Stranger Things have Happened...

I was 'treasure drunk' with the objects I kept finding that I hardly noticed the water getting brighter all around me. The cave took a 45-degree turn up and then doubled back on itself for about 60 feet. That's when the ceiling and walls fell away, there was enough light I didn't need my torch so I shut it down. I stayed where I was letting my eyes adjust from the glare of the torch. I looked to my left and realized I was looking at a ship pirates and raiders used to attack merchant and treasure ships back in the day.

I was frozen to the spot in shock at finding an entire ship when a shadow passed overhead. I looked up, and my respirator fell from my mouth! A large ship and another pirate ship were floating above me! I recovered my wits and carefully made my way up to the surface. The large ship was a Spanish Galleon, and the smaller ship beside her, 'The Ryaker' was almost the same ship that lay sunken below me.

I shut my tanks off and listened for any signs of life. After about 45 minutes, I called out in my limited Spanish, after five times I switched to English, and no one replied. My curiosity got the better of me, I swam to the port side and noticed a cargo net hanging over the side. I tied my tanks to the net and slowly began to climb.

I reached the railing and scanned the deck, after a moment I climbed over the railing. As my feet hit the deck, I had a fleeting thought of how long it had been since someone walked these decks. I made my way to the Captain's cabin, thinking that if I were going to find any answers to the million questions in my head, it would be a good place to start.

Holding the speargun in front of me to hopefully block any attack, I reached down and released the locking tab on my knives that kept them in their sheaths while diving. With every creak I made I thought it might be someone else coming up behind me, I had to get myself under control!

I stepped over the remains of the sailors who sailed the ship, sometimes I saw a pile of two different remains I gathered as their ragged uniforms were different, some had a sword through them pinning them to the deck. All around, there was evidence of a brutal fight taking place. 'No quarter asked, and none was given' was the old phrase.

I reached the Captain's cabin and found that the door and doorframe were charred and the remnants scattered all over, upon entering the cabin I saw about thirty remains scattered about, but near the center of the room, with nothing else around it lay the remains of the Spanish Captain. There were at least five bullet holes in his uniform.

I looked around and found the ship's manifest and assorted papers. I put them all into a large zip-lock bag and then put it inside another, and then I made my way to the main hold. upon forcing the door open, my sight was greeted by rows of chests and coffers, the floor was covered with bags that had been opened and gold coins and gems spilled out. The chests that had been opened showed they were filled with jewelry made from jade, diamonds, emeralds, and other precious gems set in gold and silver.

Tied against the far wall were statues carved out of gold, and imperial jade and other gems set within the design. Down the other wall were arms and armor embellished in the same manner, I was in shock at the entirety of the find, and two other ships still needed to be checked out. My legs gave out, and I collapsed, sitting in an open chest. The only thought that entered my mind was that I was living every boy's dream of finding treasure plundered by pirates.

I can't remember how long I sat there staring, but finally, I roused myself and began to take pictures of everything, and before you ask, yes I did take a couple of selfies with me in the frame along with the treasure. I looked in the chest that caught me when I fell, I saw two diamonds almost the size of a walnut, resting in the lid along with other treasure I found a small pistol made of gold inlaid with rubies. I put everything in the sack at my waist along with various coins and returned down the cargo net.

Going back through the tunnel was much slower having to drag all the treasure I had found along the way back out so we could pull it all back aboard my boat, I made the trip with everything still intact. I was in the cabin going over the manifest and the papers making sure they were in good condition, then I called Timothy down. He came down with glazed eyes looking at the treasure.

"Timothy, I know you're still young, but how do your parents feel about guns?" I asked him.

"They say I'm still too young to own a gun," he said sadly.

"Well let me be the first to give you a gun that your parents won't mind you having," I pulled the small pistol out of the bag and handed it to him. His jaw dropped and his eyes looked like they would fall out of their sockets!

"This is so freaking cool!" he said, "Don't tease me, all I did was watch the line. I don't deserve this!"

"You did your part in keeping me safe while I was down there, so to me, you more than deserve it!" I smiled. "Let's pull up the anchors and head back to the cove."

After we tied the boat up, I locked the cabin put everything in a large backpack, and then walked Timothy home. As we reached the door, I reached out and pulled him back. "Not a word about where we were, alright?" Timothy nodded, and then I knocked on the door. His Father answered the door.

"Well, there's my wayward son," he smiled, "better get in here and explain where you've been all day."

"That's all my fault, Jim," I said, "Can I have a word with you and Penny?" He opened the door wider so we could step inside.

"Earlier today I borrowed young Tim here to keep me company on a dive I had been wanting to do. It turned out that I needed him to help me stay safe with the dive. We found a couple of things on the bottom, and I decided that he was old enough, so I gave him a pistol I'd found."

Jim cut me off, "We've had this talk before young man, you're too young to own a gun!"

I cut him off in turn, "Jim, the situation is such that I won't accept it back, and once you and Penny see it, I think you'll understand why."

Jim and Penny looked at each other. He still had some fire in his eyes when he looked at his youngest son. "Alright, show us this pistol, and we'll decide if you can keep it!"

Tim looked at me, and I smiled and nodded. He slowly pulled it out from under his shirt and handed it to his Father. "Where the fuck did you get this?" his Father exclaimed, which got him a slap from his wife, "The kids" was all she said.

"Miquel found it on the bottom during his dive, then he gave it to me for helping him today. Come on Dad, let me keep it, please?" Timothy pleaded. Jim and Penny looked at each other, then at the pistol, then back to their son.

"I don't know what to say," Jim said while Penny looked the pistol over.

I grinned, "The word 'Yes' comes to mind."

Penny gave Tim a wink, then told his Father "I don't have a problem with it, keeping in mind that he doesn't have what it takes to make it fire," She handed Jim the pistol with a sly smile on her lips.

Jim saw that his wife and son were about to team up on him, "That's true, love. I guess he can keep it."

Tim jumped up, "HELL, YES!"

His Father cuffed him upside the head. "Sorry, Dad."

I had my hands inside the backpack, and then I stood up, "Well time for me to find my own supper,"

Jim walked me to the door. "Miquel, I have no words to say about your gift to Tim, His life will never be the same!"

"None of our lives will be the same, Jim" I grabbed his hand and turned it palm up, dumping ten gold coins into it. "Now go junk that thing you call a truck and get yourself a decent one!" I turned and walked away before he could say anything else.

The next morning found me knocking on Tammy's door. "Open the door woman, the breakfast train won't wait forever!" I yelled.

The first Tammy stuck her head out of a window, "We can hear you, Miquel, just wait a minute and she'll be right down."

"You're dragging your butt right along with us, so both of you better get a move on!" I laughed.

I had been busy since the crack of dawn, working with the county's land office, first off making no one owns the land the reservoir is on, and then second, buying the property and all the property surrounding it I could. I was hungry for more than just food!

Knowing how women are, I took a shower, then opened up the Orion's manifest and took a picture of the first two pages, and then emailed them to the Spanish Consulate in Washington D.C., then I jumped in my car and went to pick up my lovely companions for breakfast. (I still had to wait 20 minutes.) Then we were on our way into town. I told the girls I had to sign some papers first, and then we'll go eat.

I bought all the land dirt cheap because everyone had always thought of it as a mountain whose sloping terrain couldn't be used for anything but hiking. I was in and out in fifteen minutes, and when I came out, I had the biggest smile on my face it hurt! I passed all the usual places to eat and drove up to the 'Eagle's Nest' the most expensive place around for miles.

We were seated in a private booth in the back, and I told the girls to order whatever they wanted. They looked at each other concerned about what was going on so I went first. I ordered three breakfast meals, the one I wanted to eat and the other two because I had never tasted them before and was curious. The girls ordered small breakfasts, so I enlarged both their orders with fruits, waffles, and double portions of bacon. It's just not breakfast without bacon!

The waitress left with our orders and an unbelievable look on her face. While we waited for our food, I told both girls who I really was. Their jaws dropped as the story continued. Once they were up to speed, I held out both hands closed into fists. They just looked at me until I told them to hold out their hand, once they did, I dropped a gold piece into their hand. they looked at it and froze once they saw what it was.

"Where did you find these?" they asked together.

"I found them on land that I now own," was my reply, "Want to see something amazing?" They nodded their heads before I was done asking. I took a picture out of my pocket, turned it face down, and slid it across the table, "Try to keep it quiet, please."

They flipped the picture over, I had chosen a selfie picture of me with the treasure behind me. "Sweet Mother of God!" Tammy 1 let out loud enough to startle the other diners. Tammy 2 said, "If I had known you'd find this after our talk on the archway, I would have made you my partner!"

"Funny you should mention that," I said with a grin, "When everything breaks, the town is going to get a lot of visitors, and I want to make sure the town is ready to capitalize on becoming richer without losing itself in the process. So I need both of you to help me get this done. You both know the people and can help them adjust. We can stay away from the town and do our best to keep everything close to the water. Restaurants, a couple of dive shops, and the usual tourist traps, maybe a motel or two. Treasure hunters will be flocking to the town looking for a chance to find any treasure that's left on the bottom."

They looked at each other and whispered back and forth for a while, before turning back to me. "Two things need clearing up. first is all the legal matters that will become aroused by the finding, and second is how do you plan to make the find public enough to draw the people in?"

"I will take care of both, so you won't have to worry about any of it. Do we have a deal? If so, I'll contact a friend who will draw up all the legal contracts so everyone is protected."

"We will want to meet him," They both said.

"I don't think you'll be able to keep him away from something like this," I laughed.

********************

When the mail arrived at the office, Anton leisurely looked through it and froze! The letter was addressed to him, but there was only one word on the return address: Mikel. He ripped it open and found five airplane tickets and a post-it note telling him to check his email. Anton walked away from his secretary while she was still talking and fired up his computer. A few clicks later, his secretary heard him exclaim, "JESUS CHRIST!"

A courier showed up just then with a four-inch box addressed to Anton, he opened it up to reveal one of the gold and silver coins, and a small gold chain accompanied by a handful of precious stones. He closed it back up and walked out to his secretary, he gave her a list and told her he wanted to see these people in his office upon his return.

He stopped by a friend who collects coins. As soon as he showed the coins to his friend, his friend almost began to drool! His next stop was Tiffany Jewelers. He was told that they stopped cutting stones like this in the late 1700s and that they had never seen workmanship like what the gold chain showed. Then they asked how he came by it.

Anton called his office and had Mr. Markus Abbot added to the list. He didn't work for the firm, but he was one of the best treasure lawyers in the world. He also told his secretary to add four more tickets to the mix, and that he was headed back to the office now. Two days later the group was aboard a plane headed to the small town that was getting ready to rock the world with its news!

Anton didn't tell Mikel he had some news for him as well.

The plane landed and Anton was taken with Tammy 1 the first time he saw her. She looked at him and then let her eyes drop but her smile remained. Everyone piled into the large van and headed towards town. Tammy 1 made sure she sat by Anton. They found talking with each other became easier the more they talked so they never stopped. Tammy 2 asked Mr. Abbot if the child was his, and he replied that he was one of Anton's lawyers who was going through a divorce. The father refused to watch the child, so she had no choice but to include him. She asked if he was married and Markus started hoping the ride was about over.

Mikel had paid to have them put up at the best place in town with all their meals taken care of. Just as they got ready to sit down to dinner Anton's phone rang, he checked and saw Mikel's name. "Well hello stranger! Long time no see."

"We always seem to meet under the most unusual circumstances, don't we?" Mikel replied. "The Spanish consulate has already started in on me, citing theft and piratering. But I know my ground on this, they're just trying to bully me into rolling over, which will never happen. It's just their opening shot to start negotiating. I sent them a picture of me flipping them off, with the caption that said, try again!"

Anton laughed, "Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?"

"They tried to follow the message back, their reply was rather colorful when they found themselves in Wisconsin." I chuckled, "I've learned a thing or two since we last met."

"I'll bet that made you popular" Anton snickered.

"No more popular than when I switched the tickets of their two agents that tried to follow you at the airport. I thought everyone wanted to go to Disneyland?" I burst out laughing.

"You'll never change Mikel, go big or go home." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Things have fallen way behind on my end, my friend" I sighed, "Now I have to scramble around and find 500lbs. of black powder before I can make my appearance in two days."

Anton about dropped his phone, "500lbs. of what? Did you just say black powder? as in gunpowder?"

"That's what I said, I want to make a statement with this one!" I laughed, "I'll try to tie everything up by lunch tomorrow, but if worst comes to worst I'll see you at the waterside the next morning"

"Are you sure about this, Mikel?" He asked.

"As sure as you were when you chose me, my friend." I said, "Work closely with both the Tammy's, they know what needs to be done. And Anton..."

"Yes?" He said.

"Thanks for coming, I won't disappoint you."

"Always, my friend, just be careful with all that powder!"

Well, lunch didn't happen. But I did have Tammy2 bring him to meet me for a drink that night. I was a few minutes late and they were already there. Anton gave me an appraising look, "Damn Mikel! Life at sea seems to agree with you, you look better now than you did when you said goodbye to your family!"

Tammy looked confused but said nothing.

"Sorry it took so long Anton, I had to go three states over to finally get all the powder that I needed, but we'll be ready to go at 10 a.m." I smiled

"You are anything but predictable, Mikel. I'm both anxious and scared about what you'll do next." He leaned closer, "You know you're already a millionaire without all this, The lawyer idea you came up with is a gold mine! We just opened a new office in our 8th State and show no signs of slowing!"

"I'm glad we can help so many people with that Anton, but this all came out by me wanting to help a town that takes the time to help every one of its members," I looked at Tammy, "By breathing new life into each of them as is needed."

"Do you think your are drawn to things like this, or are they drawn to you?" He asked.

"I've asked myself the same question Anton, and all I can come up with is that certain things need doing, and I just happen to be close at hand."

Tammy spoke up, "Gentlemen, as fun as this has been, it's almost 1 a.m. Don't you think we all need some rest?"

"Do we agree that the contracts are acceptable?" I asked. Both nodded their heads. "Then I agree, I don't want to be sleepy with all that powder lying around." We all hugged each other and then left to get ready for tomorrow morning.

At 10 a.m., everyone had a lawn chair to sit in along the beach, and the news crews and cameras were set up behind them scanning the bay, At 10:05 a.m. 500 pounds of black powder was set off by a demolition crew I had hired, blowing the wall of the reservoir out into the bay. I had sailors who knew how to sail the big ships at the ready. I pointed to the college kid to start the light show that made it seem like lightning against the dark cloud left by the powder. Then the audio system he had set up began to play AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck.'

I dressed like a pirate as I sailed the Orion out of its hiding place, with the other ship close behind. We set off the cannons filled with nothing but powder to make it seem like we were shooting at each other. Then I had the rest of my guys run out along the sea wall to grab the lines that tied the ships to the dock. Everyone had their mouths open, staring as the ships sailed out of the past and into the present.

The gangplank was dropped down so we could disembark, but I had all my people climb aboard the ship and line the rails. "Attention all ye land-lubbers, you are all welcome to come aboard and see how it was back in the day. the news crews can come aboard one at a time under supervision to document our findings. then the rest of you will all get a tour to see it for yourselves. Note that you will all be searched before you are allowed to disembark."

After the last news crew was through I escorted them off the ship. That's when I noticed a small child who wanted to come aboard, but he kept backing away from the gangplank. Before I let anyone else on board I knelt in front of him and asked what was wrong. He said, "I would love to go see it, but I'm afraid of the water." I stood up and asked him if he thought he could trust me, he had a look on his face like he was thinking hard, then he nodded his head.

I picked him up and told everyone, "I've been requested to give a private tour, we'll start when we get back." I took him aboard and asked him what he wanted to see first. "Could I sit in the driver's seat?" He said. I told him we didn't have a driver's seat, but I'd let him play with the steering wheel for a bit. I took my phone out and took a few pictures of him. I then took him down to the captain's cabin so he could sit in the chair behind the desk wearing the Captain's hat, and three more pictures.