The Price of Treasure

Black-Eye hides the crew’s gold in a ruined chapel.

The dawn after the tavern brawl found Port Royal still reeking of rum and blood. Black-Eye Blackburn slipped through the crooked streets with two trusted crewmates, a sack of coin slung between them. Captain Scarlett had ordered it stashed before the King’s men came sniffing.

“Where do you reckon she wants it hid?” muttered Briggs, glancing over his shoulder.

“Not in some tavern floorboard,” Black-Eye growled. His jaw still ached from the night’s fight. “We need stone and shadow, someplace only we know.”

They wound through alleys until they reached the crumbling ruins of an old Spanish chapel, half-swallowed by jungle. Moss covered the altar, vines hung like curtains, and a broken bell lay on its side, rust bleeding into the earth.

“Hide it where no one will find it,” the Captain had said. “Or it’ll be your death.”

“This’ll do,” Black-Eye said, setting down the sack. He drew his dagger and pried up a slab of cracked flagstone. Beneath, a hollow cavity waited like an open grave.

Briggs frowned. “What if some beggar stumbles on it?”

Black-Eye shoved the gold inside, his hand lingering on the coins. He could almost feel their weight dragging at his soul. He slammed the stone back into place and spat on it for good measure.

The three pirates stood in silence, listening to the jungle’s hum. Somewhere, a parrot screeched like mocking laughter.

Scarlett’s voice echoed in Black-Eye’s mind: Tonight we drink. Tomorrow, we sail. Yet, he felt the gold whispering too, calling to every greedy heart in Port Royal.

Trouble wasn’t finished with them, not while their fortune slept beneath rotten stone.

Word Count: 270
Prompt: Write a story that includes the line: “Hide it where nobody will find it.”
Written for: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"