The Time Hunters and the Box of Eternity (10 page)

‘
Then what happened to
him?
’

Reg
’
s face darkened.
‘
Well, that
’
s the thing, ain
’
t it? I don
’
t know. And if anyone does, then I ain
’
t heard of it. There are stories, sure … some
say he drowned in a violent storm, some say a Great White tore him limb from
limb, others say something terrible happened when he returned to Mary Island.
None of it
’
s proven though. All I knows is that from 22
^nd
November
1718, he was never seen or heard of again. He just disappeared from the seas…
’

Chapter 10

Israel Hands

A hush descended as everyone took time to consider this.
 
Then Uncle Percy asked a question.
‘
You mentioned a Mary
Island?
’

‘
Aye,
’
Reg replied simply.
‘
Mary Island was
Blackbeard
’
s base, his headquarters.
’

Uncle Percy
’
s brow furrowed.
‘
I know there are thousands of islands in the Caribbean, but I
’
ve not heard of that
one.
’

‘
Well, you wouldn
’
t,
’
Reg replied simply.
‘
It doesn
’
t exist, at least not
on any official charter or map. It
’
s the name Blackbeard gave it, named it after his fourteenth wife,
Mary Ormond.
’

‘
Fourteenth?
’
Becky gasped.

Reg grinned sourly.
‘
He liked the ladies, did Teach. Anyway, Mary Island was where he
stored his plunder, his treasure, in caves deep underground, piled so high it
reached the heavens, so they say.
’

Joe
’
s eyes glittered.
‘
And it
’
s never been found?
’

Reg gave a sharp shake of his head.
‘
No one
’
s ever known where to look. As I said before,
no one knew which island was Mary Island. However, if legend is to be believed
there were two markers, each crafted by Israel Hands, Blackbeard
’
s sail master, showing
the location of Mary Island. He was also supposed to have left instructions as
to where on the island the treasure could be found, but
if
these markers
exist, they
’
ve never been found either.
’

‘
Israel Hands?
’
Uncle Percy said.
‘
As in the character in
Robert Louis Stevenson
’
s Treasure Island?
’

‘
The very same. But
Hands was real enough, all right, and one of the few that Blackbeard trusted.
Never met him myself, but from what I hear he was an interesting fella - tough,
merciless, but also principled, educated, a musician, and an excellent painter.
I
’
ve never
looked into it myself
‘
cause I
’
ve never had a mind to.
’
Reg
’
s face hardened as his gaze shifted slowly to the portrait of his
wife.
‘
But
if this Pandora
’
s Box is one of Blackbeard
’
s treasure chests, then you might want to see
if those markers are real or not …
’

*

To Becky
’
s surprise, the food at the Magpie Inn tasted every bit as good as Uncle
Percy said it would, and by the time it came to leave, the top button on her
jeans threatened to pop off. As she left the pub feeling twice as wide as she
’
d entered, she watched
Joe who was hopping around like an excitable puppy.

‘
This is brilliant!
’
Joe said.
‘
I mean, not one, but
two treasure maps.
’

‘
Markers, Joe, not
maps,
’
Uncle Percy clarified.

‘
Still, it
’
s great fun,
’
Joe shrugged.
‘
I
’
m thinking we go back
in time, find Israel Hands and get Will to hit him until he tells us where the
treasure is. We don
’
t even need the markers then.
’

Uncle Percy shot Joe a disapproving look. You do know, Joe, that
violence is invariably the worst way of solving a problem.
’

‘
But Will is really
good at it.
’

‘
That
’
s the sort of thing
Emerson Drake would do, surely you wouldn
’
t want us to embrace the same moral compass as
him, would you?
’

‘
No,
’
Joe replied
truthfully.
‘
So what are we going to do?
’

‘
Oh, I do agree we hit
something,
’
Uncle Percy replied.
‘
We hit the books...
’

Bright sunlight poked through broken cloud as Becky settled herself
onto the Silver Ghost
’
s backseat. Without thinking, she rolled Reg
’
s ring around on her
finger and felt a sadness well inside. The ring had belonged to a well-loved
woman, a wife, a daughter, perhaps even a mother, but it was a woman who no
longer existed, a woman who could no longer enjoy the ring
’
s beauty as she could.
And then a vision crept into her head, of Uncle Percy and Stephanie, of the
pain that filled his eyes whenever he mentioned her.

Getting old sucks,
she told herself.

Just then, she heard Uncle Percy
’
s voice.
‘
Barbie, we
’
re on our way back to Bowen Hall.
’
He spoke into an
unseen microphone.
‘
Would you please compile an optomediaphibic folio of Blackbeard
’
s sail master, Israel
Hands, and join us in Bowen Hall library. Oh, and please make sure a stout
German lady doesn
’
t see you, or neither of us will survive the day. Thank you, my
dear.
’

Becky leaned forward
‘
What
’
s an optomediathingy?
’

‘
An optomediaphibic
folio,
’
Uncle Percy corrected her.
‘
It
’
s a little application I
’
ve inserted into Barbie
’
s control panel. I
’
ve not tried it out yet. Between you and me, I
’
m quite excited to see
how it looks.
’

‘
So what is it?
’
Becky pressed.

‘
Oh, you
’
ll have to see for
yourself. We
’
ll be there in ten minutes.
’

Becky
’
s eyes glimmered mischievously
‘
We
’
d be there even quicker if you pressed the ultra-booster.
’

Uncle Percy gave a playful grin.
‘
Becky, you really are quite the scoundrel.
’
He paused.
‘
But then, so am I…
’

A seconds later, they were travelling so fast Becky nearly threw up
her lunch.

*

Soon, Becky and Joe were watching a nervous Uncle Percy tap softly
on Bowen Hall library door; his gaze flicked left and right as if on lookout
for an unseen enemy.
‘
Come on, Barbie, open up …
’
he pleaded under his breath.

‘
Are you really that
scared of Maria?
’
Joe asked.

‘
Yes,
’
Uncle Percy replied
without a hint of shame.

 
A key turned on the other
side of the door.
 
Swiftly, Uncle Percy
heaved the door open and disappeared inside.
‘
Come on …quick!
’
he ushered Becky and Joe inside, before
quickly locking the door behind them.

Bowen Hall Library looked precisely how Becky remembered it: coated
in a light dust and musty, with soaring shelves that bowed under the weight of
thousands of books and parchments. The circular table in the centre of the
room, however, was barely visible beneath the tall stacks of computer printouts
and dozens of leather bound volumes which covered its surface.

‘
Nice to have you back,
sir,
’
Barbie said.

‘
No sign of Maria then?
’
Uncle Percy asked
anxiously.

‘
No, sir. Barbie has
checked her Alto-radar on a recurrent basis. Madame Maria has remained in the
kitchens for the last forty six minutes, preparing what Barbie believes is a
Shepherd
’
s
Pie.
’

Uncle Percy looked visibly relieved.
‘
Excellent. She really would take a tin opener
to both our heads if she found you in here. Anyway, did you manage to compile
the folio?
’

‘
Yes, sir. Barbie has
now uploaded, categorized, and cross-referenced all available information and
constructed the optomediaphibic presentation as requested.
’

‘
Then, as they say in
the theatre, break a leg, Barbie.
’

Barbie paused.
‘
Sir would like Barbie to break her leg? Very well.
’
Barbie raised her
tiny metal fist high, and was about to bring it crashing down on to her leg,
when Uncle Percy held out his hand to stop her.

‘
No,
’
he said, flustered.
‘
It
’
s just an expression.
I
’
m sorry.
I mean, please, on with the show …
’

Barbie tilted her head and looked confused.

Uncle Percy sighed.
‘
Just start the presentation.
’

At once, a slight click sounded and Barbie
’
s skull-cap flipped
open. Then a thick shaft of brilliant shimmering light burst from her head,
filling the ceiling.

Becky gasped loudly as the light swirled in front of them, before
forming clear, distinct, three dimensional images. A young boy, dressed in
tattered rags sat beneath a willow tree, drawing the most detailed picture of a
ship …the same boy (older now) standing proudly on the bridge of a Royal Navy
frigate waving at a small crowd as it set to sea.

Becky looked gobsmacked.

The story moved forward as the boy became a man, the naval officer
became a pirate, and suddenly a fully grown Israel Hands was standing beside a
hulking man, with raven-black hair that seemed to cover every inch of his face.

‘
Israel …
’
Blackbeard growled in
a deep, rasping voice.
‘
My trusted friend. I make you sail master of my flagship: The Queen
Anne
’
s
Revenge…
’

The image of a colossal forty-gun pirate ship filled the library.

Joe gave a delirious whoop and clapped enthusiastically; Becky
’
s mouth nearly hit the
floor; even Uncle Percy looked quite pleased with himself.

For the next ten minutes, and using all manner of information
sources - Barbie recounted every known fact about Israel Hands: how he
’
d lost his leg to a
cannon ball on a raid in Charleston; how he had fathered a son he
’
d never met. Then,
surprisingly, the presentation shifted two hundred years, to an article from
The Chicago Daily News, dated 15
^th
February 1929 which read:

BLACKBEARD PAINTING BRINGS IN THE BOOTY …

Yesterday, in the prestigious Grand Ballroom of the world famous
Palmer House Hotel, Chicago was at the centre of a second history making
incident. Thankfully, on this occasion, the only bang that mattered came from a
gavel. In a Charity auction of Pirate Memorabilia, hosted by the world-famous
auctioneers, Christie
’
s, a painting of the notorious buccaneer Blackbeard, by his second
in command, Israel Hands, was sold for an unprecedented one million dollars to
an unknown buyer. Art experts are really quite baffled at why this painting
garnered such astounding interest. Timothy Cheeseman, chief auctioneer for
Christies said ….