Mango Lucky (12 page)

He and Jake then turned and walked north. Away from me.

I figured that by giving me the thumbs up, Jake's owner was saying it was okay to detect this part of the beach.

After they walked out of sight, I returned my attention to the pit I'd dug with Jake's guidance.

Using my scoop, I carefully removed six inches of sand from the bottom of what was now a three foot deep pit. Then I swung the detector coil inside the pit.

The detector responded with multiple tones. It's LCD display showed several target items below.

Fearing that using the metal scoop might damage the targets, I stepped down into the pit and started removing sand with my hands.

After digging for about a minute, I felt something solid. Perhaps the treasure I'd been looking for.

Using my fingers, I drew an outline around the edges of the object buried below. This would be my guide to how much sand I needed to remove before I could retrieve it.

The outline showed that the object was larger than I expected. About the size of a softball.

I continued to brush away the sand until I got a better look at what I was dealing with.

At first glance it looked like a bone, but after removing more sand, I could see the telltale outline and ridges of a large clam shell.

Finding shells on the beach is not unusual. In fact it is to be expected. But finding shells that cause a metal detector to sound a tone? That's different.

I removed more sand, and saw that instead of finding a single shell, I'd found a circle of large clam shells, all face down.

The way the shells were arranged seemed to suggest they they had been put this way on purpose.

Maybe there was something under the shells.

I sure hoped so.

Using my hands to dig a small groove around the largest shell, I reached under and carefully nudged it out of its resting place. To my surprise, rather than being just the top of a clam shell, it was the top and bottom. Creating a protective cover around whatever was inside.

Opening the shell, I found a clump of dime sized coins that had corroded together.

I shook my head in disbelief.

I had found Spanish treasure.

And judging by the number of shells in the pit, there was more.

I carefully put the clump of coins into my finds bag, and returned my attention to the other shells in the pit.

Removing the top of the second shell, I found another clump of silver coins. Almost the same size of the first clump.

I carefully put these in my finds bag with the first clump.

Back down in the pit, I removed another large shell. This one held three gold coins, each about the size of a quarter. They looked newly minted. No signs of wear or corrosion.

If these were truly gold, they would worth quite a bit.

I wrapped each of these coins with tissues from the packet of Kleenex I carried in my belly pack, then put them in my top right shirt pocket.

Back in the pit, I removed the final shell, and inside it I found a large gold ring with a bright green stone in the center.

The ring appeared to be hand hammered, with carved initials on one side, and a family crest on the other.

As with the gold coins, I carefully wrapped the ring in tissues, then put it in my other shirt pocket, making sure the pocket was securely buttoned.

From what I could see, it appeared that someone had dug a deep pit on the beach, placed a layer of large clam shells in the bottom of the pit, and then placed something of value in each of the shells.

They then covered each shell with a matching top, either to hide the treasures from prying eyes, or to protect them from the elements.

Whatever the reason, the two layers of shells had worked surprisingly well to keep the treasure in good condition for however long it had been buried here.

Looking into the pit, I wondered if there could be another layer of shells in the sand below the first.

To find out, I grabbed my detector and swung it into the pit. The detector responded with multiple tones. That meant there were still metal objects buried below.

As I turned to put my detector back on the sand, I saw that Anna was coming my way. She had her head down watching the sand in front of her feet as she followed her grid line.

I picked up my sand scoop and began swinging it wildly over my head. Hoping to get her attention.

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At first, Anna didn't see me.

I was standing above my treasure pit, trying to get her attention and hoping I didn't attract the attention of others on the beach. I didn't need strangers knowing I had found a pit filled with lost treasure.

Finally, she looked up and saw me. She smiled and waved. Then realizing that I was trying to get her attention, she cocked her head to the side, as if questioning what I was trying to say.

Using my right hand, I motioned for her to come join me. She understood immediately. Taking her headphones off, she walked quickly toward me.

As she got close enough for me to hear her, she asked, "You find something?"

I grinned and said, "You're not going to believe this."

I reached into my bag and retrieved the small clump of silver coins.

She stepped closer and said, "Wow! That's pretty good."

Still grinning like a fool, I said, "There's more."

I retrieved the second stack of coins and held them out for her to see.

Her eyes widened. "You found these, too? Where?"

I pointed to the pit behind me. "Down there. But that's not all I found."

Reaching into my shirt pocket I retrieved one of the gold coins.

"You found gold? Gold?"

I nodded. "Yes, and not just the one coin. I found three."

I put the gold coin back into my pocket, and retrieved the ring I'd found and held it out for Anna to see.

"And I found this."

Anna leaned over to get a closer look at the ring. "Can I hold it?"

I nodded yes.

She picked it up, felt it's weight, and then turned the ring so that the green stone caught the light of the sun.

Looking at me she whispered, "Do you know what this is? It's an emerald."

Handing the ring back she said, "Walker, you did really, really good. Where did you find all this?"

I pointed to the pit behind me, "Right there. Thanks to Jake."

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"Jake? Who's Jake?" asked Anna.

I smiled. "You remember the car we pulled out of the sand yesterday during the storm?"

"Yes . . ."

"Well, Jake was the big black dog that was in the car."

Anna looked confused, "So what does the dog have to do with this treasure?"

I told her the story.

"Jake showed up earlier, and herded me over to this spot. He made me dig here."

"He made you dig? How'd he do that?"

"I was detecting my grid line, and Jake came and sat in front of me. And when I tried to get him to move, he wouldn't. Then he barked kind of like he was saying 'follow me'. "

Anna nodded.

"Then he came over to this spot and dug a small hole. He seemed to be telling me to dig here. So I dug. And I found the treasure."

Anna rubbed her head, "So you're saying that the dog led you to treasure?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And more importantly, now that you're here you can take your turn digging in this pit."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I dug the first layer and retrieved all this. But according to my detector, there's more down there.

"I've found my treasure. Now it's your turn."

Anna smiled, then looked at the ocean. "The tide's coming in pretty fast. This pit will be under water in less than an hour. We've got to hurry."

She swung her detector in the pit and smiled when the resulting tone indicated gold below.

But instead of climbing down into the pit, she paused and said, "I don't feel right about this. You found this treasure, so you should be digging it, not me. It's rightfully yours."

I shook my head, "That's not the way I see it. Jake found this. And since we were both involved in Jake's rescue, you deserve whatever you find down there.

"And you better hurry, the tide's coming in fast."

Anna nodded, "Okay, as long as you're sure."

I pointed to the ocean, and then pointed to the pit. "Dig!"

Anna climbed down into the pit and started removing the layer of shells below the ones I'd already dug out.

Sifting her hands through the softly packed wet sand, I could see that she'd found something. Gently she retrieved the object, brushed off the sand, and held it up for me to see.

It appeared to be half dollar sized coin. The sea water had tarnished it to almost solid black in color, but it was clearly silver. A Spanish silver coin.

Anna kept digging, and over the next thirty minutes, she found seven more silver coins, a badly bent silver fork, and a heavily encrusted silver cross.

The incoming tide was bringing the waves closer and closer and seawater was starting to spill over into the pit.

"Anna, we don't have much longer before the waves reach us. You need to get out of there soon."

"Not yet. Hand me my detector. I want to be sure we've gotten everything."

I handed her the detector and she swung it in the pit. It beeped.

"It's showing there's still gold down here. I'm going to find it."

Anna handed me the detector, then she crouched down in the pit, digging with both hands. As she dug, small streams of water from the incoming tide began filling the bottom of the pit.

Ignoring the water, Anna kept digging. But she wouldn't be able to dig much longer. The tide was coming in fast, and waves were starting to circle the pit.

As the sand around the top of the pit became soaked, it began to crumble and slide down around Anna's feet.

"Anna, you need to get out of there. The tide is coming in pretty fast."

"Two more minutes! That's all I need."

A large wave crashed over the pit, splashing a slurry of wet sand down onto Anna. She ignored it and kept digging.

Grabbing our detectors, I carried them up the beach away from incoming tide. Then I came back to haul Anna out of the pit, whether she wanted to come out or not.

As I reached the edge of the pit, Anna stood up, triumphantly holding gold coins in her clenched fist.

"Got them! Now help me out."

I reached for her and we locked arms, wrist over wrist.

The walls of the pit were saturated and the wet sand under Anna's feet collapsed with each step as she tried to climb her way out.

The harder she scrambled, the faster the sand filled in the hole. It quickly covered her feet, then her ankles. The heavy, slushy mix inched up toward her knees with each fresh wave.

If wet sand filled to her waist, the suction would make it impossible to get her out of the pit. In minutes, her head would be underwater.

We both knew this. I planted my feet and leaned back, struggling to pull her out.

I realized that each time a wave washed over us, there was a moment when the water would soften the sand enough to pull Anna a few more inches further out of the pit.

Timing our efforts with these waves, me pulling with both arms and her pushing with both feet, I finally dragged her over the edge and onto the beach.

Almost immediately, the pit collapsed and filled in with wet sand. Just a few feet away, Anna lay sprawled on the beach, her breath ragged.

She looked up at me and smiled. Then she opened her tightly closed fist revealing three gold coins and said, "We found treasure!"

I helped Anna stand, and we gathered up our detecting gear. Based on the speed of the incoming tide, Anna reckoned we had less than thirty minutes before the entire beach would be under water.

We were both soaking wet, covered with sand, and weighed down with detecting gear and treasure. We knew the walk back to the Cruiser would be slow and difficult.

But our spirits were lifted by the treasure we had found, and we quickly made our way down the beach. After twenty minutes, Anna pointed at something high up on the dune ahead.

The wooden skeleton of a Spanish Galleon.

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I stared in disbelief. There was no way a Spanish Galleon should be here on the beach. The wood would have rotted away long ago.