Benito's Gold: Treasure, Pirates and Murder

By Bob Menzies

Pirates, treasure & modern-day murder.

This is the story of pirate treasure that people have been looking for in Australia for over 150 years. The story of how it got here, of the adventurous team that is hired to find it, and the man who would commit murder and much more to keep it all to himself. Follow the ABC Adventure Team as the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers
• Release date: Nov 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780645029642

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Published in Australia by Sid Harta Books & Print Pty Ltd,

ABN: 34632585293

23 Stirling Crescent, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150 Australia

Telephone: [phone], Facsimile: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

First published in Australia 2020

This edition published 2020

Copyright © Bob Menzies 2020

Cover design, typesetting: WorkingType (www.workingtype.com.au)

The right of Bob Menzies to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to that of people living or dead are purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Menzies, Bob

Benito’s Gold

ISBN: 978-1-925707-29-8

pp246

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Menzies was born in Seymour, Victoria. His father was in the army which resulted in Bob being educated in various schools and colleges around Australia. After he finished school, he joined the Royal Australian Navy where he spent 14 years travelling around the world. After this, he spent 14 years with the South Australian Correctional Services Department reaching the position of Manager. When Bob retired from this part of his life, he started writing and continues to do so to this day. Bob lives with his wife, Heather, in the mountains just out of Melbourne.

This is his second book.

ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids.

This book of poems walks you through life before, during and after depression. It tells of the good years when everything seemed to go well. It tells of the depths of depression where there seems no way out, and it shows you that there is a light at the end of that dark tunnel that leads you to the rest of your life.

For my wife, Heather,

for daring me to dream.

Special Thanks to

Linda Zammitt for all

Her Support and

Thanks to Jessica Walley

For the ‘IT’ help

CONTENTS

About the author

1Cocos Island

2Riverscape Restaurant, Murray Bridge, S.A.

3Thiele Reserve, Murray Bridge

4Off the Coast of Mexico

5Riverscape Restaurant, Murray Bridge

6Off the Coast of Mexico

7Murray Bridge, S.A.

8Acapulco, Mexico. 1819.

9Horsham, Victoria

10 Port of Callow

11 Queenscliff

12 Lima, Peru

13 Queenscliff

14 Off the coast of Callao

15 Queenscliff Caravan Park

16 Cocos Island

17 Royal Hotel, Queenscliff

18 Cocos Island

19 Queenscliff Police Station

20 The Rip

21 Queenscliff Caravan Park

22 Point Lonsdale

23 The Cave

24 Queenscliff, Victoria

25 Dead Man’s Cave

26 Royal Hotel

27 Queenscliff

28 Time Lord

29 Dead Man’s Cave

30 Dead Man’s Cave

31 Cave Entrance

32 Out on the Bay

33 Dead Man’s Cave

34 Dead Man’s Cave

35 Out on the Bay

38 Dead Man’s Cave

39 Out on the Bay

40 The Cathedral

41 Royal Hotel

42 Chris and Dave

43 Baz

44 The Cathedral

45 Frank

46 Chris and Dave

47 Frank and Dave

48 The Cathedral

49 Frank and Dave

50 The Cathedral

51 The Rescue

52 The Following Day

53 Queenscliff Caravan Park

54 Brothers

55 Queenscliff Caravan Park

56 Brothers

57 Fisherman’s Wharf

58 Fisherman’s Wharf

59 Queenscliff Cemetery

60 Caravan Park

Author’s note

Notes

References

Lord Cheng: white gold

1Kwangtung Province, Yanping Village

ABC ADVENTURE TOURS

ABC Adventure Tours is a company that takes tourists and other interested parties on expeditions to discover lost gold, treasures and ancient artefacts. ‘Benito’s Gold’ is the first in a series of books that covers the trials and tribulations of everyone involved with the company.

To that end, I feel it is important for you to meet the characters behind ABC Adventure Tours and get to know a little bit about them:

Archie McCoy:

Never married. Thirty-four years of age. Six-foot two inches tall or 180 centimetres. Fair mousy hair, ice-blue eyes, broad shoulders and deeply tanned with a jagged scar on his cheek below his right eye.

He was an underwater police officer working for the water police around Port Philip Bay in Victoria.

After being tipped off that someone was selling gold and gemstones, which must have come from a yet undiscovered shipwreck, he set off on his own investigation, to uncover the culprit, using his police launch.

He thought he’d found his man one night just off Point Lonsdale, but while cruising at speed he collided with another boat. The collision left Archie with a jagged scar below his right eye. The other boat was another police boat out on official business searching for the same culprits that Archie had taken it on himself to investigate.

The officer on the other vessel was badly injured and required months of intensive care, whilst Archie was drummed out of the force.

He then teamed up with his two mates, Barry Underwood and Chris West, and struck it rich whilst prospecting for gold near Dunolly in Victoria. Together they set up ABC Adventure Tours.

Barry Underwood:

Widower. Thirty-six years of age. Five-foot ten inches tall or 170 centimetres. Dark wavy hair, brown eyes, barrel chested and strong as an ox. Baz, as he is affectionately known, served as an S.A.S. operative in most hot spots around the world and was renowned for his marksmanship with any weapon.

Baz had spent five years, since leaving the army, looking after his wife who was dying of cancer. Her eventual death sent him on a downward spiral until he gained a sense of purpose through his two mates and ABC Adventure Tours.

Chris West:

Married. Thirty-seven years of age. Six-foot tall or 183 centimetres. Black hair, green eyes and whisper-thin. Chris, like Baz, served in the S.A.S. as an engineer and was known for his ability to ‘fix things’.

After leaving the army, Chris became ‘home bound’ and rarely went out. His wife, Dee, suffered through his drinking and mood swings. She sat up with him on the nights that he couldn’t stop crying. She was ready to send him to the psychiatrist at about the same time as Baz’s wife died.

That’s when Baz and Chris got together again and Dee was more than happy to see Chris and Baz re-cement their friendship. ABC Adventure Tours held that cement together.

Frank and Cassie Farino:

Frank is thirty-nine years of age. Five-foot ten inches tall or 170 centimetres. Black eyes and built like a tank.

Frank is a large man of medium height with strong arms that speak of years in the building trade. His home, ‘The Ranch’, is headquarters to ABC Adventure Tours. His wife, Cassie who is the same age as Frank, has natural blonde hair and the body and looks of a twenty-year-old.

She is the company secretary who organises tour bookings and site background checks, as well as looking after investigative requirements of the boys when they are out in the field.

The people on the previous pages make up the team that is ABC Adventure Tours. I now invite you to read on and discover how they, with the help of many friends, overcome all obstacles imaginable to find hidden treasures whilst trying to stay alive …

1

COCOS ISLAND

1818

The darkening sky threatened with misty rain that fell and drenched the golden sand below. On one part of the beach, the rain increased the flow of blood from sand to sea.

The condemned man stood looking down at the bodies of his shipmates. Heads were severed, limbs hacked off and torsos ripped open. No-one who wouldn’t follow the captain had survived.

He looked at his tormentor and spat out, ‘I can’t believe what you’ve become. A murderer and a pirate, that’s what!’ He shook his head. ‘And to think you served with Admiral Nelson with distinction and I have served you faithfully for these past two years and it has all come to this. You shall hang for the deeds you have performed this day!’

Captain Bennett Grahame sneered and moved his sword closer to the man’s throat.

‘Stern words Boatswain, stern words indeed,’ Grahame said mockingly. ‘Time will tell if they’re prophetic or not, but for now I repeat my offer to you. It’s the same as I have given to all the crew. Join me or perish. The choice is yours. Now, what say you?’

‘I say that I am loyal to the monarchy. I say I was proud to serve on H.M.S. Devonshire as its Boatswain and I say that I have never sailed under as fine a captain as you sir, but I cannot become part of what you are planning. It is sheer madness sir, sheer madness. Look around you, these four bodies were men all loyal to you, and because they would not agree to be pirates, you have murdered them all. I cannot be part of this.’

A thundercloud exploded above the men as the rain pounded down mercilessly.

‘Then you leave me no choice,’ the captain growled. ‘So, I will ask you once more, save your life and join us. No more charting foreign coasts, no more endless days at sea awaiting orders from someone who has no idea where we are. Just the open sea and plunder, join us or join your shipmates.’

The Boatswain, resigned to his fate, answered quietly, ‘I have already given you my answer. I will not resort to the life of a pirate, under any circumstance.’ He glared at the captain.

The captain shrugged. ‘Then you choose your own end,’ he said, as he leaned forward and allowed metal to drive through skin.

The men around him stood silent. They had witnessed their captain personally massacre five shipmates. They all knew, some with fear, the path that now lay before them.

The captain looked around and said, ‘Men, you now know that we have cut to the piracy wind. There is no turning back. We are now, all of us, enemies of the crown and they will surely hang us if we are caught. So, our mission is not to be caught.’

The men gave a muffled ‘Hurrah.’

He continued, ‘Mr. Jenkins, you are now executive officer of the Devonshire. Mr Sharpe, you are now our Boatswain. Men, we will soon set sail for Lima but first, Mr Sharpe!’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Set a detail to bury these men,’ the captain said dismissively of the dead at his feet.

‘Mr. Jenkins! Start plotting a course for Callao. It’s time to get drunk and plunder.’

‘Hurrah!’ shouted the men more enthusiastically.

‘Where’s my cabin boy?’ demanded the captain.

A thin, eleven-year old Italian boy by the name of Giovani Carossini stepped forward. He hesitated, as he hated trying to pronounce the captain’s name, but he had to try. ‘Si, Capitan Benito.’

‘Clean my sword, boy, and refine the edge.’

‘Si, Capitan Benito.’

The captain thought for a minute, smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair before announcing to his crew, ‘From now on Captain Bennett Grahame of the Royal Navy is dead. Captain Benito is now master of the Devonshire.’

2

RIVERSCAPE RESTAURANT, MURRAY BRIDGE, S.A.

CURRENT

Riverscape is a restaurant situated on the banks of the Murray River in Murray Bridge, South Australia.

It has a reputation for great service and great food, from the best steak money can buy, to their speciality of grilled chicken breast topped with crumbed prawns and calamari, drizzled with a dynamic sweet chilli sauce and served with a side salad to die for.

The décor is early Australiana, boasting redwood tables and chairs and walls adorned with quality pictures of the river and the adjoining rural countryside.

The restaurant is surrounded with a veranda that provides panoramic views of the river that are second to none. The outside furniture is equal to the inside, with jarrah tables and chairs that are fashioned from old railway sleepers. The aesthetic effect is stunning.