Part 38
I've found that I've been unable to sleep as of late. There is an awful lump in my bed. I decided to do some investigating.
Quite the lump indeed! Why, if it wasn't Goonham's treasure! What could be inside?
As it turns out, someone had already sacked the treasure, leaving only plenty of coins, a 5 dollar bill, a copy of "Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus," and a final message from Bartholomew. What did it say?
Bartholomew Goonham posted:
To those who find my treasure, you may realize it isn't much. I spent much of it on making the Florida Keys great. It really is quite the place now. I write this to those who can read as my final piratical message. What I have done in years past is make a living off of thievery, justifying it by also searching out my family. Even after I had gotten revenge and found my family, I continued to destroy Spanish ships. However, the thought of my children and grandchildren, as well as the soon-to-come great grandchildren, keeping up the tradition of piracy disheartens me. I am not jealous, I just realize that I am the luckiest pirate of all. I sailed the seas for 30 some odd years before my retirement and not a single problem has come of it. I only hope that my family may become stronger than I, willing to protect each other, willing to fight, but to earn their valuables in a legal manner. My dream all those years ago scares me still. It is the most vivid of any dream I have had. My friends have stopped writing, one by one. No information comes of their existence, only that their towns are raided. Is there a correlation? I don't know, to be honest. I can only hope that there isn't a pattern here. I am of the fragile age of 84. If anyone were to come raid the Florida Keys, I would no doubt perish. Old duties as a pirate and a sword fighter demand of me nothing but foolhardy courage and bravery. I believe that my friends have died, but may age take me before Ingram does.
~Bartholomew Bonneyread "Longbeard" Goonham, Governor of the Florida Keys, Ex-Pirate
The End