“Poor Lilian,” Faith said. “Being the only woman on board and with an uncaring husband.”
“Reginald sounds like a real douche,” Ed agreed. “It’s disappointing. I always pictured him as more heroic.”
“Me too,” Georgie said. It was John, the Fenian prisoner who had found Lilian somewhere safe to sit while they salvaged as much as they could from the wreckage. Even the pastoralist, Mr Clarke showed more concern to Lilian.
The next few pages described the salvage, the search for fresh water and deciding who to send in one of the salvaged life boats to get help. Reginald offered to stay behind on the island. Georgie had been sure he’d be the first to leave.
“Reginald is definitely hiding something,” Brandon commented after listening to Lilian describe his behaviour.
Georgie agreed. It wasn’t until she turned the page that she discovered what it was. Sunken treasure. Reginald had made the pearl divers dive off the shore to the east, and one diver had found a cup. Another ship had crashed offshore a century earlier and Reginald had found the Dutch captain’s journal, leading him right to it.
Georgie stiffened. “Where’s the other book?” At the blank stares she got to her feet. “The one which was with Lilian’s journal.” She hurried back to the kitchen where she’d left it on the bench. On opening the book, excitement filled her, and she returned to the lounge room. “This is it,” she said. “The captain’s journal.” The Ridge desperately needed extra funds. After their parents had died, they’d all been stunned at how bad the finances were. If any treasure was still there, it would save the station.
Ed took it from her. “Could that be what Stonefish is after?”
“Possibly.” Darcy tilted his head to the side. “But if the Retribution found the treasure, there’d be none left today.”
“Where did Reginald get the captain’s journal from?” Brandon asked.
“Lilian doesn’t say,” Georgie said. She frowned. “Surely there’d be some record of another shipwreck in the gulf.”
Tess nudged Ed. “The coin.”
His eyes widened. “You’re right.” He raced out of the room and came back a minute later holding a large metal coin. “The other week when I was going through my stuff in the shed, I found this. I discovered it years ago, when Charlie was still alive. I never told anyone about it. Tess took one look and realised it was a seventeenth century Dutch coin.”
Georgie gaped at him. “Where did you find it?”
Ed shook his head. “That’s the thing. I can’t remember. It might have been one day when we were exploring the island, or it might have been out horse-riding. Charlie was with me and I hid it from him, because he would have pinched it from me.”
“Can I see it?” Lara asked.
He passed it to her and she squinted at it.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone,” Darcy said.
“I didn’t know what it was. I figured an old prospector had dropped it, and I couldn’t have been more than Lara’s age.”
“Charlie would have gone nuts,” Darcy said, with a smile. “He would have dug up the entire area.”
Ed frowned. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Maybe that’s why I said nothing.” He pursed his lips.
“Keep reading,” Lara urged. “The answer is probably in the journal.”
Georgie smiled and continued. Mr Clarke was saving as many sheep as he could and investigating how he could transport his salvage to the mainland, so he didn’t have to cart it all back when they were eventually rescued. John, as part of his Fenian convict allocation, helped him. Elsewhere on the island, the sailors discovered what Reginald was up to and wanted their share of the bounty.
“Things are sounding quite nasty,” Darcy commented. “Perhaps that mutiny isn’t a rumour.”
Lara clasped her hands together and leaned forward. “Keep going.”
Georgie broke off mid sentence as she read Lilian’s words. Her eyes darted across the page reading and Lara shoved her. “Aloud Georgie, we all want to hear too.”
Something tragic happened today and I am bereft with grief. Mr Clarke was bitten by a snake. Though Tom and Patrick did what they could for him, he died within hours. I weep for him and for Mrs Clarke and her daughters waiting back in Fremantle.
“What will happen to John?” Faith asked. “Will he have to go back to prison?”
Georgie hoped not. It was clear Lilian liked him more than Reginald. John and the pearl diver, Da had been her only comfort on the island.
“Keep reading, Georgie,” Darcy urged.
