Accounting for Pirates

By Steve McMillan

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to all the shipwrecks in the area, including many pirate ships. Off of one of the islands, Ocracoke, three young divers discover a pirate chest loaded with gold, jewels, and other valuables. While the three are deciding their next move with the treasure, Ben Stone, an accounting professor, and his girlfriend, Sharon Levin, a Philadelphia homicide cop, are at a conference in the Outer Banks. Ben and Sharon become involved with the treasure, Jamaican mobsters, and even murder. What was supposed to be a professional opportunity and a much-needed vacation for Ben and Sharon turns into a race to save both lives and treasure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AbsolutelyAmazingEbooks.com
• Release date: Mar 23, 2022

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

It was a beautiful fall morning in November 1718, and Blackbeard was standing above deck on his schooner, the Adventure. As he watched the ocean come up on the banks of Ocracoke Island in North Carolina, he thought of all his conquests and successes as a pirate.

He recalled his birth in the southwest English town of Bristol. From there, he had been granted the right to be a privateer during Queen Anne’s War against Spain from 1702 to 1713. By 1716, he had met another marauding pirate, Captain Benjamin Hornigold, in the Bahamas, and they had set up the Bahamas as pirate central. He smiled to himself as he remembered all of their success in that area. He had used his previous vessel, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, to plunder his way through much of the Caribbean in early 1718. He had captured many Spanish ships during that time and taken all the booty they had had aboard. Sometimes, he found commodities such as sugar, flour, and even rum. But on several occasions, he had found what he really wanted: gold, silver, and jewels. He knew that the commodities would bring a reasonable price in the New Americas, but the valuables would make him rich beyond his fondest desires. However, he and Hornigold had decided to expand their search for treasure and come up to the Americas.

Once there, they enjoyed tremendous achievements along the coasts of Delaware and Virginia. All of his triumphs led Blackbeard to be renamed the Black-faced Devil and the Fury from Hell. As he recalled the fear he wrought, he again smiled to himself. While Blackbeard killed very few people compared to many other famous pirates, he relished in the dread that his name caused many.

In May 1718, Blackbeard had determined that he needed medical supplies as he and many of his men suffered from various diseases and maladies. So, he decided to attack Charleston, South Carolina. He smiled to himself as he recalled that it had been named Blackbeard’s Blockade of Charleston because he kept the city under siege for over a week until he got the medical supplies.

After Charleston, he moved up to the North Carolina coast and set up his pirate lair on Ocracoke Island. Many of his fellow pirates, such as Calico Jack Rackham and Charles Vane, joined him at Ocracoke. In fact, Ocracoke had become party central for the pirates of the Eastern Seaboard. Blackbeard recalled all the alcohol, prostitutes, and general revelry that went on for over a week. It even got its own name: The Ocracoke Orgy. He thought to himself how proud he was of that one week in particular!

As he continued to reminisce about his career as a pirate, his thoughts turned a bit dark. He knew that the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, had put a bounty on his head. It was a substantial amount, so Blackbeard knew many pirates and privateers would attempt to capture him. The one person who worried him the most was Lt. Robert Maynard, who had acquired support from the Royal Navy and His Majesty King George of England.

Blackbeard wasn’t worried about getting captured by anyone other than Maynard because he knew his crew was strong and clever. Anyone who tried to board his ship would be easily repelled, or at least he thought so. But even with his natural cockiness and confidence, he had decided that he shouldn’t risk his fortune in gold, silver, and jewelry.

He had three large chests full of valuable items. The chests were heavy, but he was strong. While he generally trusted his crew, they were pirates, as he was, so trust could only take you so far. Therefore, the night before, when everyone aboard was asleep, he had taken one of his small boats, loaded it with the three chests, and paddled away from where the Adventure was anchored. Blackbeard had an excellent memory, and he took note of the surroundings where he stopped the small boat. He took the three chests, locked them securely, and tossed them over the side. He knew the water was only about fifty feet deep in that area, so he could recover it very quickly when the time came.

As his mood changed back, thanks to feeling that his treasure was safe, Blackbeard beamed to himself. Life was good being a pirate, and he was the best. Little did he realize that he would be dead and decapitated by day's end, and his treasure lost for centuries.

Well, it would be lost until now.

CHAPTER TWO

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. There are an estimated 2,000 shipwrecks along the border from Corolla to Ocracoke Island. This has made it a salvager’s and explorer’s paradise for a long time. However, in 1996, perhaps the most significant finding was uncovered: The Queen Anne’s Revenge, the main ship of Blackbeard.

Artifacts from The Queen Anne’s Revenge were discovered in an area close to Beaufort, N.C. Most of the findings were cannon barrels, of which it had been estimated that Blackbeard had over 40 on his ship. Other discoveries included shackles for slaves, tiny fragments of African gold, and small samples of gold dust. While the discovery had significant historical value, the much-desired lost treasure was never exposed. But all that meant was that treasure hunters continued to prowl the North Carolina shores.

The State of North Carolina restricts the number of treasure-seekers who can search in the Outer Banks area. Three hundred and twenty dives are allowed each year, and professional divers strictly supervise them. But that doesn’t mean that some would-be treasure seekers don’t sneak in. After all, it’s a big area to cover. Noah Spencer, Jim Norman, and Henry Riddick, three recent grads from East Carolina University, were just such treasure hunters.

Noah, Jim, and Henry were all experienced divers. While most of their time was spent at their respective jobs, they always tried to work in a diving adventure now and then, looking for treasure. They had found a few items over the last couple of years that they sold for a bit of money, but nothing dramatic. But that didn’t stop them from continuing to try.

Today, they were out at an area right off the coast of Ocracoke Island. They had been in this area before, but they continued to return because legend had it that this was where Blackbeard’s treasure was located. Of course, that legend was now over 300 years old, but they weren’t going to be deterred. Hope springs eternal with youth!

It was a very calm Saturday in October even though it was the height of hurricane season in the Outer Banks. Noah, Jim, and Henry had taken their boat out early. They always did their diving with two in the water and one up top in case of an emergency. Today, it was Henry’s turn to stay topside.

Noah and Jim had donned their wet suits and diving gear. The water wasn’t that cold even though it was October, but when diving to the depths they usually did, the water got chilly pretty quickly. Noah and Jim usually tried to stay close together, but sometimes they ventured off independently. Today was one of those days.

Noah went down to the bottom and started moving the sand and silt around with his hand looking for anything of interest. Jim had found a rock formation a little way away that he wanted to explore.

Noah wasn’t coming up with much. He found a few pieces of metal that looked like something someone had lost while fishing. He continued to examine the bottom, but he was getting a little low on air, so he knew he had to head to the surface soon.

Meanwhile, Jim had taken a chisel with him as he had seen this rock formation before. He was digging at the rocks to see if anything was lodged in them. All he saw were the pieces of rock that he had chipped away. Nothing important seemed to be there. But then, just as he was ready to call it, a large piece of rock broke away.

Jim looked through the murky water and reached down with his hand. He felt something metallic. He took the chisel and carefully pried away more of the rock. As the rock broke off, he saw a piece of metal under it. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he continued to pry away rock until he saw that it was a container of some sort. He got really excited and swam over to Noah to get his help.

Noah and Jim loosened more of the rock, and suddenly the container became apparent, and it appeared to be a chest. They could hardly control their excitement. As they were both low on air, Jim jammed the chisel into a piece of rock to remember the location. Then they both swam to the surface.

They found they were about a hundred yards from Henry when they got to the surface. They removed their masks and yelled for him to come closer. While they waited for him, Noah said, Did you see it? Is it what I think it is?

Jim replied, Don’t get ahead of yourself. It could be an old trunk that has nothing of value in it. The trunk, if it’s old, might be worth something, but let’s not do the happy dance quite yet.

I’m swimming in 50 feet of water. It would be hard to do the happy dance even if I wanted to, Noah said.

Once Henry arrived, they told him what they had found. They had backup air tanks on their boat, so Noah and Jim got them on and went back down. They had gotten more tools from the topside, including a hammer, screwdriver, and another chisel.

They carefully started pulling away the rock and other formations on the chest when they got below. It took some time, but after about 30 minutes, they had the chest fully exposed. They tried to lift it with their hands, but it was too heavy to reach the surface even with two of them. They went back up and got some rope they had on deck. They worked together and got the chest to raise just enough to slip the rope around it. They tied the rope off and took the other end back up to the boat. They knew they couldn’t lift the chest, so they decided to drag it to the shore. They were only about 400 yards from the nearest land, so Henry used the boat to move the chest in the direction of land slowly. Noah and Jim stayed below to ensure the rope didn’t slip or that the chest didn’t break away.

They didn’t want their boat to get stuck, so Henry stopped it when they got close to the land, and Noah and Jim pulled the chest onto the beach. It was hard work, but they could get a grip on the floor below them, so they slowly got it into the beach.

Henry anchored the boat and swam to the beach. The three of them stood around the chest and looked at each other. Noah was the first to say something, What do you think it is?

Noah responded, It could just be a chest of cannonballs.

Jim smiled, Or it could be Blackbeard’s treasure.

The three smiled at each other. Henry said, Well, it's pretty rusted, so there’s no way we’re going to get it open here. We need to haul it back to our truck, get it up on the truck bed, and get it home. Then we’ll have more tools and can take our time getting in.

Noah said, Blackbeard’s treasure?

Jim replied, Yeah, probably not, but it still might have something of value in it. All I know is that we’ve been doing this for a while, and this is the first time we’ve found something that might be valuable. I’m stoked.

Little did they realize how stoked they would be once they got it open.

CHAPTER THREE

As an accounting professor, I don’t often have many exciting things happen to me. It’s true that Sharon, my girlfriend who is also a Philly homicide cop, and I have had some exciting times