement startled him and made dogs bark at the dreadful row they made. It appeared a massive white sheet had exploded from a bed as the mass of birds took to the air to come down 100-mts or more along the bay. The way the seagulls had taken off seemed as if it had been a race to reach a certain height and as they dropped down to the mirror-like surface of the calm water, they squawked as if they all claimed first place.

A few minutes later, Rick joined Lee and had sat at the picnic table when Emma opened her front door. Hi guys are you ready for the swim? they said they were. Hope you brought plenty of food and drank with you, I reckon we’re in for a long day. Cheerio, mum, she shouted out, and received a muffled, Mind you take care now, do you hear? her reply came from the kitchen at the rear of the house. Yes mum, see you later, she called back and put her backpack on her shoulder, Today’s the day. Rick and Lee smiled but did not attempt to speak. In her state of euphoria, she chattered away, 20-words to a dozen and never once used a full stop or comma.

The sky shone as blue as it ever had, and the water in Buccaneer Bay lay as flat as a proverbial millpond. The dark cobalt of the deep harbor sparkled like a magnificent sapphire. They could see the boats tied to the wharf and were so still they could be lying on a sheet of glass. Emma began to speak and moved straight on to the day’s schedule. It matted not they had been over their plan many times before and knew their procedure well enough. However, she was their group’s leader and as such, wanted everything to go perfectly on their first dive without her dad.

They set off on a 16-minute walk to Skippers’ boatshed. At such a time of day, they always found it hard to pass their bakers shop without pangs of hunger. There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked loaves of bread. Only a baker of bread would disagree. The aroma wafted out of the bakery door like a fog and sent them into a dream.

A huge table with a loaf center stage. Half of it sliced into inch-thick doorsteps. A dish piled high with creamy butter lay on one side while a jar, full of strawberry jam sat opposite. Their mouths drooled as their noses inhaled this aroma.

Twinges of hunger erupted in their stomachs as they thought of buttered doorstops covered with lashings of jam. They walked on with noises sniffing the air in search of the fading aroma of crisp, fresh baked, loaves of bread until they reached Skipper’s boatshed. In an instant, it all changed. A sea salt smell then wafted from the shed’s interior and eradicated the fragrance from the baker’s shop. Emma shrugged her shoulders and thought, ‘it was beautiful while it lasted,’ as she opened the door and walked in.

The dream ended as soon as they entered the boatshed, for then their actions would go into automatic. The three youngsters each had a task to carry out, and without any prompting required, got on with it. Emma grabbed her idiot board from a peg above what was their table outside the changing rooms. The table had been stacked the night before with paraphernalia needed for their dive. It depended on what they intended to carry out, as to what equipment they had on the table. Lee continued his walk to the oxygen bottle refilling area. He had to check the gauges on the bottles. The nine, set aside for them, all read full. Each bottle would last 45–minutes. Rick followed him and, being the strongest picked up two bottles, and took them outside and boarded Barnaby-1. They, being heavy had to go in a specially fitted rack, positioned in the boat’s center. He brought them all out while Lee took care of other pieces of equipment. Emma trailed behind and stood to the side of the gangplank with her list. As they stepped on board with various things, she had to tick them off when they placed on the engine cover. Their flippers, masks, and BCDs (buoyancy control device) went on the group’s seats. With the table clear, Emma checked them all again, before the two boys stashed the equipment away securely in their allotted places. The young ladies last job was to test the radios to make sure they worked properly. There was one in the console next to the wheel, and a portable one hung on a hook to her left side. The life jackets were on show, the fuel gauge read full, and their emergency water barrel was in its place and filled.

Although the seawater is always clear, one thing they always took was a torch; another was Emma’s camera. To her, her camera was as important as her flippers. She would never go for a dive without it. Skipper had put his daughter in charge of making a record of items; small and large they might come across on land, or in water when scuba diving. Her job was to photograph all discoveries they made. They marked all their finds in a ledger no matter where they came from and plotted the spot on a map above their table. By looking, one can see at a glance the area where most of their discoveries came to light. Of cause, the majority had come from the sea, except the time the trio camped out all night on top of Lookout Hill. Other people come across various items and had taken them to the school’s museum; they found these things by chance. Emma and the two boys would search for things and found items pirates had either dropped or thrown away. Over time, they have unearthed gold and silver coins, belts, shoes and buckles and even an old sword. Displays of the items found on the island are in the island’s small museum at school for visitors to see.

Before any dive, the youngsters take part in a strict procedure. They must– Use the radio to make sure it is working and to confirm their destination. Check they have the gear, for the type of dive they are about to do. Double-check the oxygen bottles are full. Before casting off, always contact base and give radio checks every hour.

As there was no one at the radio in the boatshed, their outing could not commence, so while they waited, Emma and Lee sat on the wharf with their feet in the water. They had become completely besotted with watching the seagulls as they sat perfectly still on top of the water. Rick made himself busy. He wiped the windows and was giving the boat a once over with a broom. Skipper crept up behind his daughter and Lee and pushed their shoulders. She screamed, and Lee swung around and put his hands out to stop her from falling into the water. What, you lot still doing here? I thought you would be in swimming by now. Now, are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?

Yes dad we’re sure, she spoke as if she had run 100-mts and patted her chest and exhaled loudly. You shoved me, and I thought I was going to fall in.

I was there to help you Emsky; you wouldn’t have come to any harm. Lee stood and offered a hand to help Emma to her feet. I didn’t push you, Skipper said. You were about to fall forward. I saved you from getting wet. Okay, now listen. I will be in the workshop carrying out maintenance on equipment all day. So if you need me, call me, AND, please! I don’t want you to overlook the radio calls on the half-hour while you’re heading out, and again between dives." He emphasized this as critical. All three told him they would not forget and go through to the changing room to get into their