THE MYSTERY OF THE LADY LOUISE

Harriet Kinch, 10

Baydon St Nicholas Primary School, Baydon

The Lady Louise was the finest cargo ship of its time. Captain Jenkins was very proud to be the captain of such a prestigious vessel. He travelled across oceans, delivering precious cargo to faraway lands. But on the night of 4th July 1773, the ship and her crew found themselves in a storm of such magnitude, they had never experienced anything like it. Lightning flashed, waves the size of mountains crashed down on the deck. As Captain Jenkins endeavoured to steer the ship out of danger, a colossal wave crashed onto the boat, causing the mast of the main sail to collapse. This was the last moment that Captain Jenkins recalled before the world went black.

Two hundred and fifty years later, the Johns family were enjoying their summer holiday by the sea. They had bought nets for the children, Chloe and Jack, from a small shop on the high street and strolled down the steep hill to the pebble beach. The tide was out, exposing lots of interesting rockpools. They went to explore, finding crabs and mussel shells, together with bits of plastic that had drifted back with the tide. Amongst the seaweed, at the bottom of the rockpool, they caught a glimmer of gold.

They used their nets and spades to move the seaweed, and that's when they saw it. A golden sovereign. Excitedly, they worked their way from one rockpool to the next, finding six gold sovereigns in total! Exploring the last rockpool, Chloe gave an excited yelp! A huge cave lay before them. It was deep and dark, but she was too excited to be scared, too curious to think about turning back. Jack had noticed it too; he was already sprinting towards it. As they got to the cave's mouth, they saw the impossible. In the shallow waters of the huge cavern, they had found the final resting place of the Lady Louise. Eager to explore, they climbed up onto the barnacled deck.

There was no sign of the ship's captain and crew, Chloe speculated that they had been washed overboard. The only inhabitants now consisted of sea life and cave bats. The deck was rotten and battered so they trod carefully towards the helm of the ship. A broken doorway led them to the captain's cabin, there they found the source of the gold. An old wooden chest, toppled on its side, spilling gold sovereigns across the deck. As Jack started filling his pockets with coins, Chloe stopped him. The gold belonged to the Lady Louise and its long-lost crew. She took the six coins they had found in the rockpools and dropped them into the pile by the chest. Carefully, they climbed down and made their way out of the cave, back into the sunshine.

On the beach, their parents were waiting. "Find anything exciting?" asked their dad.

"Just some old things the sea has washed in," said Chloe and winked at Jack. The Lady Louise was safe to rest in peace.