Dona Isabella let the head fall back into the hatbox. She looked around her. Vanessa did the same. The pirates on the street were changing. They seemed to turn into black ooze. They cried out and screamed, and seemed as if they were moving in a black, malevolent mass toward the woman and the carriage.
The wind began to whip up. Vanessa knew that she had to wake up; the evil pirates were coming for Dona Isabella, but she was in their way.
“Here, here!” came a cry.
She turned.
And it was the mummy. The mummy from the pirate’s chest.
The face was leathered and dark and decayed. The hands were bony, with dead skin stretched out over them far too tightly. The clothing was stained and ripped, and the eye sockets were empty, nothing but black stygian pits.
“Come, come!” the mummy cried.
Her jaw fell open in horror. The bony fingers were coming closer and closer to her.
“No!” she whispered.
“Yes!” Someone was behind her. She felt the presence and spun around in terror.
The street was still dark; the carriage bearing Dona Isabella away was beginning to move. It was still in slow motion, yet it was trying so hard to pick up speed. Dona Isabella was running now from the wrath of the pirates. She sought escape, as she hadn’t found in the past.
Vanessa thought that she should have leaped into the carriage.
Because now she was caught between the mummy…
And the living, breathing man behind her.
Carlos Roca. She stared at him.
“Am I seeing you? Are you dead? Did you kill them, Carlos, did you have us all fooled?” she demanded.
He stood there, frozen in silence.
“I am alive,” he told her. “And I am innocent.”
He looked at the black shadows. “Come with me!”
“Come, come quickly!” the mummy begged.
She spun around. The mummy was there. So pathetic. So sad.
“Vanessa, you know me!” Carlos said.
Yes, she knew him, and he was there. Was he really alive, and was he running, too, or was he part of a black swirling mass of ooze and evil that was winding slowly down the street, ready to devour her…?
“You don’t understand,” the mummy said.
And the dead, leathered fingers, bones sticking out, nearly touched her…. She screamed.
And awoke.
And Sean was with her, holding her in his arms, smoothing back her damp hair, whispering words of assurance.
She felt the terror of the dream slip away from her, and she felt the strength of his arms. She ceased to shake and she turned him. “I’m so sorry…I didn’t think…when I was with you…”
He touched her face. “I’m not the monster in the dream, right?”
She laughed shakily. “No.”
“Then it’s much better to have nightmares with me than without me, right? Although,” he admitted, “these nightmares seem to plague you so cruelly, a therapist might be in order.”
“I had a therapist once,” she said. “It didn’t help.”
He rocked with her in silence for a minute, then said, “Then somehow, we have to find the truth. Catch a killer. And put the past to rest.”
The morning was a whirlwind of activity. There were dozens of air tanks that needed to be stowed, and though David had overseen the loading of the boats with grocery supplies, ice, film, memory cards, cords, computer needs, batteries, flashlights, flares and every conceivable necessity, they all had their personal gear to stow, as well.
Jamie had David and Katie, Liam, Barry and Bill and Jake aboard the Claddagh. Sean had Vanessa, Jay, Ted and Jaden, Marty and Zoe aboard the Conch Fritter.
And Bartholomew, of course.
The boats would follow one another through the day, hugging the Intracoastal up to Jewfish Creek, and heading out to the Atlantic at Key Largo. David and Barry would take turns with the camera during the day on the Claddagh while Sean, Jay, and Vanessa would trade off on the Conch Fritter. They would drop anchor that night southwest of Miami, and in the morning start filming at the first reef where the previous crew had begun their offshore work. Sean felt that he had had enough of Pirate’s Cut and that they should start filming in other areas. He had the Marty footage and the footage that Vanessa and Jay had already shot at Pirate Cut.
The first day was easy; it was getting to know the boat, the equipment and one another.
The boats met up at about 4:30 p.m., and tied on together—Sean wanted footage taken on board that night. He and David took turns in front of the camera, describing the voyage and their plans, and the film taken would be edited in with the shots they’d taken of leaving port that morning.
Jamie O’Hara had a portable barbecue grill that extended from the boat’s hull, and that night, the Claddagh’s crew was responsible for dinner. While Jamie and David barbecued, Katie and Bill prepared salads and green beans. Barry kept the camera going as they cooked and the group settled around to eat.
He took beautiful shots as the sun fell.