Wild Fiction

Conrad lifted his head out of the water and removed his snorkel from his mouth. ‘What?’
‘James’s found something next to the anchor. It’s a box or something but he can’t get it free.’
They put their masks back on, replaced their snorkels, and watched James. After a short while he left the bottom and kicked furiously to pop out of the water next to them. He spat the snorkel out of his mouth and gasped for air. ‘I’ve found a box buried in the sand next to the anchor.’
‘You mean like an old treasure chest?’
‘No, it’s one of those impact proof camera boxes that people use to transport movie equipment around in. There’s no rust on it. It’s in perfect nick, all shiny and silver. That’s how I managed to spot it from the surface. I’ve managed to remove the sand from one of its corners but its well dug in. I’m going to need you to help me. We’re also going to need weight belts to keep us down there while we uncover it.’
Rebecca got back onboard and found two weight belts. They took it in turns to dive, and with their hands scraped the sand away from around the box. They had to equalise their ears three times on the way down and their oxygen was quickly used up at that depth. After several minutes, they rested on the surface holding onto the transom.
‘That’s enough,’ Conrad said. ‘That’s as much sand as we can move without it falling back in. We’re going to have to get it out another way. I’m thinking of attaching a strong rope to its handle and pulling it with the boat. Either it’s going to come out or the handle’s going to break off.’
James nodded at him, still gasping from the dive he had just come up from. ‘Let’s attach the anchor chain. The shackle has a folding clasp that’s easy to undo.’
James dived on the anchor two more times. The first time he undid the shackle on the anchor chain, slipped it through the handle of the box, and fastened it. The second time he took down a rope attached to a buoy at the surface which he then secured to the anchor so they could find it later.