The Mystery of the Ghostly Galeon

far!
    For a moment, no one said anything. Then everyone began talking at once.
    “Oh, come on, you guys,” Di said, her voice trembling. “A joke is a joke, but this isn’t funny anymore.”
    “That’s right!” Honey exclaimed. “Which one of you is playing the part of the ghost? Jim, is it you?”
    Jim, meanwhile, had turned to accuse Dan, who was already protesting his innocence.
    “For crying out loud, Mart,” Brian was saying, “you were supposed to buy new flashlight batteries.”
    “I did,” Mart cried. “Unfortunately, I forgot to bring them with me. They’re still in our room, back at the inn.” He paused. “Fortunately, I’ve got a great idea. Maybe our friendly ghost will go get them for us. How about it, whoever you are?”
    The Bob-Whites strained their ears for another sign that would tell them they were not alone, but no one answered.
    “Maybe whoever it was has gone,” Jim muttered, voicing the thought in everyone’s mind.
    “Now what do we do?” Dan asked. “We can’t stay here forever. I’m going to try to find the way out of here and—”
    Suddenly Trixie reached out toward the sound of Dan’s voice. She put a hand on his arm. “Wait!” she whispered hoarsely. “Something’s happening.”
    Honey groaned. “Oh, Trix!” she wailed. “Don’t say that! I’m not sure I can take any more excitement.”
    Honey had no choice in the matter. The Bob-Whites were slowly discovering that, astonishingly, the darkness around them was lifting. Soon they could see each other’s dim outlines. Then they began to notice their surroundings.
    Open-mouthed, they stared around them. Now they could see that they were standing in a low-ceilinged cavern where the rough rock surfaces appeared to be green with age.
    Here and there, moss seemed to cling to tiny crevices, and small fungi clustered in places along the walls.
    Trixie shuddered and surreptitiously wiped her hand on her jeans. She realized it must have been this that her fingers had touched moments before. She hoped the fungus wasn’t the poisonous kind.
    She could also see a massive boulder that lay sprawled on its side on the sandy floor. It looked as if it had been flung there by some gigantic hand. Beyond it, the shadows were impenetrable.
    Mart hefted Clarence to a more comfortable position on his shoulder. Then he gripped the dismembered arm by its wrist. He raised it slowly over his head as if to use it as a weapon. If they hadn’t been so apprehensive about what might happen next, the Bob-Whites would have laughed.
    As it was, Mart said grimly, “We’ve come this far. Now I’m going to find that treasure, ghost or no ghost.” He took a step forward. Instantly, someone chuckled and whispered again, “Beware....”
    Trixie frowned. “There’s something about all this that isn’t right at all....”
    The boys weren’t listening. In another second, they had rushed past her toward the boulder’s black shadows.
    Trixie heard Mart shout, “Oh, wow, will you look at that! What's going on ?”
    Then there was silence.

    Trixie wasn’t sure what she expected to see when she raced forward to find them. She found herself thinking of the bats they had found in that other cave. It was strange, though, that this time the boys hadn’t yelled a warning.
    Moving carefully, she came to the place where the boys had disappeared. She rounded the corner and stopped dead.
    The reality far surpassed anything she had imagined, She found the boys staring, speechless, at a small grotto in front of them. To add to their confusion, it seemed to be lit by invisible flickering torches. Trixie gazed around, looking for the source of the light, but she couldn’t find it.
    She saw long stalactites hanging from the rocky roof, and from somewhere in the distance, she could hear the sound of ocean waves beating against some unseen shore.
    Unbelieving, the boys were gazing at a small grass-covered island in the middle of the sandy floor. Even more astonishing was the tall palm tree that decorated its center.
    “Gleeps!” Trixie exclaimed. “It’s even got tropical flowers and plants growing at its base.“
    “Tropical flowers?” Honey breathed, running to join her. “In a cave?”
    “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Di cried a moment later.
    “But that’s not all,” Dan said, pointing. “Will you look at that!”
    Trixie gazed toward that surprising island and saw an old brass-studded wooden chest half hidden in the foliage.