Glory to God!
I stood with one hand on the mast fondly remembering my kissing experience with Keturah of several hours ago, even as I vainly tried to muster the seriousness that the situation involved I be under.
Elizabeth was on board as was the rest of my crew. Elizabeth had something she wanted to show me. Something she thought might help us in the war against the giants.
We sailed in and around the tiny islands scattered throughout the lagoon, until at Elizabeth's word we heaved the boat to a complete stop. I looked about the bubbly surface of the lagoon and the two tiny islands that lay off to either side of us completely puzzled as to what could possibly help us combat giants.
I looked to Elizabeth for some direction and she gestured to the water, "Look beneath the water."
I gave her an odd look, but I got down on my belly and leaned out over the water to stick my head beneath it feeling very much like I was being made a fool of. The water was crystal clear and my eyes found the shapes of two vessels almost immediately.
I blinked and did a double take. It wasn't possible, but it was!
I pulled my head up out of the water and wiped the water from my eyes. I glanced around the subject of the expectant looks of my crew.
"Take a look Flynn." I said trying to hold my glee in and look serious.
Flynn got down and did the impersonation of a duck just like I had done for a long moment. His gray head popped above the water and sputtering water he turned to me and said, "Blimey! But what good will they do us? Their sunk and beyond that they've got to be rusted up beyond any use!"
Elizabeth broke into the conversation, "Metal for some unknown reason does not rust when submerged in the waters of these freshwater lagoons. The ships were starting to rust above the waterline so that is why our ancestors sunk them here in order to preserve them. This is the shallowest spot in the lagoon."
"Gunpowder and fuses?" I asked in hopeful earnestness.
Elizabeth nodded, "They were sealed away in watertight barrels and boxes."
Flynn interrupted in exasperation, "What good does black powder and fuses do us when the boats are sunk? Their sunk!" He repeated as he pointed to the water with emphasis.
I saw Elizabeth and Keturah share a knowing look between them. I turned to Flynn and with a growing inner sense of jubilation I said, "Whales Mister Flynn! Whales."