Four
Four
“ I f you truly wish to see the best views of the island, then you must hike to the Dew Pond, and Elliot’s Pass trails. The Dew Pond path will take you to the highest point on the island, and you will find a chain at the peak of Green Mountain. Elliot’s Pass goes through several tunnels as it circles around the lookout caves that ring the mountain. The Squadron who used those caves were watching for pirates. They did not see Captain Dampier and his crew, for they had come and gone more than a century before the Old Marine Barracks here was built.” He waved out the window at a joyless box of a building, constructed of grey brick and concrete, much like the ruins at Dampier’s Drip, only this one was a little less ruined. “Drivers will come up the mountain all day to drop off tourists, so you can ask any of them to take you back down to Georgetown when you are finished treasure hunting.” Then he drove off, leaving Oriana in the car park beside the grey barracks building, clutching the flimsy national park brochure he’d fished out of the glove box and thrust at her through the window.
Oriana stared after him, wanting to shout something insulting for leaving her standing there alone, but she’d still need a lift back down the mountain later, and she could hardly expect him to wait around all day for her. He’d said each of those hiking trails would take her a couple of hours, which meant she’d be able to enjoy her lunch at one of the lookouts before she returned to the dreary barracks to cadge a lift back to town from whoever came up here.
The ship wouldn’t leave until sunset, which was hours away, so she’d have plenty of time to explore town, and maybe even see the museum the Musketeers had gone to.