the exact spot where she had found it, remembering to turn it to the proper page. There was no reason for Blackbeard to know that she had been snooping.
Suddenly the ship pitched starboard; almost simultaneously, she heard shouts and pistol fire. As she stood quickly, one of the large rubies littering the desk rolled onto the floor. Joanna crawled under the desk to retrieve the ruby just as the ship rolled once again with even more force. Crack! She banged into the underside of the desk with the back of her head.
“ Mother-” Joanna cried out, instinctively pacing her hand over the injury to check for blood.
“That freaking hurt,” she exclaimed, relieved to find a small gash rather than the expected gaping hole in her head. Wishing for an icepack, she backed out from under the desk planning to see for herself what the hell was happening above deck. It sounded like a war was going on up there.
As Joanna backed up the last few inches, she glanced at the offending timber to see if she had left any blood on it. Immediately, she noticed that one of the wooden panels had become displaced when she hit her head.
“That’s great, Jo, destroy a piece of history,” she muttered. Reaching out to pull the panel back in place, she could not believe her bad luck, when it completely came off in her hands. “Oh for crying out loud,” she lamented. That was when she noticed a small velvet-wrapped bundle stashed behind the obviously removable panel.
Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat as she slowly reached for the prize. Joanna didn’t take time to unwrap it but quickly stuffed it in the pocket of her shirt and replaced the false panel on the desk. Joanna’s hands began to shake. This was the coin! She just knew it.
She hurried over to stand directly underneath one of the chandeliers thankful that she had lit them all earlier. Barely daring to breathe, she untied the silk cord securing the swatch of velvet.
As the contents of the pouch was unveiled, Joanna reached out to touch the diamonds surrounding an ancient ankh symbol of inlaid rubies. The cross consisted of a loop for the top extension and a shorter crossbar. This was the symbol of life used in ancient Egypt.
“No!” Joanna heard and barely stopped her fingers from making contact with the coin. “Hide the coin. Danger.” She turned abruptly to see who had spoken to her, but she was alone in the chamber. She carefully turned the coin over, making sure not to touch it directly. On the reverse side was a black spider fashioned from black onyx and surrounded by rubies. She quickly wrapped the coin in its velvet shroud, and then tucked it securely in her bra.
She slipped the cell phone out of her back pocket and dropped a text to Sean. Chas Harb. Don’t tell R. B home soon. Jackpot! Joanna hit send taking comfort in the fact that if something went wrong they would at least know where to start looking for her.
She extinguished the candles preparing to transport herself back home. She did not want to be responsible for a fire aboard the ship. Could ghost ships catch fire? As she snuffed out the last candle a loud crash emanated from the other side of the secret door. She tiptoed across the room to press her ear against the panel. Blackbeard and Stede did not seem to like Vane and Calico Jack. From what Joanna had read in the journal, they were indeed “without honor” as Blackbeard had advised.
History had not been one of Joanna’s strongest subjects. Although she remembered that Calico Jack had designed the famous Jolly Rodger flag with a skull and crossed swords, she struggled to recall even one fact about a pirate named Vane. Another crash sounded. This one was followed by an angry booming voice. “Give me the coin, and maybe I will raise you along with the rest… but if you continue to run this blockade, you will find yourself in Davy Jones locker for eternity. Savvy?”
Joanna rubbed her temples and furtively wished she had been more attentive during history classes. Who is this Vane? Swords clashed and voices raised as the struggle carried on in Blackbeard’s quarters.
With a sigh, Joanna pushed away from the panel. Looks like it’s time for an intervention of the magical variety. She heard a soft click as the panel swung open. She hadn’t been locked in after