Thanks for the reviews. Here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
When John came home that night, it was to find Keira asleep on the bed and Orlando checking out some website about the Aztecs.
"Oh, I was wondering when you'd show up," Orlando said turning from the screen and blinking a few times.
"I take it you've been on here for quite a while," John said pulling up a chair.
"Well, she fell asleep right after dinner. I decided to try and find out anything I could about the gold coin again."
"And? What did you find," John asked.
"Not much. There was some mention a little while ago but it led me to a dead end. I thought this might interest you though," Orlando said clicking on some link.
John looked forward and read what was written aloud.
"According to the legend, the treasure of the chest of Cortez is said to be cursed. No one knows what the curse is supposed to do but the only known eyewitness account is from over 300 years ago and from a known pirate of the time Captain Jack Sparrow. According to Sparrow, the curse was said to take away all earthly pleasure of living and it involved something to do with moonlight. As is plainly clear, this cannot be taken into account because pirates were known for their clearly tall tales. However, there is a hand drawn image from an unknown source that was discovered inside of a blacksmith's shop. The object is the supposed coin that was found inside."
"I waited for you to come home before I clicked it," Orlando said.
John nodded and they waited for the slow dial-up to show them an image.
"I'll go get some food," John said and disappeared into the kitchen.
Orlando examined the coin a bit closer but saw nothing that would give him any clue to its identity. He looked up and cursed very loudly which caused John to run into the room.
"What is it?" he asked.
Orlando seemed to have lost the ability to speak because he just stared at the screen. John rolled his eyes and forcefully moved the boy out of the way. There, the image showed a black and white coin, with a skull on it. It was the perfect replica of the one in the boy's hand. Orlando dropped it as though it was burning his hand.
"What does this mean," he asked his friend.
"I don't know but we cannot tell anyone. We'll just keep it between the two of us savvy."
"Savvy?"
John shook his head and muttered something while making his way to his bedroom. Orlando turned off the computer and followed.
"Not coming home for lunch, see you both later," John said as he rushed out the door.
"What should we do today," Keira asked clearing the breakfast plates.
"Are you sure you want to go out? Are you well enough, I mean you did almost drown in the tub yesterday?" he asked.
"Oh please. I'm fine. Why don't we go to town today? That should be nice."
So, a few hours later, the two of them went to the marketplace to spend a little money and some time together.
John wasn't having a very good day. That same person parked in his space and someone had deleted the document that he really needed for his research for his next book. Right now he was knee-deep in writing his novel. It was a fiction piece, for once, about a pirate who was betrayed by his crew and how he got his revenge. He was just up to the best part (when the pirate got the girl near the end) when someone poked him on the shoulder. John jumped and made a bunch of letters appear on the screen.
"What?" he demanded turning around.
It was Zoe, the girl he met the day before. Zoe Santos was a pretty interesting person. She was born on the island and her family lived here for centuries apparently. Right now she was holding a long package out in front of her.
"Sorry for yelling at you. What's that you've got there?" he asked.
"Package for you. Everyone wondered what it could be because of its strange shape."
She handed it to him and he began to open it. He never expected the object that it was. Inside was a sword. John took it out and examined it. It seemed to be good as new but no one makes swords now or days.
"Very nice. Is there a note," Zoe asked going through the wrappings.
John looked too but there was nothing. "It is a very nice sword. Just wish I had more of a use for it," he said examining it again.
Zoe went off to her desk when he unsheathed it again. There, buried at the bottom was a crumpled up piece of paper. Making sure no one was looking, he opened it.
"Thought this might be useful eventually."
He didn't recognize the handwriting and there was no signature. "That's very interesting," he said putting the sword back.
"I'll be right back darling," Keira said walking over to some seller.
Orlando was having some fun here at the marketplace. So far they'd bought some meat for dinner, some fruit, a few outfits for Keira, a hat for Orlando, a shirt they bought for John and a couple of little knickknacks that they just thought looked interesting. He wandered away and something shiny caught his eye.
"I see you are interested sir," the peddler said. He didn't wait for Orlando to say anything before continuing. "It's over 300 years old but still is as good as new. It was made by one of the island's most famous blacksmiths of the time. It's a beaut and only costs a mere $1200."
"That's a lot of money sir," Orlando said. He didn't have much with him to begin with, but with an object like that he could keep it safe in his care before opening his museum.
The peddler had an odd look on his face when he looked at the boy. "I tell you what lad. You have an honest face. I'll let you have it for half off. That's $600."
"Sold." He handed over his credit card and it was approved.
"Funny," the man said handing it back.
"Sorry but what's funny," Orlando asked putting the card away.
"You seem to have the same last name as the blacksmith who made this." He turned the object to face him and it did indeed read in a tiny print engraved near the top W. Turner. "Perhaps you're a distant cousin or something," the man said wrapping it up.
Orlando nodded and found Keira looked for him. She took one look at his package and put her hands on her hips.
"What have you bought now," she said tersely.
Hope you liked it. In the next chapter I try to recreate the sword fight so look out for it soon. Later :-)
