the curse of willow haven

8/11/2019 The Curse of Willow Haven

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C 2013

The Wind was unpleasantly chilly as the Alice moved over the

water, and on the deck of the ship was a man in a long, trashy looking

overcoat and a battered leather hat. He was working with a machine which

he occasionally rocked and popped on the front with his hand. He was

studying its face carefully as he conducted the Alice, an old wood and metal

ship that was for recovering things.

The ship was crackled and old, with rusty metal parts and the windows and

decks were crusted with salt from the sea. The man on the deck had a rough

beard and long hair from not taking care of himself. He was soon joined by


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a young man in tall boots with a bandana.

Hey Ed, anything yet? The young man asked.

Nothing, but that dont prove nuthin, this piece of junk isleftover.

Do you think its accurate?

Yep. It just takes longer. One of these days this thing is going to make

rich man out of me.

Ed looked up at the gray clouds and his assistant looked up at them also.

Say Ed, we goin to stay out here if it rains Ed looked up. You better

believe it. If the Alice doesnt turn over in a storm Im staying out here.

Ive been searching for the Venture for too long to quit now. If this machine

cuts out before I find the venture Ill never find her.

Thats your ticket out huh, Ed. The young man asked. Ed nodded.

Yep. You dont know what its like having to live poor yer whole life,

Jimmy. Besides, it would be fun to be the guy who brought the legend up.

There is supposed to be a curse.

Jimmy pulled a small bottle from his back pocket and took a drink, and

asked what the legend was. Ed looked around at the horizon and cleared his


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throat.

Well supposedly there was a guy named William Vincent who invested in

a bunch of stuff till he was rich enough to buy a ship named the Venture and

he sailed to various islands, including what at that time was America with no

major settlements. He had a lot of money and according to legend, he sailed

with his wife and brother to the Colonies, did some business and his crew

mutinied on the way back to Europe. They got into a fight and lanterns

broke, setting the ship on fire. The ship crew left the four dying people

below, or killed them first, and took the long boat and life boat with the

money in it and went overboard.

So what is the curse? Jimmy asked.

They say that the ship rises once in a while and floats down the coast into

the bay and the ghosts come after anyone related to the men who mutinied,

among other folk legends, like people vanishing and going nuts. It always

associates with a storm. According to the legend there was a storm going on

and the boats overturned as the ship burned. The greedy crew hung on to the

boat and tried to save it but of course it sank with them. Sposedly the boat,


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ship and all that money are still out here. It would make a man rich beyond

belief to have all that money.

And you believe the legend? Jimmy asked. Ed gave him a very serious

look. A few pieces of that gold and silver money from the 16thcentury

have been found on the beach. Theres something out there, but no one else

is using machines to try and find it. My brother let me have this piece of

junk, and I hope it will last long enough to

Ed suddenly got quiet and looked at the screen. Theres the outline of a

ship, and its right in the line of Vincents landing! Ed secured the machine

and went into the cabin. Im going down, Jimmy. You know what to do.

Ed took off his ragged clothes and put on scuba gear, strapped on a set of

tanks and secured his outfit in every way he could think of, then as Jimmy

lowered the anchor he tipped overboard and vanished into the water.

Willow Haven did not have very deep water just a mile or so out, and over

the years many people had dove in search of treasure from old ship wrecks.

Some of them had found trinkets, gold and silver, but many of them had


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found nothing and dismissed it all as legend.

Ed dove deep into the black water and shined his flashlight around. He

liked the green growth of the ocean and he began to look around as he

swam, going in a small pattern so as to keep from getting lost. He was

examining the sand and the greenery of the bottom of the ocean, and he

decided to shine his flashlight upward and around to see if there was any

trace of the ship his machine had told him was there.

Ed let out a bubbly yell of shock. Right in front of his face was the ribbing

of a rotting ship that towered above him. He was very surprised that the

machine had been so accurate when it was only a throwaway his brother had

given him.

Ed swam down the side of the ship and saw its rounded body imbedded in

the sand with growth all over it. The masts had fallen down around it and

were in rotting heaps.

Ed swam all the way around the ship before he found the hole again with

the ribs exposed, amazed at how small it actually was. He then swam inside

of it and looked around the space under the decks.


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Ed was very excited about his find, and he swam up toward the Alice and

came out of the water. He yelled to Jimmy. Get on some gear! I found a

ship! Help me out and well see whatwe take home.

Jimmy drank one more shot from his bottle and suited up. Within a short

time both of them were going down into the darkness and searching the

rotting wood. Jimmy was wondering how Ed could think this pile of

decayed wood was the ship he was looking for. At length he saw Ed in the

dark light under the water and he was pointing excitedly to the front of the

ship.

Jimmy swam closer and looked into the beam of the flashlight. He almost

dropped his light in surprise when the rotten wood bore the carved letters

that spelled VENTURE. At least that much of the legend was true.

Ed and Jimmy began to explore the old ship, and Ed seemed fascinated with

what he was seeing. Ed Ran his hands over the wood like a boy with a toy,

and Jimmy looked at the wreckage and wondered if it had any secrets worth

taking home.


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Jimmy didnt care at all, he just wanted to collect his wages from being

Eds helper and go home. He was trying to work his way out of his mothers

house where he had a pesty sister that was driving him crazy. Ed was in a

room in the ship and made a noise, as bubbles gurgled out of his suit.

Jimmy came over and found Ed shining his flashlight on the remains of

two very old corpses below a deck. One of them was a man, in clothing that

dated back so far Ed and Jimmy could not recognize it. The bodies were

largely bones with some hard flesh still clinging to them. The man had a

hole in his skull as if he had been struck with a sword, and he had holes in

his clothes from both time and wounds.

The other body was a woman and they were close together. Ed suspected

this was William Vincent and his wife, whos name was lost to history, as

often happened to women in those days.

Ed began searching the rest of the room as Jimmy stared at the ancient

corpses, hundreds of years in this spot. As he stared, Jimmys light caught a

shiny gleam and he aimed it down. In the slime and sand of the bottom of

the ship lay the bones and arms of the woman and on her ancient finger was


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a ring with a dark blue stone.

Jimmy turned to make sure Ed was not watching and he reached down to

the hand and pulled the finger and the ring loose, stuffing it away in his wet

suit. At least hed get something for his trouble.

Ed searched around the room which must have been the captains cabin,

but any interesting artifacts had long since been destroyed by time. Ed and

Jimmy returned to the sea outside and Jimmy was tired of the fruitless search

as well as being anxious to go out and see if the ring he had found was worth

anything.

Ed signaled him that he could return to the surface while he took another

quick run around. Jimmy came up and broke through the surface of the

water, climbing onto Alice and taking off his suit. He turned on the radio

and pulled the finger out of his suit. It was crusted and frozen in position,

but he took a set of channel locks and with mild effort he got the ring off the

shrunken flesh.

Jimmy dropped the finger into the trash and put the ring under a bright


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light. He worked it with a knife and whatever it was made of did not hold to

crust and scum very well. It crackled and broke off till the ring looked

tarnished, but clean and wearable. It had a silvery band with a ring of blue

jewels and a very big, gorgeous jewel in the center. It had scum over the

jewel but Jimmy could still tell it had been a nice ring in its time.

As Jimmy examined the ring and wondered what he would get for it, Ed

suddenly exploded out of the water and drug himself happily onto Alice. He

tore off his face mask and was shouting grandly that his efforts were

rewarded. Jimmy came out and looked at Eds treasures as he opened his

suit and spilled some old gold and silver coins on the ground.

The whole legend was true. There is a rotten old lifeboat down there

falling apart. We can go down and grab a ton of this stuff. I already have a

salvage license. The stuff is mine. Well divide it up! Ed smacked Jimmy

on the shoulder. Lets go get rich! He said. Jimmy turned around and

smiled. What about the curse?

Ed laughed. I aint worried about a curse. If the ghosties havent

managed to get anyone in a few hunnerd years they wont be getting me.


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Besides, Im not related to any scumbag thieves.

Jimmy resuited and as the storm clouds swirled overhead they dove down

into the blackness of the water. They went down and down, then into

bunches of growth where they found the remains of an old boat. But the

boat was not the most interesting part. Amid little thin strands of greenery

were a handful of skeletal men, their flesh completely gone, their arms in

boney collections of white scattered over the boat, with the remains of rotten

chests filled with various items that at one time had been arranged neatly

around money and gold bars.

Ed began to arrange some of the treasure into a bucket and he would send

Jimmy up with the buckets to the surface to dump it in the cabin. At one

point his tank became low so he had Jimmy bring another.

They were going to do one more load when Jimmy looked at the pile of

metal on the cabin floor. It was incredible. Jimmy looked at the money and

he began to think. Ed had no wife or kids, he was just an old man in ragged

clothes with a shack in the country and just enough income to have an

assistant to help run his rusty boat. No one would even notice if he didnt


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come home. Jimmy thought about how easy it would be to get rid of the old

man.

Jimmy walked to the edge of the boat and thought hard about what to do.

It would be so easy. Ed would never make it back to land on the tank he

had. It would look like an accident.

Jimmy took the air tank that he was supposed to have refilled and he went

back into the water. He dove down and handed the empty tank to Ed. He

then took the last bucket of treasure and swam up with it. He went over the

edge of Alice and sat for a moment. It would take just a few minutes for Ed

to try and shift to his other tank and when it was emptyhe would not last

long.

Jimmy was struggling with his decision and he kept looking at the pile of

treasure as he turned the ignition key. The engine roared to life and Jimmy

took off. He felt guilty, heavy, and shocked inside that he had driven off and

left Ed with the empty tank.

Minutes passed, and Jimmy realized that it was nearly too late to change


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his mind, then at last there was no going back. He sat and rang his hands

thinking of what he had done, and he paced, felt his heart race and his mouth

go dry, then he finally began to feel the anxiety subside.

He had done it. He turned Alice toward the edge of Vincents Landing and

drove into the cove, and over the next hour he reloaded the treasure into his

car trunk and turned Alice toward the sea starting the engine and letting it

take off on itsown. He watched as Alice vanished into nothing away from

him.

Jimmy opened his trunk and looked at the treasure there. For a moment he

felt guilty again, using Ed to help him remove the treasure then deserting

him to die in the sea. He mouthed sorry old man. Then got into his car

and drove off.

Jimmy cleaned up and shaved, and over the next several days he went

down town and spoke to some different men he knew in the exchange

business. He managed to get several thousand dollars of the gold turned in

to them and decided that he would take off and start a new life where he

could turn the rest into millions. Too many people in Willow Haven knew


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Jimmy and they might ask questions.

Jimmy saw his young sister come home that evening and he secretly put

his things into three cases and put them in his truck. He didnt really care

for her so he stayed away from her as he prepared to vanish later that

evening.

Jimmy took the ring out of his things and looked at it. This alone must be

worth a fortune. Jimmy had started to come to terms with his actions and all

he could see now was wealth in his future.

It was nine Oclock at night on a very chilly Saturday when Jimmy walked

down the stairs to where his mother was watching television and his sister

was getting ready for bed.

Just so you know, mom, Im going to Albert Donlees tomorrow. He has

a new job available. Mother turned and looked at Jimmy. She looked tired.

Ok. I still think you should get into college and do somethingwith your

life. Jimmy turned to walk away. Yeah whatever. Jimmy said. He knew

she was as tired of him living there just burning up time as he was of having


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her in charge of him.

Jimmy didnt care anymore. He doubled out the front door and saw a big

full moon over the water. He fired up his car engine and took off down the

road. He was driving along thinking of the wealth hidden in his trunk when

he felt very strange. He realized that somehow he had turned the wrong way

and was driving toward Willow Haven Bay and not the other direction.

Jimmy swung the car around and sped up again. He turned on the radio

and was listening to music when the news came on. Jimmy was smiling to

himself. He had not had a good relationship with his mother in a long time

and felt happier being relieved of her and his sister.

Suddenly a bolt of shock went through Jimmy as the news played.

In local news, a man from Vincents Landing, Edward Hardnutt was found

floating outside of the bay with a scuba suit and drained air tank. His boat,

Alice was found a short distance away, out of fuel but in tact. Edward is

listed in stable condition in the Vincents Landing Hospital. How he became

separated from his boat is not yet known. Jimmy felta knot of dread in his


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stomach.

Jimmy was so horrified that he pulled his car over and got out. He walked

toward the water and looked at the full moon. His heart was racing. He felt

panic and tears welled up. He had tried to Kill Ed. Not only did the horror

of it strike him hard but the fact that Ed had trusted him. Ed had actually

been his friend and wanted to split the treasure with him.

Jimmy was still panicking when he realized that he was going the wrong

way.again.

He was facing toward the bay rather than leaving it. Jimmy was about to

turn to run to his car when the wind began to blow hard and he fell onto the

sand. The panic he had experienced had drained his strength and he could

not stand up. But that was soon the last thing that concerned him.

As Jimmy lay on the sand, he heard a sound behind him and turned, his

eyes widening in shock and horror. There was a sound of rushing water, and

Jimmy saw a flag, then a mast, then a rotted sail, rising with spray from the

water about four hundred feet from where he was. Jimmy let out a sound and

felt his stomach knot as he struggled to move backward up the beach but


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was too weak to move. As he watched the sail was followed by a full ship

which rose into the moonlight and stood among the small boats docked in

Willow Haven Bay, moving gently along the water. There was light shining

from oil lamps on its stern and Jimmy was so terrified he began to cry out

uncontrollably.

Suddenly the water parted again and four figures rose gently out of the

water, four rotting, boney people, one of them in a watery dress with long,

tangled hair hanging down. Jimmy knew it was William Vincent and his

wife, brother and hisbrothers wife.

Suddenly nothing mattered to Jimmy except for the terrifying sight in front

of him. He remembered what Ed had said about the curse, of the ship

owners coming back for anyone related to the thieving mutineers. Jimmy

was breathing hard and fast, trying to rise to his unsteady feet. He was not

related to any of the thieves, so far as he knew.but the treasure was in

his car.

Jimmy was trying to run, but his panic was so great he stumbled along the

beach, seeing the skeletal bride gaining on him. Jimmys hair turned white


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from fright and as he struggled along he turned, and found the dead

womanright behind him.

Jimmy could see into her face and he saw her stop and raise a hand, that

was missing a finger. Jimmy began to use all his strength to reach his car,

and he got to the driver door, fought it open and reached into his luggage

with hands shaking furiously. He pulled the ring out and stumbled to the

waiting ghostly figure. T-t-take it! He stammered.

Jimmy saw her hand reach up and felt the cold wetness as she retrieved her

stolen ring. Jimmy turned to run and found William Vincent standing behind

him, his rotting clothes sagging from his bleached white bones. Vincent

grabbed Jimmy by the hand and began to drag him toward the water and the

waiting Venture. Through his decayed mouth Vincent heard two words

gurgle forth, thiefmurderer.

Jimmy fought and struggled but he was drug over the sand, into the water

and out to the sea. In moments the Venture descended slowly back under the

sea, back into its dark resting place.


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Ed was sitting in a chair in the impound lot in Willow Haven when the

clerk came out and handed him the keys to the little car. Ill get your

registration to you in a second. Do you have any idea why your friend might

have deserted the car?

Ed smiled in a mischievous way. He probably felt guilty about driving

off with it. I loaned it to him about a year ago and he didnt take good care

of it.

Ed strolled outside and gave the last cash he had to the cab driver. He then

walked into the impound lot and went up to Jimmys car. Ungrateful little

twit. He said. He fired the engine up and drove out of the lot, down the

road, and parked. Ed got out and looked around, then popped the trunk.

Inside was the treasure, scattered but undisturbed. Jimmys things had been

sent home since no one could find him. Ed looked at the treasure and ran his

fingers through it. He laughed a little. The ship had been there, the boat,

and the treasure, so why would the curse not be true. What else could have

happened to Jimmy?

Ed wasnt concerned. He pulled an ad out of his shirt that showed new


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cars. Time to go start a new life. As he got back into the car he blew a kiss

to the memory of the fisherman who had found him floating and kindly

brought him in.

the curse of willow haven

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