Treasures Lost, Treasures Found

Almost in defiance, she pushed the throttle forward. If it was defiance, she didn’t care, anymore than she cared whom she was defying. It was vital to do this one act for herself.
    She refused to think about Ky, about why she’d exploded at him. If her words had been harsh, they’d also been necessary. She comforted herself with that. For too long, for a lifetime, she’d been influenced by someone else’s opinion, someone else’s expectations.
    Mechanically, she stopped the engines and put on her equipment, checking and rechecking as she went. She’d never gone down alone before. Even that seemed suddenly a vital thing to do.
    With a last look at her compass, she took the mesh basket over the side.
    As she went deep, a thrill went through her. She was alone. In acres and acres of sea, she was alone. The water parted for her like silk. She was in control, and her destiny was her own.
    She didn’t rush. Kate found she wanted that euphoric feeling of being isolated under the sea where only curious fish bothered to give her a passing glance. Ultimately, her only responsibility here was to herself. Briefly, she closed her eyes and floated. At last, only to herself.
    When she reached the site, she felt a new surge of pride. This was something she’d done without her father. She wouldn’t think of the whys or the hows now, but simply the triumph. For two centuries, it had waited. And now, she’d found it. She circled the hole the prop-wash had created and began to fan using her hand.
    Her first find was a dinner plate with a flamboyant floral pattern around the rim. She found one, then half a dozen, two of which were intact. On the back was the mark of an English potter. There were cups as well, dainty, exquisite English china that might have graced the table of a wealthy colonist, might have become a beloved heir-loom, if nature hadn’t interfered. Now they looked like something out of a horror show—crusted, misshapen with sea life. They couldn’t have been more beautiful to her.
    As she continued to fan, Kate nearly missed what appeared to be a dark sea shell. On closer examination she saw it was a silver coin. She couldn’t make out the currency, but knew it didn’t matter. It could just as easily be Spanish, as she’d read that Spanish currency had beenused by all European nations with settlements in the New World.
    The point was, it was a coin. The first coin. Though it was silver, not gold, and unidentifiable at the moment, she’d found it by herself.
    Kate started to slip it into her goodie bag when her arm was jerked back.
    The thrill of fear went wildly from her toes to her throat. The spear gun was on board the Vortex . She had no weapon. Before she could do more than turn in defense, she was caught by the shoulders with Ky’s furious hands.
    Terror died, but the anger in his eyes only incited her own. Damn him for frightening her, for interfering. Shaking him away, Kate signaled for him to leave. With one arm, he encircled her waist and started for the surface.
    Only once did she even come close to breaking away from him. Ky simply banded his arm around her again, more tightly, until she had a choice between submitting or cutting off her own air.
    When they broke the surface, Kate drew in breath to shout, but even in this, she was out-maneuvered.
    “Idiot!” he shouted at her, dragging her to the ladder. “One day off your back and you jump into forty feet of water by yourself. I don’t know why in hell I ever thought you had any brains.”
    Breathless, she heaved her tanks over the side. When she was on solid ground again, she intended to have her say. For now, she’d let him have his.
    “I take my eyes off you for a couple hours and you gooff half-cocked. If I’d murdered Marsh, it would have been on your head.”
    To her further fury, Kate saw that she’d boarded the Vortex . Marsh’s boat was nowhere in sight.
    “Where’s the Gull ?” she demanded.
    “Marsh had the sense to tell me what you were doing.” The words came out like bullets as he stripped his gear. “I didn’t kill him because I needed him to come out with me and take the Gull back.” He stood in front of her, dripping, and as furious as she’d ever seen him. “Don’t you have any more sense than to dive out here alone?”
    She tossed her head back. “Don’t you?”
    Infuriated, he grabbed her and started to peel the wet suit from her himself. “We’re not talking about me, damn it. I’ve been diving