The Quest

A picture is worth a thousand words contest

Round 26
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“Does anyone know what we’re really doing here?” This gentleman sat, not at all pleased with his current surroundings.

“No, I thought you did,” another replied. He too had an unpleasant look on his face. “It smells in here.”

They sat and watched as the rest of the men squatted down into a sitting position, resting. Listening to the murmurs that were coming from those further down the line, they looked at each other and shrugged. Above them came the words “We’re almost there men; keep up the good work and all that.”

Confused, the men sat looking at their leader, the man whom they had trusted for years to take them to new places, and whom has seemed to lead them astray more than once in their quests. But, truth be told, they had always come out ahead in the end; the seemingly outrageous rants and raves always led them to some kind of victory, although there was always a first time.

“Sir,” the first officer started, standing alongside his commander, “are you sure this is necessary? I mean, no disrespect intended, but wouldn’t we do better just to dig a big hole? This seems sort of…unrespectable. For the men, I mean.”

“Do you question me on tactics Mr. Gibbs?” replied his mentor.

“Well, no, sir, I mean…the men…they aren’t used to all the mud, and the hats?”

“The hats are so we look inconspicuous.”

“Inconspicuous. Aye, sir. And the mud? It’ll take a lot of scrubbing to get it all out.”

“It’ll toughen them up. They’ve been getting a bit soft lately.”

With that their heralded leader took his leave to survey the men, his men, in the newly dug trench. As he passed by each of them, they lowered their eyes, wishing to hide their true doubts from his ever-vigilant brown eyes. But they didn’t know for how much longer they could follow his orders before dissention overtook the ranks. They each knew they would follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond, but this seemed totally above the call of duty.

On and on the men dug, lengthening the trench as well as deepening it to the point that their heads could barely be seen over the top edge of it. They were hot, sweaty and extremely dirty. Their weapons had been deposited on the newly formed ridge as a way to keep them out of the way of the digging.

Finally one of the crew, a small-built man, stood up, his back aching from the work he wasn’t used to doing. He looked up and down the line of men who were slowly taking his lead before searching out the second-in-command. “Gibbs! You have to do something, say something. This is leading us nowhere! I will not continue to dig until he proves that we’re actually going to find what we came for.”

Gibbs looked from those in the earth to the man sitting a little ways off, closely surveying what looked to be a map. He was not looking forward to another confrontation and would have to think up his words wisely or take the chance of being left here as a threat of mutiny.

Walking over to the Captain, he squatted down beside the thin man. “Um, sir. The men are tired and hungry. They’re beginning to wonder…”

“Have I ever led you astray?” he asked, not looking up from the map or the small box sitting close beside it.

“Well…”

With a sigh, the commander stood up, his countenance demanding all the respect the men gladly gave him over the years. Picking up the map and compass, he strode over to the hole budding with heads. “Am I to believe that there is doubt as to what we seek actually being here?”

The men looked at him, a tinge of fear in each of their eyes. Their Captain had never taken so much as a piece of string to any of them for punishment of any kind, but that wasn’t the punishment they feared the most from their beloved leader. It was his disappointment in them that was bringing a slight panic to their souls.

“Jack,” one of them spoke, “we just aren’t used to this sort of thing. What does digging a trench in the ground have to do with our quest?”

He studied them, looking at them as though they were his trusting children. “Well, gentlemen, if you please.” With that he jumped down in the foremost part of the trench. Reaching down and taking hold of a discarded shovel, he proceeded in striking the blade of it down hard into the ground. Instead of the quiet sound of earth being disturbed, they all heard a muffled ‘thunk’.

As the sound reverberated to each of their ears, a look of renewed love and respect for Jack appeared in their eyes. He had once again been right when all around him were in doubt.

With renewed vigor they each grabbed up their shovels again and started to frantically dig where they stood. Slowly a wooden floor appeared, narrow but long. The men cheered; at last the legendary treasure of Captain Blood was being unearthed, a long-forgotten tale to all but their commander, Jack.


Word count—873