Living Legends

31) Into the Tunnel

“Get them!” Clyde yelled.

            Jack, who was seated in the warm sand, leaped to his feet and stepped protectively in front of Hayley.  He willed his thoughts to return to survival mode.  Now was not the time to dwell on the past, which he had spilled to Hayley just moments earlier.  He had to act in the present.

            The Spaniard was the first to reach them.  Since he was much larger and stronger than Jack, he easily overpowered the youth and sent him sprawling on the sand.  Jack’s head landed dangerously close to a rock.

            Hayley, who had been watching wide-eyed, took a few tentative steps backward.

            “Get her!” Clyde screamed.  “What are you waiting for?”

            The Spaniard lunged forward and grabbed Hayley by the waist.  He spun her around and pulled her wrists together behind her back, nearly dislocating her arms.  She cried out in pain.

            Jack jumped up and launched himself at the Spaniard, but Clyde was quick enough to grab him just in time.  Now both men held their victims hostage, grinning evilly.  “You still think you can outmatch us, don’t you, Nau?” Clyde spat.

            In reply, Jack twisted his hips and jabbed Clyde in the jawbone with his elbow.  The man automatically released his grip and clutched his jaw.  Hayley struggled to free herself as well, but the Spaniard was pure muscle and grit.  She succeeded in kicking him in the shins, but it was to no avail.  Even Jack, who succeeded in planting another hit to Clyde’s face, was forced to give up.

            The silhouettes of three men appeared at the fringe of the jungle.  Now hopelessly outnumbered, Jack and Hayley ceased their efforts.  They were trapped once again.

            Hayley brushed some loose, tangled strands of hair out of her eyes.  She spread her feet apart and rested her hands on her knees, panting.  She could feel sand stinging her eyes and coating her limbs.  She felt filthy, hungry, and sapped of all strength.  When was it going to end?

            “Who was on sentry duty?” Clyde snapped.

            “Billings, sir,” one of the men replied.

            Clyde cursed.  “Bring him to me,” he ordered, before turning his attention back to Jack and Hayley.  “As for you two, if you don’t tell me where this ‘golden water’ is within the next half-minute, the deal’s off.”  He glared at Jack.  “Cat Eyes goes first.”

            Before Clyde could even pull out his gun, Jack spoke.  His voice was calm and controlled, though hindered somewhat by his labored breathing.  He wiped his sweaty forehead and said, “I know.”

            “You know what?”

            “Where the golden water is.”

            Clyde’s countenance softened slightly.  He started at the sudden turn of events.  “And?”

            “It’s right under our noses.”  Jack turned and gestured theatrically towards the tidepools, which were now almost entirely covered by the rising tide.  “It’s not exactly golden anymore, though.  The sunrise tints the water color.”

            Hayley gaped at him.  “Jack!” she wanted to cry.  “What on earth are you doing?” She bit her tongue, forcing herself to remain silent.  What was Jack’s leverage? Why would he so willingly give away the last clue’s location?

            Clyde bounded forward, spurred on by greed.  “Where’s the treasure? Where is it?”

            “I don’t know,” Jack admitted.

            “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

            He shrugged.

            As if some imaginary switch had been flipped, Clyde snapped back into an enraged fervor.  “You’re trying my patience, Nau!”  He raised a fist as if to strike Jack, but Hayley cried out.

            “It’s over here!”  She splashed into the tidepool surrounded by rocks, nearly twisting her ankle in her haste.  “The treasure should be here.  The water was golden at sunrise.”

            Clyde shoved Jack aside and made a beeline for Hayley.  His lackeys were right behind him.  Hayley suddenly found five greedy pairs of eyes staring at her as if she was an object of consumption.  She gulped.

            “Show me,” Clyde demanded.  When Hayley didn’t respond right away, he added, “Now!”

            She flinched and waded into the center of the tidepool.  “There’s a t-tunnel,” she stammered.  “Jack and I didn’t get a chance to explore it.  Maybe the treasure’s in there.”

            Clyde splashed into the pool and stopped next to her, peering at the rocky, underwater tunnel.  “Interesting,” he said.  As Hayley watched him, she imagined the gears in his head starting to turn.  He suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.  “You’re coming with me,” he growled.  He splashed noisily out of the tidepool with Hayley stumbling behind him.  Once they were back on the sand, he motioned for Jack to come forward.

            Despite the defiant glare in his eyes, Hayley could tell Jack was afraid.  They had finally reached the last clue, and neither knew what Clyde was going to do next.

            “Nau!” Clyde snapped.  “You’re going to swim through that tunnel, find the treasure, and swim back out.”

            “What if the treasure’s not there?” Jack replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

            The Spaniard lunged forward and backhanded him.  “Shut up and listen,” he ordered.

            Clyde smiled approvingly.  “You better hope the treasure’s there.”  He gripped Hayley’s arm tighter, and she bit back a painful cry.  “If you don’t resurface, or if you don’t come back with some sort of evidence, you can say goodbye to our little deal.”

            Jack’s eyes narrowed.

            “If you come back with good news, the girl lives.  If you come back empty-handed—or don’t come back at all…”  He grinned evilly.

            “Play it smart, Jack,” Hayley said.  “You don’t know where the tunnel goes.  What if you run out of air?”

            Clyde shoved her to the ground.  “Shut up.”

            Jack started, but the Spaniard raised his fist in a warning.  Hayley struggled to her feet, brushing the sand from her face and arms.  She nodded.  You can do this.

            “Well?” Clyde snapped.

            Jack clenched and unclenched his fists.  “Yeah, yeah.  I’m going.”

            The air was tense and silent as Jack waded into the tidepool.  Hayley knew Clyde was just using him as a guinea pig to find the treasure, and she was the bait.  She had always been the bait.  Almost unwillingly, Jack seemed to care for her.  Clyde loved using it to his advantage.

            “Be safe,” she whispered, watching as Jack took a deep breath and dipped underwater.  The pool was so shallow that his legs stuck out for a few seconds.  He floundered, then disappeared into the tunnel, leaving only a few splashes in his wake.