A CRY FROM THE DEEP (23 page)

~~~

“I could’ve told you this would happen. I’ve seen it before. Once they get spooked, they never fucking recover.” Hennesey glowered over Catherine, as she sat shivering on a bench even though she was wrapped in a hot blanket.

“She didn’t panic,” said Daniel, handing Catherine a cup of hot tea. “She was distracted. It can happen to anyone.”

“In case you fucking forgot,” said Hennesey, glaring, “this is my boat. I’m responsible for what happens on my watch. I can’t afford to be a goddamn babysitter. Either she does her job or she can get the fuck out!”

Catherine’s ears were blocked after the dive. She could see Daniel’s and Hennesey’s lips moving, but whatever they were saying was muffled, as if their words were wrapped in cotton batting. She only heard snippets, but she could see from the way their necks strained and the way they kept turning to look at her, that she was the center of the argument.

“Fucking irresponsible!”

“Look who’s talking.”

“Dumb broad.”

“It’s only her first dive since the accident. Cut her some slack!”

Unable to hear well, Catherine couldn’t appreciate the support she was getting from Daniel. Instead, her mind drifted back to the three-masted barque she’d seen lying below. Odd, how the ship was there, near what could be the Spanish one. As if it’d been planted there for her to find. The fact she’d been directed to the wreck by the spirit she’d first met in the middle of the night back in New York made the journey all the more strange. Was this the end of it then or was there more?

Moments later, her ears popped and the rest of the squabble came in clear.

“Well, if it happens one more time, I’m getting someone who can do her fucking job,” said Hennesey, as he stomped away.

Of course they were furious with her. Who wouldn’t be with the way she’d performed? Daniel had taken a chance on her being ready to go the distance and she had failed. She’d not only interrupted his work, but she’d also let Frank down. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t ready. She should’ve gone into analysis like Richard had suggested, but no, she ended up seeing the hippy dippy therapist that Lindsey recommended. Out of fairness to Barbara, there hadn’t been enough time to work out her problems, but what was she supposed to do now?

She took a deep breath and said to Daniel, “I’m sorry.”

He sat down beside her. “What the hell happened down there?” His words were harsh but his eyes were soft.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

He clasped his hands between his knees. “Try me.”

She frowned, glancing at Hennesey and the other divers, who were within earshot. “Can I tell you later?”

“Sure.” He looked disappointed. “There’d better be a good reason.”

She stared at the sea. How was she going to explain what happened?

“Maybe you should jump in a shower, while there’s still some hot water left.”

Alfredo, who’d been taking off his dry suit nearby, walked over to Catherine. “Senorita, are you okay now?”

“Yes. Gracias.”

“Good. You find another ship. Hennessey, he is upset, but, …” Alfredo hesitated, then said, “Maybe he’s jealous he did not find her himself.” He turned to Daniel, “Do you know how old she is?”

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a British barque, nineteenth century.”

Catherine said, “You were in such a hurry to get me up, I’m surprised you had time to identify it.”

“It was hard to miss.”

“After you leave,” said Alfredo, beaming, “I find some coins.” He turned and yelled, “Hennesey, show them what I find!”

Hennesey reluctantly came over and opened his hand. In it were half a dozen encrusted silver and gold coins. A cross was prominent on a few. He handed them to Daniel and said with a smile, “Not bad, huh?”

Daniel met Hennesey’s gaze, “You calmed down in a hurry.”

Hennesey ignored the remark. “It’s only a few coins, but it’s a start.”

Daniel’s expression turned sour. “Were you planning on keeping them from me?”

“Absolutely,” said Hennesey with a snicker.“Until we get more, we won’t know what we’ve got.”

Turning each coin over, Daniel said, “Once they’re cleaned, we’ll have a better idea, but they do look like Reale.”

“Raul and Jerry are going down next. They can see if there’s more down there. As for us, we’ll wait our six and then go down again.”

Daniel said to Alfredo, “Where did you find these?”

“By the Spanish ship.”

“I know that, but exactly where?” He handed the coins back to Hennesey before picking up his slate from the deck. It was marked with letters denoting parts of the ship on the dive site. “Show me.”

Alfredo pointed to a spot near the letter marking the mast. “Here.”

Daniel said with an edge, “I thought I made it clear any artifacts found had to be tagged at the site.”

Hennesey said, “He’s showing you now. What’s the big fucking deal?”

“You know what the big fucking deal is?” said Daniel, exploding. “Under your contract, you’re obligated to document every artifact found. And no removal unless you can guarantee conservation of the site. What’s more, I think these coins are significant enough to contact the National Monuments Service as soon as possible.”

“Of course, I’ll contact them,” said Hennesey. “If your asshole was any tighter…”

Daniel smiled. “Glad to be of help. I’d mention the other vessel, too, while you’re at it.”

“Like I said, - .” grumbled Hennesey.

“You didn’t think twice about putting your hand out,” blurted Catherine, “but when it comes to -.”

“Christ almighty, you two are a pair,” he said, interrupting. “All I know is you’ll get your fucking story. If it wasn’t for guys like me, history would stay undetected at the bottom of the sea.” His eyes sharpened like daggers as he singled out Catherine. “What do you do besides take pretty pictures?”

“You’re forgetting one thing, without my pretty pictures, you wouldn’t have your damn publicity. And without that, your money tree would be dead.”

“Holy shit!” Hennesey’s face reddened even more. “You think it’s that simple?”

“Yeah, it’s that simple.” His face was within a few feet of hers. Any closer, and they’d be in kissing range.

He stepped back, throwing his arms in the air. “I risk my life and my divers do the same just so some fucking museum can get their precious artifacts and make money off my sweat.” Hennesey’s spittle was flying out of his mouth. “The laws of salvage are older than the wrecks that are disintegrating as we speak. I should’ve listened to my gut. I knew I was going to regret having you two on board.”

Catherine rolled her eyes. What was the point of arguing with Hennesey? He was an egotistical jerk.

Alfredo, who’d been standing by, said, “Daniel, I will let you know next time.”

“Good,” said Daniel, looking him in the eye. “I trust you will.”

As Alfredo turned to go down to the galley, Hennesey followed, mumbling something to him that sounded like a scolding.

Catherine said to Daniel, “I don’t know how you do it. I wanted to scream and pound his chest like a woman from another era.”

“I don’t know how smart that was. It’s one thing to challenge a bully, but when you’re on his turf... he can make things difficult.” He adjusted the blanket that had fallen off one of her legs. “I think Alfredo just went down. You’ve missed your chance for that hot shower.”

“That’s okay. I’ll have one later.” She hesitated, then said, “What do you know about British ships from the nineteenth century? Is there some way of finding out more?”

He raised an eyebrow as if surprised at the question. “If it was built after 1825, there should be some record. But we’ll need a name or a date when it was built or when it went down before we can check it in the British Museum or the Public Records Office. There’s also the Admiralty Archives, The National Maritime Museum, and Lloyds of London. If it was insured by Lloyds, they’ll have a record of it.

“You’re impressive. A virtual encyclopaedia of information.”

He smiled. “What I can’t figure out is why you’re more interested in that ship than the one that’s five centuries old and possibly laden with treasure?”

She shrugged. How could she tell him about the spirits who were popping up everywhere? With her concerns about them, she was coming across as a hack diver, one who irresponsibly went off on a whim. No, she couldn’t tell him now. There was no privacy. Until she could find some time to be alone with him, she’d have to keep the craziness to herself.

TWENTY-FIVE

Raul and Jerry came up empty from their dive. Even so, the others were hyped for their second plunge of the day. Since Alfredo had found both gold and silver coins, there was no telling what riches they’d unearth from the seabed. His discovery indicated Hennesey was on the right track, but until they found a cannon or some other iron object that could be dated and traced back to the 1588 Spanish fleet, they wouldn’t have the proof they needed.

This time though, Catherine stayed focused. Diving alongside Daniel, she didn’t respond when her spirit appeared again. Instead, she ignored her invite and photographed Daniel and Tom as they continued to work on the baseline for the wreck site. Even though the ship had been badly damaged, there was still enough there to make a meticulous grid of the vessel. The grid would aid in identifying the location of any artifacts they’d recover. In time, Daniel would draw a site plan, marking by number any artifacts as well as any natural marine features, such as gullies, caves, or boulders that could be used as quick reference points.

To assist, Catherine took photos of broken timbers and what looked like rusted iron and steel near the hull. Centuries of neglect and corrosion had resulted in concretion, and until there was an opportunity to remove the build-up and get to the core of the material, they wouldn’t know exactly what they were looking at.

She also caught images of Hennesey and Alfredo carefully blowing away mud and sand from the hull with hand-held fans. Although they were vigilant, Patrick wasn’t. He got carried away and was too aggressive with his scooter, causing light shells and sand to rise high off the sea bottom, dusting the water with particles that changed its clarity. Unable to see through her viewfinder, Catherine was forced to stop shooting.

Irritated, she waved her arms at Patrick to get his attention. When he looked over, she pointed to her camera and glowered. “Damn it, watch what you’re doing!”

Though he didn’t hear her, he got her intent and mouthed, “Sorry,” and swam quickly away to another part of the hull.

She chose an area some distance from Patrick. Maybe her annoyance had come out too strongly, but if she didn’t set the stage from the beginning, her ability to get good photos would be compromised.

Calming down, she reflected on where she was. Her enthusiasm for the hunt was tempered by the sight of this ancient underwater graveyard. Knowing there could be bodies buried under the silt and mud, or trapped in the remnants of a ship’s timbers made the dive an almost reverential one. Seeing the remains of what once was, reminded her of her own mortality and the power of the sea to transform life.

But what the sea took, it also gave. Just when it seemed another dive would end without any significant discovery, Patrick signalled them over to see the cannonballs he’d found. This time, he’d taken care to disturb the sea floor as little as possible and Catherine was able to take some clear pictures of Patrick with his hands on the encrusted cannonballs.

Ever the scoundrel, Hennesey made a big production of Daniel noting the iron balls on his slate. Not to be deterred, Daniel laughed at the captain’s overstatement and went on to video Patrick re-enacting the find. For the time being, the rusted cannonballs were left where they were found, but it wasn’t like Hennesey had conceded anything. It just wasn’t the kind of treasure he was after.

When the divers reached the surface, there were high fives all around. Olaf swung the boat around to pick them up and Jerry helped them climb on board.

When Hennesey got up the rungs, Jerry said, “Hennesey, you lucky son of a bitch. How many cannonballs were there?”

“Don’t get too excited. They could be from any ship. We need a hell of a lot more before we can pat ourselves on the back.”

Catherine knew Hennesey was referring to gold. A few gold coins had been found, but Hennesey wanted more, much more. He wanted to find hundreds, like the ones found on La Girona near the Giant Causeway in Northern Ireland. From the wreck of that galleon—that had once carried royalty and noblemen—the divers had come up with gold cameos, pendants, chains and a salamander set with rubies. Unless some gold jewelry similar to those were found, she knew Hennesey wouldn’t be happy.

Back on the boat, Catherine sat down on a bench to take off her booties. She was relieved, that this time, there’d been no screw-ups. This time, she didn’t chase the ghost. Daniel sat down beside her, “That was a good dive.”

She smiled. “This has to count as one of those rare jobs that gives you back more than you put in. It’s so beautiful down there, it’s like looking directly at God in all his majesty.”