Ghosts ⚔️ Blackbeard's Treasure

Chapter 26.

"That entrance is only five feet deep. If you fell in, you could easily climb out. Footholds are carved into the side of the wall." Roland waits for us to cross the planks.

Dylan hesitates, shining his head lamp onto the sandy bottom of the hole. "What's down there?"

Paco coughs behind his hand. "Rats."

Roland says, "We've already searched the interior. There's a small chamber that might have held weapons at one point, but besides that, it was empty."

Dylan points upward. Our headlamps unify into one beam, illuminating a vaulted ceiling. Above us the ceiling has been carved into the concave shape of a large bell. We look at each other. Three old fashioned letters, C, E and B flat are equidistant on the lip of the rock face.

The Devil's Tritone.

"My God, it was right in front of my face this whole time! I never looked up." Roland slaps his forehead.

"This has to be it." I squint to read the writing between the letters. "Ding Dong Ding", I murmur.

"That was the nursery rhyme referenced in Blackbeard's letter," Dylan says. "An ancient rhyme about a cat being thrown into a well." I look at him, horrified. "I had a book of classic nursery rhymes from the 1700's growing up," he explains. Ding Dong Ding's message was not to be cruel to animals. After the boy tosses the cat into the well, a girl crawls down and rescues it. Blackbeard was using a code in his letter, like in The Orange and Lemon's nursery rhyme.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"The locals used code names so outsiders wouldn't know what they were saying. The lines of the rhyme list each bell across London and mimic the peal of each set of church bells. He makes the shape of fruit with his hands. St. Clement church was nicknamed orange and lemons."

"And people relied on those carillon of bells to orientate themselves in their districts and keep track of time." Roland adds. "The general public didn't have street signs and watches. They centered their days around attending the church."

"So Ding Dong Ding was Blackbeard's clue that he stashed his treasure down the well under a church tower?"

Roland nods. "I have letters alluding that he and Gruchy worked together and smuggled through these network of tunnels. They both followed the Pirate's code. If you're determined on going down there, only one person or two small ones can fit in that shaft at a time."

Blair shrugs off her back pack. "I'm going down there."

The tunnel in front of us and behind him is dark. The thought of squeezing into an underground passage paralyzes me for an instant, before a calm serenity washes over me. "Do you smell that?" I ask. The delicate scent of roses fills my nostrils. "Blair, we need to stay together."

I turn to Dylan. "Pass me my backpack. He hands me my bag and I pull out the triad of bells and stuff them into my jacket pocket. I swing my legs over the edge of the hole and climb down using the carved indents. I jump down the last foot onto the sandy floor with a light thud. Blair's hiking boots dangle above my head as she enters the hole.

"Be careful, Lizzie." Dylan's voice echoes above me.

"Ay, Dios, espero que todo salga bien." Paco looks down at us wringing his hands. "I hope this goes well."

I smile up at him. "Don't worry, your abuela is with us. I can feel her."

I turn to Blair.  "Follow me." The top of my head scrapes against the ceiling and grinds sand into my scalp as I move forward into the tunnel.

"I'm right behind you." Six inches taller than me, Blair's boots scrape against the rock as she struggles to squeeze her large frame through the four foot high space.

Do you hear that." Blair says. "More crying."

I stoop forward like the hobbit escaping the Orc King's stronghold. After twenty five feet, I emerge in a large high-ceilinged cavern. Half the sand floor is smooth, as if the tide has pulled back leaving an unmarked surface. A huge bronze bell sits in the center of the chamber, as if it has recently been excavated from the dirt. It has Delamar engraved on the side. Blair, catches up and stands beside me. I hear our breath in ragged unison as I pull the bells out of my pocket. Hands shaking, I ring both of them.

A shimmering light appears.