After a sufficient amount of profanity—a split second before Dylan and Savannah stomped back toward the slippery log—Jake knelt and started untying his boots. He took them off and followed that with his socks, shirt, and pants. Sarah and Rachel stared wide eyed at him as he stood there in his snug boxer shorts. He had waited, enjoying the moment as the writer and photographer, and part-time treasure hunters, watched their dreams of grandeur crumble into ashes. That might have been a bit overkill, but Jake relished in it nonetheless. But they wouldn't have given up, they would've been on to the next waterfall. Now, he grinned smartly as everyone took notice of him undressed on the bank of the pool.

"Thought we were joking about the skivvies," Tony said as he began the process of removing his outer garments as well. "But hey, I'm up for a dip. Let's go..."

"This is not about swimming," Jake replied, tightening his stare. "Although, we'll have to do some of that to get behind the waterfall."

"Why should we do that?" Dylan asked. "What do you see that we don't?"

"Yeah?" Savannah said. "We're wasting time. This isn't the right one."

"Au contraire...if you look up at where the waterfall exits the mountain." Jake squinted and pointed. "If you focus on the hole. At first glance it appears like any other, but a closer inspection reveals a mouth with ridges that fork upward. Like a pair of bottom row teeth. What you see is three separate channels. But only the middle run carries water at the moment."

Dylan raised a hand over his brow. "Ah, I see what you're talking about. I knew we brought you along for a reason. Maybe in the past, there was greater water volume, spilling out to fill the other two channels?"

"Right," Jake replied. "It's possible at other times of the year, when rainfall is heavier, the three claws become visible."

"So, it could be a seasonal thing."

"Right."

"Either that," Sarah said, offering a counterpoint, "or over time the individual ridges wore away deeper in the hole, causing the water to funnel into a single fall."

Savannah tilted her head, staring up at the waterfall. "I suppose anything's possible."

Sarah started removing her pants and tank top. "No need for Jake and Tony to have all the fun."

Jake arched a brow, not expecting her to be wearing her swimsuit under her clothes. She must have anticipated something like this on the island. Her tank top had hidden the straps of her navy blue one-piece perfectly. Tony seemed surprised by Sarah's move, especially when Rachel and Savannah joined her in revealing their suits under their clothes.

"Looks like we have ourselves a party here." Tony rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

Dylan was last to de-boot and strip down to his boxers. "Guess we're doing this."

"Guess we are," Jake said, wading into the pool, and then diving under. Mid-way, he broke the surface and twirled into a backstroke. "A little chilly, but not too bad for my tastes."

"What are we looking for?" Rachel asked as she paddled out.

"I don't know. We'll just have to see what we find when we get there."

Jake spun and dipped under, swimming for the waterfall. With the downpour washing over his head, he disappeared into a dimmer world behind the translucent curtain. Soon, Tony and Sarah joined him. Then Rachel, and then Savannah and Dylan. When he emerged on the other side, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dimness.

Sarah sputtered water from her lips, her hair drenched and darker, especially in the reduced light.

Jake glanced at her and wished they were alone.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just you."

"Well, we're here too," Dylan said. "So don't get any ideas."

"Check out the cave," Savannah said, stroking to the back of the pool.

Everyone sloshed into the shallow end and traipsed onto dry ground. Water dripped off their bodies and trickled down their legs and arms. For a long moment, they stared at each other, and at the arching ceiling, and the smooth, rounded walls. The floor of the cave crunched under their bare feet, fine gravel that turned sandy near the back wall.

Jake ran a hand through his short crop of hair, combing some of the water out.

Although dim, the brilliant sun shone through the waterfall and provided a fair amount of light on the inner walls. It helped that the cave only extended thirty to forty feet into the mountainside. Jake spun when a bright beam illuminated the ground around his feet.

Savannah drew near the back wall with a flashlight. What was on the wall garnered her full attention.

Dylan walked up next her. "What do we have here?" He tutted his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"By the looks of it," Sarah said, "cave writing."

"But not just any writing," Jake replied.

"Not hieroglyphs," Tony said. "It's not that old."

"Nah," Dylan said, "this is more pedestrian." He touched the wall, his fingertips playing over the etchings. "But it's still two hundred years old. Captain Bennett Graham supposedly hid his gold here on this island." His voice came out hushed, a few notches above a whisper. "The 1800's to be exact. No one ever found it, or least could prove that anything they found was the Bennett Graham treasure, but it wasn't for a lack of trying."

Savannah said, "It's a crude method of drawings, like a personal code. Like two friends writing messages to each other. I've seen hieroglyphs before, with my dad. This is not near as complex as the Egyptians, or the Incas, or the Aztecs. Not even close."

"So Graham came up with his own code?" Dylan glanced at Savannah.

"Yep. Appears that-a-way"

"That or someone helped him," Jake said. "If he had help."

"It was a lot of gold, tons of it," Tony replied. "I think he'd need a co-conspirator."

Jake tilted his head. Bit his lip.

The wall art depicted a series of arrows, straight lines, and a curling pair of lines that closed and connected into each other at the end. At the top, where the two lines formed a head, a smaller line dotted out to the side. It reminded Jake of something on the old map.

"What was the second clue?" he asked, eyeing Savannah.

"Two eyes of a serpent reveal the wandering path," she replied, having left the maps under her clothes on the bank of the pool. She glanced at Jake. "I memorized it."

"I see what you're thinking," Dylan said. "The arrows suggest we follow the path spoke of in the secret code. The straight lines indicate there is a path, and the curved lines form the wandering body of a serpent."

"A snake?" Rachel said.

"Not any snake," Savannah replied. "The serpent could be the river itself, and the head could be..."

"The end of the river?" Sarah said. "No..."

"Could be a rock formation that looks like a serpent," Jake answered. "A river wouldn't have eyes."

"Maybe not," Dylan said, "but I think you're onto something." He paced back toward the rear of the pool and entered the water. "I think we know what to look for next. A rock formation that looks like a serpent's head...with two snake eyes. The second clue matches it. I think from there, we can take a hard look at the third clue on the map."

"Wait a second," Sarah said. "What about the ranger station? Shouldn't we pay it a visit? See if anyone is alive."

"I think you know what we'll find," Savannah replied. "If the first station is any indication of what we'll find at the second, then we'll be wasting our time."

"It's been two months since the ban went into effect," Dylan said. "Anyone still alive is probably long gone from this island."

"You may be right," Sarah replied. "But we won't know for sure until we get there. And if we go searching for this snake head, we may end up way out of the way."

"We could split up." Savannah shrugged and puckered her lips.

"We're not splitting up," Jake said. "We stick together. There's safety in numbers."

"Not against whatever clawed up that tree and ate all those men," Rachel said. "I won't feel safe here no matter what we do, unless someone has a bazooka that I don't know about."

"Good one," Tony replied.

"Let's talk about this," Dylan said. "Like adults."

"We are talking about it like adults," Sarah replied. "Adults would do the adult thing and investigate the second station. And that's what we need to do."

"I'm with her," Jake said. "As much as I'd love to go treasure hunting, in the end, she's right."

"Good," Rachel replied, "it's settled."

Dylan and Savannah wagged their heads, but remained quiet. Jake knew they had to do what the Sea Lab team said, or else they might lose their magazine story, and that might get them in trouble with their boss.

With that understanding clear, the six of them exited the cave, swam under the waterfall, and emerged into the bright sunlight. But they found something waiting for them. Someone to be more specific. In tattered and soiled clothes, a man stood on the shore next to their belongings, holding the old treasure map with a clever gleam in his eyes.