An agonising nineteen minutes and five seconds passed before Hitch reappeared and deposited an injured Kekoa on the warm wood of the deck. She looked pale and the blood continued to seep from her calf.
‘It’s not as bad as it looks,’ Hitch reassured her. But Ruby could see that it was. She grabbed the first-aid kit and handed it over. Hitch bound the leg wound as well as he could and then examined the cut to the head.
‘Gotta stitch this,’ he said.
Kekoa nodded and didn’t flinch once throughout the whole painful procedure.
‘Kid, get the boat started. We need to make it to shore quick and there’s no chance of radioing for assistance out here – all signals are blocked.’
Ruby got the engine started and began very slowly to steer the boat in the direction of Little Bay beach. She had to move at a snail’s pace because Hitch needed the boat steady.
As he worked, Hitch talked to Kekoa. ‘Those were some sharks down there, you shoulda seen them. They were more than curious.’
‘What was so special about them?’ she replied weakly.
‘There were a lot of them and they were interested, not afraid.’
‘Perhaps someone’s been feeding them,’ muttered Kekoa.
‘I thought the exact same thing,’ said Ruby. ‘They were expecting something.’
‘If they were being fed, it would mean they’re attracted to divers rather than suspicious of them,’ said Kekoa, her voice barely audible now.
‘Making them act like a security team…’ said Hitch.
Kekoa almost nodded. ‘It would have that effect.’
‘So why did the sharks react badly to you?’ said Ruby. ‘Why swim away when you appear?’
‘I don’t think it had a whole lot to do with me,’ said Hitch. ‘Something spooked them – I glimpsed a movement in the water, but I couldn’t make out what it was.’
‘You did? ’Cause you see, I heard something,’ said Ruby. ‘At least I think I did.’
‘What kind of something?’ asked Hitch.
‘Something that sounded familiar,’ said Ruby. ‘Something I think I once heard before.’
‘Like what?’ said Hitch.
‘Like a whispering,’ she replied.
‘The same thing those other people heard?’
‘I guess – maybe.’
‘But you didn’t see anything?’
‘No,’ said Ruby. ‘Just sharks.’
When Hitch was done with his first aid, he took over steering from Ruby.
‘Well, we better get out of here,’ he said. ‘While we still can.’ He gunned the throttle and the boat sliced through the water at great speed. Once they made it to shore, Hitch radioed for Zuko.
‘Agent down,’ he said. ‘We need her ’coptered out as soon as.’ He gave Zuko their location and seventeen minutes later Kekoa was carried on-board and they watched the chopper buzz away, disappearing into a tiny fly-sized dot.
‘So you found nothing down there?’ asked Hitch. ‘No treasure, no sign of treasure?’
‘I did find something,’ said Ruby.
‘What?’ said Hitch.
‘I… I dropped it.’
‘Dropped what?’ he asked.
‘A yellow gem,’ she said.
‘A gem? You’re sure about that?’
‘Yes,’ she said firmly, ‘I’m sure.’
‘But you’re sure it was a gem, not just a piece of glass, a shiny stone, something that caught the light?’
‘You don’t believe me?’ she asked.
‘Yes kid, I believe you.’
But it sounded like he wasn’t sure, though maybe it didn’t matter one way or the other since it didn’t change a thing. Apart from that one tiny stone, the gems weren’t there and there was nothing to prove they ever had been. Maybe the pirates never were looking for treasure. Maybe Ruby had just got caught up in Martha Lily Fairbank’s imaginative world, a world that time had long since forgotten.
‘So what are you going to tell LB?’ said Ruby. ‘She’s not gonna be too thrilled about Kekoa winding up in the hospital.’
‘I guess I’ll just have to tell it to her straight,’ sighed Hitch. ‘When it comes to LB, there’s no other way.’
WHEN RUBY GOT DRESSED THAT MORNING, it hadn’t occurred to her that she would wind up sitting in LB’s office justifying her actions. If it had, she would have chosen a different T-shirt – this one read excuse me while I barf.
By the time they reached Spectrum, Ruby was unusually nervous, though Hitch was as cool as ever. He just headed straight to LB’s office as if nothing was about to hit the fan. LB was talking on the telephone and she waved for them to sit down. Whoever was on the other end of the line was getting quite a grilling.
‘I don’t want any more excuses, just make it happen,’ said LB, abruptly hanging up.
She looked at Ruby. ‘So do you want to explain what occurred out there?’
Ruby opened her mouth, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Hitch came to her rescue. ‘As you know, the kid has been listening to the Chime Melody tapes and there’s evidence that the interference is not interference but is actually coded communication, musical notes that can be translated into instructions.’
‘All right,’ said LB. ‘Show me.’
Ruby took the file of papers from her satchel and laid the various communications on the desk. LB leaned forward, studying them.
‘You see, Chime Melody is the only radio station you can clearly receive in the Sibling waters so it makes sense that they would hijack this particular station,’ Ruby explained.
‘I would agree,’ said LB. ‘The part I’m a little hazy about is what led you to believe that the “she” they refer to in the messages was the wreck of the Seahorse?’
Ruby took a breath. ‘Well, that was kind of a hunch based on what I’ve been reading about in the City Library. It just seemed to fit together that these pirates might be after the same treasure that the pirates were after 200 years ago. I mean it’s super valuable.’
‘Super valuable?’ LB evidently did not appreciate this description of treasure. ‘Well, super valuable it may be, but when all’s said and done, you acted on a hunch, a hunch that left one of Sea Division’s most super valuable agents out of action and me with a lot of explaining to do.’
‘But you see, I think someone got there first. I think they already found the treasure,’ said Ruby. ‘I found evidence of it, a gemstone that got left behind, dropped.’
LB looked up. ‘You did? Where is it?’
Ruby bit her lip. ‘Well, that’s the thing.’
‘The kid dropped it,’ said Hitch. ‘Not her fault.’