Jahrra and her friends carefully jumped and climbed over the many cracks and crevices of the rocky shelf laid out in front of them before dropping down onto the beach below. As they looked around, they realized that the tunnels had led them to another tiny cove, a cove maybe only a third of the size of the one they had just been in. It looked much like the other inlet, only this one had no waterfall, and it was well tucked in behind the sea rocks. Jahrra wasn’t surprised she’d never heard of it before today and she began to wonder if anyone had ever been here before. So few people came to this part of Oescienne to begin with, and the beach was blocked off from any access from the ocean, so maybe she and her friends were the first to set foot in this new place. She wagered that it probably wasn’t even marked on Hroombra’s maps. She made a mental note to check when she got home.
Feeling a fresh burst of excitement, Jahrra allowed her eyes to wander around this unfamiliar world. The rocks a few yards out in the ocean were just as rugged and dangerous looking as all the others off this part of the coast, but there was a newness and freshness to this minuscule bay.
“Jahrra, are you coming?” Mahryn asked, staring up at her.
She’d been lost in thought once again and hadn’t noticed she was the only one left standing on the stone shelf covered with tide pools.
“Yes, I’m coming.” Jahrra took Mahryn’s outstretched hand and jumped down to join her friends on the beach.
The Resai boy released her hand and Rhudedth smiled and winked, nudging Jahrra slightly as she walked by. Jahrra gave her a bothered look and brushed past her.
“There’s nothing too interesting about this place,” Gieaun remarked tiredly as she scanned the beach.
“Hey, over here!” Pahrdh yelled. “Come see what I’ve found!”
The group headed in Pahrdh’s direction, but Jahrra felt a sudden urge to look up at the cliff behind her. She traced the ridge above with the tip of her finger and let her eyes wander over the tall, rough wall. It was mottled with stray wild grasses and flowers, lichens and mosses. This face of rock looked exactly like the wall on the other side of the giant hill jutting out to sea, but there was something different about it, something that made Jahrra want to study its surface. Then, about halfway down the cliff on the opposite end of the cove, she spotted something. It looked like a depression in the rock, perhaps just another anomaly along its rugged face, but she had to go and see for sure.
“Jahrra! Come and see the crab Mahryn found!”
Jahrra looked at her friends, bent over observing something in the sand, but she felt more compelled to head towards the base of the cliff.
“Hold on, I think I see something,” she said quietly, heading down the beach as if entranced.
Gieaun and Scede watched her for awhile, but soon returned their attention to the irritated crustacean at their feet.
Once Jahrra reached the point below the depression, she discovered that it was more than just a mere pockmark in the wall; it looked like a cave. She stared up the side of the cliff, searching for any way to climb up it. After a few minutes, her mouth broke into a wide grin. A few yards away there was a set of primitive steps carved right into the side of the cliff, starting at its base and stretching up at an angle. Jahrra began climbing, oblivious to what her friends were doing further down the beach.
Gieaun looked up at that moment, expecting to see Jahrra where she had been a few minutes ago.
“Jahrra! What are you doing?” she shouted.
“I think there’s a cave up here!” Jahrra called down from halfway up the staircase.
“Wait for us!” Rhudedth called as she quickly left the group to join her adventurous friend.
“A cave? Maybe we will find a pirates’ treasure!” Pahrdh called out hopefully.
Soon Mahryn was left alone on the beach, and even he eventually joined the rest of the group.
As soon as Jahrra reached the top of the steps, she realized that she’d been right. It was a cave, and a fairly large one too. She peered in over the lip of the dark cavern cautiously, trying to get a better view of its interior. It looked to be about fifteen feet tall at its highest point and continued on past her range of vision. She stepped up into it and was hit with a stale, musty smell of cool, damp earth and ocean. A magnified dripping resounded nearby and somewhere towards the back of the cave a dusty beam of light cut through the soft darkness. Jahrra looked up to locate the source of the light; a small hole in the roof of the cavern. There was a large shelf directly beneath the beam of sunlight and another set of short steps leading up to the top of it. Jahrra approached them just as Gieaun’s and Rhudedth’s silhouettes appeared at the mouth of the cave.
“Now where are you going?” Gieaun breathed, her voice echoing strangely in this enclosed space.
Jahrra looked back at her friend, the bright ocean glaring crystal blue behind her.
“There’s another set of steps leading up further,” Jahrra answered as quietly as she could. “I want to see what’s up on that ledge.”
“Oh, alright,” Gieaun exhaled in exasperation. “But be careful! There could be poisonous spiders up there.”
It didn’t take long for Jahrra to reach the top and when she peered over the last few steps, she gasped and almost lost her balance. Basking in the filtered glow of the natural skylight was a fully dressed skeleton. The fine clothes were now mostly rotted away and moth eaten, a great, broad brimmed hat sat wilting on top of a smiling skull. A cold chill played down her spine as she crouched low on the edge of the shelf, only her fingertips and her face from her eyes up peering over the top.
Despite her fear, Jahrra couldn’t help but stare at the remains of the poor soul. Something gleamed in the corner of her eye and she refocused her attention onto the end of the skeleton’s arm. When she squinted to get a better look, she noticed an old book and something small and disc-shaped clutched in its left hand. It was this object, imprisoned in his skeletal fingers, which had reflected the light and caught her eye.
“What did you find up there Jahrra?” Scede said impatiently.
“Go get Mahryn,” she replied with wide eyes. “I think I’ve found a pirate!”
Before long everyone was crowded around the long-dead man, jammed close together on the small rock ledge.
“Do you think he’s really a pirate?” Mahryn whispered, his eyes glued on the costumed skeleton.
“Don’t you think this is a little spooky?” Rhudedth added slowly.
“Yes, but doesn’t it make you wonder who he was?” Jahrra said in quiet awe.
She had her eye on the book pressed to his side and the disk that was caught in his bony hand.
“Look!” said Pahrdh, pointing to a small pouch that Jahrra hadn’t seen before. “A coin purse!”
Pahrdh went to reach for it, but Rhudedth shrieked and grabbed his arm. “You’ll curse us!”
“Don’t be absurd!” he scoffed, jerking his arm free. “We’ll only be cursed if we don’t leave something in exchange for what we take.”
Jahrra glanced around at her friends and Scede nodded somberly.
“Our parents used to tell us, in the old stories of pirates’ treasure, that you must never rob a pirate, dead or alive, or he’ll come back for revenge. But if we trade, we should be alright.”
“I’ve heard that too,” Mahryn added, gulping back his eagerness and fear.
“I have a few coins of my own I’ve been saving for a new saddle, but I think a few treasures from that pouch would be much better.”
Pahrdh reached over and carefully picked up the heavy bag as if he were afraid the skeleton would come to life and grab him. He quickly took out his own coins and switched them with a few of the ones in the dead man’s pouch, and Mahryn did the same. Gieaun breathed in sharply from somewhere behind Jahrra, and Rhudedth was fidgeting nervously in the corner.