The Black Marlin – Chapter 2
The anchor splashed into clear blue water just beyond a crescent-shaped beach.
For the first time in nearly a month, the crew of the Black Marlin stood completely still.
The island rose before them in layers of green. Tall palms leaned over the sand. Vines covered the rocky cliffs, and somewhere beyond the trees came the distant sound of rushing water.
Briggs breathed deeply.
“Do you smell that?”
Mara looked at him. “Trees?”
“Food.”
“You can smell food from here?”
“I’m a cook. It’s a gift.”
Oliver leaned over the rail. “Maybe there are coconuts.”
“Maybe there are chickens,” Briggs said.
“Why would there be chickens?”
Briggs stared toward the island. “Oliver, I have spent twenty-seven days cooking dried beans. Do not destroy this dream.”
Captain Crowe lowered a small boat into the water.
“Mara, Lena, Tobias, Rosa, Oliver—you’re coming with me.”
Briggs froze.
“What about me?”
“You’re staying with the ship.”
Briggs looked wounded. “Captain.”
“We need someone here.”
“But the chickens.”
“If we find chickens, we’ll bring you one.”
Briggs pointed sternly at Oliver. “You heard him.”
A few minutes later, the small boat scraped against the sand.
Oliver jumped out first.
“Land!”
His boots sank into the beach.
He immediately fell forward.
Rosa laughed. “Excellent beginning.”
“I meant to do that.”
Captain Crowe stepped onto the shore and looked toward the jungle.
“No one wanders off alone.”
Tobias opened his map.
Mara sighed. “That map doesn’t show this island.”
“It might.”
“You didn’t know the island existed this morning.”
Tobias turned the map sideways.
“That depends how you interpret it.”
Lena walked toward a cluster of trees.
“There are footprints here.”
Everyone stopped.
Crowe moved beside her.
Pressed into the damp sand were several clear marks.
Bare human footprints.
Oliver’s eyes widened. “Someone lives here.”
“Or lived here,” Rosa said.
Mara crouched beside the tracks.
“They’re fresh.”
Suddenly the jungle felt much quieter.
Crowe drew his sword.
“Stay close.”
They followed the footprints beneath the trees.
The temperature dropped immediately beneath the thick canopy. Giant leaves stretched above their heads, blocking much of the sunlight. Bright birds scattered through the branches as the crew passed.
Oliver pointed upward.
“Look!”
A red bird stared down at him.
“Pretty.”
The bird screamed.
Oliver jumped backward.
Rosa laughed again.
“I don’t like this island,” Oliver muttered.
After several minutes, they heard water.
The trees opened around a small waterfall pouring into a crystal-clear pool.
Lena smiled.
“Fresh water.”
Mara knelt beside it.
“Finally.”
Crowe stopped her.
“Wait.”
Lena removed a small cup from her bag, examined the water, smelled it, then tasted a drop.
Everyone watched.
“Well?” asked Rosa.
Lena smiled.
“It’s water.”
Mara stared at her.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
They filled several containers.
Oliver wandered toward a nearby tree.
“Captain?”
Crowe turned.
Carved into the trunk was a strange symbol—a circle crossed by three jagged lines.
Tobias approached slowly.
“I’ve seen this before.”
Mara looked at him.
“Where?”
Tobias opened his old chart and unfolded a section that had nearly torn away.
There, faded almost beyond recognition, was the same symbol.
Crowe’s expression changed.
“What does it mean?”
Tobias stared at the marking.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
Rosa groaned.
“Of course you aren’t.”
“But I remember the story.”
Everyone gathered around him.
Tobias lowered his voice.
“Years ago, sailors spoke of an island that disappeared behind fog. They called it Saint Marrow.”
Crowe looked around.
“And?”
“They said a fleet carrying royal gold vanished somewhere near it.”
Oliver’s face lit up.
“Treasure!”
Mara shook her head. “There it is.”
Tobias continued.
“Three ships entered the fog.”
He looked toward the dense jungle.
“None returned.”
A branch snapped behind them.
Rosa immediately raised her pistol.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
Crowe stepped forward.
“We mean no harm!”
Nothing answered.
Then a spear flew from the trees.
It struck the ground inches from Crowe’s boot.
Oliver screamed and dove behind Tobias.
Rosa aimed toward the jungle.
“Show yourself!”
Leaves moved.
A figure appeared between the trees.
Then another.
And another.
Six people stepped silently into view, each carrying a spear.
At their center stood a young woman wearing a dark green cloak.
She looked at Crowe.
Then at Tobias.
Then at the symbol carved into the tree.
“You should not have come here,” she said.
Captain Crowe slowly lowered his sword.
“Unfortunately,” Mara whispered, “we hear that quite often.”