True Treasure: Real - Life History Mystery by Lisa Grace

made peace with their maker. Yet others went down cursing.
    He hated the part of his command where he must mete out punishment or death. Maintaining a strong will in front of his men gave them the strength to face their fear of death in battle, or circumstances such as this. It had to be done. Not all had the fortitude to carry the authority of life and death in their speech, and have others follow through with those orders. He could only imagine the burden of the King. His charge here was to give courage to three hundred, the King’s duty was to him and an entire nation.
    Movement at the back of the ship caught his eye, the swish of her silk cut through the other sounds of the ship and the sea he was accustomed to. She had made her way onto the deck. He kept his eyes on the men. He had hoped she would stay below until the whole of the pirate situation had been resolved. Would she be repelled by him, knowing what he was capable of?
    The next pirate on the plank wobbled before one of the sailors helped him off. When he hit the water, Bennett thought he heard a gasp from Mary. He did not turn to look. There was nothing he could do now but what his duty commanded.
    The name the pirates called him, when he’d had them tortured for the information he so desperately needed, where the pirates coves were, how many, methods of attack, and how they’d come to possess the treasure, felt fitting. Bloody Graham. He needed this information to keep his men, and Mary, safe.
    In naval training, it was taught safety was an illusion which could be maintained by order. Order could be maintained by respect. Respect could be maintained by just punishment. Just punishment could be endured when the consequence for failure, was death. Disorganization led to death sooner.
    When the last of the traitors had been dispatched, he made his way to his stateroom to pray. For mercy on the souls of the men lost in battle, mercy for the men he’d had to have put to death, and lastly, mercy for his own soul.
    An hour later, he called for Randall. “How is the transporting of the treasure coming?”
    “We’ll have to leave some ballast behind, the weight of the gold is sufficient to balance the ship. She’ll sit a good three hands lower, and be slower. It will take all the skiffs a hundred trips each. I have forty -two crew men working. One to inventory leaving and receiving, two to row each skiff, twelve to pack, twelve to unload, four to secure once on deck. We'll be here a day or two at this rate.”
    He stood at the table with the newest surveys of the coast laid over the existing maps of the coastline. He motioned for Randall to stand by him and pointed at the map, “According to the pirates their coves are here, here, and here. Best for attacking the slow incoming merchant ships by the most common routes. They have make shift towns on the Isla del Cocos and this unnamed island here. This island, along the back, is too close to the mainland shore. The pirates worry they will be caught. They cannot outrun an empty ship coming from port. It is also known to be surrounded by reefs which are dangerous to boats and infested by man -eating sharks, so the pirates fear it. This then, I believe, is the best location to impound the gold until we can get a message to the King. After we have secured the gold, we can stop a merchant ship on its way back to England, to take a message to the King. We will then finish our survey of the coast. Thoughts?”
    “The men will talk when we get back to port. With sailors, women and spirits lead to loose tongues.”
    Graham sighed and nodded, thinking.
    “Pardon me, but perhaps if we give them a story—”
    Graham raised his eyebrows, so Randall continued, “The pirate, ‘Sangrie Graham, Bloody Graham’ took the treasure, and buried it on the other side of the Isla del Cocos. We fought the pirates, and killed them, but alas they took the secret location of the treasure to their grave.”
    “Bloody brilliant, Randall,