TREASURE ON DOLLAR COVE

Joseph Knights, 10

Crowan School, Cornwall

Diego knew he was going to die. The year was 1669, and a storm raged like a bull around his ship, the San Salvador, as the white-crested waves foamed and frothed on the inky black sea. The rocks ahead rose out of the depths like knives glinting ominously in the gloom. It was just a matter of time before the ship was thrown onto those granite daggers and torn to shreds. The ship's cargo of hundreds of silver dollars had already been thrown overboard by the sailors in an attempt to save the ship, but as Diego stood paralysed by fear, his eye caught a glimmer of silver. Reaching out, Diego picked up the coin and clutched it in his fist as he whispered "I hoped you would bring good luck to my family in Spain but if you can't be lucky for me please bring fortune to another family like mine". Seconds later the ship crashed onto the rocks and exploded in a burst of splintering wood. Diego was never seen again.

James scuffed his broken trainers angrily along the sand of Dollar Cove as he thought about his mum and dad arguing yet again about how they were going to pay the rent for their cottage opposite the beach. James didn't want to move, he had lived in the wild and rugged Cornish bay his whole life, and it just wasn't fair that his father's fishing boat wasn't bringing in enough money anymore. All his family needed was a bit of good luck.

James kicked a limpet off the rocks in fury, as he climbed up the boulders at the side of the beach. The vivid colours of the anemones caught his attention and he began to explore the rockpools as he had done a thousand times before. Green and red seaweeds floated gently in the calm little pools which were so unlike the churning waves of the sea that matched the turbulence of his heart. He crouched down to look closely at a crab sheltering in a tiny rockpool cave, and as James reached into the water to try and pick it up, he sent the crab scuttling sideways to reveal the sparkle of a shiny silver coin. With a trembling hand he scooped up the coin, and stared down at it in disbelief. Everyone had heard the legend of the San Salvador and it's lost cargo of silver dollars, but could this really be one of the last remaining precious coins to be uncovered? Wiping it against his torn sleeve, James knew instantly that it was one of the ancient Spanish dollars - it was identical to the photos he had seen at school and he grinned with happiness at the realisation that this would save his family. As he looked out at the jagged granite rocks and breathed "thank you" to the sea, he was certain he heard a faint answer "buena suerte" from across the centuries on the whispering wind.