Voyage Of The Locator

• Jarod Grining, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2013

William Morrison was a shipwright in the year 1846. He was an adventurous young man, and rarely managed to make ships that went on the market. He worked for Draffy. Draffy was a scruffy old blacksmith who gave up his job to start a shipwright company. He was well – known, but not for a good reason. Everyone thought he was crazy. “Stay away from that nutter, he’s dangerous!” parents would tell their children. And as a result, no one bought any of his ships.
One stormy morning, three dodgy – looking men were seen walking up to Will’s house. One with a gold tooth rapped hard on the front door. Will was quite reluctant to answer it; they looked a lot like burglars. Nevertheless, he opened the door. “We would like to buy a ship.” mumbled the one with a large, oversized jacket.
“I’m sorry, I don’t sell ships, good day.” Will tried to shut the door but one with a patch over on eye pushed it back open.
“I saw it in your yard. Fifty dollars. It’s called the Locater.” He said.
“What could you possibly need it for during a stormy time like this?” Will queried.
“It’s when the shipwreck comes – I mean nothing,” This time it was the one with the golden tooth. He had an Irish accent.
“Thanks a lot, Cutter,” The one with the large jacket turned to Will. “Now you’ve got to come. It’s supposed to be secret, and only we are meant to know about.” Will could see there was no provoking the men.
“Okay, but you’re paying for the Locater. It’s not actually mine.”
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It was the third week into their journey. Will had gotten to know the names of the three men (large jacket= Draco, eye patch= Eyeless), as well as met the cook, who was also known as Will. He also learnt how to read a compass. He was told that the point of the journey was to find an ancient shipwreck, that was sunk whilst transporting precious rubies and emeralds.
Will was sitting on the bed of his cabin, trying to open a puzzle box, when Eyeless called him out. “Oi, Will, come out here!” He said. Will obeyed. Will, Draco, and Cutter were on the poop deck, looking out to the sea. He pushed his way to the front of the small crowd. At first all he saw was deep, blue water, but then he realised something was just under the surface. It was a shipwreck. But not just any shipwreck. It was the shipwreck.
“Okay, who here can swim?” said Draco. Will the cook and Eyeless slowly raised their hands. “We need you to go down there and bring it up.” He continued. So Will went and got a few planks of wood from the storeroom and returned to the poop deck. The cook and his companion were already under the water, bringing it up. They split the treasures evenly in value.