Under the scorching midday sun, with the sun beating down on all of us, our eyes scanned the ground and every tall blade of grass that obstructed our path was cut down without mercy.
"Phew..." Sweat began to bead on the crew's foreheads as the sun's rays stung their skin; It's been two hours since they first set foot on this island, and at the very front of the line, a man led the group of men on the ground.
Meanwhile, up in the air, the crew members, who were gliding and flying with the aid of pixie dust, were being directed by the captain's right-hand man—who was none other than myself. "Liz, you're still not used to this, are you?" I couldn't help but remark as I watched a girl spinning round and round in the air.
"Help me, Alice!" she whinged, whilst the rest of the crew had already got the hang of it and started helping to scan for the treasure's location from above. The little fairy responsible for all this was sitting, floating in the air, munching on a spoonful of honey.
I wanted to ask Robin to sort it out, but he seemed to be very busy flying all over the place, leaving me to help her on my own. I flew closer and placed both my hands on hers; I was like a mum teaching her daughter to swim for the very first time.
Liz began to 'swim' through the air; you could see her movements, and it was really entertaining to watch—I can't lie. However, I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not, because she's learning so quickly—proof of this is that she was able to glide along after just a few pointers. "They grow up so fast," I thought, watching her like a proud mother—SMACK—her head crashed into a tree. "Or not"
Robin flew over to the captain, who was studying the directions on the map. "Captain, where's the treasure marker again?" He glanced at the map and saw a large red X marked near a coconut tree.
"I suppose I don't need to answer that."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be eavesdropping."
Robin soared back into the air and looked around. Seeing that he appeared confused, I decided to fly over to him, my hand clasped tightly round Liz's, who was still rubbing her head. "What's the matter?" I asked, and he jumped at the sudden sound of my voice.
"It's not just that… The location of this red X isn't specific enough," Robin muttered, his eyes still scanning his surroundings and realising that we were surrounded by coconut palms scattered everywhere. "There's no way we can dig through all the sand near every single coconut tree here."
"With a crew this size, maybe we can, and we'll find it by sunset."
"Haha, you're really funny."
That was a forced laugh in response to my joke, which I thought was funny, and whilst we were chatting—the sleeve of my T-shirt was tugged and when I turned round I saw Liz, who was already floating on her feet, raise her hand and point somewhere. "That coconut palm is taller than the others," she informed me, and when our eyes fell upon the spot she was pointing to, we realised she was right.
My mind went back to the picture on the map and I remembered that the coconut trees were drawn as tiny figures scattered across the paper, whilst a red 'X' was marked near the coconut tree that was larger than the others. Realising this, I immediately pulled Liz closer before hugging her tightly. "You're clever!" I praised, stroking her head.
"Enough with the flirting, let's get going!" Robin grumbled, but I didn't immediately break my embrace because I hadn't realised how comforting it felt to hold her—or perhaps it was just that I hadn't hugged anyone in ages. "Liz, could you pass this on to the Captain?"
"I could if Alice would let go of me," Liz replied, and at that very moment, a firm grip pulled at the back of my collar—I was yanked along like a dog being forced to stop acting aggressively towards others for no reason. "Phew, thanks, Robin."
"No problem," she said, still holding the back of my collar. Liz then lowered her head and leaned forward before heading towards the captain—I wish I could use the word 'rushed', but her movements were too slow even to call it 'walking'.
I caught a whiff of something unpleasant and immediately pushed Robin away; she was completely drenched in sweat from head to toe. "You'll need to have a dip in the sea after this," I remarked, and before he could get angry—his face lit up as though he'd just been struck by a brilliant idea—he flew over to Liz before pushing her with all his might, sending her hurtling straight towards Captain Hook, accompanied by shouts.
"At least that worked."
"Rather than pushing her, why didn't you just say that to the Captain yourself?"
"It's my own little fun, you see"
We stayed there and watched Liz explain enthusiastically and Captain Hook listen calmly and attentively; we'd previously been told not to go ahead of the captain, which is why we hadn't gone there first. "It all makes sense," muttered Captain Hook before placing his left hand on Liz's black hair. "My left hand has found the probable location of the treasure! Come on, let's go – follow her!"
A broad smile spread across Liz's face. The jingle of bells could be heard; it was the sound of the fairy who was enabling us to fly in this clearing. "You still can't get the hang of this? Pathetic – Alice mastered it in under a minute," was more or less what Tinkie said, although Liz herself didn't understand what the fairy was saying.
It's actually still a mystery to me why I'm the only one who can understand it—maybe it's because I'm just too clever; yes, that must be the answer. Anyway, under Tinkie's guidance, Liz became much better at flying and gliding; I don't understand how she manages it, but trying to work out how magic works is a foolish thing to do.
A few moments later, we had all reached the coconut tree. "Our gold has arrived!" I couldn't hold back my laughter as joy washed over me, but suddenly my body felt heavy again and, before I knew it, I was plummeting downwards. "AAAHHH!"
Quickly, I pulled eight cards out from between my fingers at once and flung them downwards towards everyone who was falling towards the sand. I pulled out another eight cards and threw them at the remaining crew members who were still plummeting.
A gust of wind emerged from the cards, making the landing much safer; my feet finally touched the ground again, and there I saw Tinkie lying limp in Liz's arms. "Tinkie? Tinkie!" Liz checked to see if the poor little fairy was all right.
I immediately rushed over to them both. "Oh dear, you've really pushed yourself, haven't you?" It seemed that making sixteen people fly at once was too much for her; a sense of guilt began to fill my heart. "I'm sorry. After this, you can have a rest, and I'll give you a bowl of honey," I said. Upon hearing that, her eyes flew open with a broad smile; a jingling sound could be heard—that would be her voice, coming to collect on that promise later.
"DIG! DIG! DIG!" shouted the five men who were digging in the sand with spades, including Robin, who looked incredibly enthusiastic; for some reason, I found it rather amusing. I then helped the crew, who were still floating on the wind created by my card; they all looked relieved, and some even thanked the gods—even though it was me who had saved them; what a bunch of ungrateful lot.
THUNK—A loud thud rang out as the metal of the spade struck something hard beneath the sand. "Captain! We've found it!" This spurred the crew on to dig even faster; I immediately ran over and could already see the top of the treasure chest.
"Alice, could you give us a hand?"
"You can do it, you're a lad, aren't you, Robin?"
I could have helped them, but they'd already relied on me too much, so this time I'd just keep quiet until I could see the treasure chest in its entirety. "KEEP DIGGING! JUST IMAGINE THE LUXURY MEALS YOU'LL BE EATING LATER!" Captain Hook cheered to boost their morale, and it worked—the five of them dug like monsters; perhaps they were the third 'monster' the captain had been referring to.
"Beef Wellington!"
"Lobster Thermidor!"
"Beef Stroganoff!"
"Chicken Kiev!"
"Tournedos Rossini!"
They were all chanting the names of the dishes they'd eat with every shovelful that touched the sand. I glanced over at Captain Hook, who was folding his arms with a proud smile at having filled his crew with such enthusiasm—he really was a brilliant captain, wasn't he...
"I'll help!" shouted a girl from behind, full of enthusiasm. I turned round and found Liz, who was already holding a spade, her face beaming—even Tinkie, who had been asleep on my shoulder, woke up at the commotion.
"IT'S READY TO BE TAKEN!" cheered the five of them, immediately linking arms to form a circle before jumping up and down and spinning around—I watched them with a sense of embarrassment, remembering that I'd done exactly the same thing just a few hours earlier. But I felt even more sorry for Liz, who was feeling down because the treasure chest had been taken before she'd had a chance to help.
"LIFT IT! LIFT IT! LIFT IT!" they all cheered as Robin lifted the chest and pulled it out of the hole they had dug. The wood from the chest then touched the sand once more and they cheered again; just then, Captain Hook walked towards them and all the crew members in his path immediately stepped aside. "OPEN UP! OPEN UP! OPEN UP!"
Liz and I walked closer and saw that the chest had a keyhole; I glanced back at Captain Hook—wondering whether he had a key to open it or not—but suddenly our eyes met. "Alice, force this chest open," he ordered straight away—I really should have seen that coming.
I let out a sigh before stepping forward. "Everyone, step back about ten paces." Hearing this, the crew were bewildered but did as I asked, including Captain Hook—leaving a large clear space just for me and the chest. A blue light formed a rectangle between my fingers before a card appeared from within that light; the 'A' logo in the centre of the card transformed and, in an instant—SLASH—a razor-sharp blade sliced through the top of the treasure chest. I walked closer and lifted the lid off the chest before tossing it aside.
Before long, my blonde hair was stroked by the ship's captain—he looked so proud of me. "Well done," he said, but I was far too curious about the chest's contents to listen to his praise—our eyes fell upon what lay inside. Captain Hook's hand shot out and grabbed what he'd been searching for all this time; he turned round before raising his hand high into the air. "WE'VE DONE IT!" he announced
In his hand was a pearl shaped like a heart; the sunlight made it gleam, and instantly everyone cheered with joy—my neck was suddenly wrapped in an arm, and when I glanced over, it was Liz, already crying tears of happiness. "We've finally got it, Alice! I-I'm so happy!" she said through her sobs, whilst another pair of arms wrapped themselves around my neck—this time, it was Robin's.
"Alice! Now we can go home!" Robin said, brimming with joy, though he seemed to have forgotten why we were here in the first place—we hadn't come to help Captain Hook search for treasure. "Why don't you look happy?"
We all then felt a violent earthquake, causing some people to scream in panic; my eyes widened as I saw something enormous floating on the sea. "W-what on earth is that…?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing; a ship was floating across the water, and it was so huge that we could even see it from here. "That thing… it's colossal."