6. THE KINGS RANSOM
Chapter 1
For days now, the sailing vessel, the Red Ruby, has been ploughing calmly and swiftly through the Indian Ocean. But now, the beautiful craft has almost reached its destination. It is a remote and peculiar destination, without any inherent danger, yet nonetheless extraordinary.
There is a man in the crow’s nest, and on the deck, everyone is busy with their respective duties. Some are scrubbing, others are working on the sails, and still others are just pitching in here and there. It is during lulls like these that the seaman takes advantage to get his vessel in order. The gun ports of the Red Ruby are closed. The men on deck are not armed. No danger is anticipated.
The only two on the vessel who are particularly alert at the moment are the man in the crow’s nest and the helmsman. Especially the man in the crow’s nest, as he has a very explicit order to keep his eyes open and carefully observe the surrounding sea. One never knows when one might encounter a pirate or two. They are very fond of appearing on the horizon here on the eastern sea routes and making your life miserable.
In the captain’s cabin, three men are sitting at a chart table. One is large and dark, and his name is Simon Verbeeck. The second is tall and blonde. His name is Wilhelm Rieckert.
The third is short and insignificant. His name is John Tobey.
Simon Verbeeck and Wilhelm Rieckert, Simon’s right-hand man here on the Red Ruby, are spectators. The man who is working is John Tobey. Every time, Tobey indicates something with his hands or with his eyes. He cannot speak, because his tongue has been cut out.
John Tobey is busy drawing a map. He does it thoroughly and neatly. The piece of parchment on which he is drawing the map is held down on the chart table by four weights. Tobey’s fingers are firmly clasped around the quill as it scratches across the parchment. First, he draws the outline of an island. Then, he indicates the palm plantations that reach almost to the sea. Then, he continues into the interior and finally makes a dot on the map with a circle around it.
John Tobey looks very pleased when he is finished. “I think this is where the treasure is located,” Tobey indicates. “I’m doing all this from memory, but that’s about where the treasure should be.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” asks Simon.
“Well,” replies Tobey, “it’s just an approximation. Once we’re on the island, I’ll be able to say exactly.”
“What I mean,” says Simon, “is are you absolutely certain that there is buried treasure, John Tobey?”
Tobey smiles. He speaks again with his fingers. “I’m as certain as I am alive,” he indicates. “The treasure is there, unless someone has removed it. I helped bury it myself. That’s why my tongue was cut out. That’s why I spent months alone on that island. I’ve already told you the whole story, Simon Verbeeck.”
This is true. Tobey has told Simon Verbeeck the story so often. At Simon’s request, he once wrote it out in full on parchment. The dark mariner then read it all. It is a fantastic tale of wealth and cruelty. The pirate in whose company Tobey was had taken him along when he went to bury the treasure. And because he wanted to make absolutely sure that no one would ever know where it was, he had Tobey’s tongue cut out and left him on the island. In the meantime, the pirate had died. The treasure must, in all likelihood, still lie where it was buried.
Simon Verbeeck had found John Tobey on the island at the time, but due to circumstances, he could not search
