Arthur moved out of the way to let Brandon and Sam drag the heavy chest out of the cave. The thick brass lock broke with a tug, and Arthur felt a slight twinge of guilt over the history they might be destroying, but this family had been through a lot because of this. They deserved whatever was inside.
Brandon paused, hand poised to lift the lid. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
Arthur understood his reluctance. If nothing was inside, it would be gutting.
“Move over then.” Georgie pushed to the front. Brandon laughed and together they lifted the lid.
“No fucking way,” Georgie breathed.
Arthur couldn’t see the inside from where he stood.
“Spill it, Georgie,” Matt demanded.
She reached in and withdrew a handful of silver and gold coins, letting them run through her fingers.
Lara screamed. “We’re rich!”
Brandon took out a red jewelled necklace. “Do you think these are rubies?”
Darcy’s eyes teared up. “This will save the Ridge.” They were all quiet for a moment. Arthur scanned their surroundings. More clouds were rolling in from the west and the final rays of light were disappearing below the horizon.
“Let’s get this back to the house,” he said. “Then we can take our time to see what’s inside.”
He didn’t want to be stuck here if it started raining again. Plus, if Stonefish were watching as closely as they seemed to be, there was a chance they’d be around.
Brandon nodded. “Let’s move.”
Gretchen couldn’t believe it. Real, honest-to-goodness treasure. She stood back while Sam and Brandon lifted the chest gingerly from the back of the ute and carried it into the kitchen. The wood creaked and groaned and she tensed until it was lowered to the floor. Everyone gathered around the kitchen, silent, wide-eyed, as if they couldn’t quite comprehend it.
Penelope cleared her throat. “I hate to be the one who asks but, what are the legalities? Who owns the treasure? It’s illegal to take anything from a shipwreck in Australia.”
“We didn’t take it,” Georgie pointed out. “It was removed by the survivors themselves and Lilian found it, but she never said where she found it.”
“And it’s now on Ridge land,” Sam replied.
Was it far enough from the shore to count as Ridge land rather than Crown land? The Stokes needed the money, but some necklaces and jewels might have cultural significance, or be family heritage for someone.
“We need some advice,” Arthur said. “We can’t carry a handful of coins into the bank and bank them, and melting the gold is going to raise notice as well.”
“I researched it,” Faith said. “It goes to the true owner unless they can’t be found, and then it goes to the property owner.”
“So we have to find the descendants of the Dutch East India Company?” Darcy asked.
“No.” Amy walked over to a drawer and withdrew a notebook, flicking to a page. “It went bankrupt in 1799 and was dissolved. The possessions were taken over by the Dutch Batavian Republic which, as far as I can tell, ceased to exist during the French Revolution.”
“French, Dutch, Australian. This is getting messy,” Matt said.
“Can’t we just keep it?” Lara played with a gold coin. “No one needs to know.”
Darcy smiled. “It’s the right thing to do, Pumpkin. People would start wondering where we got the money from, and if Stonefish knew we had it, they’d try and take it.”
Kurt.
He was still out there somewhere. He would have sheltered during the storm, but who knew what kind of trouble he was stirring up? This was exactly the kind of thing he’d want to get his hands on. She glanced at Jordan. He took a necklace from the chest and showed it to Lara. She lowered her voice. “Can we let them know?”
Everyone turned to stare at her. “What?” Georgie asked.
“Set a trap,” she explained. “Somehow leak to them we’ve found the treasure, and then have the police ready to arrest them.”
