Chapter 5: The Map Puzzle Solved?

Later that morning I managed to slip away and get back to work on the map. Before finding the map I had never even considered that the shoreline that I had looked at my entire life was not the same one seen by our forefathers. I knew that the earth's continents had changed over millions of year. After all, I did watch The Discovery Channel, but I had no idea that such a change could occur over such a relatively short period of time.

It was fortuitous that whoever had drawn the map located numerous natural landmarks that were still in evidence today. Of course, that person had only estimated the distances for some of those landmarks and there were neither actual scale to the map nor any marked distances. I guess I had expected a pirate's map to be more straightforward; you know, 'twenty paces south of the hanging tree' or some such.

The map was more of a general reference than an actual map. Oh, it marked a spot, but the distances to that spot from any of the visible landmarks depended on the scale of the map, which was not uniform and not given. I think the map was drawn more as an aid to help the one who buried the treasure in the first place find it again and was never intended for someone else's use.

I had two points on the old map lined up with two points on the current map of the area but could see other landmarks that were still off. I really needed one more point of reference to give me an accurate overlay. As it was the location of the treasure was either in very shallow water near the shore or in the marshy area on the property now owned by Irma. I was still working with the overlay when Hector knocked on the door of my office. I had been concentrating so hard that I had not even heard the damn door buzzer. I invited him in, noting that he was carrying a large paper bag. As soon as we were seated, I asked, "Hector, my friend, good to see you. I thought you and Camilla would be packing up and getting ready to move."

Hector smiled and shrugged, "She's already got all of that done. Says there's no use doing any more until we get the house. Then we'll be looking at drapes and new carpet and a whole lot of painting before we move in."

"Yeah, a house is a lot of work, but I never had a feeling of belonging when I lived in an apartment. This place is like I've found home. I feel comfortable and something feels right when I'm here. I never really understood what all those people who lost those houses ... you know the ones we clean out ... felt until I bought this house."

Hector said, "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I've had a feeling ever since I moved out from under my papa's roof. It's like I've been looking for a place to set my roots. Camilla feels it too. My new house may not be as grand as all this, but it will be mine and that's what's important."

I shrugged, "Well I just hope that this house doesn't get so grand that the state or someone decides to take it and make it into a museum or tourist attraction."

Hector laughed and said, "They wouldn't do that boss. That would cost money and the state is even more busted than all those guys that are losing their houses."

I smiled and said, "Well I hope they stay busted then. So, have you decided what we need to do next?"

Hector looked surprised and quickly answered, "Me? I'm not in charge. You got the map figured out yet?"

The question was easy to answer. "No, I need one more reference point to line up to get a fairly accurate spot. Right now I've narrowed it down to somewhere either out in the bay or down in that marshy area south of here."

I laughed at what I thought was an amusing response. Hector obviously had other ideas about my humor. With a straight face he said, "I hope it's in the marshy area because otherwise we're going to have to learn how to breathe underwater."

I shrugged. "I hope it's in the marshy area as well. I think it would take quite a while for us to learn enough SCUBA to safely work underwater. Then we would have to have permits to dig up the bottom of the bay. If it's in the marshy area all we have to have is bug repellant and a permit to dig up some wetlands. I don't know which permit would take longer."

Hector replied, "I've always thought we would do it the American way."

I thought I knew the answer but asked anyway, "What is the American way?"

Hector said, "Act like we don't know nothing. You know, dig up the treasure and if we get caught tell them we didn't know nothing about no damn permit."

I laughed and said, "Oh, I thought you meant build a big fence around it that cost ten times what the treasure is worth."

We both smiled and I'm sure both thought our answers were funnier.

I continued, "Not to be nosey but what do you have in the bag?"

Hector opened the bag and looked in, almost as if he wasn't sure himself. He then said, "This is just an old set of work clothes and my bathing suit. It is such a beautiful day outside I thought I might take a dip in the bay."

When I looked at him like he was crazy he continued, "Seriously, I could always hold my breath pretty good. I figured maybe I could swim out through the tunnel into the bay and see where it comes out. If I can't get out I could at least see how far out the tunnel goes."

I thought about it and said, "I think we need more people to do that. I would want one good swimmer in the bay to help you if you have problems after you get through. Then we need someone in a boat to watch that person. Finally, we would want someone to watch your life line in the cave tunnel to pull you back or use the rope to get to you in case you get stuck."

Hector said, "Damn boss, I didn't know you used to work for OSHA. I think all we need is someone to keep Camilla from going crazy while I'm in the water."

I grimaced, "Hector, I'm gonna' let that OSHA comment slide. Still, I do think we need to take some safety precautions. You don't know what else's down there."

Hector thought a moment and said, "My cousin's got a small fishing boat. I could call him and ask him to bring it over here. Manuel's a strong swimmer and can keep his mouth shut. We got rope you can tie around me. What else we need?"

I was surprised how quickly it all came together. Hector called Manuel, who just happened to have nothing better to do. We found that Edward was also a good swimmer and agreed to assist Manuel aboard the boat. Elise, Camilla, Irma and Audra would be with us in the tunnel.

Edward had two good suggestions that we took to heart. First he said, "We need some type of communications between the tunnel and the boat? I'm not sure if I trust a cell phone to work that deep underground."

I had no idea how deep a cell phone would work so we tried it out. Sure enough the cell phones lost contact about 30 feet into the first tunnel. We ended up going to Radio shack and getting a 500 foot spool of telephone wire and a cheap telephone. Edward managed to hook it up to one of the jacks in his house. With that we could communicate with Edward in the boat.

Edward's second suggestion made really good sense. He said, "We can take the rope on Hector, if he manages to get through, and attach some type of marker buoy to it. That way we'd always know where the tunnel entrance is."

I didn't like the idea at first and told him, "That might attract too much attention. Some people may start wondering what the buoy is marking."

Edward countered, "Well we could always pull the rope partway back up the tunnel which would lower the buoy deep enough so it wouldn't attract attention. If the rope was light enough we could even use a couple of milk jugs as markers."

So that was what we planned to do. It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we got everything together. Most of us, including Mr. Whiskers, were in the tunnel. I had the rope tied loosely to Hector's waist. Hector was chomping at the bit, raring to go even though the water in the tunnel seemed pretty cold. This was his idea in the beginning and he wanted to prove it out. The actual attempt was anti-climatic as the rope continued to pay out as Hector bulled his way through the tunnel and then swam to the surface of the bay on his first attempt.

Elise was on the phone with Edward trying to talk Edward into staying in the boat. He wanted to dive down and see the opening for himself. I laughed as I listened to her end of the conversation, "Ed Howard, you are not a young man; you stay in that boat ... Yes, I know you are a good swimmer ... You listen to what I tell you ... Okay, but you better wear a life vest ... Yeah, I know it's hard to dive with a life vest ... Make sure that Manuel or Hector are in the water ... Ed! ... Ed! ... Are you still there."

Then she threw down the phone and started running back up the tunnel. Audra picked up the phone and said, "Hello. Manuel, is everything okay? It is? Good."

She turned to us and said, "Hector is in the water showing Edward the opening."

When they returned to the boat they guided me as I anchored the two milk jugs we were using as buoys by tying the rope off to the torch holder in the tunnel. I would pull the jugs under water after I had gotten an idea of where the opening was. We all walked upstairs and looked out over the calm water at the bobbing milk jugs. Edward had a big grin on his face as he stood on the boat looking in at Elise. Elise wasn't about to return Edward's grin. She had a look on her face that told me that Edward was in serious trouble when he got back to shore.

The rest of the evening was spent warming up Manuel, Hector and Edward with liquid spirits while they told and retold the story from different perspectives. They all agreed that the entrance was half hidden by a rock outcropping which was covered by a thick bed of some type of sea grass. The location of the jugs was only about twenty feet off the shoreline. Hector boasted that he could easily have swum in to shore with no difficulty.

Although I knew I now had the third reference point that I needed, I didn't get a chance to work on the map for the rest of that week. Monday was a typical Monday, getting all of the work started for the week. Making sure the subs knew what they had to do. Making sure the equipment ended up at the right job sites.

Tuesday morning I took Hector around and introduced him as my partner to all of the bankers that I knew. Hector was as surprised as Bob Wheatley when I first introduced him as my new partner. Technically he was not yet a partner, but we took care of that detail later in the week with my accountant.